Study #54: The Jews of Thessalonica disrupted the church-planting efforts of Paul and Silas in Thessalonica with a riot (Acts 17:1

Study #54: The Jews of Thessalonica disrupted the church-planting efforts of Paul and Silas in Thessalonica with a riot (Acts 17:1 - 9)

Acts, Chapter 2.2: The Gentiles and Jews of Greece violently opposed the efforts of Paul and Silas to plant churches (15:36 - 18:22)

§Unique Introduction: The missionary ministry of Paul is transformed with a new partner, Silas, and a new helper, Timothy (15:36 - 16:5)

¶Opposite Paul and Barnabas go their separate ways because of a disagreement over John Mark (15:36 - 41)

¶Opposite Paul, Silas, and Timothy delivered the decrees of the assembly at Jerusalem to the new Gentile assemblies (16:1 - 5)

§Complement Body: Paul and his missionary team were imprisoned in Philippi and barely escaped a riot in Thessalonica (16:6 - 17:34)

¶Unique The Holy Spirit opened a door to establish a new assembly in Philippi of Greece (16:6 - 15)

¶Complement Paul and Silas were imprisoned by the Roman authorities in Philippi over a false charge (16:16 - 40)

¶Complement The Jews of Thessalonica disrupted the church-planting efforts of Paul and Silas in Thessalonica with a riot (17:1 - 9)

¶Opposite Many of the noble Jews of Berea believed in Christ (17:10 - 15)

¶Opposite Few of the pagan Greeks of Athens believed in Christ (17:16 - 34)

§Complement Conclusion: The Lord opened a door for Paul in Corinth; and another in Ephesus, on his way home to Antioch (18:1 - 22)

¶Complement The Lord blessed Paul’s missionary efforts in the Greek city of Corinth for eighteen months (18:1 - 11)

¶Complement Paul returned to the assembly at Antioch after stopping at a synagogue in Ephesus (18:12 - 22)

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We continue our study of Acts Chapter 2.2 with the third paragraph of the Body Section. The Golden Ratio outline of Acts Chapter 2.2:

¶Complement The Jews of Thessalonica disrupted the church-planting efforts of Paul and Silas in Thessalonica with a riot (Acts 17:1 - 9)

Unique Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner was, went in to them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures: explaining and alleging, that it was necessary for Christ to have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that “this Jesus, whom I preach to you, is the Christ.” And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

Complement But the Jews who believed not (motivated by envy) took to them certain evil unemployed men; and they gathered a mob, and set all the city on an uproar; and they assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

Complement And when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and certain brethren to the rulers of the city, crying, “These that have turned the world upside down have come here also, whom Jason has received; and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another King, one Jesus.”

Opposite And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.

Opposite And having received bail money from Jason and the others, they let them go.

Comments: The Golden Ratio design of one unique, two complements and two opposites (UCC-OO) is pretty obvious, so I won’t say more on that, except that it is the same internal design as the previous paragraph. The paragraphs complement each other, so their internal designs are the same.

¶Complement Paul and Silas were imprisoned by the Roman authorities in Philippi over a false charge (Acts 16:16 - 40)

¶Complement The Jews of Thessalonica disrupted the church-planting efforts of Paul and Silas in Thessalonica with a riot (Acts 17:1 - 9)

Now we can learn a lot from this paragraph about modern social issues, because in spite of the fact that these events occurred almost 2,000 years ago, we will see that some things never change.

1) Notice that the Jews who rejected the Gospel of Christ resorted to violence and used the civil authorities to get rid of Paul and Silas from the city of Thessalonica:

“But the Jews who believed not (motivated by envy) took to them certain evil unemployed men; and they gathered a mob, and set all the city on an uproar; and they assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.”

“Certain evil unemployed men” is also translated as “lewd fellows of a baser sort” in the King James version.

This text is speaking of “street men” with no jobs and nothing to do except to sit in the marketplace, look for trouble and perhaps commit crimes to feed themselves. Some might call them “losers”, “criminals”, “convicts”, or “dead-enders”.

The unbelieving Jews probably said, “The only way we can get rid of Paul and Silas is to force them out of the city; and the only way we can do that is with a riot, so let’s pay these men on the street to create a riot. Then we will make wild claims to the city government about Paul and Silas and see if we can get them ejected from the city.”

That’s exactly what they did. Look at their wild claims about Paul and Silas:

1) “These that have turned the world upside down have come here also”: Oh no! Paul and Silas have come to “disturb our city”; well, now, we certainly don’t want “that kind” around here! Lol, ridiculous. No crime is alleged; just that Paul and Silas have come to supposedly cause trouble; when in fact, the opposite was true.

2) “And these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another King, one Jesus.”

Now it was true that Paul and Silas preached that Jesus was a King; but there is no evidence at all that they were preaching that Jesus was going to overthrow Caesar by military force of arms.

I can see how the preaching of the Second Coming of Christ to judge the world might be interpreted as threatening Caesar by those who do not understand the Scriptures.

“And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty angels; in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9

But this Scripture is not about an army of soldiers making war against the government; but rather an army of ONE, Jesus, making war against all of humanity that has rejected the Gospel. God doesn’t need us to do that!

“And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he does according to his will in the army of Heaven, and the inhabitants of the earth. And no one can restrain his hand, or say to him, “What are you doing?” Daniel 4:35

The unbelieving Jews succeeded in their quest to eject Paul and Silas from Thessalonica. When they brought Jason (a Greek man of Thessalonica who had accepted Christ as his Savior) to the city authorities, Jason and some others paid some bail money to get out of jail, with the condition that Paul and Silas get out of the city immediately.

And this is what happened, because Paul and Silas immediately departed from the city and went to Berea, which will be the focus of the next study.

“And the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea...” Acts 17:10a

In reality, the only one who was really upset was the devil, who was angry that Paul and Silas had come to one of his strongholds to free some of his captives to serve the Lord Jesus Christ instead of him! The “unbelieving Jews” were only his slaves that were doing his will, to cause trouble for Paul and Silas, and to try and stop the preaching of the Gospel of Christ in his city.

But even though the devil succeeded in removing Paul and Silas from Thessalonica, he failed to stop the Gospel, because they left behind a large and growing church in the city that was known far and wide for being fervent evangelists for Jesus Christ.

“And you became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For the Word of the Lord sounded out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God is spread abroad, so that we do not need to speak anything” I Thessalonians 1:6-8

Sometimes it is hard to remember, when you are receiving the same kind of persecution that Paul and Silas received, that these evil men and women are only doing what their internal demons are telling them to do. We are commanded to love people like this, even when it is hard to do so.

It is easy to tell someone to go to Hell (and wrong), but it is hard to tell someone about the Gospel who doesn’t want to hear it; but we must try. Otherwise, they will have no chance to be saved from the wrath to come. We must remember that we were once in their shoes, and we were also slaves of the devil, before we repented of our sins and accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior.

God is calling out some from among the slaves of the devil to be saved! We don’t know who they are, but God knows; and it is our duty as believers in Christ to share the Gospel with all, and let the Seed of the Gospel go forth into the world and take root in the hearts of those whom God is calling to Himself.

If we do not share the Gospel with them, then they cannot be saved unless God intervenes in some way, which we cannot predict.

“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, unless they were sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” Romans 10:14-15

I remember that when a Christian man gave me gospel tracts and told me about Jesus, I cursed him and told him where to go. I didn’t want to hear the Gospel; but he kept trying! And one day, I was willing to listen; and finally, I was saved! Thank God for that man, who kept witnessing to me month after month, when there was no indication that I would ever be saved. He no doubt prayed for me to be saved, for which I am thankful today.

How about you? Are you under persecution from those who do not yet know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior? Remember that the wrath of God is waiting for them in the future, if they do not repent and trust Christ before they die; and we must do all that we can to reach them with the good news of the Gospel, before it is too late for them.

Are you looking for the truth and want to know God, but do not know how? Here is the answer from the Holy Bible:

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man comes to the Father, but by me” John 14:6.

Jesus is the ONLY WAY, the ONLY TRUTH, and the ONLY LIFE: if you try to climb up to Heaven some other way, like Mohammad, Buddha or other false prophets, you will perish eternally without hope.

Do not trust in Mary, the saints, your church membership, or your good works, or your baptism as a baby to bring you to Heaven when you die! It will not work!

Also, do not trust in Mohammad, or Buddha, or any other false prophet, because their way is the way to Hell and eternal destruction.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been permanently saved through faith; and that faith is not out of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of our own works, lest any man should boast.”

Jesus Christ died for everyone: the rich and the poor, old and young; Jesus died for YOU on the cross 2,000 years ago, so that your sins might be forgiven, and so that you can go to Heaven when you die.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have Everlasting Life” John 3:16.

Are you saved? If not, you can be saved right now, and be saved eternally, if you know that you are a sinner; and if you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and if you believe that Jesus died on the cross for YOUR SINS, and that God raised Him from the dead on the third day, you can be saved, right now! Use this prayer as a model for your own:

“Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned against YOU. I am no good, and you are righteous! I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, were buried, and rose again from the dead on the third day. I want you to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Please come into my heart right now. Forgive me for all my sins, and save my soul. In the mighty Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!”

If you have turned from your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and only Savior from sin, please message me through Facebook and let me know that you have done that, so that I can pray for you and rejoice with you in what God has done in your life. Amen.