Let's Turn The World Upside Down

Acts 17:1-15

If ever we might have to give a talk or presentation we would like to be well-received.  We would hope that there wouldn’t be boos, hisses, and catcalls, and certainly we hope to never be run out of town.  Unfortunately, this was the case with the Apostle Paul and his missionary companions throughout the Book of Acts.  In our reading this morning we will see several times when this occurred.

As chapter 16 ended Paul and Silas had been beaten and imprisoned in Philippi for preaching the Gospel.  Now that they were free, they fled the town, going to Thessalonica.  Paul’s strategy as he spread the Gospel in modern-day Turkey and Greece was to search out a Jewish synagogue in the town he was in, and attend on the Sabbath day.  Jewish custom of the day was to invite visitors to give a word of encouragement from the Old Testament Scriptures and join in with the discussions over the passages.  This was what Paul would do, opening the Old Testament and showing his listeners prophetic passages of Scripture about the Messiah, and show how each passage was fulfilled in Jesus (vs. 1-3).

As in other towns, Paul’s message of salvation found open hearts, and several came to saving faith (vs. 4).  As was also the case elsewhere, here in Thessalonica many of the Jews were hostile to the message.  There was two reasons for this - one was that they took issue with the idea of Jesus being the Messiah.  Their hearts were hardened and they refused to believe.  The other was that they were envious that Paul was making converts and people were following him and his message (vs. 5).  So the cycle would continue with the Jewish leaders and members of the synagogue attacking Paul in a rage and bringing in the Roman authorities.

In verse 6 we read one of the charges they told the Romans about Paul and his companions - “These who have turned the world upside down”.  When was the last time we heard of any church in our neighborhoods “turning the world upside down”?!  What were the early Christians in these communities doing that made their enemies bring this charge?  Lives were being dramatically changed!  Abusive husbands and fathers turned loving, impure women becoming models of chaste living.  Liars, thieves and gang members were transformed.  These Christians were taking care of the sick, the homeless, widows and orphans, loving each other and those who no one else cared for.  Most of all, they were spreading the message of the One who had changed their lives.  How about us?  Are we turning the world upside down in our neighborhoods?  What are we doing to show others our Savior, and have them take notice of Him through our changed lives?

The Jewish leaders and many in the synagogue in Thessalonica got so violent that the new believers had to send Paul and Silas off, fleeing for their lives.  On they went to the next town.  They didn’t get discouraged or decide to quit, thinking this job was just too hard and dangerous!  No, on they went, following the leading of the Holy Spirit.  They came to the town of Berea, and just like before, sought out the local synagogue and presented the prophetic Scriptures of the Messiah and how they were fulfilled in Jesus.

Things were a bit different in Berea, though, than in many of the previous towns they had been in before.  They listened well to Paul’s message, and then went home, opened up their own Bibles, meditating on his message, and checking to see if what he said was true (vs. 10-11).  God’s Word commends these Bereans.  They didn’t just swallow everything that Paul said, nor throw it out, without checking it out for themselves.  That is something that we, too, need to be careful to do.  Don’t just blindly accept any sermon message that we hear from behind the pulpit, or on TV.  Don’t just automatically accept everything we read in some “Christian” or philosophical book.  Does the message we hear or read line up with the Bible?  Any message we hear from a preacher, or read in an “inspirational” book or devotional, should never contradict or explain away that is found in God’s Word.   These Bereans checked out Paul’s words for themselves, and found them to be true to God’s Word.  Many men and women were saved there (vs. 12).

Trouble followed on their heels into Berea.  The unbelieving Jews from Thessalonica weren’t content to just run Paul and Silas out of their town.  When they heard that they were in Berea, and many were being converted, they stormed into town to attack them there (vs. 13-15).  Wherever the Gospel is preached and souls are being saved, Satan is angry, and he will do what he can to stop it.   Though the enemies of the Gospel succeeded in running Paul out of town again, they weren’t able to stop the spread of the message of Jesus Christ.  Paul moved on down the road to Athens where he continued preaching.  Despite all of his attacks, Satan cannot stop the message of Jesus and His salvation from going forth.