Turning The World Upside Down Series

Turning The World Upside Down

Acts 17:1-15

When I was in seminary, I took several preaching classes where students were required to write and preach sermons in class. One of those classes was "Expositional preaching." In this particular class there were several projects I had to do, one of which was to write and preach an expositional sermon. Every student in the class was given a list of passages from the book of Acts that we could choose from to prepare a sermon on. I chose Acts 17:1-15 - the passage we're looking at today. Now to add to the pressure of preaching in front of your professor and fellow seminarians, the sermons were being judged by the professor for the annual Expositional Preaching Award. The winner of which would get his name on a plaque in the seminary and would receive a $100 cash award.

Obviously, I'm telling you this story because I won the award. So the sermon you are about to hear is an award-winning sermon! Actually, this is not the exact same sermon; I reexamined the text and re-developed the message. As we move into Acts 17 this morning, we're currently with Paul, Silas and Timothy on the second missionary journey. They have just left the city of Philippi - a city where they saw God do some amazing things. They leave Philippi - after being beaten and imprisoned - not with their tails between their legs, but they leave Philippi with a brand-new, established church. A church with member's like Lydia, the wealthy fashionista who came to faith in Christ, along with her whole family; a church with a former demon-possessed clairvoyant who had a powerful testimony of spiritual liberation; and a church with the Philippian jailer who along with his household were converted to Christ in dramatic fashion because of the faithful, credible witness of two of his prisoners - Paul and Silas.

This morning as we move into Chapter 17 we're going to follow this missionary team as they minister in 2 different cities - Thessalonica and Berea. So look at Acts 17, we're going to read the first 15 verses:

1Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3explaining and proving 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.” 4And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.

5But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 6And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” 8And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 9And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

10The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. 13But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. 14Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. 15Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.

Let me ask you something: Have you ever received a back-handed complement? You know what that is right? It's when someone says something to you that at first seems like a complement, but when you think about it further you realize there's a dig in there, it's back-handed. It's an insult that's cloaked in niceties. A back-handed compliment is really the go-to move of passive-aggressive types. Here's some examples:

Compliment: "I wish I could be as laid-back as you about all the clutter and chaos."