Has it surprised you that during the course of this study of the Book of Acts . . .
That we have been able to have some sort of gospel message nearly every Sunday morning?
It shouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with the Word of God,
Because, not only does every scripture – every verse – ultimately point back to the Lord Who gave it,
But because salvation and the Saviour are the basic theme of this book.
Paul, Silas, Barnabas, Timothy and the others were striving to do two primary things:
First, it was their intention to praise and magnify the Lord Jesus Christ.
They had “determined not to know any thing . . . save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”
And in process of lifting up the Lord Jesus, they were preaching His purpose – the salvation of sinful souls.
So in Salamis and Paphos, Antioch and Lystra, Philippi and Thessalonica, the missionaries preached the good news of salvation.
And so, as Luke faithful described some of the things which took place in these cities, he told us about various evangelistic services.
Thus, it shouldn’t surprise you how easy it is for me, while preaching through this book, to present to you the gospel again and again.
And COULD IT BE that the Holy Spirit encourages us to look at this subject over and over, because so many who think that they are children of God are not?
Is it possible that there are thousands of children of Christian parents who are not children of God?
Is it possible that there are thousands of members of good Baptist churches, who have not actually heard the gospel with hearts made alive by the ministry of the Holy Spirit?
It is not only possible, but its very likely,
And we may have some of that number in our congregation this morning.
So I repeat the words of the Lord Jesus once again, “Ye MUST be born again. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Ye must be BORN AGAIN.”
Acts 17:2 says that Paul, as his manner was, went into the synagogue and preached the Lord Jesus Christ.
It was Paul’s custom to attend the worship services of the Lord.
It is Biblical, logical and practical to regularly participate in the worship of Jehovah.
And as professing Christians, it should be the desire of our hearts to fellowship with our Saviour.
The only children who hate their mother and refuse to be with her are unnatural and wicked children.
The only people who claim to be Christians, but who don’t want to spend time with the One who gave them spiritual life, either are deceiving themselves that they have life, or they are very spiritually sick.
The other day I read a COFFEE MUG SLOGAN that said: “A morning without coffee is like . . . . sleep.”
For the Christian, a DAY without the fellowship of God is like starvation or thirst,
And a WEEK without the worship of the Lord is like death.
I think that it is interesting to know that the Greek word which says that it was Paul’s “manner” to go into the synagogue on the sabbath is also used in Luke 4:16, where we read:
“And he [THE LORD JESUS] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, AS HIS CUSTOM was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.”
If it was the custom of Paul and it was the custom of our Saviour, it should be our custom as well.
Paul, as his manner was, went into the synagogue for three consecutive sabbath days and preached Jesus.
By the way, I won’t for a moment imply that during the week Paul was not serving the Lord as an ambassador for Christ.
But in both his later letters to the Christians in Thessalonica, he mentioned that he tried not to be a burden.
It appears that he might very well have been working at a temporary job in the early weeks of the mission there.
As he did elsewhere, he may have been working as a tent-maker, the trade that he learned as a youth.
I don’t believe that any man has a right to use his work schedule as an excuse to avoid the House of God.
It’s not that I don’t like preaching, because I really do,
I need to do that more often, but it’s hard.
And have you ever noticed that our adult Sunday School class is different from our preaching services?
I had to laugh as I was studying this verse because in regard to the word “reason” ALBERT BARNES said,
“The word used here means often no more than to make a public address or discourse.”
He said that Paul preached or lectured to the Jews in the synagogue that Jesus was the Christ.
On the other hand A.T. ROBERTSON in his commentary said just the opposite.
“To select, distinguish, then to revolve in the mind, to converse and interchange ideas,
To teach in the SOCRATIC (“dialectic”) method of question and answer.”
The more participation that we have, not only the more fun that we have, but the more opportunity that we have to learn and grow.
When you are asked to think and answer questions, you should remember more than just to hear me.
Both preaching and teaching have their appropriate rolls in the work of the Lord.
And there are many different styles of teaching with some being appropriate in one situation and others being more appropriate with another congregation or class.
It appears to me that this involved questions and answers, probing and pointing, pushing and pulling.
Since this wasn’t his church, he didn’t have the opportunity to preach, but he was teaching.
And then we are told that Paul reasoned with those people by “opening and alleging” the truth.
The word “opening” suggests that he was UNFOLDING things to their hearts and minds.
He was putting the pieces of gospel truth together like a spiritual jigsaw puzzle, and as each piece fell into place there was a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Of course, there is much about the Lord that requires faith to receive.
In fact faith is the KEY to knowing anything about the Lord.
There are many things about God that are so high above our heads and hearts that if we were left to reason alone, we’d forever be in the dark.
“The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, for they foolish unto him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.”
On the other hand the Lord requires us to accept very little in “blind” faith.
With only a few exceptions, most of what we need to learn and know, makes sense.
The problem is that because of our sinful depravity we don’t have sense to recognize the sense.
God wants you, and expects you, to think.
It’s not uncommon to hear God’s preachers, like the prophet Samuel, say,
Creation makes far more sense than evolution.
That sin is the root problem of all the other problems in the world makes perfect sense.
That man cannot deliver himself from his sins is obvious and reasonable.
That only the Creator has power to rescue man from himself makes perfect sense.
And that the death of the Lord Jesus was absolutely necessary makes sense too.
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
Ah, but for the grace of God.
But both in the context of those Jews and later to the Christians, Luke was talking about the “holy writings.”
Paul was reasoning with those people out of the writings of the Old Testament.
At that time there wasn’t any New Testament for him to use.
It appears that the first epistle was written by Paul to the people of Thessalonica, but those people have not as yet believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And besides, those Jews wouldn’t be willing to listen to any scriptures but their own anyway.
I find it really, really strange that there are some who profess to be Christian preachers, who refuse to preach or teach the Old Testament.
Not only are they depriving themselves of 75% of the Bible and the revelation of God;
And not only are they withholding hundreds of wonderful lessons perfectly adaptable to a Christian context,
But they are also denying themselves the same texts and messages of Jesus and His apostles.
Paul was opening and alleging out of the Old Testament scriptures that . . .
The Galileans were packing their bags to go back home, and some of the local people had already left.
Luke 24 tells us about two of them who lived in the nearby town of Emmaus.
As they were gloomily walking and talking, a quick-stepping stranger came up from behind.
He asked them to explain why they were so sad and what it was that they were talking about.
So they quickly rehearsed what had recently taken place in Jerusalem during the Passover.
And then this stranger, whom they later learned was the Saviour, explained some things they had missed.
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
And BEGINNING AT MOSES AND ALL THE PROPHETS, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things CONCERNING HIMSELF.”
The Lord Jesus met some of the rest of his disciples and much same sort of thing took place again.
“And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you,
That all things must be fulfilled, which were WRITTEN IN THE LAW OF MOSES, AND IN THE PROPHETS, AND IN THE PSALMS, concerning me.
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day.”
The OLD TESTAMENT proves that the nature of MAN IS SINFUL.
“For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”
And over and over again, it declares and proves that the REMEDY OF SIN IS SACRIFICIAL BLOOD.
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” – Lev. 17:11.
But the Old Testament also abundantly proves that the blood of bulls and goats, sheep and doves, cannot actually REMOVE the effects of sin.
The best that those animal sacrifices could do was to symbolically COVER those sins.
AND neither can those sacrifices or the teachings of prophets change the wicked hearts of those sinners.
The Old Testament, in addition to the New Testament, teaches that there is the need of NEW HEARTS,
And the Old Testament even it gave the PROMISE of those new hearts.
It was easy for Paul to take passages from the Psalms or from the prophets . . .
It was easy for Paul to use the words of Moses, Isaiah or David to show that the Messiah would establish a Kingdom,
But – that it would come AFTER his death, burial and resurrection.
Turn to Isaiah 53:4:
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.”
And then following that he proved that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled all the Old Testament prophesies about the Christ.
In other words “Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is the Christ.”
“And Jesus died on a cross, outside of Jerusalem, just a few years ago.
The Messiah has come. He came unto his own and his own received him not, but he has come.
He was crucified and then He was buried, and then He arose out of His grave, whereof I have been a witness. He ascended into Heaven in the sight of many of his disciples,
And He is in Heaven today where He awaits for the time appointed of the Father to return to earth to establish His millennial kingdom.”
Luke may not have given us the details of Paul’s three days of reasonings, but a familiarity with the Bible makes it easy for us imagine what he preached.
In a congregation like that to which Paul was preaching, if there were a hundred people,
And one out of ten believed the testimony and accepted Christ,
Then that would have been considered extremely successful.
Perhaps one out of a hundred would have been more realistic.
But whatever the number, there were people saved.
And the value of a single soul exceeds the value of all the inanimate universe.
Some of those people not only believed on Christ, but they even CONSORTED with Paul and Silas.
That means that they were not secret admirers of the Lord, but they took a stand with Lord’s ambassadors.
That is what the work of missions is all about.
And this is still the need today.
It may be your need.
Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, loving and trusting Him, following and leaning on Him?
Have you ever, and do you now, live in repentance of your sins?
This was the message of Paul among the Thessalonians, and it’s God’s message to you.