WHAT RERSPONSE DO YOU HAVE?

Acts 17:1-34

INTRO: The Parable of the Sower is a fantastic illustration into the heart of man. Not all soils are the same. Some take more tilling of the ground than others, some take more water to soften the soil before the water to help the seed grow. The book of Acts is where this Parable is on full display. Paul encounters multiple kinds of hearts through his second missionary journey. He visits Thessalonica where the Jews reject the word (vv.1-9), he goes to Berea where they receive the Word (vv.10-15), and then he goes to Athens where some mock the word (vv.16-34).

THESIS: Witnessing different responses to the Gospel being preached is something we cannot take personally. We must remember that no matter what, someone either accepts, or rejects the Lord and not necessarily us.

I. 1-9 Rejecting the Word

a. 2-3 As Paul comes into Thessalonica, he visits the Synagogue and teaches as was his custom. When he enters, we see there are three things he does to help the people understand.

i. He reasons, explains, and demonstrates why Jesus the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead.

ii. We must know how to reason with others, explain and prove the Gospel to those we teach. It is imperative as it answers the “why” in “Why Jesus?”.

b. 5 There is a plot to kill Silas and Paul because the Jews were jealous of their teaching to the Greeks. Imagine someone being so jealous of the Gospel they are willing to kill the messenger because of their own insecurities.

II. 10-15 Receiving the Word

a. 10 Paul came into the synagogue the same way he did in Thessalonica.

b. 11 The response was night and day. These accepted the Gospel because they were more noble than those in Thessalonica.

i. They did not need to “buy in” to what Paul was saying. He never came with excellent speech like he wrote to the Church in Corinth. Cf. 2 Cor. 2:1.

ii. Our methods do not need to be flashy or done with the newest tool and method. But it just needs to be pure, unfiltered Gospel.

c. Believing the Gospel also involves searching it out for ourselves. The reason they were fairer minded is in part to their searching through the Scripture and not allow Paul to dictate their belief, but they allowed God’s word to fill their hearts.

III. 16-34 Mocking the word

a. Another reaction people will have, is to mock the word from the Lord which we speak. Seeing the Athenians mock the word is due to their lack of desire to reason.

i. There was no attempt to reason with Paul, or truly consider that Jesus came back from the dead and the tomb he was in is empty. Or the fact many witnesses saw Jesus out and about teaching after He was raised from the dead.

ii. Even as Christians, do we mock the teaching that we do not agree with? Or are we willing to reason with one another to come up with the Biblical conclusion God wants us to glean.

CONCLUSION: The response people give to the Gospel, if done correctly, does not rest on us. Paul spent a long-time reasoning with three different groups of people in this chapter alone. He understood the principle found in the Parable of the Sower. The soil that the seed falls on is not for us to pick but is for us to sow on and let God’s word do the rest. As Christians today, we cannot think we are free from the temptation to hold onto our own notions of how we view Scripture. We are equally as responsible for how we react to the teaching of the meat as we are of the teaching of the milk.