Acts 17 (Wednesday Evening Bible Study)

Acts 17

• How quick are people willing to accept rumors and gossip as the truth and act on them?
• Context: Last time we saw where Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke make their way from Asia to Macedonia in Europe.  They establish a congregation in Philippi but it doesn’t take long for Paul and Silas to get into trouble get flogged and spend a night in Jail.  If you remember Paul and Silas are asked to leave town.  They travel about a 100 miles to the southwest to the city of Thessalonica. Remember the gospel as not reached this city.
• Acts 17:1-9
• After they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.” 4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a large number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women. 5 But the Jews became jealous, and they brought together some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Attacking Jason’s house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly. 6 When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too, 7 and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king—Jesus.” 8 The crowd and city officials who heard these things were upset. 9 After taking a security bond from Jason and the others, they released them.
  • Notice Paul spends the better part of a month in this city. I am sure he spoke to people every day about Jesus.
    • What did he use to prove Jesus is the Messiah? Scriptures.
  • Look at verse 4… what impact does preaching of the gospel have?
    • People were persuaded to believe. What group was more ready for the gospel message?  God fearing Greeks. Why do you think they were more open to the gospel than the Jews? They did not have to overcome so many of the Jewish expectations of the Messiah.  Also the scripture interpretation was not all settled in their minds. They were open to another meaning.
  • Who disputed Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica?
    • Certain Jews   What was the motivation?  Jealously 
  • Why didn’t the Jews just prove Paul wrong from the scriptures?
    • They couldn’t so they became frustrated.  Who did they end up using to disrupt the ministry? Bad Characters from the market place.
  • How did Jason get caught in the middle of this turmoil?
    • He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. What did he have to do? Post bond.
  • What do you think of how the officials handled the situation?
    • They acted reasonably but did not investigate… they tried to defuse the situation
• Acts 17:10-15
• 10 As soon as it was night, the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. Upon arrival, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and upsetting the crowds. 14 Then the brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul away to go to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed on there. 15 Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.
  • What do you think of Paul’s decision to leave Thessalonica?
    • “Discretion is the better part of valor”… Paul and Silas leave Thessalonica and go 50 miles further along the Egnatian Way to Berea after night fell.
  • Why does Luke praise the Bereans for displaying a more noble character than the Thessalonians?
    • They readily accepted the gospel message and were open to examining the scriptures.  
  • Does that mean they were gullible and easily swayed?
    • No! In fact what were they doing every day? They examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. These people were eager for the truth. They matched the message to the scriptures. This shows spiritual maturity. 
  • Evidently some of the Jews in Thessalonica thought it was not good enough that Paul and Silas were out of their city so what do they do?  Would you walk 50 miles to cause trouble for someone else?  
  • Notice what the believers do with Paul…why?
    • They get him out of town.  He must have been the main speaker and seen as the main leader the people are concerned about his safety.
  • Paul knows the Holy Spirit thru the vision he received wanted them to take the gospel to Greece…but kicked out of three cities in row he may have wondered what is God’s will for His ministry.
    • This must have impacted Paul in some ways. Paul ends up alone in Athens maybe wondering what God was going to do next. As far as we know this is Paul’s 1st time to the famous city; the center of the Greek civilization. Paul is an educated man and would have known of many of the famous philosophers from Athens and what they taught. 
• Acts 17:16-21
• 16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed when he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?” Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities”—because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 They took him and brought him to the Areopagus, and said, “May we learn about this new teaching you are presenting? 20 Because what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners residing there spent their time on nothing else but telling or hearing something new.
  • Is Paul impressed by their culture in Athens?
    • No distressed. What distressed Paul so much?  The pagan idol worship.
  • How does Paul approach the people with the gospel?
    • See verse 17 reasons with them…Paul never asked anyone to make a mindless decision for Christ He uses scripture for the Jews and those that believe in the one true God.
  • What were many of the Athenians obsessed with?
    • Knowing the newest ideas; they liked to discuss and debate. So Paul enters the debate
    • Paul is taken to the Areopagus which was a legislative body for Athens and could license teachers there were no Jews here quoting scripture here, it would be of little effect.
• Acts 17:22-34
• 22 Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, “People of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect. 23 For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it—he is Lord of heaven and earth—does not live in shrines made by hands. 25 Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things. 26 From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. 27 He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’ 29 Since, then, we are God’s offspring, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination. 30 “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” 32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to ridicule him, but others said, “We’d like to hear from you again about this.” 33 So Paul left their presence. 34 However, some people joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
  • How does Paul use their own idol worship to introduce them to the one true God?
    • Uses the unknown God.
  • What is the basis Paul speaks from to show them God?
    • Creation
  • What do you think of Paul’s sermon?
    • What truth does He get across… There is one God…who will judge…who can be known…and gives us proof be way of the resurrection of Jesus.
  • What did some have problems with when Paul spoke?
    • The resurrection.
  • How effective was Paul efforts in Athens?
    • It appears some accepted the gospel message but many others rejected it. The audience was split but some people of standing became Christians.   It is hard to convince people of the truth if they believe they already know everything.
• TAKE AWAY
  • Just because things aren’t easy we should not give up on what God has called us to do.
  • Some people will reject us when rejecting the gospel.
  • There is a way to reason with anyone and everyone about the truth of the gospel.
  • The resurrection of Jesus will continue to be hard for many to accept.
  • We as Christians need to enter the battle for ideas. Christianity is still a reasoned faith.