96 Acts 17:1-4 PAUL AND SILAS AT THESSALONICA Introduction: In our previous text Paul and Silas were run out of the Grecian city of Philippi. I think that we can conclude that Paul was not a very popular preacher. Almost everywhere he went he stirred up opposition against himself by preaching that Jesus is the Christ, the God sent Savior of men. But we have this consolation concerning his departure from Philippi, when he left Philippi he left behind a new church. It was that way in most of the places which he left. I. Their journey from Philippi to Thessalonica In this text Paul and those who left Philippi with him came to the Grecian city of Thessalonica. V. 1, “Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica..” Let us note the word, they. Paul had left Timothy back at Philippi. So Timothy was not with them. By the use of the term, they, Luke makes it clear that he was not with them at this point of time. Luke may have left Philippi with them, but he was not with them at this point of time. Luke does not tell us where he was at this time. But “they,” meaning Paul and Silas, passed quickly through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica. They did not stop at either place to do mission work. However, they did apparently stop at each of these places to spend the night. Amphipolis was about 33 miles from Philippi. In order to travel that distance in one day’s journey, they would have to leave early and walk fast. There is little doubt that after such a walk they spent the night at Amphipolis. After a night’s rest at Amphipolis there was another 30 miles to walk to Apollonia. Then after another night’s rest, they still had 37 more miles to go to Thessalonica, which would take one full day and probably part of a second day. Let me tell you that those men were really dedicated to their mission. They had to be or they would never made such great effort. We cannot help but wonder why they did not stop to do mission work in Amphipolis or Apollonia. This is especially true concerning Amphipolis because it was a large and prosperous city and would have been a good city in which to establish a base from which to reach out to the surrounding villages with the gospel. I think we find the answer to that question in the latter part of this verse. (V. 1), “...where was a synagogue of the Jews.” It was God’s plan for them to preach the gospel first to the Jews. The Apostle Paul followed that plan in every place where he attempted to do mission work. The presence of Jewish synagogue provided them with an audience of Jewish people who already believed in the existence of the true and living God. It provided them with a people who already knew about the Old Testament scriptures which prophesied about the coming of the Christ. It is apparent that neither Amphipolis nor Apollonia had a synagogue or Paul would have stopped there. But the city of Thessalonica had a large Jewish population and had a Jewish synagogue. It was God’s plan for them to first preach the gospel to the Jews and get a church started and then they would be better able to reach the Gentiles. The only exception to this thus far was their experience at Philippi where there was no Jewish synagogue , but there were Jews present there and there was a small band of devoted Jewish women who held prayer services out by the river every sabbath day. That group of Jewish women provided Paul and Silas them a starting place for their mission work at Philippi. At Thessalonica they had more than just a small band of Jewish women to which they could preach the gospel. They had a large Jewish synagogue. This provided them an excellent starting place for the preaching of the gospel. Let us learn something from this about doing mission work in our day. In order for a missionary to be able to successfully start a church in a city, there must be people in that place who are willing to listen to the message which the missionary brings. When there are no people there who are willing to listen to the missionary, it is very difficult to start a church there. This is why is so difficult to get a work started in such places as Japan and China. There are very few people in those places which will even listen to a gospel preacher. It is not impossible to start a work there, but is very difficult and the progress will be very slow. II. Their message in the Jewish synagogue at Thessalonica V. 2, “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures.” From this we learn something else about doing mission work. In fact, we learn something important about carrying the gospel to anyone who is unsaved. Those Jews in the Jewish synagogue already believed that the Old Testament scriptures were inspired of God. Paul and Silas did not have to convince them that the Scriptures are inspired of God and that they speak the truth with authority of God. We are blessed in that we not only have those same Old Testament Holy Scriptures, but we have the entire Bible which speaks the truths of God. If anyone will accept the teaching of the Holy Scriptures then we have a means of convincing that person about the truth of the gospel message. But if one will not believe the Holy Scriptures, then we have little with which to convince him that what we preach about Jesus is the truth of God. The personal testimony of the Christian is important, but it is only important as it is used in conjunction with the Holy Scripture, which is the absolute authority for spiritual truth. If what one preaches and teaches is in harmony with Biblical truth and he can convinced the prospect that what he is saying is what the Bible teaches, then that person who believes that the Bible is God’s Holy Word can be convinced. But if one does not accept the Bible as God’s Word, then the Christian is at a loss trying to convince that person that his message is true. V. 3. “Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.” There were two main thoughts that Paul sought to substantiate from the Old Testament scriptures. The first was that the Christ must suffer. He must suffer because the Old Testament prophecies declare that He would suffer. We are not told just what Old Testament Scripture Paul used to convince his listeners that the Christ must suffer. However, one passage that he very well might have used is in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, [there is] no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 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. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put [him] to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong [his] days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him [a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Most of the Jews of Paul’s day had an entirely different picture of the coming of the Christ to the world. All of their lives they had been taught by the rabbis that when the Christ would come he would lead the Jewish people to rebel against the Roman authorities, He would re-establish the throne of David in Israel, He would rule the nation of Israel to great prosperity and that all would be grand and glorious. Oh, how wrong they had been in their thinking! Paul showed them by the Old Testament Scriptures that the Christ would not drive out the Romans and take over the throne. Instead, He would be suffer untold agony. He would suffer excruciating pain in payment for the sins of the people. He would suffer for the guilty sinner so that the guilty sinner could be spared from suffering the penalty of his sin. It would not be by the great military might that the people would be delivered from the Romans. Rather, it would be by His own suffering that He would deliver the people from suffering the consequences of their own guilt of sin. The Old Testament Scriptures declare that the Christ would suffer and die for His people. The second thing that Paul sought to substantiate by Old Testament Scripture is that the Christ must arise from the dead. Again, we must acknowledge that we are not certain just which Old Testament Scripture Paul used to convince his listeners that the Christ would arise from the grave, but there is a verse in the Psalms that he might have used. Psalm 16:10, “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” In this passage the Lord, Himself, declared through the Old Testament prophets that even though He would suffer and die, yet death would not be able to hold Him. He would come forth victorious over death, hell and the grave. Having shown his audience by Old Testament Scripture that the Christ of God would be put to death and that He would arise from the grave, then Paul proceeded to declare to them that Jesus is the Christ. He did not have to inform his audience that Jesus had suffered and bled and died. Many of these same people had been in Jerusalem for the observance of the Passover when Jesus was crucified. Many of these same Jews had been in the crowd that had marched before Him and mocked Him as He hung on the tree. They knew full well that Jesus of Nazareth had suffered great agony. Neither did Paul have to inform his audience that many people at Jerusalem claimed that Jesus had arisen from the grave and had appeared before them in His physical body. They claimed that He had eaten food with them and that they had been able to touch Him with their own hands. Therefore, what they had seen was not a spirit nor a vision of some kind. They had seen the risen Jesus and they had touched His body with their own hands. What Paul did inform his audience of is that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ of God who had suffered and died in keeping with Old Testament prophecy. Jesus is the Christ of God who had arisen from the dead in keeping with Old Testament prophecy. Jesus is the Christ of God, the very Son of God, the Savior of sinful men, women, boys and girls. Paul’s words to those people in that Jewish synagogue reminds us of the words of the Apostle Peter as he spoke to them and to others on the day of Pentecost following the resurrection. Listen to the Apostle Peter’s words as recorded in the Book of Acts. Acts 2:22-32, “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men [and] brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.” III. Converts at Thessalonica But now let us get back to our text. V. 4, “And some of them believed...” Some of the Jews to whom Paul preached in that Jewish synagogue at Thessalonica believed. They believed Paul’s message that Jesus is the Christ. They believed in Jesus as the Christ of God. They believed that the suffering of Jesus was for their own sin. They believed that Jesus arose from the grave and that He is able to saved. They believed in Jesus and they got saved. In Acts 16:31 Paul had told the Philippian jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved...” That same truth held true for these people. Those of that synagogue who believed on Jesus got saved and those of us who are saved will see them in heave some day. (V. 4), “... and consorted with Paul and Silas...” That is, they became their disciples, their followers. Luke does not mention it, but there is no doubt that Paul and Silas baptized them. They baptized the Philippian jailor when he believed, and we can be sure that these were baptized also. Everybody who trusts in Jesus and gets saved ought to get baptized. One does not have to get baptized in order to get saved, but those who are saved ought to get baptized. (V. 4), “...and of the devout Greeks a great multitude...” The term, devout Greeks, distinguishes these from the general Greek population. It speaks of those who had turned from the worship of idol gods and had become proselyte Jews, worhipping the true God. The Jews had a great influence on the Greek people of Thessalonica and there was a large number of them who had become proselyte Jews and who now became Christians by believing in Jesus as the Christ. Included among those who got saved were some very influential business women. (V. 4), “...and of the chief women not a few.” IV. Our own thanksgiving to God We can see the mighty had of God is this. Very quickly a large number of people in Thessalonica got saved and baptized. Thus, we see that a large new church was formed in the city of Thessalonica. Later Paul wrote one of the books of the New Testament to that church. Let us thank God for each of those who got saved. Let us thank God for the two missionaries who went to that city and preached the gospel to them. Let us thank God for the new church that was formed. Let us thank God for each Scriptural New Testament church that exists today. Let us thank God for the salvation of every person today who has believed in Jesus Christ for cleansing from sin. Let us thank God for each saved person today who, like Paul and Silas, tells his unsaved family members and acquaintances about Jesus so that they might be saved. Conclusion: I am going to call upon each of you who are saved to witness to others and tell them about Jesus Christ saving your soul. I am going to call upon each of you who are unsaved to call upon Jesus Christ and ask Him to save your soul. I am going to call upon each of you who are saved to follow Jesus in Scriptural baptism and become a member of a Scriptural New Testament church.