This morning we are continuing to go through the book of Acts, looking at Luke’s account of the 1st century church and what we can learn from it about what it means to know God and be His people. We will be in Acts 17 this morning, as we continue to follow Paul’s missionary journeys. We will focus mainly on verses 16-34, but let’s begin with a brief tour through verses 1-15 with a few comments.
NIV Acts 17:1 - When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. 4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.
Notice how whenever Paul enters a city, the first place he goes to preach is the synagogue, explaining to the Jews from the Old Testament that Jesus is the promised Messiah they have been waiting for, who died for their sins and rose again. And as usual, some believe, but many are offended and see Paul as blaspheming God.
5 But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. 6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus." 8 When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9 Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.
It’s not an easy life, always facing opposition and persecution. Certainly nothing worth doing if it were a lie or they didn’t really believe it. There is no glory in this ministry. Continuing:
10 As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. 13 When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15 The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
