Standing the World on its Head with King Jesus
Acts 17:1-9
1 Now
when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to
Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: 2 And
Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned
with them out of the scriptures, 3 Opening and alleging, that
Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this
Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. 4 And some of them believed, and
consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and
of the chief women not a few. 5 But the Jews which believed not,
moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and
gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house
of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. 6 And
when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers
of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come
hither also; 7 Whom Jason hath received: and these all
do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one
Jesus. 8 And they troubled the people and the
rulers of the city, when they heard these things. 9 And
when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.
Outline:
I. The Responses to the Preaching of the Gospel at
Thessalonica (17:1-5)
II. The Accusations against the Preachers of the Gospel
at Thessalonica (17:6-9)
I. The Responses to the Preaching of the Gospel at
Thessalonica (17:1-5)
1 Now
when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to
Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: 2 And
Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned
with them out of the scriptures, 3 Opening and alleging, that
Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this
Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. 4 And some of them believed, and
consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and
of the chief women not a few. 5 But the Jews which believed not,
moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and
gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house
of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
1. The Realities of the Gospel (17:1-3)
2. The Responses to the Gospel (17:4-5)
1. The Realities of the Gospel (17:1-3)
1 Now
when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica,
where was a synagogue of the Jews: 2 And Paul, as his manner was,
went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the
scriptures, 3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must
needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I
preach unto you, is Christ.
1) The Personal Realities of the Gospel
2) The Practical Realities of the Gospel
3) The Primary Realities of the Gospel
What is it to preach the Gospel?
1) The Personal
Realities of the Gospel (17:1-2d)
1 Now when they had passed through
Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of
the Jews: 2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in
unto them, and three sabbath days
(1) How this Gospel got to them
- …passed through…came to…went in unto…
They didn’t come to him. Paul
took it to them.
(2) Where this preaching took
place - in the synagogue of the Jews
This was Paul’s normal practice.
(3) How long this preaching went
on - three sabbath days
This was
not a “fast food” drive through approach, or easy believism!
2) The Practical
Realities of the Gospel (17:2d-3a)
reasoned with them
out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging
(1) Reasoned - The mind must be brought along. This is the verb. The
two participles that follow explain what was involved in doing this.
the Scriptures = the Old Testament
The starting point is the
Scriptures. The Word of God is the content the Apostle’s appeal to human reason
is based on. This reasoning starts with a supernatural revelation. Paul is not
reasoning to the Scriptures, but from the Scriptures. This is an inherently
presuppositional approach to evangelism. The Spirit of God works with the Word
of God to bring the dead to life and to illumine dark minds. The Spirit of God
does not work with the natural man in his deadness in sin and the darkness of
his fallen mind to get to the Scriptures, but vice versa. If we are not
reasoning out of the Scriptures in evangelism we have the cart before the
horse. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Rom.
10:17)
(2) Opening or Explaining -
The understanding must be developed as a clear case is made.
This is exposition. This is the
first step, the initial aspect in reasoning from the Scriptures. This has to do
with the meaning of the words, phrases, and propositions in the Scriptures in
their contexts.
(3) Alleging or Proving - The
conviction of the will must be engaged by being confronted with indisputable
evidence.
This has to do with the
implications of the meaning brought out in exposition. This is apologetics,
i.e., the defense of the faith. This may be thought of as application. In this
case it is the application of what came out in the exposition as convincing
evidence to establish specific points which follow in the rest of the verse.
3) The Primary
Realities of the Gospel (17:3b-f)
that
Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this
Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
(1) The Necessity of the
Sufferings of the Messiah - Christ must
needs have suffered
(2) The Necessity of the
Resurrection of the Messiah - and risen
again from the dead
(3) The Identification of Jesus
as the Messiah - Jesus is Christ
2. The Responses to the Gospel (17:4-5)
4 And some of them believed, and
consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and
of the chief women not a few. 5 But the Jews which believed not,
moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and
gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house
of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
1) The Response
of Faith (17:4)
2) The Response
of Unbelief (17:5)
1) The Response of Faith (17:4)
And
some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout
Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
(1) The confirmation of those
who responded in faith:
(2) The categories and numbers
of those who responded in faith:
(1) The confirmation of those
who responded in faith:
(i) believed - were persuaded
- i.e., were brought to faith
(ii) consorted - joined
(2) The categories and numbers
of those who responded in faith:
(i) Jews - some
(ii) devout Greeks - great multitude
(iii) chief women - not a few
2) The Response of Unbelief (17:5)
5 But
the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd
fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an
uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the
people.
(1) moved with envy - This is a heart issue provoked and exposed by the
Gospel.
(2) lewd fellows of the baser sort - Some bully boys are needed to do
their dirty work.
(3) mob - They can’t get what they want by legitimate or legal means.
(4) riot - The peace must be disturbed. There is no peace possible
between the preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the enemies of both
the Gospel and Christ.
(5) assault - Who is Jason? Only here and possibly in Corinth with Paul
(salutation in Rom. 16:21)
II. The Accusations against the Preachers of the
Gospel at Thessalonica (17:6-9)
6 And
when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers
of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come
hither also; 7 Whom Jason hath received: and these all
do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one
Jesus. 8 And they troubled the people and the
rulers of the city, when they heard these things. 9 And
when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.
1. Accusation #1 - They have turned the world upside down
(17:6)
2. Accusation #2
- They violate Caesar’s decrees in affirming that Jesus is King (17:7)
These are a mixture of truth and falsehood.
1. Accusation #1 - They have turned the world upside
down (17:6)
These that have turned the world upside
down are come hither also
turned
the world upside down - This is a good translation, with which the English Standard Version and
the Holman Christian Standard Bible agree, but is often misunderstood as if it
were intended in a positive sense.
Had they done so?
Or, would the effect of the Gospel preached be such that it would do so?
“This
is the glorious doctrine which was the strength of the Apostles when they went
forth to the Gentiles to preach a new religion. They began, a few poor
fishermen, in a despised corner of the earth. They turned the world upside
down. They changed the face of the Roman empire. They emptied the heathen
temples of their worshippers, and made the whole system of idolatry crumble
away. And what was the weapon by which they did it all? It was free forgiveness
through faith in Jesus Christ.”
Old Paths
“As someone has
put it, the man who believes above all else in the will of God, may turn the
world upside down, if only he is convinced he is an instrument of God’s will.
By the same token, however, he can be as unresistant to circumstances as butter
to a knife, so long as he is convinced that the knife is God.”
- S. Lewis
Johnson,”The Doctrine of Election, Part V”, on the SLJ Institute at http://sljinstitute.net/systematic-theology/soteriology/the-doctrine-of-election-part-v/ [accessed 16 AUG 2014].
“He that hath the Son hath
life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life (John 5:12).’ Stunned, I
realized what was the obvious truth: to know Jesus Christ is to have eternal
life!...My world turned over. The experience was like being blindfolded, taken
to an unknown place and then having the blindfold stripped off. The ecstatic
joy I felt cannot be described…”
- Douglas Higgins, Autobiography of a Yorkshire Christian
(Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, n.d.).
“The Gospel we preach should embrace both history and
prophecy all of which directly impacts the present. What has already happened and the prophecies
that have already been fulfilled must be seen in connection to what God will
yet do in order for us to be faithful messengers of His Gospel. Simply put, the Bible’s teachings concerning
the future, prophecies as yet unfulfilled, must not be left out of our Gospel
ministry. Let us turn the world upside
down by proclaiming the whole counsel of God!”
- John T. Jeffery, "Between Two Worlds" (Is.
61:1-2), sermon preached at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA (27 DEC 2009).
2. Accusation #2 - They violate Caesar’s decrees in
affirming that Jesus is King (17:7)
these all do contrary to the decrees of
Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus
Another half-truth in their false accusation in spite of
themselves. It renders their accusation as false, yet indicates that they did
get something of the implications and applications of the Gospel being
preached.
If we are not accused of this then something is wrong.
This is a truth that needs always to be clearly proclaimed, and often is not.
Indeed, there are those theologians and preachers who would deny that Jesus is
King, at least not yet. And He is not just another
king, as these accusers phrase it. Confessing Him as Lord, and affirming
His ascension to the throne in glory, does not allow for any denial that He is
King of kings and Lord of lords. He always has been. His own confession was
that all authority on earth and in heaven has been entrusted to Him. He
certainly King Jesus now that He has ascended into glory and been enthroned
there by the Father. He surely will
always be King Jesus, and will be seen as such when every knee bows and every
tongue confesses Him as such at His second Advent.
He is Lord.
He is Lord.
He is risen from the dead, and He is Lord.
Every knee shall bow.
Every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Conclusion:
I. The Responses to the Preaching of the Gospel at
Thessalonica (17:1-5)
1. The Realities of the
Gospel (17:1-3)
1) The Personal
Realities of the Gospel (17:1-2d)
2) The Practical
Realities of the Gospel (17:2d-3a)
3) The Primary Realities
of the Gospel (17:3b-f)
2. The Responses to the
Gospel (17:4-5)
1) The Response of Faith (17:4)
2) The Response of Unbelief (17:5)
II. The Accusations against the Preachers of the Gospel
at Thessalonica (17:6-9)
1. Accusation #1 - They have
turned the world upside down (17:6)
2. Accusation #2 - They violate Caesar’s decrees in affirming that
Jesus is King (17:7)
[Sermon preached 17
AUG 2014 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown,
PA.]
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