Lechem Panim #193 “Witnessing at Thessalonica” (Acts 17:4-10) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome to Lechem Panim. If you have been following the show, you’ll know that we have come to chapter 17 of our study of the book of Acts; a chapter in which we find Paul and Silas coming to the city of Thessalonica to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the people there. And Paul begins, as was his custom, in the synagogue. And it says in verse 2 and following…

Acts 17:2b-3 (NKJV)— and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.”

Don’t Skip Out— And so right away we see that Paul begins to witness to a large crowd of unbelievers. Now I am going to be painfully honest with you today. Even as a pastor, I still find witnessing to be difficult. I don’t have a problem sharing the Gospel with believers (which I do every week) but every time I have had to preach before an unbelieving crowd (which of course I had to do when I was involved in prison ministry), I was always (and I mean ALWAYS) reluctant to do it. In fact one week I remember I decided to skip the ministry that week; and the leader of our group called me and said “Where are you?” And I told him I wasn’t going to make it that week. And he told me I needed to come. And, somewhat embarrassed, I went. And from then on out I didn’t dare to skip. Now what I learned from that (and am still learning) is that regardless of how hard it is, you and I need to be faithful to share the Gospel; because Jesus doesn’t ask us to. No, He commands us to. If you claim to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, then His Great Commission applies to you. It is amazing to me how often we talk about sins we need to avoid committing but we often fail to talk about sins of omission; things we should have done, but didn’t. And witnessing (I think) is one of those things for me.

Our Greatest Fear— Now what are you and I worried about? Why is it so hard? Well, it’s intimidating for one thing. Statistics say that the number one fear (even more than the fear of death) is the fear of public speaking. Jerry Seinfeld made the hilarious observation that what that actually means is that at a funeral you and I would rather be the person in the casket than the person giving the eulogy. And maybe sometimes that’s the case. But you know I also think that we are (more than just being afraid of crowds) we are also afraid (and we see this even in individual evangelism) that we will somehow do a bad job and make people’s spiritual conditions somehow worse. And so we say, “Better leave it to the experts.” But you know, God doesn’t ask us to do it well. Now He often does want us to prepare for it as best we can. But He doesn’t say, “You have to do it right or don’t do it at all.” No, what does he say? Jesus says in Mark 13:11 “do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.”

Salvation on The Prison Floor— And let me tell you, EVERY time I have been willing to step out and be that voice for God, God has shown up and has spoken through me. I remember one week we showed up at that prison and I preached (probably pathetically) and none of the prisoners seemed to be listening. All of them were involved in other things. But as I turned to leave (feeling the pangs of discouragement), one of the guards beckoned me to a prisoner I had not even seen (didn’t even know was listening) who was still locked up in his cell. He was asking for me. And I came over and he stuck his fingers out through the bottom of the door and wanted me to hold them and pray with him to receive Christ. And so I prostrated myself on the floor and held his hand. And there and then he gave his life to Christ. What if I had not showed up that night? What if I had said to Jesus, “I’m sorry, I just don’t feel equipped enough.” A soul may have been lost for the kingdom.

Where To Start— Now sometimes you and I simply don’t know where to start. Well, Paul (in his sermon here in this synagogue in Thessalonica) offers us a clue. Because the first thing we see him do is he tells his listeners (very simply) what the Word of God says. And that is the secret of all great preaching by the way; not eloquence or speaking ability, but being willing to simply get out of the way and let the Word of God be spoken by God to people through you. That is what Paul always did.

Anchored in Scripture— Notice how he anchors his arguments in what God has revealed in and through His Word; the very Word these Jews revered. He began with what they knew, which is where we also need to start when we minister to others. It is always a good idea to begin with whatever truth somebody does know (finding that common ground) and then move into what they don’t know. Paul knew they were expecting the Messiah/the Christ to come, though they were expecting Him to be this great military figure who would come and deliver them from all physical oppression (particularly Rome). And eventually Rome would fall, but God knew that that would not solve their primary issue, which wasn’t external bondage, but internal bondage. And that is why Paul moves from what they know about the Messiah to what they don’t know, explaining to them (using the scriptures) how before the Messiah could deliver them physically, he had to first deliver them spiritually. He had to first suffer, die, and be raised again in order to deal with the root of their true problem, which was the problem of sin. Now Luke doesn’t tell us what scriptures he used, though he no doubt referenced the foreshadowing of Christ’s death in the sacrificial system of Israel. He probably referenced passages like Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 to prove how the Messiah had to die, and to passages like Psalm 16 that showed that the Messiah would rise from the dead. But whatever scriptures he used, he pulled them all together to show them that without a doubt Jesus is the Christ so clearly prophesied about in the Old Testament. Now it says in…

Acts 17:4-5 (NKJV)— 4 And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas. 5 But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar {(ironically, the very thing they were accusing the missionaries of doing, which is how it usually is)} and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

Jealous Motivation— By the way, it’s interesting; notice how they never try to refute Paul and Silas’ theology. They don’t respond with logical counterarguments. And that’s because they were jealous of Paul and Silas; and that jealousy was what was motivating them; not a desire to keep doctrinal purity. And that is what we also will find when we share the Gospel; sometimes people will scoff at us and might even begin maligning us, not because they disagree with us, but because they are jealous or threatened by the truth of what you are saying. And that is what we see was driving this mob. And here we see they begin searching for Paul and Silas in the house of a man by the name of Jason. Now we don’t know that much about Jason. He is one of the un-sung heroes of scripture. “Jason” was common name for Jewish men living in the diaspora; and Paul and Silas were apparently staying in his home, as that is where the mob comes looking for them. And Jason takes the heat for Paul and Silas. It says…

Acts 17:6-7 (NKJV)— 6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. 7 Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus.”

Accused of Treason— And the reason they say this is because they knew the Romans would not care about any theological disagreement between them and these preachers. However, they would care about treason, which was a very serious crime in the Roman Empire. And so that is what they are accused of, as their allegiance to Jesus (whom they claimed was a King, though we know He was a very different kind of King) would sound suspicious. And that is what people will do to us as well. They will skew the truth in whatever way suits their fancy in order to make us look bad. For the rest of time, Christians like you and me are going to get labeled with words like “biggot”, “intolerant”, “anti-progress”, “narrow-minded”, (or even worse) “close-minded”. And we just need to recognize that that is par for the course. If we follow Jesus (who was wrongfully accused Himself with the same accusation we see here being leveled against Paul and Silas), we ought not to expect anything less. Now these accusations serve to poison many against Paul and Silas, as it says in…

Acts 17:8-9 (NKJV)— 8 And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. 9 So when they had taken security {(or bond)} from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

Fleeing Thessalonica— So [Jason posted bond—putting up cash for freedom. By doing so, he promised that the trouble would cease or his own property and possibly his own life would be taken.] But [since that bond would be forfeited if there was any more trouble, Paul and his companions had no choice but to leave.] So they flee from Thessalonica because of Jewish opposition. However, don’t think for a minute that the ministry in Thessalonica was dead. No, the church there was actually thriving and growing. [Two of its members, Aristarchus and Secundus, joined Paul in his evangelistic work (Acts 20:4). Paul commended all the church members in 1 Thessalonians 1:8, because “the word of the Lord [had] sounded forth from [them], not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place [their] faith toward God [had] gone forth.” The Thessalonians used their strategic location on the Egnatian Way to spread the gospel far beyond their own city.] Nevertheless, because of opposition, Paul and Silas had to flee the city. And it says in…

Acts 17:10a (NKJV)— 10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea.

Let’s Step Out— And next week we will see what God does through Paul and Silas while there in Berea. But this week I want to encourage you to get out there and begin sharing your faith. Start conversations, find out what truths the people you speak to already believe and then build on that and eventually connect them with Jesus Christ. Don’t worry about how well equipped you are. God Himself will equip you as you step out in faith and trust in Him. Let’s do so this week. Amen.