Turn your Bibles to Acts 17. Let's turn the world right side up. Let's turn the world right side up. Acts 17, verses 1-9. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in as was His custom. And on three Sabbath days, He reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, this Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ. Some of them were persuaded You see that? Some of them were persuaded. Not all of them, but some of them were persuaded. They joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks, God fears, and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob. They set the city in an uproar. They attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring him out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, these men who have turned the world upside down have come here also. And Jason has received them. And they are all acting against the decree of Caesar, saying that there is another king. Jesus and the people in the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. I know the text says from the city officials that these men are turning the world upside down, but the reality is they're turning the world right side up, turning the world the right side up. If you go back historically, just think of it this way. In the garden, it was right side up. It was right side up. It was calm, it was orderly, it was good, it was peaceful. But by one man, sin entered into the world and thus all became sinners. And because of this event of falling into sin, the world was turned upside down. From Genesis until Jesus comes, your responsibility as a believer in Christ, the responsibility of, by the word, Baptist Church, is to do everything we can to turn the world right side up. To turn your marriage right side up, to turn your parenting right side up, to turn your employment right side up, to turn your neighborhood right side up, to turn the world right side up is the responsibility of the Christian church and of the Christian. Now, I could do these things all day long, but just to suffice a couple of examples, I'll give you a couple of examples from the Old Testament. There's a man, a prophet by the name of Elijah. And Elijah prophesied during the days of Ahab. Ahab was wicked, wicked, wicked. He was one of the most wicked men that ever led during that era. On top of him being so wicked, he was married to Jezebel. That was even more wicked. So think of these short verses. Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all that were before him." And then he's married to Jezebel, as I said, and, quote, there was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel, his wife, incited. He's doing evil, and his wife's encouraging him to do more and more and more. One day, Elijah comes. Here's the consequences. There's going to be a drought. You're not going to see any rain. Here come the preacher and Ahab together one day. And what is said by Ahab? Is it you, O troubler of Israel? Ahab looks at Elijah. Are you the troubler? Are you the problem? No. Elijah's trying to turn Ahab's world right side up. Or you could think of a man by the name of Amos, who prophesied during the divided kingdom. Amos was from the southern kingdom of Judah, and he goes up to the northern kingdom of Israel, and he begins to preach up there. And it says in somewhere, 1 Kings 21, there was none who sold himself to do what was... Hey, that's not it. Scrap that. In Amos 7, verses 10 and 11, Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. Notice what he says. The land is not able to bear all his words. Amos is preaching. It's like he's preaching out here in the northern kingdom, and we can't bear what he's saying. Why? Because Amos is saying something like this, quote, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, Israel must go into exile away from the land. So, the word comes together, Amaziah contemplates what he says to Amos. This is what he says, O seer, go! Go. Flee away to the land of Judah. Translation, go back home from where you came and preach there because we don't want to listen to you no more. You're stirring up the whole northern kingdom. Amos is not doing wrong. He's trying to turn them right side up. Now, if all of that didn't make any sense to you, let's get real clear. I was working on my land this week, and you'll see a pile of dirt. And if you look at the pile of dirt, it's fairly calm. And you'll see an ant, two ants, and they seem to be at peace just walking around on their dirt pile. It's fine. But take you a shovel and put it under the bottom of that dirt pile and pick it up and turn it over. Turn it upside down. And then you see fury and rage. Ants everywhere going a million different directions. They all seem like they're spitting fire. Now, in love and compassion, because you care about ants. Work with me. In love and compassion, you care about ants, and you want to restore them to right order, so you take them one by one and return them to the pile. Anybody? You're going to get bit. It's going to be problematic. And on top of that, they don't even understand what you're trying to do. That's where we're at. We're in one big ant pile that's been turned upside down. And it's the gospel that's trying to put the ants back in right order in order that we can be right side up. That's what we're doing. Alright, verses 1-3, Acts 17. Kids, keep that in your mind. You know about ant piles. This is applicable to you as well. Let's do a little bit of historical stuff and then we'll move into some theology and application, but I want you to see a little bit about what's going on here. Modus operandi is defined as a particular way or method of doing something. It's your characteristic. It's a well-established pattern of life. We'll get to that in just a moment. In the book of Acts, just historically, so maybe not exciting, but historically, just understand the dynamics. The church is moving from the most prominent religious city in the world, Jerusalem. That's where they're moving from. And they're going to the most important secular city in the world, Rome. from Jerusalem to Rome. That's the journey we're taking as we work on this second missionary journey. We're traveling down the Via Ignatia Way. It's a very well-traveled road. It is the main route from Rome in the east, and it passes through Amphipolis, which is nearly surrounded by water, and it goes through Apollyona. They're traveling down this well-traveled road. Now Apollonia, Apipolis, is the capital and the first district of Macedonia. That's where Philippi is situated. That's where we've been in Acts. Philippi is about 30 miles southwest of there. Apollonia is a farther inland. About a day's journey, about 27 miles. 30 miles, 27 miles. I have no record that Paul did anything in these two cities. And then you go to Thessalonica, another 35 miles. And when they get to Thessalonica, it's a major city with approximately 200,000 people. So in this long second missionary journey, we're just talking about from Philippi to Thessalonica, and we're making this journey of about 92 miles. Now, it's not worth quibbling over, but since they've had the smack beat out of them, they've got bruises and sores, and the distance to be traveled per day, it's most likely they rode on a beast, a horse or a mule, something like this, to make 30 miles in one day. I doubt very seriously if they're walking that far. So they had some type of beast of burden to carry them, and they end up in Thessalonica. I know that's just historical, maybe not fascinating to you, but here's a fascinating quote. The highways of the empire became for Paul the highways of the kingdom of God. F.F. Bruce. We're all going to walk down this road. Let's just claim it for the kingdom of God. We're going to take the gospel message down this road. Now, Paul and Silas, I know from my text, are here for a minimum of three weeks because he reasoned for three Sabbaths. I got that. That's clear from the text. unclear as this is that it's probably a lot longer than that. Probably a lot longer. How do we know it's longer than three weeks? If you study 1st and 2nd Thessalonians and understand the relationship Paul and Silas have with Thessalonica, it seems to say, hey, they were there for quite a while. If you want better proof than that, there's a church by the name of Philippi. And in Philippians, this is what is said. He says, even in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs once and again. So there's this continual ongoing support from Philippi while Paul and Silas are in Thessalonica. So to have that kind of support, it takes more time than just three weeks. I'm saying that because Paul and Silas are going to get thrown out of the city. But they were there for a while. That's all I want you to know. They're in Thessalonica for a while and they're doing what is his M.O., his modus operandi. They're accomplishing his custom in this city. That's our thought. That's our foundation. Now let's move forward. When it comes to modus operandi, how you function, if you think about physical things, let's make it simple. What's your M.O. for physical things? You eat. Every day. You drink every day. Most of you go to work on a regular basis. This is what you do. Or you could throw in a few hobbies or a few interests, and this is just what your physical life is made up of. Wake up, eat, go to work. Come home, eat, go to bed. This is your physical MO, if you will. We need to develop in our lives a spiritual MO. In a sense of our spiritual MO, there should be something in regards to, he reads this Bible. He memorizes Scripture. He meditates on Scripture. It's Sunday. Oh, he's at church. Don't call him. He's not going to answer because I know he's at church. Why? That's what he always does. Where he's always at, serving his church. spiritual things, your M.O. that it communicates to your family, your friends in your neighborhood. This is the M.O. of my neighbor. They are God centered. Just giving you a layout of an M.O. modus operandi. When you have a modus operandi and you have it long enough, I'll give you another word. It becomes your custom. It becomes your custom. It's an important biblical word. It means to maintain a tradition. Be a custom. This is the thing I do. This is my custom. Very much like M.O. Now, think about Jesus. Recollect. He comes to Nazareth. Luke 4.16. He comes to Nazareth. where he had been brought up. Comes back to his hometown. What is he going to do when he comes home? What do you do when you go home? Jesus comes home, and the text says, as was his custom. Comes home, and he's going to do his custom, what he always does. What's that? He's going to go to the synagogue, he's going to open the scroll, and he's going to read. That's His custom. Have a spiritual custom like unto Christ. Or Mark 10, verse 1. He left there. Jesus left there. He went to the region of Judea, beyond the Jordan. Crowds gathered to Him. And again, as was His custom. What was His custom? He taught them. It's giving you a basic foundation. Everybody in this room, man, woman, boy, girl, child, you have a custom. It's what you do. It's what your life is. Your friends know it. Your parents know it. Your grandparents know it. All the people around you at school know it. They know your custom because this is what you do. But as Christians, Our custom in day-to-day life, in our homes and in the marketplace, ought to be radically different than the custom of the world. Customs should clash. All the world does this, the Christians do this. In opposition, our custom is different because our master is different, our book is different, our heart is different, our mind is different, so our custom is different. In the next chapter, you can glance there. I will not do much as I will preach it someday later, but in Acts 18 verse 5 as we talk about custom, the word customs not there, but you'll understand what we're saying. Acts 18 five. When Silas and Timothy arrived in Macedonia, so later on they arrived there and they find Paul. And what do they find? He's occupied with the word. Why is Paul occupied with the Word? It's his custom. It's what he does. You find him, you find a man devoted to the book. If you look all the way to the end of Acts 18, the very last verse, he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. You look in Corinthians, I determined to preach nothing among you except Christ and Him crucified. This is Paul's custom. It's his M.O. It's how he functions. Is Paul in a new town? Yes. Is Paul preaching? Yes. Is Paul reasoning? Yes. Is Paul explaining? Yes. Is Paul occupied with the Word? Yes. All of those things are true because it's his M.O. Is it yours? Now, think of those thoughts. In our text, in Acts 17, after you see the word custom, verse 2, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days, then look at your text, you find two more words. He reasoned with them from the Scriptures, and then verse 3, explaining and proving. The word for reasoning has to do with disputing, has to do with dialogue, has to do with question and answer. This is his custom, this is what he does. Now, I don't know if it helps you and maybe it just bores you. I hope it doesn't bore you. You should actually love the Word of God. But I give you these quotes from the Word of God on Paul reasoning. Acts 17, 17, he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and devout persons. Acts 18, 4, he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. Acts 18, 19, He came to Ephesus. He left them there, but He Himself, He goes to the synagogue. He reasons with the Jews. Acts 19, 8 and 9, He entered the synagogue for three months. He spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. When some became stubborn, they continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the way before the congregation. He withdrew from them, took the disciples with them, reasoning daily in the hall of Theranius." And then in Acts 20, verse 7, the first day of the week when they were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day. And then the ESV changes it, but it says, "...prolonged his speech." It's the same word. Paul reasoned with them into the wee hours of the night, so much so that Eutychus fell asleep and fell out of the window and died. What are we doing? How does this relate to my life? We're getting there. But just know this. Biblically speaking, unequivocally, without question, this is Paul's M.O. This is his custom. This is what he does. This is his life. There's no regrets in this. He is devoted to reasoning with people about Christ and the Kingdom of God. Why would he do this? For their souls. For their good. For eternity. In His reasoning, there's two things that He does in His reasoning. And there's two things that we need to do in our reasoning. What are they? He opens or reveals. Look at your text. He reasoned with them and you see the word explaining. Explaining and proving. The word explaining is the word to open. Explain or interpret. You remember It's Emmaus Road, and these two dudes walking down the Emmaus Road, and they run into Jesus, and they don't know it's Jesus. And they're having this discussion. They're like, are you the only guy in all of Israel who doesn't even know what's going on around here? And they're like confused, and so there's this conversation. And then you find there in Luke 24 that Jesus opens the Scripture, and they understand, and they get it. Just like Jesus opening the Scripture to those two men, that's what Paul does. This is his custom. To take the Old Testament text, Genesis all the way to Malachi, unroll it, unfold it, and open it up and say to a bunch of Jews who believe in God but have misunderstandings about Jesus, he's going to say, look here in this text, let me open it and show you Christ. opening the Scriptures. That's one. Secondly, he commends places before them. So Paul's going to open the Scripture and set something before them to come in before them. Like at the end of Acts, in Acts 28, Remember, there was that appointed day for him, and he came to his lodging, and all these great numbers gathered together. You remember that phrase that says, from morning to evening, half a day. Let's chalk it up to six hours. He does what? Expounds. Commends. Sets before them. Clearly, notice, from the Scriptures. That's what he does. Testifying what? About the Kingdom of God? And he's trying to do something. He's trying to convince them. good preaching, trying to convince you of something this morning. He said, why are you urgent? Why do you spit when you talk? Why do you get fired up? He said, look, I'm trying to convince you of something. I'm trying to convince you as a believer in Christ, that if you have the right custom, and you have the right MO of your life, and that you would devote yourself to something that matters, that your life could be a part of turning the world right side up. You want marriage help? I'll give you some this morning. You want help parenting? You want help on your job? I'll give you some. If you will learn to make Christ the very preeminent One of your life, you'll be right side up, and then you can have an effect upon the world in which you live. In Acts 28-23, He says, expounded to them. It is just a bit different of a Greek word. The preposition on the front of this word is a little bit different than the one in Acts 17. It has a little bit different definition. Let me just give it to you. To convey information. by careful elaboration, explain, expound. Let's put it this way. I want you at least, whether you believe or not, I at least want you to understand what I'm saying. I don't want to be vague, I don't want to be confusing. Like, here's a pile of ants, turn it upside down, and they're really, really mad. Everybody can get this. Put the ant back over here. It doesn't want to be put back over here, but it needs to be put back over here. It bit me on the hand, it bit me on the arm. This is terrible. You understand that when you take something upside down and turn it right side up, there's opposition. Don't write to me and say, please pray for me. I posted something on the internet and people are mad at me. Don't do that. What did you think? They were going to give you an award? Hey, the Pope went to hell. Everybody's mad. Look, I can't help you. You posted it. What did you think this was going to say? Oh yeah, burn, baby, burn? It don't work that way. What he's explaining, I have to say this again because you've got guys that have such a poor view of the Old Testament. Understand from Acts, Paul is using the Old Testament. I don't know how to say it any clearer. Paul is showing Christ. unfolding and opening up before their eyes, this is your Messiah. This is the Anointed One. This is the One who died and was resurrected. This is the One who redeems. This is the One who is your only hope, Christ. And every reference He uses is the Old Testament. Every one of them. I see him in Psalm 22. I see him in Isaiah 53. Shall we go on? All these passages. Luke doesn't tell us what passage. We just know that Paul has a healthy understanding of the Old Testament. He's filled with the Spirit. The Spirit of God is leading him to preach, leading him to write, and in doing so, Christ is being marvelously opened up, set before the people, and they're being challenged to believe Christ from the Old Testament Scriptures. I ask you this morning, what is your modus operandi? Do you... put it this way, switch it however you like. Would your wife say? Would your husband say? Would your children say? Would your co-workers say? Would your best friends say? Well, yeah, he reads the Bible every day. Well, he's always memorizing scripture. I don't know. Every time I talk to him, he just came out of prayer. I don't know. Every time they're always in church. Those people even go to church on Sunday night. I think they're in a cult or something. He even goes on Wednesday night. He must be in a double cult. I mean, is that what's known about you? Is that you're a man, a woman, a boy or a girl that is committed to the things of the living God? That's who you are? You put forth effort to read, study. to be under biblical preaching and teaching. There's a famine in the land, not of bread and water, but of hearing of the Word of God. So much nonsense. So much nonsense. Have you found a place where there's a book open and it's exegeted and it's expounded and you say, come hell or high water, I don't care what you do, but it's for me and my house, we'll be in our church because we want to hear from God every single week because we're needy. Is that your modus operandi? Make it your custom to turn things right side up and use the only means that God has given you. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm coming back to it. I'm going to say it now. I'll come back to it again. Your little kid says, Daddy, I have a baseball game Sunday. And you say to your little boy, you say, look here, this family's right side up. And this family is going to be in church on Sunday because King Jesus is number one in this house. And your baseball game can be sacrificed, but we're not sacrificing Christ for your baseball game. You say, my kid's going to be mad and he won't be my friend. He might get mad, just like the ant pile. Just like the ant pile. But he's going to know that he's in a household that has a right-side-up mentality. And dad, stop being a pansy. Stop being a wimp. And lead your children in the fear and the admonition of the Lord. Show them that Christ is first. They see you. They hear you. They watch you. And they know whether He is or not. Oh dear sir, make Christ the number one where your life would be right-side-up. Even if it makes your kids mad. Number two, verse four. If you're keeping track, that's the longest point. We're downhill now. And some of them were persuaded. Amen? Did you see that? How many in this room have shared the gospel and somebody didn't believe? And you're like, I don't know, I'm going to give up. Nobody ever believes. There were some. There's always some. Don't give up sharing the gospel. Don't give up preaching. Don't give up track distribution. Don't give up standing boldly for Christ on your job and in your family. Your kid might get saved. Some were persuaded. They joined Paul and Silas. I don't believe in church membership. Well, these people joined. As did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. Persuaded to be won over as a result of persuasion. To be persuaded to believe. ESV uses a different word in Luke 16 31, but it's the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. And it says this, it's at the end. He says to him, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced, neither will they be persuaded, even if one rise from the dead. Or in Acts 26-28, one more reference, Paul declared the gospel with persuasion. You'll remember this. Agrippa says to Paul, you remember? In a short time, would you persuade me also?" Put in a little insert for preaching here. This is my insert. Preaching that doesn't persuade, preaching that doesn't seek to convince, preaching that doesn't seek to draw is not preaching. This is what preaching does. We are trying to convince. We're trying to persuade. Pastor, are you wanting everybody in this room to get saved more than you understand? I am praying every week for your kids and for your grandkids and for my own grandkids. I'm praying for men and I'm praying for women. Why? I want you to repent. Right now, this day, this hour, in this church service, I want you to repent. I want you to put your faith in Christ Jesus. I want you to be baptized by immersion. I want you to declare your testimony to this church that Jesus has saved you. And I want all of heaven to rejoice. I make no apologies. I preach for conversion. I preach with persuasion. And I'm longing for somebody to be resurrected from the dead. That's what preaching does. These people who heard Paul preach joined. prosklero, they join. They come together to be in close association. They attach themselves to. These goofy discussions. I don't think membership in the Bible, it's not in the Bible, I don't think membership is biblical. I don't know what Bible you're reading, but the gospel is preached and they join. Joined what? Oh, they just joined Paul and Silas. You understand those who join are the framework and the foundation for what? The church at Thessalonica. And then there's two letters written to that church that you can read about, because that church was formed and grown. What church? The church where people joined. Men, women, leading women, Greeks, God-fears, Jews joined together in unity. And this diverse, pragmatic group, they come together, In unity because they believe one thing. Christ. They heard Christ preached. They repented and they have believed. They're placed within the local body. In Acts 20, verse 4, you don't have to turn there, but Aristarchus and Secundus also joined the church later on. I just want to note the people, because I think in this culture this is an alarming statement here, but the people. From verse 4. Some of the Jews were persuaded. So there were Jews. I don't care. I'm not apologizing. There's not two ways of salvation. One for the Jews and one for the Gentiles. I don't care what dispensationalism you want to try to pipe down. It ain't working. There's only one gospel. There's only one way to glory. It's through repentance and faith in Christ. These Jews are only going to get to heaven because they believe Christ. Then there's some Gentiles, God-fears. They're attached to the synagogue in some way. They believe in God. They're not clear about all the things in Jesus. And they're persuaded. But then note, there are some prominent women also. No male chauvinism here. Some women joined the church. Women like Lydia over in Philippi. They could have been women who were married to people who were city officials that led in the city, or they could have had leading positions themselves in the city. Whatever the case may be, if you're going to have a church, it ought to be made up of men and women. And I didn't know there was a day when men sat on one side and women sit on the other side and all that. I don't know where all this stuff comes from. I just think the church is made up of men and women and brought together in one in Christ. And because I live in 2025, I have to say it, but that's all there is is men and women. It's not complicated. I'm seeking. So some of these were pagans, and there's little to no doubt that in between the synagogue ministry that Paul had that during the week, I wonder what he was doing. Oh, he was in the marketplace. Just preaching the gospel. In a week, he's out taking the Gospel. And on Saturday, he's in the synagogue and he's exhorting the Scriptures to them, opening, explaining to them. This is his custom. I'm seeking this morning with those thoughts to turn you right side up. For those of you in the room that are lost in this room, still haven't repented and believed, your life will never have any sanity until you repent and believe in Christ. It's the only way you can be right side up. You're never going to experience all that there is to experience in the Christian life until you get a right view of the local church. I could write a book of names of people that wanted to reap the benefits of this church, but never willing to join it and become an active part of it. And you know where they're at? I don't either. I don't either. You have to have a right view of the church. Join, as Brother Jeff said to me the other day, from the first day until the last they were together. That's church. Or if you want to quote the old hymn, when the roll is called up yonder, are you going to be there? Are you going to be there? Have you joined and become a part of this Christianity? But now let's make it a little more personal. The upside-down world Definitely needs to be turned right side up. Your family. His wife says, well, I don't want to go to church today. What you going to do? I don't want to get out of bed this morning, sir. What are you going to do with your wife? You're accountable for her. My kids don't feel good this morning. What you going to do, mom? What are you going to do, Dad? Just let them stay upside down in the bed? Let me ask you this. If it was Saturday morning, and you promised to take your kid fishing, would he be well enough to get in the boat? Right? You say, well, they just don't feel good. Look, turn them right side up, slap them on the back side with a good belt and say, look, in this house, the church is a priority and we're going to honor Christ whether you like it or not. You say, oh, we can't do that. Sir, you make your kid take a bath. And little Johnny come in from playing, and he's all dirty. He goes, I don't want to take a bath. You don't take a bath, or you don't get this belt on your backside. You'll make your kid bathe, but you won't make them come to the house of God? Oh, I don't want to force religion on them. Then let him be stinky in your home and not bathe. Think this stuff through. Turn your world right side up. On your job. On your job, they say this, they say that. They say, I'm overworked and I'm underpaid. I do all of this and they don't pay me enough. And they come over and they tell you all this stuff and you say, well, that's not the case for me. What do you mean? How much do they pay you? It doesn't matter what they pay me. You say, well, what are you talking about? You see, you say to them, I am a Christian. And you see, I don't work for your boss that you have. I work for a higher boss, and I work and do what I do as unto the Lord, and He always meets my needs, and I'm satisfied with Him. You say, I do that, and they don't want to talk to me. Turn them right side up. Show them what's true. We could go on. We have to suffice with that. But again, when you start making stands in your home, mom and dad, with your children, please, make a stand. Show them biblically. Lead them. You're the parent. You're the authority. Stop letting your kids run your life. It's not the way it works. Parents lead children. Children are not to lead parents. It doesn't work that way. I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy. Ball game, soccer game, event, school, blow my horn, toot my trumpet, run down the field, catch my ball, do this stuff. At what point are you going to be concerned for their soul? But I'm telling you, When you try to put ants back in the pile, it gets kind of crazy. Menacing opposition, verses 5-9. I know there's more text here, but not near as long. When the gospel is held up to make people right side up, people are angry. Wives get angry. Husbands get angry. Kids get angry. People get mad. Why? Because they've got a conscience. and they feel conviction. These people are angry. They form a mob. They set the city in an uproar. They attack the house of Jason. I think this Jason is the same one you find in Romans 16, 21, who's a co-laborer with Paul. They do all this stuff. Not the preacher, not Paul, not Silas. The world's doing all of this. They literally grab Jason at his own home and drag him out. And other guys that are there with him, they drag them out because they can't find Paul and Silas. This is the opposition of the ants. They're really, really mad. They're really, really angered. And they're really biting. And notice, they make the accusation. These men, these men, they said, they said, they said, they did, they did, they did. Paul and Silas are preaching the gospel. You're bringing all these accusations because you're jealous. Because you're angered that we're trying to turn things right side up. It says about these that they're troubled. Inwardly, they're in turmoil. They have been shaken up, shook up, shooken, shaken up, shooken up. Work with it. And so they make him pay a bond. But I missed this before, but here's what happens. You pay this bond and this bond, you're making a promise and a guarantee that Paul and Silas are getting out of town and they're not going to be in Thessalonica no more. If you hold true to this, you can have your bond back. But if Paul and Silas come back to your house, you're going to have to pay the money or you're going to have to go to jail. And so a divide is set up that prohibits Paul and Silas from coming back to town. It's sad, but it happens. You can't come back. And you'll get it when I read these texts. In 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 18, Paul says, because we wanted to come to you, We wanted to come back. We really did. I appalled again and again. Satan hindered us. If we come back, it's going to cost Jason. He's going to have to go to jail. He's going to have to pay a fine. I wanted to come and I wanted to come, but we knew we couldn't come. What are we going to do? I'll just send Timothy. And so you look in 1 Thessalonians 3, verse 2, we send Timothy, our brother, God's co-worker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in the faith that no one be moved by these afflictions, for you yourselves know that we were destined for this. We can't come, but we'll send Timothy, and he will do these things because we've been excluded because of this event. You say, man, that's terrible. Yeah, answer mean. Answer mean. They'll buy you. They'll run you out of town. They'll tell you you can't come back. But you can't stop the gospel and you can't stop Timothy from coming. If it's not Timothy, it'll be somebody else and somebody else and somebody else. The truth will march on. Why? Because God through the church and individuals in the church is turning the world right side up. When seeking to turn the world right side up. Don't be surprised. If there's opposition. I can only submit a short statement at this time, but just stick through the opposition and you'll reap the benefits. You want me to put it in marriage terms? Work through your little quibbles long enough and then you'll have sweet times of intimacy. But if you just divorce when you get mad, you'll never see them. If you're a pastor in a church and things get bad and you quit, then you'll never see the things that you would see if you stayed 10 years or 20 years. Work through the difficulties and the opposition and see if God will be with you through the midst of it, cause you to grow, and you'll have some sweet and beautiful times. You say, if I do all this to my kids... Stick with it, Dad. Read the Bible. Pray. Stick with it. Keep living it out. One day you'll reap some harvest. One day you'll see if you'll stay with it. And the greater difficulty is that in putting ants back in the ant pile, as we talk about humanity, the problem is people love their sin and they really like being upside down. That little peanut over there, he's doing some kind of dance, I don't know what he's doing over there. He's a peanut, what do you want him to do? He's my grandson, I can talk about him if I want to. But one thing he's really good at is he can stand on his head. That's impressive. I've tried it, but it's dangerous. But he could stand on his head for quite some time. But when he stands on his head a long time and then you flip him over, he's a little bit dizzy for a minute. Takes a little while for things to calm down. I'm just telling you the gospel makes some people dizzy. But if they'll stand right side up for long enough, they'll get some sanity in their head and life will make sense. But you're going to have to fight through it to turn the world right side up. Alright, we're at the conclusion. That means we're at the end. Now it's not some long speech where I delay the sermon another 30 minutes. Right? You remember Isaiah? Isaiah said this in chapter 5. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and shrewd in their own sight. Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, valiant men in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of his right." Upside down. What comes next? In the days of Uzziah, I saw the Lord. high and lifted up, and the train of His temple filled the temple, and all the angels of Seraphim were crying, Holy, Holy, Holy! It is only God, the power of the Gospel, that can turn the world right side up. Dear sir, dear ma'am, little boy, little girl, Your life will never have meaning until Christ is the very Lord of your life. Repent and believe in Him. Christian families all through this room, members of this church all through this room, what's going on in many of your families, what's going on in many of your relationships is the result of decades of trying to be a Christian living upside down. You're reaping upside-down Christianity. It's going to get messy, but get your head out of the dirt, look up to Christ, and lead your family in a godly way. If you do so long enough, then you'll reap the benefits of being obedient unto the Lord. As Brother Jeff comments, Father in Heaven, thank you for this day. Thank you for this reminder that although the world is crying out that the church is turning the world upside down, Lord, we know the truth of the matter is we're seeking to turn the world right side up. Because we care. We care for their souls. We care for their lives. And we want what's best for them. We care for their souls more than they care for their own souls. So help us to be faithful to the Gospel. Help us to be faithful with our living. Help us to encourage our neighbors, our co-workers, our friends, and our family. Help us to stand firm in putting Christ above all other things. We pray these things by Your Spirit, in Christ's name,