From
Acts to Revelation
Part
45 – Thessalonica
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House
of Faith Church | www.PS127.org
| www.TruthDigest.org
INTRODUCTION
Last week, we looked at the scriptures, and
saw how God worked through Paul and Silas, and even though they were in prison,
God used them and their example, to save the souls of the guards.
We see repeatedly through the second
mission trip of Paul's, how he gives and gives to the people, and time and time
again, some will receive, and others will reject.
Paul, however, like Jesus, does not chase
people down, nor force the Gospel on anyone.
One must, as Jesus says, “Come to me...”
One must simply, “Call on the name of the Lord...”
It is our duty as a believer, to share this
Gospel of Jesus, so that they know on whoms name they must call for salvation!
We will see from today's scripture, how
Paul continues to preach the same message, and in doing so, a lot of the times
gets the same response.
Some will listen, some will get saved, but
in the end, someone will be angry, and because of “religion”, plot against the
message of the Cross.
Last week we saw how important it is for us
to remain faithful, regardless of our outward situation, so in those times, we
may be a greater witness than when everything is going perfect in our lives.
This week, we will see how we are to stay
steadfast on the path that Christ has laid before us, following the Holy Spirit
and continuing in the work of sharing the gospel.
This is to take place, whether one person
receives, 2,000 receives, or NONE receives.
The truth is the truth, and must be shared,
regardless of the response.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Acts 17:1-9
17 When
Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came
to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was
his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days
he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the
Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am
proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. 4 Some of the Jews were persuaded
and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and
quite a few prominent women.
5 But other Jews were jealous; so they
rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a
riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and
Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. 6 But when they did not find them,
they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city
officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the
world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into
his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another
king, one called Jesus.” 8 When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were
thrown into turmoil. 9 Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let
them go.
I.
FIRST PRIORITY OF A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST
a. Paul
and his companions immediately begin sharing the gospel in the local synagogue.
i.
For three Sabbaths in a row, Paul shows
scriptures about Jesus
ii.
Paul has been directed by the Holy Spirit,
following the path from city to city, being led to the Synagogue to bring the
truth of the Gospel to God's people.
iii. We see
that Paul takes the Gospel, first to the Jews.
b. Paul,
using what we call the Old Testament, proves Jesus is the Messiah
c. Everything
needed to prove this is in the Old Testament, nothing more is needed!
i.
Verse 3 says that Paul explained, and
proved that Christ the Messiah had to suffer. He probably used scriptures, such
as;
ii.
Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
iii.
Exodus 12:13 “The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you
are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague
will touch you when I strike Egypt.”
iv.
Isaiah 53
v. Paul
also said that he had to rise from the dead!
vi.
Leviticus 14:1-7 which
is symbolic of resurrection
vii. Psalm
16:10 “because you will not abandon me to the
realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.”
d. Christ,
the Messiah, the one that the Old Testament points to, is, and can only be
Jesus.
i.
Remember, Jesus fulfilled over 400
prophecies from the Old Testament. Many of which were fulfilled by others
actions!
II.
WHAT TO EXPECT AS A FOLLOWER WHO TESTIFIES
CHRIST
a. SOME Jews
were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas
b. So did
a LARGE number of God-fearing Greeks (Gentiles)
c. and QUITE
A FEW prominent women
i.
Which could have referred to the wives of
some of the Civil Rulers of the city, or other influential men.
d. BUT,
other JEWS were jealous
i.
not God-fearing Greeks
ii.
NOT prominent women
iii. NOT
Gentiles or Romans...but JEWS
e. This is
the perfect example of “religious” people;
i.
Refusing the light of the Gospel
ii.
Then, setting out to put a stop to the
spreading of the light
f. It is
not just customary for Paul to preach in every synagogue when he gets to a
town...
i.
but it also seems to be a running theme,
that there are some Jews, or Sadducee, or Pharisee who become jealous at the
teaching that Jesus is the Messiah.
III. HOW
THOSE WHO RESIST GOD WILL TREAT YOU
a. So
these Jealous Jews formed a mob
i.
They recruited bad characters
from town
b. They
proceeded to start a riot
i.
Blaming the mob they had created with bad
characters, and the riot itself on what Paul and his company were preaching.
ii.
Sound familiar? Doesn't this still happen
today?
c. What
this shows us, is that these men could NOT Scripturally counter Paul's message,
so they resort to other measures.
d. The mob
could not find Paul and Silas, so they rounded up Jason and other believers and
took them before the magistrate
i.
At this point, their anger was going to be
taken out on someone, whether Paul or another believer.
ii.
This happens today, and was told to us in
scripture. The Book of John tells us that Christ is the light, and darkness do
not accept Him, and we have the light in us, who believe, and the world will
not receive us either.
iii. What
else does the scriptures say? “The world first hated me...”
e. The
Jews, once again as we have seen previously in the Book of Acts, did not charge
the believer's with the real issue, which was teaching Jesus was the Messiah.
i.
Because they knew that this would make it a
civil matter, a religious issue that had nothing to do with the power and
authority of Rome.
ii.
So, they twisted the issue, and charged
that they were breaking Roman laws.
iii.
These men, because of their “religion”, had
so much hate, that they lied, and knew they were lying, to put a stop to that
which they did not want to accept. Jesus is the Messiah!
f. They
were imprisoned and had to pay bond to be released.
CONCLUSION
We need to remember that
sharing the Gospel that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, on who’s name we MUST
call to be saved, is not something we “should” do, rather, something that ALL
followers of Christ MUST do.
We have a priority as a
follower of Jesus Christ, ad that is to teach the Gospel, so that those who are
still out of communion with the Lord, those who are at odds with our Heavenly
Father, may restore that relationship, in the only way possible.
By having our sins, and their
debt, paid.
This was done at the Cross, for
those who will call on the name of Jesus, and be saved.
If you have never called on the
name of Jesus to be saved, then your debt for sin is still owed, and payment
will be collected when you die, for the wages owed for sin is death...not
physical death, because you will already be dead when the payment is collected.
No, this is referring to Spiritual death, where you will be cast into eternal
hell.
Call on the name of Jesus, and
receive the free gift, which is the payment for your sins, so that when you
die, you will be with the Lord in Glory, forever, AMEN!
Want to learn more about Salvation and
Getting Saved? CLICK HERE!
