Acts 17
COMMENTARY:
: 6 And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, “These have turned the world upside down are come hither also.” (3625 “world” [oikoumene] means earth, inherited earth, a portion of the earth inhabited by Greeks, universe, empire, Roman world, humankind or globe.)
DEVOTION: Paul went into the synagogue for three Sabbaths to teach them about the Messiah who had come in Jesus Christ. He reasoned with them out of the Old Testament Scriptures that the Messiah had to suffer and die and come back from the dead. He spoke of a resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ. Some of the people believed. This group was made up of Jews and Greeks and women.
Now there were Jews that didn’t like his message and they were moved by envy because they didn’t like the fact that people were believing his message over their message.
So they gathered a crowd together of lewd fellows and set the city in an uproar and attacked the house where they thought Paul was staying. Instead of finding Paul they took the owner of the house to the rulers of the city for judgment.
What were they saying that was wrong? It was that they were teaching that Jesus was going to be King in the land and this was against the teachings of the Roman world. Caesar was to be the only ruler they were to follow.
They just didn’t like the message. It was turning their globe upside down. It was causing them to think differently about their universe. They were wrapped up in the thoughts of the day and not in the truth of what God was doing through Jesus Christ.
They couldn’t take new thoughts about what God was doing in their view of mankind. It caused them to become angry that this new truth could be true.
This can happen in our view of man’s responsibility to God. If Jesus is the answer and HE is. Then there has to be a change from an outward worship of God to an inward worship of God. External show was not enough anymore. There had to be a heart change and a new direction for their life.
Our universe needs to be turned right side up at least at the point where we worship Jesus alone. We don’t count on our works to get us into heaven.
We don’t count on our talents to give us a special place in heaven. We count on Christ alone.
CHALLENGE: Turn your world right side up with a good relationship with Jesus Christ. Don’t listen to any other message but the one presented in the Word of God.
: 11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (4288 “readiness of mind” [prothumia] means forwardness of mind, willing mind, zeal, eagerness, or a lively interest in someone or something.)
DEVOTION: As a believer in Jesus Christ we have the responsibility to check out who we are listening to regarding the Bible. Starting in the early church we find people checking out the Apostles regarding their teaching. They went back to the text of the Old Testament to see if what he was teaching was really in the Bible that they had at the time.
They only had the Old Testament which gave them the prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah. They were seeing if not only Paul’s teachings were right but if Jesus really fulfilled what the Bible said HE would do when HE came.
They found that all the promises were fulfilled in Jesus and that HE was the Messiah. They also confirmed that Paul as a preacher was right.
Too many pastors are not preaching the truth of the Word of God. The problem is that the people don’t check to see if he is telling them the truth. The Bible doesn’t teach that sin is a “mistake.” The Bible doesn’t teach that marriage can be between a man and a man or a woman and a woman. This is sinful activity. God teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman for life. All else is sin. We need pastors who call sin sin.
We are to be open-minded in only the areas that the Bible gives us freedom. Not in areas where the Bible is direct in its teachings. The church needs to concentrate on the winning of souls for the LORD. The social issues need to be plain to all those who are true believers but the issue of salvation has to be in the forefront. The only way an unbelievers can change their thinking is through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in their life and that only comes through salvation.
Don’t harp on the social issues. Tell them where you think the Bible stands on the issues if they ask but concentrate on their salvation.
CHALLENGE: Those the LORD puts in your world need salvation FIRST. Tell them about Jesus.
: 27 That they should seek the LORD, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. (5584 “feel” [pselaphao] means verify by contact, to search for, handle, touch, grope, to handle with a view to investigation or to reach out to touch.)
DEVOTION: On this second missionary journey Paul visited many new cities. In each city he found those who would follow Jesus and those who would not. Those that would not were angry at Paul regarding his teachings. These angry people wanted to put him in jail or kill him.
The message of Jesus Christ caused two reactions wherever it was preached. Many believed the message. Some searched the Scripture daily to see if the teachings were true. Paul was preaching the truth. He was an eye witness to some of the things God was doing.
When he arrived in Athens, he saw the idolatry of the city. It bothered him. He started to preach on Mar’s hill. He preached about the inscription on one of the altars “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.”
He told them that they worshiped in ignorance. He was going to inform them about this God they didn’t know much about. Why? Because he wanted to present to them the Living and True God of the Universe.
The place of scholars of Paul’s day was here in Athens. They needed to realize the “Unknown God” they were seeking was really the GOD of the Israelites. They were groping around in the darkness of sin. They needed to handle the message of Christ. They needed to verify that HE was real by contact with Paul’s message. Paul taught them about the resurrection from the dead which sent some away. Many believed his message. Finding God requires a search for truth. The Word of God is the Truth. God didn’t want the people of Athens groping about seeking the truth. HE sent Paul to give them the Truth. Many were still groping around in the darkness like blind men because they didn’t believe in the resurrection from the dead. Paul was trying to teach them that God is the creator of the universe and that HE is not far away. The Messiah had come and Christ was HE. Has Christ really touched our lives? Many around us are searching for the truth in all the wrong places. We have the answer – just like Paul. Are we sharing the answer with those around us? They need to find Jesus.
CHALLENGE: Realize that not everyone will accept our message but we still have to share it for those who will. Like Paul, some will mock us. However, others will believe the message unto salvation.
: 31 Because HE has appointed a day, in the which HE will judge the world in righteousness by that MAN whom HE has ordained, whereof HE has given assurance to all men, in that HE has raised HIM from the dead. (2476 “appointed” [histemi] means to establish, to authorize, to put into force, to institute, enact, propose, to put forward, make stand, or select.)
DEVOTION: God has a plan that HE made up before HIS creation of the world. HE knew that Adam and Eve would sin. HE knew that humans would need a Savior. HE knew that HIS Son was the only appeasing sacrifice that would be acceptable. HE knew that many would reject the message of salvation that came through the death of HIS Son on the cross.
HE also planned for the future. HE has ordained Jesus Christ as the judge of the world. HE is going to judge the world in regard to their right standing with HIM. The only way they could have right standing with HIM is through Jesus Christ. It is because of Christ’s righteous life that we can have righteousness.
The way we know that there is life after death is because HE has stated this fact from the day of Adam’s fall until the final chapter of the book of Revelation. There is life after death in one of two places. Either people will spend eternity in heaven because of their proper relationship to Jesus Christ or they will spend eternity in the lake of fire with the devil and his angels because of their rejection of Jesus Christ. No middle ground. No other place.
Once judgment is made it is final. The LORD has the day picked out. We don’t know it but we wished we did.
CHALLENGE: HE wants us to live each day as if it was our last to be a good witness for HIM.
DONATIONS:
Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org. Also, if you can support this ministry through your local church please use that method. Thank you.
Visit our Facebook page for Small Church Ministries – please invite others to join us on Facebook. Thank you. Look for the logo from the devotionals.