The Second Missionary Journey - Paul Preaching in Thessalonica

If you would take your Bible, turn to Acts chapter 17. We are moving from Acts 16 to Acts 17 tonight. But Acts chapter 17, we will be in verses 1 to 10. Now, last week we finished examining the gospel and the church planning success and the persecution of the missions team while they were ministering in Philippi. Of course, we know that was and is a part of the second missionary journey. Paul and his team, we know who the team was. Silas was an assistant to Paul. Timothy was the young minister in training. And then there's Dr. Luke who was an assistant as well as a physician, no doubt he took care of their needs.

Physically, they had been led by God to go into the region of Macedonia when Paul received the Macedonian call. Now, I taught five messages from Acts 16. I would encourage you to get them, a lot of rich material and even a lot of things that apply to us today. But at the end of chapter 16, we see that the missionary team left Philippi after they had encouraged the brothers and the sisters that met at Lydia's house. We know that was the church. I will read verse 40, chapter 16 in the Amplified. So they, Paul and Silas, left the prison and went to Lydia's house.

And when they had seen the brothers and sisters, they encouraged and comforted them and they left. And from chapter 17, verse one, we see that Luke stayed in Philippi, no doubt he stayed so as to minister to these new believers in this new church. And we know that because the language changes in verse one from we to they, from we to they. But here we have the missions team, a Paul, Silas and Timothy continuing through in two more cities in the region of Macedonia. Now a word here about these cities. And this gets into their missionary strategy.

Scholars who have studied this say that the Bible notes more than 1400 references to cities, different cities. And there are more than 25 ministries to and in specific cities. That is what we see here in the book of Acts. Acts begins in the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the most important of all of the cities found in the scriptures. Of course, it was the most important for religious and spiritual reasons. Then at the end of Acts, we find Paul in the most important of all of the pagan cities found in the scriptures. That would be the city of Rome. Now this is my point. This is what I'm aiming at.

Throughout the book of Acts, we find the people of God in the work of God going from city to city. Some cities were more important than others, but God had a purpose when we find the people of God in the work of God in the particular city. And when we look at chapter 17, we find one of the most important cities of their day, Athens. In the second part of chapter 17, we find Paul ministering to the great thinkers and the philosophers of their day and preaching the message of the one true God to them and ultimately the gospel. Many know of the second part of chapter 17 because of Paul's ministry on Mars Hill. We will get there.

But before Paul and the team made their way to Athens, Luke tells us they made their way through two cities, but they only stopped at two. They went through two, but only stopped at two. They stopped at Thessalonica and Berea. Now before I explain a little about the city of Thessalonica, I wanna point out what we're seeing in Paul's ministry. This speaks to Paul's ministry objective, his ministry plan. Let me explain. Paul's objective was to preach and minister in certain cities, evangelizing both Jew and Gentile and planting churches.

Then his plan was to use those churches in those cities as missionary outposts for evangelistic church planting purposes. His, this is Paul, his was a networking, gospel networking church cycle. Of course, Paul certainly was burdened for all people, but we know he could not get to all people. He couldn't get to every city. So he went to certain cities and from there, those believers in churches could reach more. Again, this was a purposeful networking cycle of evangelism and ministry. We're gonna see this more at the end of the message. So here we find Paul and his team leaving Philippi.

They went through two cities, but they didn't stop there. They ultimately did stop at Thessalonica and next Berea. Then they went on to Athens. Now it has been a while since I mentioned this, but it would be good for us to look at those maps again in the back of our Bible to see the route Paul and the missions team took. From Philippi, they traveled 33 miles or so southwest to Amphipolis. Then they went on to Apagolea, I said that wrong, I know, which was another 30 miles to the southwest. And from there, they continued westward about 37 miles to Thessalonica, which was a very important city as we will see.

Now, Amphipolis was the capital of the northern district of the region of Macedonia. But even though it was larger and more important than Philippi, Paul and his team passed on through. That was because their objective, their goal, was to reach Thessalonica. Of course, that was God's leading. That was God's purpose and plan. Thessalonica was the capital of the province of Macedonia and the largest, most prosperous city in all the region. It was located on the Mayak Gulf. We can see that on our maps. It was connected to the rich agricultural region of Macedonia and the sea and trade routes.

Thessalonica was a large city with about 200,000 residents. That's larger than Brookhaven. And Thessalonica controlled the government and economic power of the region. The city was comprised of a diverse group of people, according to 1 Thessalonians 2, 14 to 16, they had a sizable Jewish population. Of course, there were lots of other non-Jewish people there as well. And from 1 Thessalonians 1, 7 to 8, it seems that Paul saw the city as a serious strategic center that can be used to spread the gospel throughout the region. And we'll come back to that again at the end of the message.

But notice, even though they were still bruised and still bloodied and still sore from their great persecution in Philippi, Paul and Silas made their way some 100 miles to the city of Thessalonica. So let's read our verses and then I will explain how we will approach the verses in the message. I'll start with verse 40, end of chapter 16. So they, Paul and Silas went out of the prison and visited Lydia, and when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed. Now when they had passed to Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

And Paul went in and as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining 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." And some of them were persuaded, the King James says, "Believed," and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But 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.

And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the other brothers before the city authorities shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down "have come here also, and Jason has received them, "and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, "saying that there is another King Jesus." And the people of the city and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things, and when they had taken money as security from Jason, that would be bond, and the rest, they let them go. I guess in our language we could say they bonded out. Now, this is how I will approach the message.

First, I want us to examine their first contact, verse one and two. Second, I want us to see their method of evangelism, and there's quite a lot there in verse two and three. Third, we will see their gospel, their church planning success. We see this in verse four. And then last, we will see their persecution. Yes, persecution again. Now, at the conclusion of the message, I will make a few observations about the church that we see here in Acts 17, but this is found from the books of Thessalonica. As a matter of fact, that all goes together.

It would be good for you maybe to read these verses about the church in Thessalonica in Acts 17, and first and second Thessalonians. Maybe that'd be good for you to do this week. So number one, notice their first contact. Number one, their first contact, verses one and two. Here we see Paul's custom. We could say it like this, his habit, and that was to go to the local Jewish synagogue first, if there was one in the city. Now, let's think back to Philippi.

Remember that the city of Philippi did not have a synagogue, so they went to the river because it was customary for Jews to meet on a seashore or a riverside as a place of prayer and worship, if they did not have a sizable enough Jewish population to have a synagogue. But here, they went to the Jewish synagogue for worship, and their purpose was twofold. First, they went for worship. Paul and the others went for personal prayer, personal worship. Second, the synagogue was the best point of contact for godly Jews and God-fearing Gentiles. Think about it from a practical standpoint, but yet this is a spiritual standpoint as well.

In the synagogue, they had the Old Testament scriptures from which Paul and the others would use to declare the gospel. And in the synagogue, they had Jews and Gentiles worshiping the God of the Old Testament scriptures. It really would have been like fishing in a bathtub. They have the same Bible Paul and the other team, Paul and the others had, and they worshiped the same God, the God of the Old Testament. Of course, they understood Paul and the team that the God of the Old Testament was Jesus. And from the verses, we can see that on three different Sabbath days, Paul went to the synagogue to engage both Jew and Gentile with the gospel.

Now, a question or two here before I make a point of application. What did Paul do during the week? The text says he went to the synagogue on three Sabbath days. That would have been the Jewish Sabbath, which was a Saturday. What did he do during the week? And how long did he stay in Thessalonica? Well, if we look at other scripture, we can get an idea. Remember that Paul had a day job. He had a trade. Paul was a Pharisee before he came to Christ, and all Pharisees had a skill so as to earn a living, and Paul's skill was tent making. In Acts 18.3, we see that at times, Paul made tents to earn a living.

And from 1 Thessalonians 2.9 and chapter 3.7 to 10, we see that he did work to provide for their physical needs while they were in the city. And it does seem that they stayed in the city quite some time because if we look at Philippians 4.15 to 16, we can see that they were in Thessalonica long enough to receive financial support from the Philippians two different times. So we have this picture of Paul and the missions team ministering in the city quite some time. They started off by going to the Jewish synagogue, which was the best point of contact to evangelize the lost and to see a church planted ultimately.

Now notice how this relates to us. And really, I've been meditating on this all week. This resonated with me. All of us have points of contact in our lives. All of us have points of contact in our lives. We have lost people that are right before us, right next to us, they're in our lives. We have family who are lost. We have coworkers who are lost. We have neighbors who are lost. We have people in our community that we come into contact with on a regular basis that are lost and they need Christ. People at Walmart, people at the grocery, people at the feed store and so on. So a question. What lost people are the points of contact for you?

We don't go to the synagogue for points of contact in evangelism, but we have points of contact in our lives. What lost people are the points of contact for you? And how should you react? I would encourage you to make a list. I have done this before. I would encourage you to make a list and to put the names before you. Get you a point of contact list. Well, we're gonna see how we should react like they did, following the team. Next, number two, notice their method of evangelism. Their method of evangelism. Let's look at verse two and three. Verse two and three. And Paul went in as was his custom on three Sabbath days.

He reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining 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. And some of them were persuaded enjoying Paul and Silas. That would be the believers. Now, notice their method of evangelism. We can see that they were true to their position and their policy that we've seen before. They always went to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. We see this stated in Acts 13, when Paul and Barnabas were in Antioch of Poseida. They said they went to the Jews first, then to the Gentiles.

But besides who they went to, here we see their method and this will really help us in those points of contact in our lives. Now, we see this in four key words found in the text. It's right there. The English Standard uses four words, reasoned, explaining, proven and proclaim. If you write in your Bible, highlight those. If you're taking notes, write those words down. Reasoned, explaining, proving and proclaim. First Paul was reasoning from the scriptures about Christ and the gospel. This will be the Old Testament now. Now, all the translations use the word reasoned. And this word simply means to converse, to discourse, to discuss.

This would have been a dialogue, not a monologue. This means that Paul was not preaching, but discussing, he was talking with those in the synagogue, Jew and Gentile, about Jesus, the gospel and the Old Testament scriptures. Now, no doubt this would have been an interesting and lively Q and A, a dialogue back and forth. Second Paul was explaining concerning Christ and the gospel. He went from reasoning to explaining. Now, here all the modern translations use the word explaining. And in their day, this word was often used of a judicial investigation. This word simply means to lay alongside.

And this means that from the Old Testament scriptures now, Paul was explaining the gospel. Notice he was laying alongside the Old Testament scriptures, Jesus and the gospel, to explain the fact that he, that's Jesus, was the promised Messiah of God. So he's reasoning with those in the synagogue. Now he's explaining. Third, Paul was proving that Christ was the Messiah. Paul was proving that Christ was the Messiah. This is really the next step. The English Standard says he was proving who Christ was and what he did on the cross. The New American says he was giving evidence.

And this word proving here, it means to place beside or to place down, like to put food on a table or to put a deposit down like money. So Paul was putting proof and evidence down before them, proving who Jesus was and what he did. He was putting down proof and evidence about Christ and the gospel from the Old Testament. So notice how it's building. He's reasoning with them. He's explaining from the Old Testament about Jesus and the gospel. He's proving that Christ was the Messiah. He's laying the gospel down beside the scriptures they believed and they knew. And then fourth, Paul was proclaiming the gospel.

The King James is my favorite here, it's accurate. It says, "Whom I preach unto you." The English Standard uses the word proclaimed. And this word proclaim or preach, it means to announce, to declare, to make known. So Paul was proclaiming and preaching Christ and the gospel. So look at what we have here. One commentator said that Paul is expositorially preaching and teaching and reasoning from the scripture. Yes, he was an expository preacher and teacher. So what we have here is Paul and the team's method and message in evangelism.

They were reasoning and discussing from the Old Testament so as to explain and give proof to the fact that Jesus was the promised Messiah of God and that he had to suffer and raise rise from the dead. Paul was in fact preaching and proclaiming Jesus and the gospel. Now, before we get into the content of their message in their method of evangelism, look at how this applies. Those points of contact, that list that you need to be making. No doubt there's a list, a partial list in your mind now. We should be doing the very same thing with them.

You see, those lost people in your life, those people on that list, we should be doing with them like Paul did in the synagogue. We should be reasoning and discussing from the Old Testament scripture. We should be explaining and giving evidence and proof and even proclaiming two things now. First, the bad news of the gospel and second, the good news of the gospel. First, we should be reasoning, explaining and giving proof from the scriptures and even preaching to them of their utter sinfulness and their great spiritual hopelessness. Sinners are lost in the need of Christ. Romans three is the greatest chapter you could use there.

We should be reasoning and explaining and giving proof from the scriptures, even preaching to them of their sinfulness. And second, we should be reasoning, explaining and giving proof from the scriptures, even preaching to them that their only hope is Christ. And then ultimately, we should be calling them to repent and believe the gospel and we should be using the personal pronoun, you. You. But we need to see the content of their evangelism. It's right there.

Paul and the others presented and declared the good news that Jesus was and is the son of God, that he died for our sins according to the Old Testament scriptures, that he was buried and he rose on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen alive by God's chosen witnesses and that Christ Jesus is proclaimed throughout the world as the only savior for sin. Look, church, they preach the gospel in the synagogue with the Old Testament scriptures. Now look at how this applies to us as individuals and as a church. Simply as we relate to those contacts now on our hearts and our lives, that list, this is the message we share.

And like I said, we must be personal. And as a church, notice we don't entertain the lost and we sure don't coerce the lost. We present and proclaim man's sinfulness, man's need of salvation, and the only hope they have is Christ. Well, what about the results? We'll get to that and we need to think about that. So notice what we see here. Their method of evangelism. Next, number three, notice their gospel success. Notice their gospel success. I'll read the verse here in a moment, but here we see the results. After three weeks of ministry now, Paul and the missions team had great gospel success.

And here I wanna look at this by looking at how, who, and what. First, how they had gospel success. Verse three in the English Standard says, and 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. The King James says, and some of them believed. The amplified combines the two saying, and some of them were persuaded to believe. And this word believed or persuaded, it speaks of bringing someone to a point of confidence, trust and obedience through persuasion. Now think about what Paul had been doing. He had been reasoning, explaining, proving and proclaiming.

Remember those four words? He had been working to persuade them to come to faith in Christ and many did become persuaded they believed. Now think about this within the context of the entirety of New Testament teaching. Not just what we see here in verses one to 10. When Paul persuaded, he reasoned from the scriptures. But God the Holy Spirit worked through his reasoning, explaining, proving and proclaiming. Those hearing were convinced. So they trusted in Christ and the gospel and they became followers of Christ like Paul and Silas.

As one scholar says it, therefore, this believing and persuading, it includes the idea of conviction of the Holy Spirit, a demonstration of faith and trust and a submission and obedience. Simply, this is a Holy Spirit inspired persuasion from Paul's proclamation that produced saving faith, not just this intellectual ascent now. So we see how they had gospel success. We see the results. But second word, who? Second, who believe? Now this is simple. Some Jews were converted to Christ, also some devout Greeks. And this would have been Greek proselytes to Judaism and certain leading or prominent women in the city.

These would have been women of high standing or principal citizens. So we have this wide variety of people Jew, Gentile, they savingly believed in Christ. And then third, what? What happened as a result? Now this is simple. Verse four says they joined Paul and Silas. This means they associated with the Christians of the city. We can say it like this, right then the church was born. Of course, there's not a word of organization here, but this is when the church was born. So look at what we have here in verse four. Paul had been reasoning, Paul had been explaining.

He had been proving and he had been proclaiming from the Old Testament that Jesus was the promised Messiah of God and that they needed to trust in him for their salvation and many were savingly persuaded. So the church was born. They had gospel and church planning success. Now, what can we learn here? How does this apply to us? We should be about the work and responsibility of persuading the lost. Remember that contact list? Paul's contact list was anyone in that synagogue. Remember our contact list? We should be about the work and the responsibility of persuading them. But only God can savingly persuade them the lost.

We need the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit of God to savingly persuade them. So we proclaim like Paul, we persuade like Paul and we wait for the Holy Spirit of God to savingly persuade those on our contact list. So we proclaim like Paul, we persuade like Paul and we pray for the heavenly bread of the Holy Spirit like we see and know of in Luke chapter 11. See how it all comes together? Then last, their persecution. Last, their persecution. Let's read verses five to nine and I'll be shorter here. I'll be shorter here because it's really simple what takes place. But the Jews were jealous. These obviously were those who did not believe.

And taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob. They set the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not found them, obviously this is Paul and Silas. They dragged Jason and some of the other brothers before the city authorities shouting, these men have turned the whole world upside down. They've also come here. And Jason has received them and they are all acting against the decree, or decrees of Caesar saying that there is another king, Jesus.

People in the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things and when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. Now here we see another result of their gospel work. Not everybody was happy, that's obvious. Some were angry with Paul and the mission's team and what was going on here. We've seen this before. The unbelieving Jews were jealous of Paul and their success. They were furious that some of the Jews, proselyte Gentiles and some prominent women were leaving the synagogue to associate with Paul and what became this new upstart religion. So they gathered up the rabble.

They're called wicked men. They formed a mob to attack Paul and the missionaries. Luke tells us they besieged the house of Jason where Paul and the team were obviously had been staying. And when they did not find Paul and the others, they seized Jason and some of the other brothers the text says and they dragged them before the mob and the rulers of the city. No doubt Jason was one of those new converts to Christ. I guess he came to faith in Christ and he went straight to a trial and discipline like we've been studying on Sunday mornings. And notice what they charged them with.

First, they declared that Paul and the missions team had turned the world upside down. Well, was this true? Yes and no, no and yes. Although they caused quite a stir by preaching Christ as a Messiah. Although they certainly did create lots of debate and even division among Jews in the Jewish community, even the Gentile community, Paul and the missionaries did not cause riots and religious and social upheaval that the rioting crowds created. Second, they accused them of plotting against Caesar and Rome. Well, was that true? No and yes, yes and no. Obviously Paul was declaring the kingship of Jesus.

If we study the books of first and second Thessalonians, we can see the strong emphasis that Paul gave on the kingship of Jesus and his return. And in their world now, to declare any king other than Caesar was one of the most dangerous and serious crimes in the Roman Empire. In their eyes now, Paul was declaring Christ to be a rival king to Caesar and they used that to their advantage against Paul. It's interesting, MacArthur points out that it was failure to worship Caesar as king and Lord that got Paul executed at the end of his life. But then third, they accused them of preaching that Jesus was king. Well, was that true?

Yes, as I have stated, if we study the books of first and second Thessalonians, we can see the strong emphasis that Paul gave on the kingship of Jesus and his return. Now, notice what we have here. Persecution, the same old persecution they encountered so many times and they will in the future. The unbelieving Jews were violently jealous over the great gospel success of Paul and missionaries. They stirred up the wicked rabble of the city against Paul and Silas, accusing them of preaching a king and opposition to Caesar. Well, the results, they never found Paul and Silas.

And verse nine says that Jason was drug out before the crowd, before the religious, or excuse me, the city officials. And ultimately, he posted bond and he was let go. And then verse 10 says that the brothers, that would be the church now, they sent Paul and Silas out of town by night for their safety. And now, I know I say this, every time we come across persecution. Persecution is in the hands of God, folks. If God allows it or he does not, that is within the providential purpose and plan of God. Now, take note of what we're seeing here in verses one to nine and verse 10.

The second missionary journey, Paul preaching in Thessalonica, it's real simple. The second missionary journey, Paul preaching in Thessalonica. That's what these verses are all about. We see the great gospel success. Another church is planted in Thessalonica. Now, I wanna conclude by sharing some observations that Paul made from 1 Thessalonians chapter one and two about what happened in the city from their ministry. This is very good, putting some of this in my words, it came from Jim Boyce, but I think it will help us here. First notice, God blessed the preaching of his word. God blessed the preaching of his word.

You might say, Pastor, we've already seen that. Well, listen to 1 Thessalonians 1.5. Now, this is Paul now, and I'm reading it in the Amplified. Our good news regarding salvation came to you. Remember, he's writing to the Thessalonian church. Not only in word, but also in its inherent power and in the Holy Spirit and with great conviction on our part. Here, Paul gives his secret for success, the power of the Spirit. Not that he could dictate when and how the Spirit worked in power through his preaching, no. There were times when the Spirit of power did not accompany Paul's preaching with power.

But here in Thessalonica, by God's good grace, the Spirit did come in power. We see it in Acts 17, we see it in 1 Thessalonians 1.5. And for us, we need to pray for power, Holy Spirit power when the word is taught, when the word is preached. We need the Spirit of God to do what only the Spirit of God can do through the declaration of his word. Second, the people receive the word eagerly. We see that the people of, excuse me, the people of Thessalonica receive the word eagerly. Listen to 1 Thessalonians 2.13, again in the Amplified.

Paul's writing to them, he says, and we also thank God continually for this, that when you receive the word of God concerning salvation, which you heard from us, you welcomed it, not as the word of mere men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is effectually at work in you who believe exercising its inherent supernatural power in those of faith. Now, not all received Paul's preaching. We know that. There were some who rebelled and tried to kill him. Not all savingly received and believed. That's obvious. Many persecuted Paul. But here in Thessalonica, there were many who savingly believed.

Many Jews, many Gentiles were persuaded, not intellectually now, but savingly. And no church wanting to pray for the same thing that law centers and believers alike will receive the word, will receive the word eagerly. Third, the believers worked to follow the example of Paul. These believers in Thessalonica followed. They worked to follow the example of Paul. Chapter one, verse six, the Amplified. You became imitators of us. Who would have been us, Paul and the missions team? And through us of the Lord, after you welcomed our message in a time of great trouble with joy supplied by the Holy Spirit. I like what Boy says here and I'm quoting.

There was no New Testament in those days. It had not been written yet. There was no Sermon on the Mount for the disciples to place before them and say, this is our model. What they had was Paul, Silas and Timothy, and they tried to model their Christian life after them. And for us, we follow the model of Christ in the scriptures. We follow the scriptures and we also follow the example of other brothers and sisters that God has put before us. Christ first, the scriptures first, and other believers after. Fourth, they became examples to follow themselves. They, the Thessalaniakans, became examples to follow themselves.

Chapter one verse seven, Paul says, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. Notice Macedonia, the region. This is simple. The Thessalaniakan church and the believers there became models for others. Let that sink in. They became examples and models for others. And for us, we as individual believers should be models for others. Our church should be a model for others. Let me break this down. Can we be a model for other believers in our church as individual believers? Can we be models as a husband and wife, for other husbands and wives to look up to? Can our family be a model for other families in our church?

And can our church be a model? And fifth, last, the church at Thessalaniakan became an evangelistic missionary outpost. See how I'm coming back full circle? Our last verse, chapter one verse eight. For the word of the Lord has resounded from you and has echoed like thunder, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place the news of your great faith in God has spread so that we never need to say anything about it. So notice what we see. They became evangelists like Paul. They became missionaries like Paul and Silas. They became for others what Paul had done for them.

Simply they became a part of Paul's missionary network and networking plan. And they were more than a dot on a map. They were more than a name or a church in a missions brochure or a video. They were actively going out, going out as evangelists and missionaries. And look at this big picture. Paul went to Thessalaniakan and God did a work through them. And from Thessalaniakan, they went out and worked as Paul did. And for us, where are we supposed to go? And what towns and places are we supposed to be evangelists and missionaries?

I say this from time to time within anchoring truth, I do believe we'll have open doors where we can go more than we have gone in the past. I believe that day is coming. So the second missionary journey, Paul preaching and Thessalaniakan. And the next time we are here in Acts, we will move over into Berea. Let's pray and then we'll look at some prayer needs.