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Reactions to the Word

Introduction:

Parable of the Sower/Soils:  Matthew 13  Matthew 13:3-9 “Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:  ‘Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.  Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.  But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop; some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!’ ” NKJV

Text:  Acts 17

Body:

I.            Reaction at Thessalonica  Acts 17:1-9  Acts 17:1 “Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.” NKJV  Paul and Silas leave Philippi, traveling on the Egnatian Way toward Rome.  A day’s journey, thirty miles, brings them to Amphipolis and another day’s journey to Apollonia.  One more day brought them to Thessalonica, a major Greek-type city.  They found a Jewish synagogue and several Jews.  Acts 17:2-3 “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.’ ” NKJV  Four verbs describe Paul’s preaching method.

1.   Reasoned from Scriptures  It was not some better-felt-than-told experience.  He used logic and reasoning with Scriptures as the source.

2.    Explained the need for Christ to suffer and rise from the dead  Jews found it difficult to believe in a suffering Savior.  (I Corinthians 1:23) “but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness.” NKJV

3.   Gave evidence  Paul quoted from the Old Testament prophecies about the Christ and showed how Jesus fit these prophecies.

4.   Proclaimed the Christ  Jesus was the looked for Messiah.  Acts 17:4 “And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.” NKJV  When the seed is planted in honest hearts, a harvest will result.  “Some”  Only a few Jews but a large number of Gentiles were persuaded.  (I Thessalonians 1:9-10) “For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for HIs Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” NKJV  (I Thessalonians 2:13) “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” NKJV  Acts 17:5 “But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.” NKJV  Trouble came soon.  There are always many who reject the truth, who are jealous of the success of the gospel.  Acts 17:6 “But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, ‘These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.’ ” NKJV  “Turned the world upside down” meant as an accusation, but it was really a compliment.  It was used by fishermen to speak of turning the boat upside down to make repairs.  Paul and Silas were turning Thessalonica upside down to fix the city.  Acts 17:7 “Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king – Jesus.” NKJV  Jews despised Caesar but here they pretended to care about his decrees.  Hypocrites!  Acts 17:8 “And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things.” NKJV  Jews had lied and told half-truths.  Acts 17:9 “So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.” NKJV  They took  a pledge – money, deeds, other agreements.

 

II.          Reaction at Berea  Acts 17:10-15  Acts 17:10 “Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea.  When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.” NKJV  The brethren were concerned with Paul’s safety.  Berea was fifty miles southwest of Thessalonica at the foot of Mt. Olympus.  As soon as they arrived, Paul went to the synagogue to preach.  Acts 17:11 “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so!” NKJV 

The Jews in Berea were more receptive.  Richer soil – “noble-minded” They were noble in character.  Note four qualities:

1.   “Receptive”  Those in Berea received the word with great eagerness.

2.   “Diligent”  They examined Scriptures daily.

3.   “Cautious”  They were not gullible, but looked into the Word for themselves.

4.   “Loyal”  Because of their loyalty to God and His Word, they respected Scriptures as the final authority.  Acts 17:12 “Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.” NKJV  Many believed here.  Acts 17:13 “But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds.” NKJV  Jealousy and anger motivated them.  They agitated and stirred up!  Acts 17:14-15 “Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away, to go to the sea; but both Silas and Timothy remained there.  So those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed, they departed.” NKJV  Brethren sent Paul to Athens.

 

III.        Reaction at Athens  Acts 17:16-21  Acts 17:16 “Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.” NKJV  Even though Paul was alone, waiting for Silas and Timothy, he used this occasion to preach the gospel in Athens.  This was the cultural and philosophical center of the Greece-Roman world.  It was a university town.  He would have seen the gold and white Parthenon, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.  It was dedicated to the goddess Athena.  Paul did not see Athens as the center of beauty, but rather the center of idolatry.  A temple was being built to Zeus, the chief god of the Greeks.  Idols were everywhere!  He couldn’t sit by and say nothing.  Acts 17:17 “Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.” NKJV  Paul went to the marketplace [agora] each day to reason with and debate, if necessary, any who were there.  Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle had taught in the past in the agora.  Acts 17:18 “Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him.  And some said, ‘What does this babbler want to say?’  Others said, ‘He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,’ because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.” NKJV  Epicureans – Pursuit of pleasure, “eat, drink, and be merry”  Stoics – Disciples of the philosopher Zeno, who believed in self-discipline and denying the flesh.  They accepted whatever life threw at them.  [Stoic today]  Both groups were threatened by Paul’s teaching.  “Idle babbler”  This was Athenian slang for religious shyster who took ideas from different philosophies and formed their own from them.  {Still exist today.]  They claimed that Paul was introducing a new god, or maybe a foreign demon, called Jesus!  Acts 17:19-20 “And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, ‘May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak?  For you are bringing some strange things to our ears.  Therefore we want to know what these things mean.’ ” NKJV  “Areopagus” – Hill of Mars [a Roman god}  Also a prestigious court met here.  Acts 17:21 “For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.” NKJV  Citizens of Athens and strangers may have claimed to be searching for the truth, but in reality were just looking for something new and novel.  Acts 17:22-31 records Paul’s Spirit-inspired response to what he had seen and heard while in Athens.  “Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:  TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.  Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:’  ‘God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.  Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.  And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said,’ ‘For we are also His offspring.’  There, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.  Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.  He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.’ ” NKJV  Note the responses:  Acts 17:32 “And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, ‘We will hear you again on this matter.’ NKJV  They scoffed, mocked, ridiculed at the idea of the resurrection.  Soil was choked with weeds of idolatry and human philosophy – lifeless.  Others waited; to put off is very dangerous.  Acts 17:33-34 “So Paul departed from among them.  However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman name Damaris, and others with them.” NKJV  A few believed, not an abundant harvest, but a harvest none the less.

Invitation:

Remember the words of I Corinthians 3:6-7. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.  So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God gives the increase.” NKJV

Bobby Stafford 

May 13, 2018