Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
In your life journey I have no doubt you’ve been wounded emotionally and maybe physically by out-of-control words or actions of other people. Anger uncontrolled can be a powerful weapon, can’t it? And as you think about it a moment, what are some of the most powerful motivators of anger? How about jealousy? Have you ever been on the receiving end of jealousy fueled anger?
Yesterday I left you in the great city of Thessalonica, Macedonia with Paul and Silas as they were experiencing a wonderful three-week movement of God in this city. We do not know if the name Jesus had ever been spoken in that city before their arrival but Acts 17:1-4 tells us in only three weeks after their arrival a large group of people had believed in the Gospel about Jesus as proclaimed by Paul, and were gathering regularly to learn as much as they could from Paul and Silas about how Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and the Savior of the world.
I can only imagine that each night as these men lay down to rest, they were simply overwhelmed at this unexpected positive response to them and their message. The only explanation is that God Himself, by the power of His Holy Spirit, had prepared the way and was opening hearts and minds of Macedonians to understand and respond to the Gospel!
Sadly Dr. Luke, the author of the record of this second missionary journey of the apostle Paul, tells us suddenly everything changed in Thessalonica. Several years later, as Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus, I wonder if he was reflecting back on this event in Thessalonica when he wrote this: “…be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes you may stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…” (Eph. 6:10-14)
Do you see Paul’s strong admonition to STAND FIRM! Is that a word of encouragement for you today, no matter where you live in our world, as every segment of society continues to reject God and refuse God’s truth? I wonder, what are the most diabolical and powerful schemes of the devil which you see occurring in your city these days?
Luke gives us this account of what happened in Thessalonica, while this wonderful three weeks of enthusiastic response to Paul and the Gospel was bringing many people to life changing faith in Jesus Christ: “Other Jews were jealous; so, they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city of Thessalonica! They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: ‘These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.’ When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil…” (Acts 17:5-8)
Look closely at this out-of-control scene, what do you see and hear, my friends? I see several schemes of the dark kingdom, how about you? Jealousy that breeds anger and lies is a scheme of the devil. Jesus taught in John 8:44 that whenever something is rooted in deceit, distortion of truth, manipulation of the facts, those are all lying schemes of the devil. I see the recruitment of ‘bad character’ people as a scheme of the devil. I see a mob being formed and a riot developing as a scheme of the devil. I see the physical accosting of Jason and others, and dragging them before city officials with false accusations against them, as schemes of the devil. I see a whole city in turmoil as a scheme of the devil.
Now, let’s take a moment to look around our cities… what is the moral and spiritual condition of your town?
What are the evidences of anger and deceitfulness and false accusations in your town? What schemes do you see the dark kingdom utilizing to breed discord and danger in your town? And what’s the answer? How do God honoring people stand firm in the face of such things?
Evidently in Thessalonica God had raised up a man named Jason to offer hospitality to Paul and Silas as Lydia had done in Philippi. When the mob rushed Jason’s house, it appears neither Paul nor Silas were there, probably led by the Holy Spirit they were out, perhaps at someone else’s home, teaching them the truths of God. Nevertheless, Jason was dragged before city leaders by the crowd, similarly to how Paul and Silas had been dragged before the city leaders of Philippi.
If you remember, in Philippi Paul and Silas were not given a hearing but were beaten and imprisoned. But here at least a hearing is given and do you see Luke writes: “the city officials were thrown into turmoil.” But in their turmoil the city officials of Thessalonica react very differently than those in Philippi, why?
In my research I discovered Philippi, in those days, was considered a ‘colony’ in the empire with a Roman garrison of soldiers stationed there to keep peace and the magistrates were closely monitored by the regional Roman Governor. Thessalonica, however, was one of several large cities declared ‘free cities’ by Rome. There was no Roman garrison in or near Thessalonica.
The magistrates of Thessalonica had much greater authority to administer laws to keep peace in their city, including having the power of life and death over its citizens. Quickly it was evident to Jason, and eventually Paul and Silas, that Paul’s continuation of preaching in Thessalonica would have put at great risk any and all Christians or those interested in Paul’s teachings.
Luke gives us this record of what happened next in Thessalonica: “They made Jason, and the others post bond and let them go. As soon as it was night, the believers in Thessalonica sent Paul and Silas away to Berea.” (Acts 17:9,10) This matter of posting bond was both a financial payment, but also a declaration that Jason, as host of Paul and Silas, was being held responsible by the magistrates to solve the problem by quieting Paul or preferably escorting him out of their city.
It should not be difficult for us to imagine a meeting that evening with Jason, Paul, Silas and probably others who might be seen as leaders of this new Jesus movement, which had formed in only 3 weeks in Thessalonica. After much discussion it appears they came to agreement that for the safety and security of these new Christians, Paul and Silas should either be silent or leave their city. But Paul was commissioned by Jesus to take the Gospel and proclaim it wherever it would be heard.
Wisdom prevailed, and after a time of prayer together, Paul and Silas left Thessalonica that night, heading to the next town of Berea. Friends, do you see that Paul and Silas were not fleeing in fear, but they were wisely taking the Gospel to the next town leaving these new disciples of Jesus to share the Gospel in their town as insiders, rather than the Gospel being seen as a foreign belief promoted by those outside agitators Paul and Silas?
Finally, today, as you and I consider living and speaking the Gospel in our cities, my friends, how do you see God honoring wisdom guiding the most influential Christians in your city? We have no detail of what those new Christians in Thessalonica did after Paul and Silas left town, but we do know within less than one year Paul wrote a wonderful, encouraging, teaching letter to these dear Christians and we have it in our Bible as 1 Thessalonians.
Chapter 2 of that letter in particular is Paul’s autobiographical reflections on these three very eventful weeks he and Silas spent in this remarkable city. In my intention of following this second missionary journey chronologically, we’ll look closely at that letter, when we reach the point at which Paul wrote it. For now, if you have time, I’d urge you to listen to the dramatic audio Bible rendition of 1 Thessalonians 2. The link is at the bottom of my notes today. And may I give you this powerful song to reflect on the significance of TIME, even in this case only 3 weeks of time, and I’ll meet you in Berea tomorrow with Paul and Silas.
Today’s Scripture is Acts 17:5-10.
Choose below to read or listen.
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1 Thessalonians 2
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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