July 17, 2022
Evening Service

Paul and Silas in Thessalonica

Acts 17:1  Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 

Acts 17:2  Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 

Acts 17:3  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." 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Acts 17:7  Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus." 

Acts 17:8  And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. 

Acts 17:9  So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. 

The intention and understanding of Paul when preaching and explaining, was to prove that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus suffered for us because He could not purchase our redemption without the suffering in our place. This was the debt we owed and could not pay and He paid our debt and did not have a debt of His own. In addition to this, Jesus would also need to rise from the grave to apply the redemption for us. The message concerning Jesus to be preached is that He is the Christ; it is in Him we secure the hope of being saved by His redeeming grace and we are resolved to be ruled by Him as our Lord. The Jews who did not believe Jesus was the Messiah were angry because the apostles preached to the Gentiles that they might be saved. This is a very odd and begrudging thing that men would be angry about a gift given to non-Jews when they themselves were not willing to accept the privilege of salvation through Jesus. People in authority and regular citizens should not be discontent about the Christian believers growing in number. These persecutors of Jesus were so devout in cancelling Jesus and His followers; they characterized a spirit of evil when they devised their schemes. We need to be watchful in today’s time of these schemes, being careful not to engage with them. Our desire should be to stay away from anything that may steer us away from a righteous life for Christ Jesus. We are very fortunate in our country to have the freedom to believe and worship according to our own convictions, in honor of that privilege; we can hold our Lord in high esteem and show others through love that our Lord cares for His creation. Being convicted of our sin and belief in our Lord Jesus as our Redeemer lets us have a clear conscience about our own lack of a sin free life and a belief in the One who lived the sin free life and paid our debt.

Paul and Silas in Berea

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. 

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. 

Acts 17:12  Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. 

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. 

Acts 17:14  Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away, to go to the sea; but both Silas and Timothy remained there. 

Acts 17:15  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. 

The Jewish people in Berea were serious in their search for the truth. The looked into the scriptures concerning the message preached by Paul. They not only heard Paul preach, but also daily searched and studied the Scriptures comparing what they read with what they heard preached. This is a good thing for us to do even in today’s time because it confirms the message preached or contradicts the message preached. God will bless our time spent in the scriptures with study and prayer for the truth. If we lack wisdom, the scriptures say in the book of James to ask and God will give it liberally. The creed of Christ is not intimidated by our questioning; apostles for His cause will hope that people fully and fairly study the Word to find out if things taught are true or not. It is a sign of wisdom to make the Scriptures the rule for the truth in living a godly life and to turn to them consistently. We should hope that the hearers of the gospel message become like the people of Berea, receiving the word in their hearts and minds, searching the Scriptures every day to confirm the things preached to them are the written Word.

Paul in Athens

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. 

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. 

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. 

Acts 17:19  And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? 

Acts 17:20  For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean." 

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. 

The Areopagus was a hill on which met the highest governmental council and later a judicial court. Athens, Greece was famous for philosophy, learning, and the fine arts; but most of this learning was not useful knowledge. It was for the most part if not totally, pertaining to idolatry. The enthusiastic believer in Jesus as the Messiah was ready to give an account of the creed of Christ to all audiences as the occasion presented itself. Most of these philosophical men did not pay much attention to Paul; but there were some of them whose beliefs were more radical and contrary to Christianity and they questioned him about the message he preached. The apostle Paul made sure to speak consistently on two points of emphasis, Christ Jesus and a future condition; Christ is our only way, and heaven is our destination. The people of Athens considered this as very different from the knowledge taught and professed for many years at Athens; they desired to know more of it, but only because it was something new and different. This seemed to me as one who is a hearer of the Word only and not a doer. They took Paul to the Areopagus where judges sat who inquired into such matters. They asked about Paul's doctrine he was preaching, not because it was good, but because it was new. Well known philosophers spend about all their time in nothing else but talking, and this leads to an unmerited account of their time. Time is a precious commodity and we should be diligent to use it well. Our eternity depends upon how we use our limited time, but we waste a lot of it in unprofitable conversation rather than devotion to God.

Paul Addresses the Areopagus

Acts 17:22  Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 

Acts 17:23  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: 

Acts 17:24  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. 

Acts 17:25  Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 

Acts 17:26  And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 

Acts 17:27  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; 

Acts 17:28  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.' 

Acts 17:29  Therefore, 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. 

Acts 17:30  Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 

Acts 17:31  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." 

This sermon given by Paul to the men of the Areopagus was much different from the message he preached to the Jewish people. These people were worshipping false gods, and were without the true God in the world, their faith was without substance and their gods were not at all God. In the sermon to the Jews, his goal was to lead the hearers by prophecies and miracles to the knowledge of the Redeemer, and faith in Him. In the sermon to the men of Athens, his goal was to lead them by the evidence of providence, to know the Creator and worship Him. The apostle Paul spoke of an altar he had seen, with the inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. After a great increase of their idols to the maximum, some people at Athens thought there was another god of whom they had no knowledge. There are many in the world today who call themselves Christians, they are intense in their devotions or religious actions, yet the object of their worship is to them an unknown God! We much know our Lord and Savior, this is the relationship often spoke of in churches. Notice here the glorious things Paul says of the God he served, and would have them to serve. The Lord had been long-suffering with man and his idolatry, but the times of this ignoring humankind’s actions were now ending and by his apostles, he now commanded all men everywhere to repent of their idolatry. Each group of these learned men would feel powerfully affected by the apostle's chosen words, which expressly pointed to the emptiness and falsehood of their beliefs.

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." 

Acts 17:33  So Paul departed from among them. 

Acts 17:34  However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. 

The apostle Paul was more welcomed with outward consideration at Athens than in some other places he had been; but this group at Athens despised his doctrine more so than any other and regarded it with the coldshoulder. It seems that all topics that deserve the most needed awareness and regard actually get the least attention given. However, those who mock or despise the Word will have to bear the consequences, and the Word will not return void. Some who hear the Word will receive it and will cling to the Lord and listen to his faithful servants. Knowing the Judgement to come, and Christ Jesus being our Judge, we should urge all to repent of sin and turn to Him. Whatever is necessary to be used, all our conversations and messages must lead to Him, and show His authority as Almighty God! Salvation and resurrection can only come from Him and by Him.

I thought of these men of Athens after I completed my study and a memorable saying from my dad came to mind. He said that there is nobody anywhere that is completely useless, even the worst of people can be used as a bad example. We need to be very careful in regards to idolatry, the idol does not have to be something fashioned by hands, it can be anything in place of our Lord Jesus.