LIVING IN AN UPSIDE DOWN WORLD
1 Thessalonians 1:1; Acts 17:1-9
INTRODUCTION
How does a person live for Jesus Christ in a society where his faith is constantly under attack—where he can be ostracized or blacklisted for openly professing that he is a Christian?...How can you raise children with a healthy reverence for God when those around you live in open defiance of God’s commandments?...How are you supposed to live a life of integrity when everyone around you is cutting corners and doing whatever they can possibly do to get an advantage over you?
Those are the kinds of questions I am frequently asked as a pastor…But these aren’t just questions posed by 21st century Westerners…They describe the dilemma faced by Christ-followers in the first century city of Thessalonica…In fact, a close look at their world reveals some eerie similarities between their society and our own…And like us, they needed a SURE FAITH FOR UNCERTAIN TIMES.
Today, we begin a new series of messages from the first letter of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians… Although they lived in an era before television, computers and iPhones, the core problems that they faced and the challenges that they experienced are remarkably familiar…And the counsel offered under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit can buttress our faith as surely as it did theirs.
You don’t need me to tell you that we live in uncertain times…Individually and as a society, it just seems that so much is heading in the wrong direction…From the shaky economy to the shifting morality of our day, it often seems that our world is collapsing all around us.
But rather than throw up our hands in discouragement, the brief letter which Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica challenges us to live out our faith in an authentic and consistent manner…To people who may have had as many reasons to be discouraged as we do—maybe even more—Paul encourages them to develop A SURE FAITH FOR UNCERTAIN TIMES.
Over the next several weeks, we’re going to go through this letter verse by verse and chapter by chapter, seeking to gain counsel to help us navigate the times in which we live…As we begin our study today, we’re going to try to understand how Paul came to minister to these Thessalonians in the first place, and how he was in a unique position to give them advice on LIVING IN AN UPSIDE DOWN WORLD.
We’re going to start, appropriately enough, with THE BEGINNING OF THE LETTER in 1 Thessalonians 1:1.
I. THE BEGINNING OF THE LETTER
1Thessalonians 1:1 1Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…
This letter begins like most first century correspondence—identifying the:
A. The Writer
There isn’t much serious disagreement that the human author of the letter is the Apostle Paul…He identifies himself as the writer in this opening verse—which was customary in his day, as opposed to our practice of waiting until the end of the letter to sign our name—as well as a little later, in 2:18.
Silas was Paul’s companion on his second missionary journey—we studied about this a few weeks ago, when we saw that after Paul & Barnabas got into an argument, Paul decided to launch on his missionary journey with Silas…Some Bible Scholars believe that Silas may have actually penned this letter as it was dictated to him by Paul.
Timothy, of course, was Paul’s protégé, and a special friend to the believers at Thessalonica…While Silas and Timothy may have contributed some thoughts to this letter, it’s primary author was Paul…Of course, the real author is the Holy Spirit, who inspired Paul to write these words, and that is what differentiates this from the correspondence that you and I are more familiar with.
While some Bible Scholars believe that 1 Thessalonians was the first of the inspired letters written by Paul, most believe that the letter to the Galatians was written somewhat earlier, making 1 Thessalonians the 2nd such letter penned by Paul…It was written while Paul was in Corinth, probably around A.D. 51.
B. The Recipients
Again, there’s not much room for uncertainty or speculation about the intended recipients of the letter, identified as …the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…Let’s consider first of all:
THE CITY [SLIDE of Ancient Macedonia]
Thessalonica was the capital city of the province of Macedonia…It was the center of commerce for the region—a first century New York or London, with an estimated population of some 200,000 people… There were a number of wealthy citizens in Thessalonica, and a fairly large middle class, for that era…It was a bit of a melting pot, with a large population of Greeks, but also Romans and a sizable Jewish minority…There was a pretty liberal attitude towards religion, with a number of pagan religions practiced among its citizenry.
The City of Thessalonica exists even today, still known as Thessalonika or Salonika, the second largest city in modern day Greece.
Paul visited the city of Thessalonica in about AD 50—we’ll read more about that in a moment—and while there he helped to plant a New Testament Church…It is this church—this local body of believers—to whom Paul specifically addresses this letter...So let’s take a closer look at: THE CHURCH.
THE CHURCH
I love the way Paul identifies this congregation: To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…
To read Paul’s letters to the churches—there are 9 of them, addressed to 7 different congregations—is to know that Paul had a deep love and abiding respect for the church of the living God…He addresses the Corinthians as …those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy…He tells the Romans they are loved by God and called to be saints…He calls the Colossians …the holy and faithful brothers at Colosse…
Paul absolutely loved the church, because he understood that the church was the institution for which Christ died and through which the Gospel of Salvation was to be proclaimed…In the world, there are many great institutions and organizations, created by men to accomplish many good works…But the church alone stands as the one institution originated by God and commissioned by Him for the spread of the Gospel…What we do through the church is not just good work—folks, it is God’s Work.
As if to emphasize this unique role of the church, Paul reminds the Thessalonian believers that they are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…
• If we’re not in God the Father and the LJC, we might as well lock up and go home…It is only through God the Father and the LJC that we find purpose as a church and that we have power to carry out our calling.
Now to appreciate Paul’s relationship with this congregation, we need to go back about a year or year and a half before Paul writes this letter, to the time when he visited the City and established the Church…It’s recorded for us in the 17th chapter of ACTS, and it gives us THE BACKGROUND we need for our study…Let’s look at THE BACKGROUND.
II THE BACKGROUND
Acts 17 records the events on Paul and Silas’ 2nd missionary journey, after they leave the City of Philippi… Let’s read the story, then we’ll break it down and look at it in detail.
Acts 17:1-9 1When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. 4Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. 5But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. 6But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus." 8When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.
A. The Ministry
1When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures (Acts 17:1-2)
In the previous cities Paul had visited on his first missionary journey and so far on this second trip, it was his practice to visit the Jewish synagogues before ministering to others…Although Paul was called by God to have a ministry to the Gentiles, Paul had found that starting with the Jews—who already accepted the OT Scriptures as authoritative, gave him a much better platform from which to share his faith…He didn’t have to explain as much, since they already had some level of familiarity with the OT…Generally, this practice worked well—he was usually able to convert a number of men and women to Christianity, and they would then form the nucleus of the church established in the region.
The statement in verse two about three Sabbath days has been the source of some controversy…Some teachers interpret that to mean that Paul was only in the city of Thessalonica for three weeks—less than a month—before he gets run out of town (we’ll talk more about that in a minute)…However, it seems more likely that Paul taught in the synagogue over a three week period—enough to cover three Sabbath days—and then moved his ministry elsewhere in the city…As we go through his letter to the Thessalonians over the next several weeks, you’ll find that Paul had developed some close relationships with the people there, and it seems unlikely (although not impossible) that he could have become that close to these believers in just a three week time frame...Honest people will differ, and if you care that much, you can ask Paul in heaven.
Regardless of whether it is three weeks or three months or longer, we have some idea as to how Paul carried out his ministry in Thessalonica: he reasoned with them from the Scriptures.
This describes the method of Paul’s instructions, suggesting he didn’t just lecture them, but he employed an interactive format—probably like the Socratic Method of questions and answers used in many classrooms today…There was some back and forth—undoubtedly some disagreements with the Rabbis and other devout Jews…But the picture is not of someone coming in and rudely or arrogantly preaching his faith—not like those fools from Topeka who go around the country shaming themselves and impugning the name of Christ with their Godless signs and perverted theology—but someone who uses reasoning and logic to present a thoughtful, considerate case for the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Not only does this passage give us insight as to the method of Paul’s ministry, but it also makes clear the MESSAGE that Paul proclaimed.
B. The Message
2As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. 4Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. (vv. 2-4)
First, notice:
The Content
Paul came in and preached nothing more, nothing less than the Scriptures…He was using the OT, with which this Jewish population would have been familiar—to talk about Jesus Christ…He was using verses from the OT to explain and to prove that the Messiah about whom the prophets wrote had come in the flesh…He told them how the prophets said the Messiah would have to suffer—and Jesus suffered….And how Jesus would have to die—and Jesus died…And most of all, how the Messiah would rise from the dead and proclaim victory over the grave—and THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT JESUS DID, Praise God!...
Without fear of contradiction Paul declared, This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ…He is the anointed One…He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Folks, I’m grateful that we have so many tools at our disposal for the proclamation of God’s Word…I love PPT…I like to use videos from time to time…I’d love it if we had a drama ministry with people who love skits and that sort of thing…But no matter what tools we use or what technology is available, there is simply no substitute for the plain and simple proclamation of the Scriptures—that Jesus lived a perfect life, died a humiliating death upon the cross at Calvary, was buried in a borrowed tomb, rose again three days later, ascended back to sit on the right hand of the Father, and is coming back for all who believe.
• Sing out about, put it in a video or in a PPT, but THAT is the good news which the church is to proclaim loudly and clearly until Christ returns.
If you want to hear about politics, turn on the news or go to a political rally…If you want to be entertained, go to the movies…But if you want to hear a life changing, soul saving message, then find a Bible believing, Bible preaching, Bible practicing Church…Not as easy as you might think, but I hope and pray that we are one.
• Betty Hall: He just preaches from the Bible.
And because Paul was faithful with the content, the Lord blessed him…Notice the converts mentioned in verse 4.
The Converts
4Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. (v. 4)
Some of the Jews—probably not many, but some, were convinced, and they became Christ-followers that day…Also in attendance that day were some Greeks who either had converted to Judaism or who were at least exploring their interest in the religion of the Hebrews…And as Paul had experienced in Philippi, a large number of prominent or influential women, probably widows or single, became believers…Luke says, a large number of women, not to be mistaken with a number of large women, as one pastor put it.
But of course, if you know anything about Paul’s ministry, you know that nothing was ever easy…No sooner do we learn that many were saved that day than we also learn of some trouble that Paul encountered…Let’s take a look at THE MAYHEM
C. The Mayhem
As you can imagine, the conversion of so many people did not escape the attention of the Jewish authorities, and they immediately went into action.
The Characters
5But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. (v. 5)
Although this mayhem and confusion was instigated by the Jewish authorities, it was carried out by men identified in the NIV as bad characters from the marketplace…
• The MSG: a bunch of brawlers off the street
• NASB: wicked men from the marketplace
• KJV [MY FAVORITE]: certain vile fellows of the rabble.
These were evidently a bunch of lazy, good-for-nothing men that sat around all day down at the marketplace, shooting the breeze and looking for trouble…And they found it on this particular day.
They formed a mob and started a riot and they went searching for Paul and Silas…They went to the household of a man named Jason—probably someone with whom Paul & Silas were staying while in Thessalonica, perhaps even a relative of Paul’s—and searched Jason’s house—actually, the language suggests the tore Jason’s home apart looking for Paul…They did all that for one reason: to bring Paul and Silas out to the crowd.
• Not because they were interested in another Bible Study.
This is a dangerous situation, and it’s fixin’ to get worse…Let’s continue reading—I want to point out a couple of interesting things about:
The Charges
6But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus." (vv. 6-7)
When they couldn’t find Paul and Silas, these vile fellows dragged—literally DRAGGED Jason and some of the other believers before the city officials—welcome to Christianity!!!...The way we know that the Jewish authorities are instigating all this, is by the charge they make in verse 7: They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus."
Does that sound familiar?...It’s the very same charge the religious leaders made against Jesus before his crucifixion…In a pagan city like Thessalonica, the city officials couldn’t have cared less about a new religion like Christianity—unless it posed a threat to their independence and autonomy…If someone was making a claim to Caesar’s throne, then that could cause problems…So that is the very allegation that is made by the Jewish authorities.
We’ve looked at verse 6 before—it’s one of my favorites because of the charge they level at Paul and Silas…The KJV words it this way: These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also…I don’t know exactly where Paul & Silas were when this was going down, but if they had heard that allegation, I imagine they would have taken some pride in it—turning the world upside down… Maybe we should change our Mission Statement from Experiencing/Expressing to Turning the World Upside Down since 2006…We sometimes talk about living in an upside down world—meaning that things are topsy turvy, but look folks—it is us—it is Christians—that should be turning the world upside down.
Verse 8 describes the Chaos that engulfed the city at this point:
The Chaos
When they heard this [referring to the charge that Paul was proclaiming another king] the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go. (vv. 8-9)
Quite honestly, the city officials didn’t know what to do…They were thrown for a loop by all this, so they made Jason and the others post a bond that they would forfeit if Paul, Silas or anyone else caused trouble in the future.
So there you have it—the background of Paul’s trip to Thessalonica…He preached, people got saved, and he started a riot—just another day in the life of a preacher.
While we’re not given a lot of details about Paul’s ministry to the Thessalonians in Acts 17, as we proceed with our study of Paul’s first letter to them, we’re going to find that Paul has a special place in his heart for this group of believers…He truly cares about them and their spiritual welfare.
After Paul left Thessalonica, he makes his way about 40 miles west to a town called Berea…From there he travels on to Athens by himself, but rejoins Silas and Timothy in Corinth…While in Corinth, he sends Timothy to check on the welfare of the church at Thessalonica, and when Timothy returns to Paul at Corinth, he evidently brings back some questions and concerns…The Letter to the Church of the Thessalonians is meant, in part at least, to address those concerns.
Let’s wrap up our study this morning by returning to the opening verse of 1 Thessalonians and considering THE BLESSING.
III. THE BLESSING
1 Thessalonians 1:1 1Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
The typical letter in the first century would contain a formal greeting or salutation, like the one at the end of verse 1: Grace and peace to you.
Each of the NT Letters attributed to Paul—those written to churches as well as those addressed to individuals like Titus and Philemon—each one contains this same blessing pronounced on his readers, except for one—1 Timothy, which says Grace, Mercy and Peace…I don’t know if there’s any significance to that or not, but it’s interesting…Personally, I think Paul changed it up just to mess with the minds of scholars of subsequent generations, but that’s just me.
Each time this blessing is pronounced, it is in this order: Grace and peace.
Paul was writing to people who lived in uncertain times…They had a lot of questions—some of which Paul attempts to answer in this letter…It is obvious that there was a certain level of fear among them—uncertainty will do that to you…And Paul wanted them to know peace.
• Not the absence of conflict, but tranquility and serenity no matter the circumstances.
But Paul knew that they could never achieve true peace without first availing themselves of God’s grace.
And that’s my message to you today.
If you stick with us over the course of the next several weeks, I think you’ll find wonderful counsel and sound advice for dealing with many of the problems you face every day…I think you’ll find that it is possible to experience true peace of mind, but only as you avail yourself of God’s grace.
• Initially, through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Daily, through a close and intimate walk with the Savior.
Yes, times are troubling and the future is uncertain…But with the grace of God, you can know the peace of God, even while living in an upside down world.
