Tonight I'm going to teach on the subject of Acts 17, as you can see from your handout. And then Sunday we will continue in Acts, looking at Acts 17, the second half of the chapter, with Paul going to Athens. But to begin with, I'd like to have you turn in your Bibles to Acts 17. We're going to cover verses 1 through 15 tonight as we are going to see the continuation of Paul's second missionary journey in which he comes to the city of Thessalonica and Berea and local churches are planted in each of those towns. Now we know that Paul is on a second missionary journey, but as he's going he is fulfilling the key verse that the Lord Jesus spoke in Acts chapter 1 to the apostles as to what would be the course of the church age. And that's why it says in Acts 1.8, But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, And we need to always keep in mind that the power to live the Christian life and to fulfill the Great Commission is not in us. It is through the ever-sufficient third person of the Trinity who indwells us. And he says, and you shall be witnesses to me. When we're empowered by the Spirit of God, he points us to Jesus Christ, and we spill who we're filled with. and we become witnesses for Jesus Christ. And then geographically, Jesus says, this will take place in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. And so we have that geographical outline for the book of Acts. And some people have said this is the Acts of the Apostles. Well, indeed, it includes the apostles as they are named, many of them, not all of them, in the book. But we know that Predominantly, the first half of the book deals with Peter, and predominantly the second half of the book deals with Paul, though many other characters are mentioned. And so we are going to see again the Gospel going out through the ministry of the Apostle Paul on his second missionary journey, taking the Gospel to Jew first and also to the Gentiles. And so in Acts 17, we begin in verse 1, where it says, now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Now, if you remember from Acts 16, where we studied last time, where Paul came to Philippi and a church was planted there, you see Philippi on the map here in the upper left corner. Paul had gone from Antioch in Syria Back to the region of southern Galatia where there was Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Antioch of Pisidia, then he went up to Troas where they picked up Luke along the way. And by the way, they had picked up Timothy in Lystra. And so now the missionary team of Paul and Silas has doubled, they have four, they're in Troas, and they go from there up to Philippi. And all of Acts 16 dealt with the planting of the church in Philippi. But now what they're going to do is travel about a hundred miles southwest to Thessalonica. And they're going to travel along what's called the Via Ignatia. These Roman roads, and if you know about the ancient Roman Empire, they built roads and things were built to last back then, as these roads still exist today. You can see them and you can walk on them today. And there was this Roman road that went from Philippi down to Thessalonica, so it was smooth sailing that way in terms of travel. They came to Thessalonica, which happens to be a port city, and had a magnificent harbor that was excellent for trade, which made this city a key city right on the coast there of modern-day Greece. Now, in modern-day Greece, they have excavated this little area here that was the market or the agora of Thessalonica. By the way, the town now is called Thessaloniki. But this is ancient Thessalonica or Thessaloniki. This was their agora, their marketplace. And in fact, this is the very location where you see it excavated here, where the evil men, in verse 5 as we're going to read, were gathered up to form a violent mob to attack the Apostle Paul. So you're looking at real history there. And what we see from verse 1 is that Paul and his missionary team, the four of them, traveled from Philippi to the large city of Thessalonica. And by the way, this city was estimated to be somewhere between 20,000 and 100,000 people, which was a large city at that time. It was also the capital of the region of Macedonia. And as you see on the map here, remember, Philippi and Thessalonica, they were situated in southeastern Europe. as the city of Philippi and its converts to Christ were the first European converts. This whole region was very important historically, as Philip of Macedonia was from there, as well as Alexander the Great, you've heard of him. And so this was a region basically one and the same with ancient Greece, just to the north of Athens and Corinth and some of those other traditionally known Greek cities. But Thessalonica happened to be the capital city in that region under the direction and influence of Rome. In fact, the city was very loyal to Rome. It had a free city status. It had its own standing army and such. And so it wanted to protect that. And that's going to come into play in verse 7, as we're going to see the false accusation against Paul and his missionary team. So keep that in mind. And that brings us to verse 2 where it says, Once they came to Thessalonica, then Paul, as his custom was, went into them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures. He found a synagogue where he knew that they knew the Old Testament or they had copies there. And he wanted to show them from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. And we know that Paul sought out places where there was already a foundation laid, where there was already a basis for truth, namely the Scriptures and the Word of God, so that he wouldn't have to go through all the foundation laying again as to the fact that there's one true God, not a multitude of gods in the polytheistic world, which we will see when we get to Acts 17 with Paul in Athens. So he goes to these Jews. They had the Old Testament. They knew that God was righteous, that man was sinful. They knew the bad news, so to speak. Now they needed to know the good news. And so he goes there. And how long was he there? Well, the passage says that he reasoned in that synagogue for three Sabbaths, or three weeks. We can assume it was probably three consecutive Sabbaths. though you can't be dogmatic about that. But let's just assume minimally three weeks. But we also know that he was in Thessalonica sometime after that. In fact, according to Harold Hohner's chronology, and he's done extensive study on this, he believes and estimates that Paul was in Thessalonica for about three months. And I've put on your handout there this chart in order to not have you scramble having to write down all this information or get your phones out and take a quick snapshot of the screen up here. So you've got it right on your handout. You can see that Paul's ministry in Philippi took place in the year of AD 50, from August to October, so in the fall. And then he moves to Thessalonica from November to January, 50 to 51. So he's there about three months. And then he's going to be expelled from Thessalonica and he's going to go on to Berea and he's going to be there a short time, about a month or so, in February of 51. And then he's going to go to Athens between February and March of 51. And then he's going to go to Corinth from Athens in March of 51. Meanwhile, Silas and Timothy come to Corinth. And then in early summer of 51, he writes 1 Thessalonians. And then in the summertime, he writes 2 Thessalonians. And then we'll get to Acts 18, and we'll see that Paul departs from Corinth in the fall of 52. So there's a chronology for you, a framework for you to understand where the Thessalonian epistles fit into the narrative that we're reading tonight in Acts 17. And this is very important. I want you to understand that 1st and 2nd Thessalonians were not written a long time after the church at Thessalonica was founded. It was just a matter of months, perhaps a half year or so. So fairly recent in terms of when Paul had been there. Now what did he say when he went to the synagogue He certainly didn't spend his time talking about the law or things that are non-essential. He got right to the point and emphasized the gospel. It says in verse 2, as his custom was, he went to the synagogue, he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, saying, this Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ. So we see that he reasoned, verse 2, from the Scriptures, and the term implies a dialogue of such, but he was interacting with them and seeking to lead them in their thinking from the Scriptures. And he was explaining. what the Scriptures teach and giving proofs or demonstrating. The word demonstrating in the Greek text means setting before or making a case is the idea. And then the last term that's highlighted here, the fourth term, is he preached to them this Jesus. Now the term preached here is not the normal term for either announcing as a herald, that would be karuso, nor is it the term for proclaiming good news, euangelizo. It's the term katangelo, which means to announce. So he was there reasoning, explaining, demonstrating, and announcing about Jesus Christ from the scriptures according to verses 2 and 3. And what in particular did he teach about Jesus Christ? What was the focus of his message? What was his emphasis? Verse 3 said, He did all this to point people to the Christ who had to suffer and rise again from the dead, saying, this Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ. And dear saints, I want you to see that his message was not just some informational background about interesting historical connections to a man named Jesus tied to the Old Testament. No, he was proclaiming nothing less than the very Gospel itself. the saving gospel for their eternal salvation. And this message focused on the person and work of Jesus Christ as it's expressed in the gospel. You see, verse 3 is merely a summary of all that he taught for three weeks, summarized in one sentence. But I want you to see in verse 3 as well something else very interesting. Twice it says there that he preached that this Jesus is the Christ. The phrase, the Christ, appears twice. And what does the phrase Christ mean? Or the Christ? It speaks of the anointed one. That's what the Hebrew word, Mashiach, means. One who was anointed. And then Christos, in Greek, its equivalent, means one who's been anointed. And Jesus Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit, uniquely. Because He had the role and the mission of being the Messiah and the Savior of the world, not merely just to Israel, though He was Israel's Messiah. Just as Daniel 9 verse 25 had spoken of such a One who would come, Messiah the Prince, Mashiach. So that's what the Christ means. And it's very interesting as you do a study of the phrase, the gospel, throughout the New Testament. You see that it's often coupled with this prepositional phrase, of Christ, the gospel of Christ. Eleven times that occurs in the New Testament. And that's how it's translated in the New King James Version. But do you realize that in the Greek text of every one of those eleven, it's literally the gospel of the Christ. a specific message about a specific person. And that's why, in fact, one author titled his book on this very subject, The Gospel of the Christ. And now you can see why I did that. But there are those who teach, unfortunately, in our day, who claim to be evangelicals and who are free grace, they're against lordship salvation. They teach that there is a distinction between Jesus being the Christ in the Gospel of John versus the Gospel message that Paul preached, for instance, in Acts 17. And they would say, based on John and his use of the term Christ, that to be the Christ means that Jesus is the One who can guarantee you eternal life. That's all it means. It doesn't necessarily mean He died for our sins, or that He rose from the dead, or that He's fully God who became a man. None of those things. See, they actually teach that to require belief in all of those things I just mentioned is excessive, it's too much, it's adding to the saving message per se. And all God requires is that you believe someone named Jesus can guarantee you eternal life. And they base that off of several statements misinterpreted out of the Gospel of John. But notice in the purpose statement for John's Gospel what it says here, in 20, 30, and 31. And notice that this is at the end of the work of Jesus Christ for our redemption. By the time you get to the end of chapter 20 of John's Gospel, Christ has already died on the cross and cried out, it is finished. He's already risen from the dead and showed himself to Thomas with the nail prints in his wrists and his feet and side and such. He's alive from the dead. But it says, and truly, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, besides standing before Thomas in that immediate context, showing Himself alive as the crucified yet risen Savior. Many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written. Why? So that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. Now to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, requires belief that He is no one and nothing less than the One who died for our sins on that cross and rose from the dead. And yes, He guarantees eternal life. Why? Because it's finished. as John 19.30 said. But you cannot separate the work of Jesus Christ from Him being the Christ. You see, when John speaks of here in his purpose statement, leading the reader of his Gospel to believe that Jesus is the Christ so that they might have eternal life, he's explaining the exact same message that Paul is preaching in Acts 17 about Jesus being the Christ. And what two acts in particular, going back to Acts 17.3, did Paul emphasize about Jesus Christ? Well, number one, that the Christ had to suffer, and that speaks of His death, and also He had to rise again from the dead. Why did He have to die first and suffer? Well, because He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And you see, the Old Testament Jew with their scriptures had all these promises of a glorious coming kingdom and such. In fact, that was the problem that Jesus Christ's first coming, the nation of Israel was looking past their greatest spiritual need of having their sin forgiven and paid for by the death of the Messiah. They were looking forward to the glory of the kingdom and his second coming to the earth. They didn't understand that it took two comings. But let me ask you this, if Jesus died to pay for the sins of the world, and the Word of God says He's coming back to rule and reign as the King of the world, then wouldn't He have to rise again from the dead as well? Well, certainly. By deduction as well as by explicit proof from the Old Testament, Psalm 16, 9-11 sets forth His resurrection, as well as many other proofs. implicit or explicit. He had to die and he had to suffer. And this underscores again the content of the Gospel that we've been seeing throughout the book of Acts. That this Gospel message that is proclaimed to the world centers in a specific person. We must tell people about Jesus Christ. The good news of the Gospel is not us or a church, It is about the Son of God and the Son of Man, and what He did in particular to pay for all of our sin and to rise from the dead so that salvation could be offered freely to man, paid for fully by Christ, and offered simply by God's grace. His unmerited undeserved favor, it's not by any works, it's simply received through faith in Him and Him alone. And this two-fold emphasis upon Jesus Christ's work, we're going to see when we get to Acts 18, is also the message that Paul preached to the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 15, verses 3 and 4, where he sets forth the Gospel, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. And remember he was using the Scriptures there in Thessalonica in the synagogue. And that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. But I want you to see that even though Acts 17 verse 3 mentions Paul's gospel to the Thessalonians, and it doesn't explicitly say right there in verse 3 that he suffered for their sins, that phrase is left out, I do believe that he did emphasize the payment for our sin. In fact, the very mention that he suffered certainly implies the greatest suffering passage of the Messiah in the Old Testament, Isaiah 53. If you were going to spend three weeks in a Jewish synagogue telling people about Jesus Christ, how He was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy about the coming Messiah, And he had to suffer for us. Wouldn't you go to Isaiah 53? The quintessential suffering servant passage? Certainly. And there it very clearly says, he not only died as a fact of history, he accomplished something. He paid for our sin in full and in our place. Speaks of this, the penal substitutionary atonement. In fact, I want you to just put a marker here in Acts 17 and go to 1 Thessalonians 4. This is a passage that Pucci just taught on Wednesday night. And I want to bring out something more that expands on Acts 17.3. In 1 Thessalonians 4, where Pucci taught last Wednesday, he began in verse 13 and taught through verse 18 on the rapture. And in verse 13 it says, "...but I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope." Evidently Paul had taught them much about prophecy. We know that from 2 Thessalonians 2 when he was there for that period of three weeks to three months. In that time span he taught them all kinds of detail about prophecy. But one thing he maybe didn't teach them or they didn't catch that he's writing to clarify for them, is what would happen to those who died in Christ before the rapture? Well, they knew that they were going to be resurrected. They knew that they'd get a new glorified body. That was beyond question. The question was, are we going to be raptured together? When is our reunion with deceased loved ones in Christ going to take place? raptured and resurrected before the tribulation? Are they going to have theirs at the end of the tribulation? Are we not going to see fellow loved ones in Christ for seven years? Or is it going to have to be after the 1,000 year phase of the kingdom? I mean, how long are we talking about here? And so Paul clarifies for them that, oh no, we're going to be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, because we're one in the body of Christ. And even though they've preceded us in death, and we who are alive, we'll still be caught up together at that moment. They'll go up just before us and we'll go together. But notice what he says in verse 14. The very condition or requirement, the precondition to go up at the rapture is this, verse 14. For if we believe, first class condition in the Greek, it's assumed true that we and you Thessalonians have believed this, if we believe that, and that statement, that, speaks of specific content. If we believe what? That Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus." Notice, in order to get in on the rapture, you have to be a believer in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ during the church age. Now again, this verse, verse 14, doesn't specifically say we have to believe that Jesus died for our sins like 1 Corinthians 15.3 and other passages. But I do think that the Work of Jesus Christ in paying for our sin is implied in the passage. In fact, that phrase at the end of verse 14, those who sleep in Jesus, literally in the Greek text is those who sleep through Jesus. It's not the normal Greek preposition for in, which is en. It's the preposition dia, normally translated through or by. I like what D. Edmund Hebert had to say regarding this phrase, sleep literally through Jesus, in verse 14. He says, the more probable meaning is that through the atoning work of Jesus, what was stark death for men without hope of the resurrection has become simply sleep. This glorious truth was first demonstrated in the death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, Acts 7. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus has disarmed death and removed its sting for believers. Through the Jesus, literally translated in verse 14. That phrase points to an effect wrought by the Jesus mentioned in the first part of the verse. His death and resurrection have changed the nature of death. And while you're in 1 Thessalonians, look at chapter 5 and verse 9. After again promising that we will not be part of the tribulation, we'll be raptured before then, it says in verse 9, For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now I don't think he's referring in verse 9 just to tribulation wrath, but rather to all wrath. Generically, he's arguing from the broad to the narrow. that if in the sense of Romans 5, 9, and 10, we have been delivered from all wrath, then certainly we are exempted from tribulation wrath and we won't go through the tribulation as well. But notice verse 10, he says, "...who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him." Now what does the death of Christ have to do with our escape from the wrath of the tribulation? Well, we're reminded that we're exempt from all wrath because Jesus bore our wrath in our place. And that implies again His death in our place, paying for our sins. So what does all of this imply going back to Acts 17 about the content of the Gospel for salvation? It implies that Christ's work is necessary to believe for eternal salvation. It's one thing to have the framework for the Gospel. You know, you understand there's one true God. He's righteous in character. That man is sinful and justly condemned. But the picture that is framed in the middle is the message of His death and His resurrection, which accomplished our eternal salvation. And I say all that again because there are those in free grace circles who are teaching that the saving gospel message is distinct from this saving message. that doesn't include his death and resurrection, a crossless, resurrectionless gospel. By the way, a deity-less gospel as well. Notice what Bob Wilkin, the director of the Grace Evangelical Society, says. He says, the gospel is the means by which someone comes to believe the message of everlasting life. But the gospel is not the message of life. The expression, the gospel, is never used to refer to the message of life. or the saving message anywhere in the New Testament. Stated another way, a person who believes the Gospel may or may not have everlasting life. You see, his argument is this, that there are Roman Catholics who've heard about Jesus dying for our sins and rising from the dead. There are Eastern Orthodox. There are all kinds of professing Christians. But yet, they don't have eternal life. Why? Because they haven't believed what's truly saving, he says, This fact that someone named Jesus can guarantee you eternal life. And when you believe that, then you finally get it. So yes, His death and resurrection might be preparatory, might be helpful, but it's not actually essential. And that's how they get around this. He goes on to say, later in the same book, nowhere in the entire Bible are we told that the person who believes the gospel has everlasting life, is saved, is justified, will never die spiritually or anything of the kind. Is that true? Well, we're going to see that is not true. Just hold on for a second here. We'll go to 2 Thessalonians in a minute. But we've seen Paul's Gospel now presented to the Thessalonians in Acts 17, 1-3. And now we see the Thessalonians' response to this Gospel in verses 4-10 as we go back there. In verse 4, it says, And some of them were persuaded, and a great multitude of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women joined Paul in Silas. In other words, they believed and they continued believing, walking by faith. They were disciples who were taught by Paul after they believed the Gospel. So we see here a great response, a great multitude of God-fearing Gentiles in Thessalonica responded positively, and their response is described as having been persuaded by the Gospel of Jesus as the Christ. They were persuaded. Now how does 2 Thessalonians 1, verses 8-10 clarify the response to the gospel. Well, if you would turn with me there next, 2 Thessalonians 1. And remember, Paul is writing this only about six months or so from having gone there and presented the gospel to them. So this is a very fresh description of their response to his preaching. Notice in 2 Thessalonians 1, starting in verse 8, it says regarding those who reject the gospel, it says, In flaming fire God will take vengeance on those who do not know God, on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. when He comes in that day to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed." So Paul comes to town, he preaches Jesus is the Christ, that He died for their sins, He rose from the dead, he preaches the Gospel message. That was just a summary in Acts 17.3. And they believe. It says in Acts 17.4, they were persuaded. Believing is equated or linked with being persuaded. And we've seen so far in previous studies and acts that if someone believes a gospel message, it means they've become convinced or persuaded that something is true of that gospel message. They believe it. Or, as we've said in the past, faith or believing is to be persuaded so as to trust. You're not going to rely upon Jesus Christ if you don't believe or you're not convinced He really did die for your sins or rose from the dead. And the term that's used here for persuaded is, or rather, it's Pytho. And so we see that the idea of being persuaded, obeying, and believing the gospel, they're all one and the same. In fact, some people have been convinced, or confused rather, what's 17 in Thessalonica? But there were also those who were not so positive. as we read on in verse five. But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the Agora, that marketplace we saw, 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. Now, they were evidently looking for Paul, and probably Silas. 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, and i.e. to do the same thing. Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, namely Jesus. And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. People were very upset because remember, this was a city that was loyal to Rome. They were a free city. They had a privileged status in the Roman Empire. They did not want to jeopardize that. And if Rome caught wind that there was an insurrectionist coming through our streets and we let him preach and propagate this, that wouldn't be good for us. So the city turned against them. Verse 9, so when they had taken security from Jason, he probably had to post a bail of some kind and promise that, you know, Paul's going to move on. And he did. Then that satisfied them. They weren't going to kill Paul or anything else, just let him go free with the understanding that he's probably not going to come back. So that's probably what happened, most scholars say. Then they let them go. Verse 10, then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. Now, why by night? Because he was probably fleeing for his life. There were still people who wanted to kill him. This was a very dangerous situation. And when the brethren send you away and say, you need to leave town, pastor, this is a bad situation. So there were those, on the one hand, who responded positively, were saved for eternity. On the other hand, there was great opposition. So negatively, those Jews who were unpersuaded formed a mob and violently attacked the believers, falsely accusing them of upsetting public order and of sedition against the emperor. Now, as you read the New Testament, it becomes very clear from Romans 13, and even what Peter writes in 1 Peter 2, that they taught that we should respect those who are in authority, submit to them, unless those in authority over us are telling us to do something that God says not to do, or they forbid us from doing something that God says to do. But in every other case, we are to submit. In fact, Christians are model citizens in many respects. Because if you could submit to a higher authority than Caesar, then you should have an easier time submitting to Caesar. But they were falsely accused of upsetting the public order, namely these people who are turning the world upside down. Now they've blown through our town and they're causing trouble here. Well, who are the real troublemakers? Those who oppose their message. Secondly, they accused them of sedition, to say that there's another king besides Caesar, namely this man named Jesus. And by the way, who else was similarly accused on the same charges? The Lord Jesus himself, right? In the same book, or author rather, Luke, who wrote Acts in his gospel, he says in Luke 23, 2, that they began to accuse Jesus, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ, a king, i.e., a threat to Caesar. And by the way, They have falsely accused the master, won't they accuse similarly those who follow him? Jesus said, if they've called me Beelzebub, will they not call you the same? So what practical lessons related to these events in Thessalonica can we learn and even weave together from the epistles of first and second Thessalonians? It's very interesting now that you have this historical background. Well, turn with me to 1 Thessalonians, and we're going to see some of these lessons. First of all, when they believed the gospel, they did so amidst much suffering. In chapter 1 of 1 Thessalonians, it says verse 6, actually verse 5, let's back up. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word, but not only that, you received it in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit." Now put those two thoughts together there at the end of verse 6 in your mind. They received the word, the gospel message, the good news that Christ had died for them. He rose from the dead. They had eternal life by grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They knew that if they died they were going to heaven. They had joy. But they took it in the neck for Jesus Christ as well. And so you can be persecuted for Christ and yet have joy. And they had that. Look at chapter 2, verse 14. Paul says, I have received opposition from my countrymen, the Jews, and you have from your Gentile countrymen as well. Verse 14, For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea, in Christ Jesus. How so? Well, those Jewish believers have been suffering for decades. Now it's your turn. For you also suffered the same thing from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans. And he goes on. And so expect opposition. Notice in chapter 3, verses 3 and 4, Paul says that he wanted to know concerning their faith how these Thessalonians were doing because he had been separated from them. Verse 3, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions. Apparently the Thessalonians still continued to suffer persecution after Paul had been kicked out of Thessalonica. For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. Remember Philippians 1.29, it's been given to us on the behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. Therefore, be a partaker with me of the afflictions of the gospel, he tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 1. Verse four, for in fact we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, not the tribulation, but tribulation just as it happened and you know. So just as I had suffered for Christ in Galatia, just as I had suffered in Philippi, when I came into town in Thessalonica, I told you, guys, this is what's going to happen. You're going to hear the Gospel message, and then there's going to be persecution that breaks out. Be ready for it. And it happened. Why? Because when the Gospel is preached, though it's good news, it's also an offense to the pride of man. And there is an inherent offense to the gospel that cannot be removed unless you change the gospel itself and add works to it to appeal to the pride of man and you have another gospel. And that's what people do who don't want to suffer for the afflictions of the gospel. Now that doesn't mean that every time we share the gospel, there's gonna be this eruption. In fact, usually we don't see much of that around here. In fact, we try to be wise in trying to minimize some of that so that we don't cut off opportunity to keep sharing the gospel, for example, at our fairs and such. But there is this affliction of the gospel. And this is how it's gonna be until the rapture and Jesus Christ comes back. Because this is the devil's world system And religion is always opposed to the truth of the gospel of God's grace. And saints down through the ages have known this. But they've also kept in mind the perspective that Paul shared with these Thessalonians that they had as they went through their trials. That they knew that God allowed these sufferings and afflictions as part of His plan. for His glory in a greater way and even to reward the saints along the way, to refine them and cause them to grow as they responded. That's why Romans 8, verse 18 says it so well, For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. And as 2 Corinthians 4 verses 16 through 18 say, it's not even an equal weight or comparison. The tribulations, trials that we're going through now are working for us a far more and exceeding eternal weight of glory while we look at those things which are not seen rather than the things which are temporal, which are seen. And that was their perspective, and we need to have that in mind as well, as we are willing to share the gospel and suffer whatever consequences may come. We also see from this church that they were a model church. While we're in 1 Thessalonians, look at chapter 1, continuing on after verse 6. It says, verse 7, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. Now there are those who say that the response that Paul's going to mention in verse 9, of turning from idols to serve the true and living God, is the definition of true saving faith. And unless you're willing to do that, you're not truly a believer. But do you realize that Paul's explanation to them in verses 8 or 7 and following, are that they were not only believers who got eternal life, but they became examples to fellow believers in Achaia and Macedonia. They were model Christians. They were a model church. And if you had to get into heaven based on turning from idols to serve the living and true God, like the Thessalonians, well, that would be a bar set too high. Who could get that? That's why he says you became a model among those who believe. Verse 8, For from you the word of the Lord sounded forth. It went from that key city in Macedonia, namely Thessalonica, out to these other towns like Amphipolis and Apollonia, which Paul passed through. He assumed that the word of God would spread from a greater, larger city, a key city like Thessalonica. and also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and secondly, to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. Now I want you to see here in terms of the structure, if you were to outline grammatically or syntactically these statements in verses 9 and 10, that turning from idols is modified or qualified by two infinitive phrases, to serve and to wait. Now think about this for a minute. If you had to turn from idols in the sense of stopping sin, per se, in your life, in addition to believing, then wouldn't faith plus works be required for salvation? Yeah, it would. But to serve and to wait. How many people do you know who say, oh, well, if you want to go to heaven, you not only have to believe in Jesus, put away your idols, which, by the way, Christians still commit idolatry, put away your idols, and you have to serve, Very few are willing to say, oh, by the way, you also have to wait for his son from heaven. I've hardly ever heard that added as a requirement for salvation. But I want you to see that grammatically or structurally, these are parallel. They go together. Turning from idols means to serve the living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven. That's what it's saying here. But they were a model church in the sense that they were believing, they were serving, they were waiting, they had their eyes fixed on Jesus Christ. They became role models to the other churches. And they were taught about and motivated by the prospect of Christ's imminent coming at the rapture. Do you realize that in every chapter of 1 Thessalonians, there is a reference to the coming of Jesus Christ? at the rapture. This was their continued hope. Paul expected Christ to come in his lifetime. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them. And that should be our blessed hope practically as well, even as it is doctrinally. For that event is the very next event, prophetically, on God's prophetic timetable. They lived in light of the coming of Christ. And I'll tell you, dear saints, my heart yearns more and more for Jesus Christ to come back. In fact, I just told one of the staff yesterday, As we talked about planning for other things, I just said, you know what, if Jesus Christ came back at the rapture and none of this transpired, I wouldn't be disappointed one bit. Hallelujah. But I think with that prospect of Christ coming for them, it purified their life. It refined their thinking. It clarified where their true priorities should be. and it had a profound effect. And don't ever diminish the importance of teaching Bible prophecy, not for curiosity's sake, and there can be that method of study, but rather its effect upon our Christian life. It's very profound. I want you to see this as well, that they lived with the prospect of Christ's kingdom coming as well, and their part in it. In 1 Thessalonians, look at chapter 2 and verse 12, where he mentions this. He says in verse 11, and you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his own children. To what end? Verse 12, that you would walk worthy in a fitting way is the idea of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. Notice, you've been called into his kingdom and glory. They lived in light of that future coming kingdom. Look at 2 Thessalonians 1 with me next. In 2 Thessalonians 1, he says again that they were walking by faith, they had love for one another, So that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience, that is, your endurance and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy fitting is the idea of the kingdom of God for which you also suffer." Now he's not saying in any sense that you're not going to, you may not be in the kingdom if you don't suffer. No, the fact is we're going to be in the kingdom once we believe in Christ and our position is in Christ, our future destiny is sealed and settled. But now the path between here and there is marked with trials, Acts 14 says, so that we must go through them as part of the purifying process, as part of our growth, as a testimony to the world, etc. but they kept their eyes on this future king who was coming. Now the word worthy needs to be clarified. The leading lexicon BDAG, it's called Bauer, Denker, Art and Gingrich defines it as fitting or appropriate. That's what worthy means. Get two sides of the scale to balance out. So in other words, Your life should be fit your eternal destiny. In practice, you should live up to your position. That's the idea. And so I want you to see, dear saints, that if you've put your trust in Jesus Christ and you have the assurance that you're going to be in that future glorious kingdom, that should impact your walk now as you go through the trials and the sufferings of life. so that you can let those be used of God to accomplish his purposes in your life and be used for good. So that's the church in Thessalonica, some great lessons there, and we could expand on this even more, but Pucci's been teaching through that book, so I'm gonna leave it with that. But the second church we see in Acts 17 is the church of Berea. Paul moved from Thessalonica to Berea, where he preached the gospel there. And the city of Berea was a little ways farther south and west of Thessalonica. It was situated on a river up on a hillside. In fact, it was a terraced city. And so when you picture Berea in your mind, it was kind of like the Duluth hillside. And we know about the Bereans that they were noble in their thinking. In fact, their posture towards the word of God in Paul's preaching became proverbial so that we can just simply say, we should be like the Bereans. And everybody knows as a believer what we're talking about, right? If you know the Bible. So what does it say in Acts 17 verses 10 and 11? It says, then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. And when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Well, surprise, that was his custom, to the Jew first and then also to the Greek. Verse 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. That interpretation or translation in the New King James, fair-minded, I think, is actually not as good as the original King James translation, which says they were more noble. Because the Greek word actually speaks of nobility, those who were of a higher social status or rank. And in terms of their character, they carried themselves or conducted themselves nobly. And so Paul basically says, For Luke says, these people were more noble-minded than the Jews who had rejected the gospel in Thessalonica. Now, in what sense? Well, they were ready to receive the Word of God. They were not resistant. And secondly, they didn't just meet week to week. They met every day to confirm that what Paul was saying was true. And the term that's used here in verse 11 is that they searched the Scriptures daily. This speaks of a diligent searching. It's a term used for proving out a case legally. They wanted to know if this was really true, and so they were intent on getting to the bottom of this. But what does that say about their perspective on God's Word? They started with the assumption that God's Word is true. They had their Old Testaments. And if what Paul is saying is true about this Jesus, then it's got to line up with the Old Testament. They had a very high view of the Bible, and they compared what Paul is saying, this guy blowing through town, in light of the Bible. They were of the mindset that said, we're going to filter everything through the lens of the Word of God. That's why they were noble-minded, and we should do the same. But what this also says about authority is this. It implies that even an apostle had to have his preaching subjected to the standard of God's Word, right? If it didn't line up with God's Word, they could reject what an apostle said. Of course, that wasn't going to happen. His message was truly consistent with the Old Testament. But it underscores for us again that this church, this local church, including me as one of your pastors, I'm under the authority of the Word of God. And I'm a fallible person and I can make mistakes. In fact, it is incumbent for us as spiritual leaders to let the Word of God correct our thinking on a daily basis. because we all have human viewpoint, sinful thoughts, things that may be doctrinally wrong, and the Word of God has to have its purifying effect. But could I say this as well? Now, when it comes to churches, there are those, like the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Church, et cetera, that claim apostolic authority, that their bishops are simply in a long line of succession traced all the way back to the apostles, and therefore they have their authority. And that just simply is unbiblical. It doesn't match the example of Paul. He was an apostle. He wasn't, you know, a hundredth down the line from an apostle, and yet he had to have his views checked and measured by the Word of God. Real apostolic succession is preaching the same message as the apostles. That's apostolic succession. And so verse 11 is a tremendous verse. in its implications. And by the way, I have great fond affection for Act 1711 because I was a UMD student, newly saved but confused about a lot of things and going nowhere in my Christian life, when all of a sudden this group showed up on campus called the Berean Club. And it was an outreach ministry of Duluth Bible Church to share the gospel with students on campus. And I didn't know Duluth Bible Church at the time. All I saw was Berean Club, and I thought, what does that mean? And the Lord used that to clarify much in my thinking, eventually became part of Duluth Bible Church shortly thereafter, and the rest is history. Praise the Lord. The Bereans. Going on, though, verse 12, it says, in terms of their response, that, therefore, many of them believed. And also, not a few, that's an understatement, of the Greeks. So in other words, Jews believed and many God-fearing Gentiles believed as well. Prominent women as well as men. And he's mentioned this twice now in terms of these prominent women, that they were independently thinking and intrigued by the message of God's grace, no doubt. which was very appealing to them. So at Berea, many Jews and God-fearing Gentiles believed the gospel message, praise the Lord. But right on the heels of the good news comes opposition again, and we see this in Berea as well. Verses 13 and 14, 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. Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away. He gets sent away again. This is almost like a James Bond movie, right? This guy, or the fugitive, he's on the run. They sent him down to the coast to go by way of the sea. He probably traveled from by way of the sea down to Athens. But anyway, he escaped down to the sea area, but both Silas and Timothy remained there in Berea. So the mission team was broken up for a while. Because of the threat of mob violence, the believers of Berea sent Paul away down to the sea for his own safety's sake. And this is the route that they took. If you look at the map here, Paul went from Berea down to Athens. Verse 15 concludes and it says, 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." So this section is going to end with Paul having been used of God to help plant a church there in Berea, as short as it was. People got saved, then he has to flee down to Athens. And the missionary team temporarily split up for safety's sake, with Paul going to Athens alone, joined later by Silas and Timothy. What's amazing is we're going to see this Sunday in our next message in Acts, is Paul's alone in Athens. He's walking around, he's seeing all these idols, and his heart is just deeply grieved. And the Lord uses that to cause him to share the gospel with all these idolatrous polytheists. and people get saved again, praise the Lord. But what can we learn from all of this that we've seen here so far in Acts 17, with the church being planted in Thessalonica and the church being planted in Berea? We can learn, number one, that the gospel is exactly what people need to hear first and foremost from us. We shouldn't be sharing politics or personal views about this or that. People have an urgent need. They're dying and going to hell and need to be saved eternally so they can go to heaven. share the good news with them about Jesus Christ. And that message is about a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not about us. It's not about our church. And when that happens, when the gospel is preached, we can expect there to be people getting saved. You know, if we never share the gospel, who's going to get saved? And some will. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but some will get saved. God prepares hearts ahead of time. The question is, are we willing to share the gospel? And as we do, though, we can expect there's going to be opposition. There almost always is. And when that happens, you know in advance as a believer that it can happen. It's part of the plan of God. You can still have joy. You can still look to the Lord. You can know that we have an eternal destiny with the Lord. We can look forward to the Rapture and His Kingdom. And let the Lord use all of that for the founding of local churches. So there's so much more we could teach on in this passage, but why don't we conclude with that tonight. Heavenly Father, we just thank you so much for Jesus Christ, the greatest missionary of all, who came to this earth and died for us, because he was motivated by love. You demonstrated your love for us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Thank you that the message is so simple. And the requirement is so simple, namely to believe. I pray you would give us not only clarity on the gospel, but also conviction and a compulsion to want to share it with the lost and a compassion for them, that we would have the heart of Jesus Christ. So I pray we would grow in that area as a church. Thank you for those who shared the gospel with us. And we just give all this praise and thanks tonight and pray these things and ask them now in your Son's name. Amen.