Acts 17:1-15 - Bair

Well, a couple weeks ago, I was at a conference, big room, big screen, big coffee, big time stuff. But one of the main speakers, one of the keynote speakers at this conference stood up and he made this audacious claim.

I was like, whoa, whoa. But then his second line was the one that really got me. He said, this morning I'm going to prove it to you. Oh, well, that's a claim you either land or wear.

So he goes on and he got some amens and some hoorahs and whatever. But by the end, I wasn't convinced because he made this courtroom claim, but he gave coffee shop evidence.

Kids, maybe you have this notion of prove it. Maybe you know it better than some of us adults. How often outside with your friends are you like, prove it. How often do you say that or hear it? Because big claims require big backing.

They want to see it. They want to know that you can prove it. Well, this morning we watch a man walk into a room and make the biggest claim that anyone can make.

He claims a crucified carpenter is king. Well, not just king of this town, not just king of this province, king of the universe and risen from the dead.

That's an audacious claim. But then he goes on to do something more audacious. He says, I'm going to prove it to you. And he spends three Sabbaths proving this.

Here's what I want you to hold from that, to get from that. Paul's proof holds where my conference speakers folds because of where the proof for his claim came from.

His proof wasn't under his own hat. I know a thing or two about hats. Ask me later. The one thing this morning that I want us to hear from this message is God's word proves God's Christ.

God's word proves God's Christ. We'll see that in three movements through the text. We'll see the source, the substance, and the search.

The source is where the proof comes from. The substance is what the proof claims. And the search is what noble people do with the proof.

So the source, the substance, and the search. Let's pray one more time as we come to God's word. Heavenly Father, we do pray you would give us open minds and hearts to receive your open word this morning.

Would we receive it with all joy and gladness and excitement as the Bereans did? Would we hear your word and apply it to our lives this morning? We pray in Christ's name.

Amen. Okay, so we start verse one. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica.

We just get a couple commas there. That's a pretty long journey, guys. These are probably two places Paul spends the night. It's a long time. Pastor Dan mentioned last week that Paul and his companions are traveling this Via Ignatia, the Roman highway, this interstate.

And so they're traveling along this. And this journey is a 94-mile trek through these towns to get to Thessalonica. That would be like from here to Milwaukee or Sawyer, Michigan, on foot, in sandals, with a sore back.

They're beaten in one town, open the Bible in the next. And that's not Paul's stubbornness. That's a man under orders. That's a man under a mission sent by God. So they have two nights in lodging.

And then they end up in Thessalonica. This is the capital of Macedonia. It's a free city. It's a harbor city, a proud and prosperous city, a people loyal to Rome.

But compared to the last two places they went through, this one's different. It has a synagogue. We're told at the end of verse 1, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. This is important for Paul.

Verse 2 says, Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with him from the scriptures. We've talked about this a lot. This is Paul's custom. When he comes to a town, chapter 13, chapter 14, here next in Berea, later in Corinth, later in Ephesus, Paul enters the synagogue.

The gospel goes to the synagogue first because God's promises went to Israel first. But what does Paul do? What does it say here? It says he reasoned with them.

The Greek word here is dialegami. You hear our word dialogue from there. This is a back and forth. It's a discussion. This isn't Paul coming in on a rant, but Paul reasoning with them.

Three Sabbaths of questions and answers, objections and texts, digging into this. And that's actually what I want us to grasp here. It says he reasoned with them from the scriptures.

I mean, think of Paul. Paul could have started many places, right? He has a great testimony. He could fill the Bears stadium if we knew where it was going to be. He could fill the Bears stadium because of his testimony.

He was blinded on the road by the risen Christ himself. Well, come hear Paul speak. He could have led with miracles. We've seen he's got miracles in his hands.

But no, Paul plants his flag in the scriptures. He opens a scroll. His authority for the biggest claim is not, I feel this or trust me or even I have seen this.

His proof is, thus saith the Lord, the scriptures. And for the people hearing it that morning, that meant the Old Testament. That meant the prophets, the Psalms, Moses.

So he has to prove from that, that Christ is the King. Jesus is the Christ. Okay, so how is he going to do that? Verse 3 gives us his method in these two participles.

Explaining and proving. I love to do word studies. Maybe that makes me a nerd. We talked about word studies at our elders meeting this past week. And how they can be pretentious or a little obnoxious sometimes.

They can be. We don't need to do a word study for every word. But I do think sometimes word studies can help us understand what a word means. And so maybe I'm just a nerd, but stick with me for a minute.

Explaining is a great word. Explaining means opening up. It's like opening the curtains and letting the sun shine in. My children love it first thing in the morning when I walk in the room and they're sound asleep.

And I open the curtain and I let the glorious sun shine and warmth filter into the room. It's just a great way to wake up, isn't it? Dad, okay. That's what this is. It's opening up the curtain of the scriptures, of whatever it is.

It's opening up. Luke likes this word. He used this word on the Emmaus Road. He said, Jesus opened to them the scriptures. And you remember what happened next a few verses later.

He opened their minds to understand. It's the same word. Or maybe you remember last week, Pastor Godoy's Lydia, not his daughter, the other one. The Lydia that was, what did he say?

The woman who paid attention. She could pay attention because verse 14 said, the Lord opened her heart. And now Paul stands in a synagogue opening the scriptures, explaining.

Same word. The book, the mind, the heart. Paul opens the book and explains it. I think Luke's saying here, before anybody in the story searches the scriptures, somebody opens them.

So, before we meet the noble Bereans, we won't be handing out homework to some self-styled saints. We'll be coming to watch a people, an open people, and what they do with an open book.

Explaining. The second participle is proving. And this paints a picture. It means setting things in order. Setting things alongside. So, it's actually, again, we saw this last week, when the jailer set food before Paul.

It's setting the table. So, maybe that picture helps us understand what it means that he's explaining and proving. He's laying it out. He's got a scroll in one hand and a story in the other.

A prediction and a fulfillment. A promise and a payment. He's laying it out so you can see it clearly. Like food laid out on a table. And then he says, taste and see.

It all lines up. He's explaining and proving. So, this is the source. The source for Paul is the scriptures. In verses 3 to 4, we move on to the substance.

We said he's explaining and proving. What's he explaining and proving? That it was necessary. 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. That's what he's proving. That's the substance of his message. One hinge word I really like here. It's a small Greek word.

Dei. Means it's necessary. A couple weeks ago, I said that this is Luke's steel word for the unbendable plan of God. It is necessary.

Again, on the Emmaus Road, the risen Jesus explained. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things? Paul and Lystra, through many tribulations, it's necessary for us.

We must enter the kingdom of God. Last week in Philippi, the jailer said, what must I do to be saved? Dan called that question, the question for the ages.

I think he told you to circle that. If you circled it, well, maybe you need to circle Jesus' must. Because the jailer's must is answered by the Messiah's must. What must you do?

Believe in the one who had to die and had to rise from the dead. Your necessity is carried by his. Paul, any logic students here? I know we got some.

You're too embarrassed to raise your hand. Paul here gives a syllogism, right? Ooh, we like this. Syllogism. Okay? His syllogism has three planks. First is that the Christ must suffer and the Christ must rise from the dead.

That's the major premise. Okay? Christ must suffer. Christ must rise from the dead. And then thirdly, he gives the conclusion that Jesus is the Christ. Christ, the implied minor premise is that Jesus died and rose from the dead.

Okay? So we'll unpack that a little bit. But for you logic students, stick with me on those. But we'll look at each of them. Because I think each of those catches on something in us in a different way.

So first, the Christ must suffer. Suffer here is not a bad week. None of us have suffered this, what this is talking about.

This suffering is the word for the passion. This is suffering. It means he had to die. Now, how would that have landed in the synagogue?

The synagogue who's expecting a Messiah to come to rescue them. They're expecting a triumphant Messiah to lead them out of Rome. Rome is supposed to be in the rearview mirror after the Messiah has come.

The flag of Israel is supposed to be flying high in the sky. It's a celebration. The Messiah has come. We're triumphant now. A crucified Messiah is an oxymoron.

It's a contradiction in terms. Deuteronomy says, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. Now, Paul is going to try to prove from their own scripture that the curse was the plan.

That's what he has to prove. And he can do it. We could do it. If we had more time, we could look at these passages. Isaiah 53, pierced for our transgressions. Psalm 22, they divided my garments.

Zechariah, they will look on him whom they have pierced. Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. We could look at these various passages that prove that Jesus is the Christ.

And that's what Paul does for them. But to get a picture of how counterintuitive this was, we heard it in our gospel reading in Matthew 16 this morning.

What did Peter, the rock, say when Jesus said, I must suffer? He said, no, far be it from you, Lord.

And Jesus turns and says, get behind me, Satan. One of the most challenging verses in the gospels. But the first person to refuse the bleeding Messiah wasn't some skeptic in Thessalonica.

It was the chief spokesman of the disciples. Today, maybe it's us. I think we still shop around for a Christ who wins without wounds.

We look for a Messiah who is for our politics, our platforms, our pleasures. We want a Savior who skips the suffering.

But the plan of God runs straight through it. I've said before, no cross, no crown. No cross, no crown. So that's first, the Christ must suffer.

But the second, and maybe we think, well, can't we just stop there? Isn't that the gospel? That Jesus died? Isn't that enough? Christ died for my sins, go home.

Why is the resurrection necessary? I'm glad you asked. In a few minutes, we'll see in this tank of water up here, answer that question in a sense. But let me give you three reasons the tomb had to open.

One, because scripture said so. And God does not break his word. Again, we can look through many passages in the Old Testament that tell of a descendant of David on the throne forever.

Psalm 16, you will not abandon my soul to Sheol or let your Holy One see corruption. God swore to David a son forever on the throne. And dead men can't be kings.

So if Jesus is still on the ground, the promise is still on the ground. Therefore, the resurrection isn't a bonus feature. It's the end of the story. It's the only way God keeps a promise.

He swore a thousand years before the manger of Bethlehem. That's one. Two, because the resurrection is heaven's verdict on the world's verdict.

Rome held the trial and handed down its judgment. Guilty, crucify him. Now, three days later, the father overturned this ruling from the highest bench. And the verdict is, it's enough.

He was raised for our justification. The grave had no claim on him because he was the innocent one. The only hold death had was the debt he was carrying for others, for us.

And so once he paid that debt, the sentence couldn't stick. And justice actually opened, unlocked the tomb. Another part of this is, I think if Christ had not risen, we would always wonder if it was enough.

Well, yeah, Christ died to cover some sins, but was it enough to cover all of them? Him raising from the dead. It was a declaration that it's enough.

It's enough. He's been raised. It's enough for every sin and every sinner. Paul says, if Christ has not been raised, we're still in your sins. But he has.

Three, Christ had to be raised from the dead because you don't just need your record cleared.

You don't just need your guilt wiped away. You need a new life running in your veins. You need a new righteousness given to you. And this is where the water comes in.

Romans 6. We were buried, therefore with him, by baptism into death. In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Newness of life. Not our old life with the sins wiped away. A new life given to us by Christ. Under the water, his death is mine.

Up from the water, his life is mine. If Christ had only died, baptism would look a lot different. Pastor Tad would get up here and hold the participants under. Don't worry, participants.

That's not how it's going to happen here. Right? We know the rest of the story. The rising up is the second half. And every baptism is verse 3 in miniature.

He suffered. He rose. And look, so do we. We're united with him in that. So, that's why we need both of those.

First, Christ suffered. Second, Christ died. Or Christ rose. Those are the two planks. But thirdly, what does Paul say thirdly? This is the nail that Paul drives in.

This Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Christ. Christ. This Jesus is the Christ.

Christ isn't Jesus' last name. We know that. Christ means Messiah. This Jesus that I proclaim to you is the Messiah we've been waiting for. It's not a category out there. Not there's a Messiah out there somewhere.

No, this one. The same move Peter made at Pentecost. This Jesus whom you crucified. So, when God has made both Lord and Christ. We preach that back in April.

We preach that every week, actually. That's the heart of the gospel. And so, what happens? Look at verse 4. Some of the Jews were persuaded.

A great many of the devout Greeks. And not a few of the leading women. Do you notice the progression there? Some of the Jews. A great many devout Greeks. And not a few of the leading women.

It gets larger categories as we go. That'll be important later as we come back. As we look at verse 12. But the progression here is noticeable. Some of the Jews.

And Luke says they joined Paul and company. And this word for joined is. It's literally throwing, casting your lot in with someone else. They cast their lot in with Paul.

This stranger that came to their town with a beat up back. They threw their lot in with him. They tied their, themselves to Paul and company.

Paul writes back to them. If you really want to understand this passage. Read 1 Thessalonians. It's a great commentary on this section.

So, I'm going to throw in some 1 Thessalonians quotes throughout the morning. But Paul writes to them in 1 Thessalonians. You accepted it. Not as the word of men. But as what it really is.

The word of God. That's the sermon here in a sentence. God's word proved God's Christ. And these people in Thessalonica took this as the word of God.

But, not everyone reached that verdict. Look at verse 5. The Jews were jealous. That's the Jews accepting the sum who received the word. They were jealous.

Jealous of what? Of this great crowd hanging around Paul and company. We see it. Jealousy. When somebody else gets all the attention. And they can't win the argument.

So, what do you do if you can't win an argument? You hire the rabble. The rabble. That's a fun word. Rabble. The rabble. The marketplace men. These day laborers.

Who are waiting at the marketplace for someone to hire them to do some work. And they're waiting. And no one hires them. And it says these are the wicked ones among them. Because they're willing to take the money to do this vile thing.

And so, it's likely that these synagogue leaders put them on the payroll for a riot. So, if you can't refute a message, raise a mob.

That's what they do. And they storm the house of Jason who's Paul's host. Whose only crime is providing a guest room. Well, we'll see what his crime is in a moment.

They can't find the preachers. So, they haul the provisioner in front of the city council. And they shout two charges. One. These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.

Hold on to that phrase. We'll come back to that at the end. But then they say, and this guy, he let them in. That's charge one. Second charge is. This is the hanging offense.

They are all acting against the decrees of Caesar. Saying there is another king. Jesus. Was that true? Is that what they're saying?

And my margin note says yes. That's what they're saying. There is another king. Paul says there's another king. And he's king of kings. He's king over all the kings. So, yeah, these Caesar's men are hearing it right.

But they're wrong in the sense that these men are not in the basement plotting some coup. They're not thinking to take over the government. Because this same movement teaches honor the emperor. Or as we read in Romans, bless those who persecute you.

But the officials don't care or don't know that. And instead, they take money from Jason. And they hold this as a ransom. As a peace offering.

Likely, the condition is these preachers have to leave town. Or the money's forfeit. And it's probably not cash money. It's probably like your house.

Okay? This is the deed to your house. This is a big deal. If they don't leave, there's going to be some big problems. Paul will write to Thessalonians, Satan hindered me from coming to you. I think this is probably what he had in mind.

These people in Thessalonica who did not want him there. So, under cover of night, the brothers, the new brothers, send Paul and Silas down the road.

And they exit Macedonia. We move to our search section. Verses 10 through 15. 45 more miles.

And it's off the main highway. To a town that one ancient Roman writer filed under. Out of the way. Berea is an out of the way place.

And on arrival, what does Paul do? He walks straight to the synagogue. Flogged in Philippi. Thwarted in Thessalonica. Back straight into another synagogue with the same risk.

But verse 11 says, Now these Jews were more noble than those of Thessalonica. They received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

More noble. Hmm. It's an interesting word. The Greek here is eugenesteroi. You hear eugenics in that.

It's the good bloods. It's the uppity people. The royalty. The nobility. These are people that are born into it.

But that's not what Paul's talking about. Paul's talking about nobility in a different sense. He's pinning this nobility on a Bible study in a nowhere town.

Because nobility in the kingdom of God is not in your blood. It's in your stance toward the book. Your posture towards the word. So what does nobility look like?

Luke gives two marks. Mark 1, they receive the word with all eagerness. Eagerness. It's an interesting word, eagerness. It's the only place this word occurs and acts. Eagerness. How often do we approach the word with eagerness?

They lean in. Dan's favorite phrase, they double click on the word. It's not his favorite phrase. But they're eager to read the word.

It's like honey. They taste it. They want more. They're eager to receive the word. But they don't stop there. Mark 2 is they examine the scriptures daily. To see if these things are so.

Examining is a courtroom word. It's a legal investigation. It's what the council did to Peter and John back in chapter 4. We're being examined today, he says.

So the Bereans put Paul's sermon on trial. Prove it, they say. Prove it. Does Isaiah really say that? Do the Psalms really promise that?

And I think we ought too to notice the schedule. This isn't every Sabbath, it's every day. They're daily. They're burning the midnight oil in order to dig into God's word.

Daily looking into it. One commentator says, They bring Paul's claims to the touchstone of holy writ. I like that. I like another one better. Stott says, he calls it receptivity with critical questioning.

Receptivity with critical questioning. That's both the marks. Eager, yet examining. An open heart, an open Bible. We need them both.

Sometimes Christians are all eagerness. We'll receive anything with a Bible verse taped to it. That's one side of it. Okay, be open. Others are perhaps all examination.

Arms folded. Unpersuadable. Unpersuadable. On principle. You're not going to convince me of that. Proud of what they won't believe.

The Bereans are shaming both sides. Not gullible. But neither are they cynical. And the result here is, look at verse 12.

Many of the Jews therefore believed. Remember verse 4? Some of the Jews believed. The difference between some and many is your stance, your openness toward the word.

Many of the Jews believed. And then we have, along with, not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. What this means for us as a church, and the man behind the podium here, the Bereans fact-checked an apostle.

And the Holy Spirit called it noble. Okay? Every sermon in this room needs checked against the book. Don't just take our words for it.

The charge for each of us who sit under the preaching in this room is to burn a little bit of midnight oil. Sunday preaching is necessary, but it's not enough.

You need a Bible you're reading, not one that lives in the backseat of your car. Read the passage before Sunday. Read it again Monday. Follow a cross-reference.

Follow something that you heard in the sermon that you want to check out more on. Maybe it's read 1 Thessalonians. Now, we tend to compare the Bereans to the Thessalonians.

And I think that's right to some degree, but we don't want to poo-poo the Thessalonians completely. Because Paul writes them a letter and commends them. He says, test everything. Hold fast to what is good.

As you've been doing. And Berea obeyed that before Paul had even penned it. So that's what we're called to do too.

Test everything. Hold fast to what is good. One of my favorite things about this church is we have a lot of Bereans here. People that come up with an open Bible afterwards and, whoa, is that really what this meant?

Is that really what you said? Is that what you meant to say? Sometimes we don't say what we mean to say. It's good. That's not a nuisance. That's nobility. Be noble.

Come up to us afterwards with questions and comments and dig into it together. It's one of the reasons we have five of us elders rotating here. We sit under each other's preaching and we hold each other's sermons to the same accountability.

But we also have verse 13 because it doesn't end for them with all roses. No, the Thessalonian agitators hear what's going on in Berea and they travel the 45 miles to shake down this town too.

Paul exhorts the Thessalonians, let no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. No cross, no crown. And so after this, the brothers send Paul onward to Athens while Silas and Timothy stay behind to steady and support the young church that's growing here.

And what happens to Paul, the scroll preacher, when he reaches a town with no scrolls? Well, come back next week. Pastor John will take us to Athens where Paul will build the same case but with new tools.

Bring a friend with questions because this sermon is as much for them as it is for us. Okay, before we head to the water, I have two so what's and then a final reflection.

Two assignments. One for your mouth and one for your heart. First, say the gospel out loud to somebody this week. Pray for open doors on Monday and then keep your eyes open because God will set up encounters you don't know of.

The doors are open more often than you think. And if you'll do that, find John Hopson because he'll make you a guarantee if you do that every week. Ask him. And if Friday comes and you haven't had the opportunity, sit down at your own table with someone and your family and share the gospel with them.

That's kind of weird but I think one reason Christians have a hard time sharing the gospel is because we don't know how to articulate it because we've never done it. So practice it with someone who already knows and then you'll be more able to do it with someone you don't know or someone who is unfamiliar with scripture.

This is what the Thessalonians did. Paul says the word sounded forth from them across two provinces like a bell ringing in the land. Brand new believers under fire ringing the bell because they can't keep silent.

Secondly, put yourself on the stand. We've had a lot of legal language, courtroom language this morning. Paul laying out the evidence. Bereans cross-examining scripture.

Paul elsewhere writes in 2 Corinthians, examine yourselves to see whether you're in the faith. Test yourself. When you judge the word, it has a tendency to turn around and cross-examine you.

It's living and active. Discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. So lay the gospel across your life and say, Am I trusting the finished work of a Christ who suffered, who died, who rose?

Have I turned from idols to the living God? That's what Paul commends the Thessalonians for doing. Some of us, many of us have settled that years ago. Are we living like it?

Some of us may have never answered that at all. Today's a great day to answer that question. What are you going to do with this Christ who died, who rose?

Well, last thing, I told you to hold that phrase earlier. These men have turned the world upside down. They've come here. It's shouted as an accusation. I want us to take it as an assignment.

They've turned the world upside down. But think about what got flipped. Last week, a jailer washing the wounds of the ones he was supposed to guard. This week, a synagogue calling a carpenter's cross the plan of God.

A nowhere town outnobling the nobility. The world's been upside down since Eden. The gospel turns it upside down, but it's actually turning it the right side up.

And hold it. Because if we fast forward, if we look ahead in Acts, in chapter 20 of Acts, we hear about companions of Paul.

Sopater of Berea. Ah, that's this Berea. Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica. Oh, that's this Thessalonica. The riot city and the reading town both sent sons to carry money to Jerusalem for famine relief.

The word that was put on trial was still standing years later. The rioters that were hired had long gone home. But then one more. In Corinth, Paul pens a letter to Romans.

Two of the men in the room with him are Jason. Ah, very likely this Jason. And Sopater, the other one mentioned.

A bail poster and a Berean with Paul. Hearing the letter of Romans dictated out loud. You know what Paul says in Romans 6-3?

All of us have been baptized into Christ Jesus. All of us in this room. This Berean. This bail poster. We've all been baptized in Christ.

In our passage, Luke doesn't stop to tell us that these believers were baptized. But we know they were because that's what Paul did. That's what the gospel did as you went through and proclaimed the gospel. The believers were baptized.

Well, this morning we could add four more names to that all of us list. So here's the charge. Take the claim Jesus is the Christ. Crucified.

Risen. And take the source. Not my say-so, but the word. And act like nobility. Read it. Read the word. Test it against scripture.

And then go home and turn something upside down. Your block. Your office meeting. Your kitchen table. Whatever it is. I don't mean flip the tables. Turn your world upside down.

As the Thessalonians did. As Paul did. As these people were accused of doing. Well, let's pray. And then we'll come to our time of baptisms. Heavenly Father, we know that nothing but your blood can wash away our sins.

We know that's what these noble Bereans came to believe. We know that's what the some Jews, the many Greeks, and Thessalonica believed.

I pray that you would help our belief in that grow. You would help us have the courage and the will. And the willingness to ring that loud across our worlds.

We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.