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All right. Good evening, everyone.
Tonight, we will pick up in Acts chapter 17, Acts chapter 17,
and we'll cover, let's see, verses one through 1 through 9. I'll read over those
verses and that's where our focus will be. It says, 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. And some
of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas as did a great
many of the devout Greeks 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 and set the city in an uproar. and
attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to
the crowd. And when they could not find
them, they dragged Jason and some of his brothers before the
city authority, 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 decrees of Caesar. Saying
that there is another King Jesus And the people and the city authorities
were disturbed when they heard these things and when they had
taken Taken money as security from Jason and the rest then
they let them go Amen Now in chapter 7, or in this chapter,
chapter 17, it focuses on three parts of Paul's, three
locations I should say, that are a part of Paul's second missionary
journey. having been released from jail
in Philippi at the end of chapter 16. In this chapter we see his
interactions in Thessalonica, which we'll be looking at tonight,
and then in Berea, and then later in Athens. So the first thing
that we want to focus on, especially as he goes here into Thessalonica,
is that his target audience in this encounter is obviously the
religious Jewish community. We see that in verse 1, or in
verse 2. where it says, and Paul went
in as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned
from the scriptures. So even though we know that in
chapter 13 he's resolved to focus more on ministering to the Gentiles,
Here, he follows his ordinary pattern of first going to the
religious Jews, seeking out a synagogue. Now, as a further note there,
it is worth pointing out that Luke says he spent three Sabbaths
there. And as a point of clarification,
We know that Paul obviously spent, or not obviously, but from other
portions of Scripture, for instance, in Philippians 4.16, we know
that Paul spends an extended period of time there because
the Philippian church or the church of Thessalonica were sending
him support. So he obviously, so when it says
that he remained in the synagogue as was his custom, three Sabbaths,
that means three Sabbaths in the synagogues. and not in the
region. So he was in the region of Thessalonica
for an extended period of time so again the three Sabbaths refers
to the time in which he spent in the synagogues and because
even here it mentions how there were unbelieving Or believing
Gentiles who were persuaded by his message So it seems that
in the formation of the church It's after Paul has initially
spent time among believing Jews in the synagogues teaching in
the synagogue So that's that's the first thing to note. But
the second thing is in verses 2 & 3 in particular where Luke
once again summarizes Paul's evangelistic method, especially
among religious Jews. So he summarizes three critical
parts of Paul's evangelistic method as he encounters believing
or not believing, but religious Jews. What I mean by religious
Jews are those who were committed to the Old Testament Scriptures
and had a messianic expectation. So they understood the Scriptures
to be of God, and they understood God had promised a Messiah. But as we've made the point throughout
our journey through the book of Acts, they rejected Jesus
as the Messiah. So even though Paul has basically
vowed that his focus from now on, from chapter 13, will be
on Gentiles, He still engages religious Jews as a means of
bringing them to a saving faith. So here we see the three basic
elements of his evangelistic approach to these religious Jews. The first thing is that he reasons
with them from the Scriptures. So his approach is to begin,
and part of this methodology will follow itself as he addresses
the pagans later at the Areopagus, but here he draws from a common
source. So he reasons with them, and
we see Jesus doing the same thing as, again, I know a lot of this
is repetitious, but we've pointed out how Jesus in the beginning
of his earthly ministry, or his public ministry I should say,
does the same thing. Goes into the synagogues, takes
the Old Testament scripture, was a common source, for the
Christian church and even the religious Jews. They understood
the scriptures, the Old Testament scriptures, to be the Word of
God. And so Paul goes into the synagogues,
and I like the wording here, not only does he draw from a
common source Which is the scriptures the Old Testament scriptures,
but it also says in verse 2 that he reasoned from them And that's
an important phrase and especially as we see their response to it
that later It says some were persuaded So that's a reasoning
process. In other words, Paul took a common
source and sort of explained the Old Testament scriptures.
And so he draws from that common source. But secondly, in reasoning
from the scriptures, Luke also emphasizes that he shows them
from the scriptures the necessity of the Messiah's suffering. Okay,
how the Messiah must suffer death and even the resurrection. Now,
the important thing here is that he's explaining it from the Scriptures. In the same way that in the course
of his earthly ministry, Jesus uses the Old Testament Scriptures
to foreshadow or to explain his coming death. and his resurrection. He even says, you know, just
as the son of man, or as Jonah was in the belly of the fish
for three days, so shall the son of man be in the belly of
the earth for three days. So he spoke, not only in terms
of his coming crucifixions, telling his disciples of the things that
he would have to suffer at the hands of the religious leaders
when he entered into Jerusalem, But Jesus also explains not just
his death from the Scriptures, but even his resurrection from
the Scriptures. So that's what Paul does. He
shows them from the Scriptures the necessity. Now, and by the
way, you notice that it says there, the necessity of the Christ's
suffering. And we're going to come, we'll
see how that develops in a moment, but the Christ refers to the
messianic office. It is the Greek equivalent to
the Messiah. So it's not speaking necessarily
first and foremost of a specific person, but a title, an office,
one who would occupy the office. And part of what's problematic
for these religious Jews, when it came to understanding the
message of the church, is that in their understanding, they,
or I should put it this way, they did not understand the necessity
of a Messiah suffering. That's why Paul says to the Corinthians
that this message of the gospel is foolishness to those who are
perishing, because they don't see this. Now granted, Religious
Jews who believed in the Old Testament Scriptures had plenty
in the Old Testament prophets to portray the Messiah both as
the suffering servant set forth in Isaiah 53, but also as the
conquering warrior. So it's not either-or, but it's
both-and. And as we've talked about on
a number of occasions, because of their immediate circumstances,
the tendency was to look for a conquering king, not understanding
that he who would come to conquer also comes to suffer. So they
separated the idea of suffering from the Messiah. Now what Paul
does here in reasoning from the Scriptures that the coming Messiah
must suffer parallels Luke's own words in Luke 24. when he
has the resurrected Jesus encountering the disciples on the road to
Emmaus after his resurrection, after his crucifixion, and they
are despondent because Jesus has been crucified, and then
he goes on, we've gone over it on a number of occasions, he
shows them from the Scriptures how it was necessary for the
Messiah to suffer these things in order to enter into his glory.
So what Paul is doing is really following the same pattern of
Jesus with his disciples, and then the same pattern of the
disciples in opening up the Scriptures. What makes this interesting is
the way Luke lays it out. He first reasons from the Scriptures. Secondly, he shows them from
the scriptures the necessity of the suffering, death, and
resurrection of the Messiah. And then thirdly, he shows them
from the scriptures that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. So
you notice how that follows in verses 3 and 4, Paul went in,
as was his custom, on the Sabbath days, on three Sabbath days,
and 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 let me pause there for a moment. So you don't
even have to put the name of Jesus in that equation. what
Paul has done, because in their mind, in their thinking, it's
inconceivable of anyone being the Messiah who has died. So
what Paul is doing is showing, as Jesus does, showing them from
the Scriptures that what you are looking for in a Messiah
necessitates His death. And he is, and so even, and notice
again, explains and proves, makes the claim that the Messiah must,
and then he proves it from the Scriptures. So he starts with
the Scriptures, explaining the necessity of the nature of the
Messiah's work, and then the third thing that he does, now
that we've got all of that clear, that the Messiah is grounded
in the promises of the Scripture, that it was necessary for him
to die and to be raised to accomplish what he has been sent or commissioned
to do. And by the way, Jesus, and you
could insert Jesus of Nazareth, is that Messiah. In which case
you see the same pattern of Peter on the day of Pentecost beginning
with Jesus, beginning with the prophetic promises and then making
the point that this Jesus of Nazareth who suffered at the
hands of these religious leaders, God has appointed So he is the
one so the Messiah is Christ and that's exactly what Paul
does here his pattern throughout the the book of Acts and pattern
we see that of the apostles or the disciples in the the book
of Acts and really the pattern of Jesus in his earthly ministry,
especially and notice we emphasize his ministry among Believing
or not believing excuse me again religious Jews Jews who believed
in Yahweh, in the word of Yahweh, and in the messianic promise
of Yahweh. That's his methodology. Begin
with the scriptures, explain the work of the Messiah through
the scriptures, and now make the case that Jesus of Nazareth
is that Messiah. Which brings us to another thing,
which is another pattern that we have seen throughout the Book
of Acts. As we noted last week, also,
and we kind of focused on that a little bit, and that is the
jealousy of unbelieving Jews. And what comes out of that jealousy
is instigation. Instigation at two levels. instigation
of the populace, the people, and then politically with the
authorities. That's what the unbelieving Jews
or the less religious Jews have done. It's difficult to say because
what Paul does, granted, Some that he ministers the gospel
to among the religious Jews are those who are persuaded. But
among those who are not persuaded, the flip side of it is they become
jealous. And their jealousy fuels over
to the less religious Jews of the populace. Now there's an
interesting transition of words here because what that does is
that's what unleashes the antagonism against the disciples. So in
this case, we begin with what the ESV, the translation of these
people that are used by these unbelieving religious Jews who
have heard the word of Paul and Titus concerning Jesus as being
the Messiah, they've rejected the message, and they are jealous
of the impact that Paul, or not just of the impact, but I would
say even of the message itself. They are jealous of that, and
so you notice what it says, and then in verse 4, and some of
them were persuaded. But some of them were persuaded
and some of the devout Greeks, leading women, but in verse 5,
but the Jews were jealous and taking some wicked men of the
rabble. That's the way it's translated
in the ESV. Wicked men of the rabble. But the King James renders it
fellows of the baser sort. I love that English, that British
kind of flair to it. Fellows of the baser sort. And
the word, the Greek word that's translated here is really a derogatory
term for what they would have called ordinary people. Ordinary
people who were deemed to be socially inferior. deemed to be most sometimes considered
uneducated and uncouth. So notice the chain of events.
The message has gone out from the Apostle Paul and Titus. They've
shared this message from the scriptures about the Messiah,
and then they make the case that Jesus is the Messiah, the result
is some of the religious Jews in the synagogue are persuaded. And not just the Jews, but some
of the God-fearing Gentiles. That would be the Greeks. It
says the devout Greeks. The devout Greeks is another
form of expressing those who are Gentiles who were God-worshippers. There were different God worshiper
Gentiles who were not fully accepted within the fellowship of the
Jewish community, but they did confess faith in Yahweh, or Jehovah,
the God of the Hebrews, and they were at least allowed somewhat
in the outer circles, and sometimes in the synagogues, they could
study with them, and they were allowed in certain outer courts
within the temple. So what happened as a result
of this preaching and teaching on the part of the Apostle Paul,
many of the, or some of the religious Jews were persuaded, and a great
number of the God-fearing Gentiles were also persuaded, and then
Luke for good measure throws in there, and not a few of the
leading women citizens were also persuaded, which provokes jealousy
on the part of the religious Jews who were not persuaded,
causing them to go and find what they would consider the dirty
work, somebody to do their dirty work. which would be the men
of the rabble. Very interesting phrase, the
men of the rabble. Those that they deemed to be
unacceptable, socially inferior, uneducated, uncouth individuals
who'd be willing to do anything. And so last week we talked about
our, how easy we are to be manipulated just in our fallen state, and
it's interesting how Satan does use our fallen mindset and our
proclivities in his continuing battle against God Himself and
against His church. So in this instance, the religious
Jews in sight Those who may or may not have been religious themselves
by presenting these disciples in the worst possible light. So what it says is that they
go in and notice what it says, he stirs them up and notice what
follows. They go to the rabble, the men
of the rabble, and they form a mob. Look at the progression
of that. The jealous Jews find some people
that they don't have much respect for and they know what tickles
their fancy. They know what will get them
riled up. Hit all of the hot button issues
about Paul and Silas. Rouses them up and then it's
the rabble rousers or the men of the rabble that forms a mob. Again, the religious leaders
at that point can say, well we didn't do anything. We didn't
do this. So the men of the rabble form
a mob. And look at what follows. They
form a mob and they set the city in an uproar. Now remember we
said that what follows here is the agitation, and this is the
pattern again throughout the book of Acts, the agitation against
the church is leveled at two, is seen at two levels. The level
of the populace. that then reaches the politicians.
Isn't it similar with Jesus? Remember when Jesus was performing
miracles, in fact, in the immediate aftermath of the raising of Lazarus
from the dead, and the religious leaders were concerned that hearing
that Jesus had the power to raise the dead, that it would get them
in trouble with the Roman rulers. So therefore, they started a
smear campaign against Jesus, and they reasoned this way, it's
better for one man to die than for the whole of us to be persecuted
by the Roman rulers. So what they did is they agitated
the people to put the pressure on the politicians. Okay? And that's the same thing that
we see here. The religious leaders who have rejected the message
of Paul, Find rabble-rousers, or men of the rabble. Not necessarily
paid, but it doesn't take much to set them off. Give them some
false information and they will do the rest. And what they do
is form a mob who then seeks to lay hand or to, they put the
city in an uproar. And because the city is in an
uproar, it says, and then they attack the house of Jacob seeking
to bring them out to the crowd. Now, the assumption, of course,
is that Paul and Silas had taken residence in the household of
Jason, and for whatever reason, either they were not there or
they couldn't find them. But in any event, we are told
when they could not find them in verse 6, and when they could
not find them, they dragged Jason and some of his brothers before
the city authorities. Now, hold in mind, not to say
that Jason and his brothers weren't present when Paul and Silas were
in the synagogues and teaching. But there is no reference to
them teaching. So therefore, what is about to
follow is a group threat or excuse me, a group attack against the
church and they throw everybody in. They include Jason because
if they can make the stick against Jason, then it allows it to be,
since Jason took them into his home, then that means it must
be true of them as well. So look at what it says. It says
that here's the charge against them that the mob, and you know
what city officials want to do. when there looks like there's
a mob uprising. Don't, because you're always
outnumbered, no matter, and of course now you have different
weaponries or whatever, but you're outnumbered. You have, the people
are outnumbering, outnumber the officials, so you at least need
to take heed. So what they would do is, they
would, if you want to get the authority's attention, then rabble
up the crowd, or rouse up the crowd, and that's exactly what
takes place. They get the people stirred up. He has, they have a mob. The
mob dragged these men out of Jason's house and bring them
before the authorities. And here's the charge that they
bring against them to the authorities. It says, first off, these men
who have turned the world upside down have come here also. First off, that is a good compliment
to the church. If it's, there is some truth
to that, even though it's, we don't know, Jason was probably
a part of the entourage of Paul when he was in Thessalonica,
but the point is, wow, what a, there is more theological truth
to that than they realize, in the same way that the religious
leaders in John's Gospel says it's better for one man to die
than all of the people, because that is really a summary of substitutionary
sacrifice. One dies so that many can live. Not for the reasons and not in
the ways that they mean it, but certainly there's truth to that.
So in a sense, because, and we'll see that even more fully when
we get into the next chapter when Paul goes into Ephesus.
But we've seen evidence of it before. Remember we talked about
the slave girl that they cast the demon out. And because they
cast the demon out of this slave girl, She was no longer profitable
to her owners. That changes the economic order
of things. Later, they will take their magic
books and burn them. So in a sense, when it says,
these are the men, they have turned the world upside down,
there is more theological truth to that than they realize what
they are even saying, but not in the ways they mean it. Because
we see even the religious world of the Jews, you have priests
that are leaving the priesthood to become a part of the church.
You know, you see so many things that they are changing the order
of things. So there is truth to this, but
not in the way that the accusers mean it. It says they have turned
the world upside down, and they have come here also. And by the
way, also, can't you hear in that the words of the Great Commission? Go into all the world, preach
and teach, and make disciples of all nations, and teach them
to observe all things that I have taught you, and when that happens,
when the gospel is declared, whether it's in Samaria or whether
it's in Judea or whether it's in Galatia, when the gospel is
declared and God has appointed those for eternal life through
the gospel, They will be transferred from the power or the kingdom
of darkness into the kingdom of light. And they will be subject
to a greater king. And therefore they become the
citizens of the heavenly kingdom. And that changes the order of
things. We see those who serve this earthly king becoming converted
into the king of the resurrected Messiah. So there is a truth
to this that they do They have turned the world upside down
in a sense, but then it goes on to say these people have not
only turned the world upside down, he says, but they are doing
the same here. Also, they are acting against
the decrees of Caesar. Okay, now remember last week
we talked about the distinction between the political and the
religious persecution that was experienced by the people of
God. And whereas last week we saw
persecution against the people of God for the first time not
initiated specifically by religious Jews. Well in this instance,
it is religious Jews once again who initiate the attack and then
they bring the charge against the political, to the political
leaders. And among other things, it's
religious in nature to the people of God. because we know that
Jesus is Lord. That's one of the early battle
cries of the church, that Jesus is Lord. Maranatha, you know,
that Jesus is Lord. He's the Sovereign One. And so
here's the charge that they bring against the people of God, not
the religious authorities, but the political authorities. They
are in defiance, or they are acting against the decrees of
Caesar. Here's why. They are saying that
there is another king, and that king, obviously, is Jesus. Now, this of course reminds us
of the ministry of Jesus and towards when he was facing Pilate
and Pilate asked him, are you a king? And Jesus says, my kingdom
is not of this earth, but he doesn't deny the fact that he's
a king. My kingdom is of a different order. It plays itself out in
these earthly kingdoms by calling people out of the kingdom of
darkness into the kingdom of light, but it makes us profitable
for both the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness that
is passing away because of the persuasion of those who have
had the gospel preached to them by those who are already citizens
of the kingdom of God. But what the charge that is against
them, and remember we mentioned last week that especially in
the Roman Empire, and this is true for different reasons in
the Greek order of things, but in the Roman Empire, they were
tolerant of other religions. But they did have certain things,
at various points, about kingship. They were concerned, especially
with the kingdom spread as narrow as they were, they were concerned
about insurrection. So if there is one king and the
one problem that would have been persistent, especially in the
area of Palestine or Judea, that was under Roman rule. In other
words, the region that was occupied largely by Jewish people, there
was the concern, there were political concerns because the Jewish people,
A, they thought they had been returned to their fatherland.
They were still this is the land that they had been given by Abraham
and according to their scriptures They would have a messiah who
would be a king after the order or from the house of david So
therefore there were some kingly expectations Remember, we pointed
out that when Jesus was born, this is what precipitated Herod
to kill all of the baby boys that were born among the Jews
of a certain age, because they knew that the coming of the King,
or the coming of the Messiah, was the coming of the King from
the house of David. And the more radical Jewish believers,
they thought that to mean an overthrow of all other kings
and God would establish His eternal kingdom in a geopolitical sense
in that region. And so that was why the Jewish
leaders were saying, oh, no, no, if we do this, then Rome
is going to think that we are exerting authority over them.
That was Herod's concern. That was the Jewish leaders'
concerns. And so therefore these Jewish,
these smart religious Jews who rejected the message of the Gospel
knew what they needed to put in the ears of the men of rabble
because that would stir them up and they could get other rallies
and groups to push against anything that looked like it was insurrection
against Rome. They were rejecting the God of
the believing Jews and rejecting the concept of the Messiah presented
by them, but then they brought those religious charges or put
them in political form by saying that these people defied the
decree of Caesar, by saying that there is another king, and the
king that the one that they are claiming to be king is Jesus. Well, we see then that the people,
it says, and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard
these things. Because again, if this is true,
then we need to squelch this. Because this puts us on the outs
with Rome. And to prove our loyalty to Caesar,
it is our Roman-given responsibility to put, to bring charges against
anyone who would threaten the throne of Caesar. So now, in
Thessalonica, Paul and Silas at this point cannot be found,
but we see the continued attack against the church that is precipitated
by religious Jews who have rejected the church's message from the
common source of the Old Testament Scriptures, that the coming Messiah
must suffer and would be raised again by the power of God, and
that that coming promised Messiah is Jesus, who has been crucified
by the religious leaders and who has been raised from the
dead, witnessed by many who were still present, even though this
is a different region, so they would not have been eyewitnesses
to the resurrection, but that was the testimony of the church.
Well, that message turned the hearts of many people. And as
the message goes forth, this is another example of what Jesus
says, I send you forth as the sheep to the slaughter. No death
comes from this immediately, but certainly Jason and his brothers
were severely treated or treated in ways that are not well. We
see the case of Paul and Silas. He's already been beaten because
of the message that they have proclaimed. But even in that
suffering, the kingdom of Christ advances. Jason and some of his
brothers are dragged out. and the testimony against them
is that these men have turned the world upside down, and they're
here also. And I pray that what is theologically
true of these disciples, now hold in mind this testimony.
These are men who have turned the world upside down, and what
have we seen? Yes, we have seen two parallel
streams. throughout the book of Acts.
What we've seen is a steady flow of God's people sharing the word
of the gospel. From the scattering after the
persecution in Jerusalem that caused them to end up in Samaria,
to them going to other regions. So we see a continuing spreading
of the gospel that has the power to bring people out of the kingdom
of darkness into the kingdom of light as God's people go. But they don't just go because
they have mission conferences. What is it that causes them to
go into all of the world? It's persecution in Jerusalem. is persecution over there. That's
one of the things that gets the church scattered, and therefore
scattering with the gospel, as Dennis Johnson says, gossiping
the gospel into the uttermost parts of the world, is the persecution. So on the one hand, Jesus again
is sending His sheep out, but He's sending them out into hostility. And yet, in the hostility that
they face, they're turning the world upside down. And so that's
the part, you know, what is it that makes them look successful?
Because on the one hand we see Peter and John thrown in jail.
We see James eventually beheaded or Stephen stoned. James sacrificed
and Peter thrown in jail. Paul thrown in jail, beaten,
left outside of the city after his first missionary trip. He
had to be left over the city wall in a basket to escape being
persecuted. But yet, that's the progress
of the church. That's the progression of Christ
sending His disciples into all of the world, because notice
this, and this is the unique kingship of Christ. He says,
all authority, heaven and earth, has been given to me. Now go."
So you have the king's authority which allows us to be subject
to the kings of this world as long as they don't cause us to
disobey the king of kings. So we can submit, but we know
where to draw the line. And so the people of God recognize
that Jesus is King, and submission to His kingship is what causes
them to continue to carry out the requirements of the Great
Commission. Because in that is the power
of the king and the kingdom in ways that baffle us But it is
the power of the king and the kingdom and in doing so The world
is being turned upside down Are there any questions or comments
on anything that we've covered here? Okay, hang on a second What was the significance of
those religious Jews when they pulled Jason out and others?
What was the significance of robbing them? When you say robbing
them? Taking their money. Well, that's
probably a fine. You know, a civic, yeah, they're
having to pay a fine, or what we would call pay a bond, bail,
yeah, pay bail money. So it was structured civically
or politically, but yeah, that's what that's about. They mentioned
something about security, and so I said, what? Right, probably
like a bond. Okay, all right. Yeah. Yes, I
know on the surface it would read like a bribe, but more than
likely it's a bond. So they're charging them for
taking Paul in. Yes, to bring them to the authorities. Yeah, the point is to bring them
in front of the higher up authorities. Now what Luke does in his narrative
is he shifts us from Thessalonica in the 10th verse to Paul in
Berea. So we don't get more details
on what happens in the immediate aftermath. Okay, anyone else? All right, if not, then as we
prepare to pray, let us remember we mentioned Sister Annie Davis
on Sunday. While she was attending a cousin's
funeral on Saturday, she had a seizure and had to be taken
to the hospital. And some other things were discovered,
so she's in the process of further testing. She's been transferred
from Jackson South UM Hospital downtown, so please
keep her in prayer. Also remember Sister Andrea McIver,
who is still waiting for some procedures to be done and further
testing, so keep her in prayer. Sister Tammy Lewis, who's recovering
and doing much better at home. So all of those and others, I
know there are many others that are on our prayer list, on our
regular prayer list, so as we go before the Lord in your personal
prayer time, please remember Remember the needs of the body.
Let's stand. Lord our God we come to you in
the blessed name of our Savior thanking you again for another
time of study for the body of Christ. We pray that we've been
clear and careful in the handling of your word and in doing so
that it is our desire not to just be filled with head knowledge,
but to know you more through what you have revealed about
your grace in the person and work of Christ. and that it would
propel us to consciously live under the Lordship of He that
You have made Lord and Savior. We thank You for what You've
given us in Christ. You've given us every spiritual
blessing in Him. And so we pray that as we are
built up in Him, we would better represent You and reflect Him,
even as we share this message of saving grace. to others who
may not know you. We thank you for the continued
spread of your church and as you have kept us in days of old,
you will keep us into this very present moment until our Lord
returns. But we are not unaware of the
schemes of the wicked one and those efforts to thwart the work
that you have appointed your church to do. Continue to ground
us in the knowledge of Christ and grow us in your grace that
we will share your saving mercies even among in the midst of a
crooked and perverse generation We lift all of the names that
are on our sick and prayer lists those who are recovering those
who are still hospitalized those who are waiting for further procedures
and testing we pray that you would be with them and the doctors
that would minister to their bodies and be with their families
and in their time of decision and the things that need to take
place in going forward. Continue to heal them according
to Your will and strengthen them for Your glory and for their
good, if it would be Your holy will. We pray, Father, for those
who are bereaved and those who are dealing with various trials
that some of which have not even been uttered. but we are yours
and you know us and you have sealed us with your Holy Spirit.
So we pray that we as individual members would be so connected
and committed to our brothers and sisters that we would find
ways in which we can contribute to their growth even as we receive
from them your gifts that you have given and words that you
have given for our edification. We pray for the church universal.
We thank you that things are as well as they are, and pray
that those who are clear and consistent in preaching Christ,
you would continue to build them up as well. We do thank you,
Father, for all that you've given us in Christ, and as we depart
and go into our homes, let the knowledge of your love be our
strength and our assurance, even as we go into our homes, our
jobs, and our communities. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you
for your indwelling spirit. And we ask all of these things
in Christ's name, amen. All right, goodbye folks. All right, so welcome. All right. Thank you.
Acts 17:1-9
Series Acts
| Sermon ID | 512251569847 |
| Duration | 45:42 |
| Date | |
| Category | Bible Study |
| Bible Text | Acts 17:1-9 |
| Language | English |
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