Brady Becker: Today's Scripture reading comes from Acts 17:1-15. This is the Word of the Lord.
"After they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 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.'
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. 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.
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, and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king—Jesus.' The crowd and city officials who heard these things were upset. After taking a security bond from Jason and the others, they released them.
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. 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. Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men.
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. Then the brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul away to go to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed on there. 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." Let's pray.
Lord, we're grateful that you are alive and at work in every generation at Watermark. God, we want to know you even more than we do now, but we confess it's only by your grace and power that it's possible. We ask that you would move in our teaching now and grow our hearts and our faith. God, beyond today, please let us not live a life comfortable or complacent with anything less than what you desire for us as your church.
We thank you for the gospel of Jesus Christ and restoration back to God eternally because of it. Show us that the gospel is far more than a moment of change; it is the foundation of our identity. Would you show those who don't yet know you that you love them and that you're calling them to come to know you as Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, amen.
Grant Wilkie: Watermark, how are we doing? Friends, it's good to be with you today. Before I say anything else, I just want to say this. I said it at the 9:00. I mean it just as much now. Brady, I'm so proud of you, brother. I love having younger people I look up to. Isn't that amazing? I love Brady. I'm so proud of him and the way God is working in his life. I think it's a great example of why we do things like Every Generation July and have the kids come and join us.
Jesus is very clear about a lot of things in his gospel, but I think one of the things he's clearest about is that it is the faith of a child that saves and that he wants the children to come. So, for all of the kids in the room… First off, can I hear you guys? I'd love to hear you give me a shout. I know some of you guys love that. Sorry for the rest of you. Kids, I want you to know God sees you, he loves you, and you do not have to wait to become a grown-up before you can start following him with your life.
A little bit about me. My name is Grant Wilkie. I'm the College director here at Watermark. I've been around Watermark for about seven years now, ever since I graduated from Baylor, and I'm married to the wonderful Lois Wilkie. Let's throw up that picture. There we go. That's my friend's wedding. I love my bride. I feel very, very grateful to be married way out of my league.
As we're getting started, I want to do our normal prayer preparation as we get ready to hear the Word, so would you bow your heads? I'm going to give us three things to pray about. First, would you take a second to pray for yourself, asking God to speak to you clearly. Secondly, would you take a second to pray for those around you, asking God to speak to them clearly. Finally, for a moment, would you pray for me, asking the Lord to speak through me with clarity and with strength.
Father, we love you. We believe what you say, and you promise to bless the preaching of your Word. Lord, as we gather together to hear the Word of God preached, the Word of God that is sharper than any two-edged sword, I ask that it would take great effect. Lord, you tell us that your Word does not go forward in vain, and I pray that we would see that in power today. We love you. Give us the eyes of faith to see the wonders of the message that Jesus Christ is our King. In your name we pray, amen.
Today we'll be going through Acts 17:1-15. I just want to open us up by saying a quick statement. Just because something is true does not mean it's automatically accepted as good. True news doesn't automatically mean it becomes good news for us. For instance, some of you are like me and expected the USA to go a little farther in the World Cup than we actually did. You might call me foolish; I call myself an optimist. We know the USA lost, not super quickly, but eventually. I wanted us to go a little farther. It is true they did not. Maybe not-so-good news to me.
Or, maybe you've had a crush before, and you finally put yourself out there and told them about it, and they looked at you and said, "Hey, I just don't see you that way." Now, that might be true. Not so good of a pill to swallow. Maybe you've applied for a job, and you put yourself out there. You poured your life into that résumé and the interview process. You did better on that than you have done in anything else in the world.
Finally, you get that call, and what does the call say? It's the dreaded line: "We've decided to go in another direction because somebody else has more experience than you." Well, that's not too fun. It might be true. It might even be good news for the company or good news for the other candidate, but it's not received as good news for you. Whether or not something true ends up tasting good to us depends on our relationship to it. I think that's what this passage in Acts 17 is really talking about.
In this passage in Acts 17, we see the true message about Jesus Christ being King, being called Messiah. We'll talk a lot about what that means today. It's a true message about Jesus and who he is and what he does, and we see two very different responses as we go through. We'll see that some receive this message as really good news and others reject this message as really bad news. The question I'd ask you to consider as we're starting forward is…Currently, where do you stand? Is this a message you currently take and receive as something good or reject as something bad?
As we get started, I want to let you know the two things I've prayed for as I've prepared for this. First, that if you have received the message of Jesus Christ being King, today would encourage you and remind you of what a wonderful gift it is to have Jesus Christ be Messiah; that as you receive the Word today, you would be encouraged in your faith.
On the flip side, for those of you who have not yet received the message about Jesus, my prayer has been that you would know a little bit more about the King, about the Messiah you actually reject. I think a lot of people think Christianity is a lot of different things. At the core, it's a message about Jesus, and it's a message about what it means that Jesus Christ is our King. So, before you make a decision whether to receive or reject that message, I want you to know what the message actually is so you can make an informed decision.
With that, let's go ahead and jump into this text, Acts 17:1-15. As you guys heard when Brady was sharing, this is actually two stories tied together. It's not just two stories stapled together so I have a longer sermon text to talk through. Rather, this is two stories that are intentionally put together by the providence of God in the book of Acts so we could compare and contrast them.
A good way to think about this… I promise this will make sense in a second. Go ahead and raise your hand if you've seen the movie Cars. Anyone like the movie Cars out there? A lot of kids in here, so I'm guessing there are a lot of hands. We have the first Cars. Cars is a fantastic movie about humility, not taking people for granted…X, Y, Z. Who here has seen Cars 2? Okay. Not so much of an enthusiastic response.
Cars is an incredible movie about humility and friendship and so on. Cars 2 is an international spy thriller. It does not seem like it makes that much sense. The two stories seem stapled together, don't they? Well, in this story, we're actually going to see that it's kind of the same story playing out. It's not like Cars and Cars 2 but rather like part 1 and part 2.
How does the story actually play out between these two church-planting movements, first in the city of Thessalonica and secondly in the city of Berea? Well, the same framework essentially happens both times. Paul goes to a new city to start planting a church. He preaches the message about Jesus. He's eventually persecuted for preaching that message, and finally, he's pushed out to the next city. He plants, he preaches, he's persecuted, and he's pushed. He plants, he preaches, he's persecuted, he's pushed, again and again and again and again.
This cycle plays throughout the book of Acts. We saw it last week as Jermaine taught on Paul planting a church in the city of Philippi. We see it this week in Thessalonica and Berea. We'll see it as we move forward throughout the book of Acts. Why does Paul keep doing the same thing over and over again? Many of you have heard Einstein's now cliché definition of insanity. He said insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.
So, should we consider Paul as kind of insane for doing this over and over and over again or is there any reason he might be doing this even though he knows how the story will end? He knows he'll go to the next city, eventually persecution will arise, and he'll be pushed out, and he knows that the next time he does it, it's going to happen all over again.
Here we see Jason brought before the officials, but at other times, even last week, we see Paul brought to prison and beaten within an inch of his life. What is making this so worthwhile to Paul that he would keep putting his life in harm's way? Well, I think it's pretty clear that the reason Paul is willing to keep doing this is that to Paul, it seems like the risk does not outweigh the reward.
The risk is real, yet Paul is willing to suffer, and suffer even unto death…suffer by being thrown into prison, suffer by being beaten, suffer by being brought before the authorities. Yes, he is willing to suffer even unto death, but he still thinks this message he has to share is worth suffering for. Sometimes the Bible is so clear, and it tells us exactly the answer to our question. Here is the question…What is the message Paul is teaching that makes this worth it?
If you look at verse 3 with me, this is what Paul says. This is Paul's message. He says, "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah." "Jesus is Messiah." As Paul continues to teach this message, it empowers him for ministry, it fills him with courage, and it allows him to keep going into new cities to plant new churches that Jesus Christ might be exalted as the King of the world.
Today, as we move through Acts 17, we're going to examine this message from a few different angles. What does it mean that Paul is saying that Jesus Christ is the Messiah? Why is this so important to him, and how can we wrap our minds around it to understand how we should respond? We'll ask three questions of this simple message.
First, when Paul says that Jesus is the Messiah, what does he actually mean? What does Paul mean by saying that Jesus is the Messiah? I think the Messiah is kind of like a \$100 church word. It's a word we throw out but don't always define. We don't really know exactly what it means. When we say Messiah, we're saying a Hebrew word that essentially just means Anointed One, or you can think of the Chosen One.
If you translate the word Messiah to Greek, do you know what you get? Christ. So, when we're saying "Jesus Christ," we're not saying Jesus' first name, last name Christ. We're saying Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Chosen One. Jesus is the Anointed One. This is incredibly important, because it helps us understand what he's actually saying when he says that Jesus is the Messiah. He's saying that Jesus is the Chosen One by whom God is going to fulfill his promises.
All throughout the Old Testament, there are these promises scattered from beginning to end that tell us about how God is actually going to fulfill his promises. How is God going to redeem his people? How is God going to rule over them? How is God going to rescue them from Satan, sin, slavery, and death? Well, it's through his promised Messiah.
These Scriptures… I wish we could talk for the next hour and a half. I know you might not want to sit here for the next hour and a half, and I don't blame you for that, but I wish we could talk for the next hour and a half about all of the different things we see in the Old Testament about what the messianic promises actually look like. Here's one. In 2 Samuel 7, God is talking to King David, and David says, "I'm going to build you a temple, God. It's going to be amazing."
God says, "Hey, I don't need you to build me a temple. I'm going to build you a house. And, David, beyond that, one day you're going to die. Your rule will end because you will die, but I promise you, David, I'm going to raise up a king from your dynasty, and he's going to sit on your throne forever. He will sit on your throne forever, and he will rule God's people, and he will bring them blessing and joy and peace. He will defeat God's enemies, and he will rule over them forever."
There are promises like this scattered throughout the entire Old Testament. Essentially, the message of the Messiah is that God promises that there will be a king to rule over God's people and to defeat God's enemies. In a sense, I think it's fair to say that if we look at verses 5-9, as the Jews come and accuse Paul and his friends of preaching a message that there's another king… I think, in some sense, it's actually fair to say, yes, Paul does seem guilty of this, doesn't he? Paul is preaching a message how there is a king and his name is Jesus.
So, as they come forward and say, "Hey, Paul and his friend Jason are acting contrary to Caesar, because they're proclaiming that there is another king and that king's name is Jesus," in one sense, I think he is actually guilty of that. He is saying that Jesus is king. But in another sense, I think we have to be careful, because I don't think what Paul is saying is that Caesar is the same type of king as Jesus or that Jesus is going to rule his people just like Caesar rules his people.
Caesar may rule on the throne of Rome, but Paul is saying that Jesus rules in a different way. Yes, Caesar rules and reigns over his people, but Jesus does not simply rule over his people. The wonder of the messianic promise is not just that the King will rule, but the King will rule because he redeems his people first. Jesus as the Messiah is not simply destined to rule over his people but first to redeem them.
If you look at verse 3 with me, as Paul is building out this argument, it says he goes before them on the Sabbath day and reasons with them from the Scriptures. What does he do? He explains and proves to them that it was necessary for the Messiah… He doesn't immediately go to talk about the reign of the Messiah. He says it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead. All throughout the Old Testament, yes, there are these pictures that God's King is going to rule, but we can't forget that God's King will also redeem his people.
What might Paul's message have looked like? What might Paul have done to prove from the Old Testament that God has been promising to redeem his people? Maybe he'd pick up the scroll of Isaiah, turn to chapter 53, and say something like, "You know this king has promised to come to fulfill God's promises. In Isaiah 52:13, don't you know it says, 'My servant will be successful; he will be raised up and lifted up and greatly exalted'?
So, yes, there is a king coming, but don't you know that this same kingly figure, this very same one who will be exalted and glorified by God…? Don't you know that it also says in verse 5 that that same king will be pierced because of our rebellion, that he will be crushed because of our iniquities, that the punishment for our peace was on him, and that we are healed by his wounds? Don't you know that the same king is not just destined to rule but also destined to die? To die…why? So that we might be healed by him suffering on our behalf. The same Messiah King is the suffering servant long told to take away the sins of the people."
As he says this, you might wonder, "What's so encouraging about a dead king?" I think Paul would go on to explain that the Messiah was not just going to die for the sins of his people; he would go on to live for them. He might even go a few verses forward and go to verse 10 in the scroll of Isaiah and say, "Why is it that it says the Lord was pleased to crush his king so severely? How would this be a pleasing thing to him?
Or, why does it say that when this king has made a guilt offering, when the king is killed for the guilt and the sins of his people…? How could he go on to say that this King, this Messiah, this man will go on to see his seed or his children or his family or his brothers? How will he go on to see them? How will his days be prolonged? And how, by a dead man's hand, will the Lord's pleasure be accomplished?
It's not just necessary that the Messiah would die for us but that he would raise from the dead and live. Our King, this Messiah…" You can imagine Paul saying this. "It's not just that he dies and takes away our sin, but now he lives to give us new life." He points at these, and then he points to Jesus and says, "I believe that Jesus is this Messiah who has come to fulfill all of God's promises."
So, the first question is…What does Paul mean by Messiah? Well, the Messiah is God's promised King who redeems God's people through death and then returns to rule them in newness of life. Why does Paul have so much confidence, not just that this Messiah has died and not just that this Messiah lives but rather to say with utmost certainty, to the point that he would even face death… Why can he point to Jesus and say, "I believe that Jesus is this Messiah"?
I think the answer is fairly clear. If you look back at these verses, Acts 17:2-3, it says he is doing all his preaching by reasoning with them from the Scriptures. What does he do? He explains and proves from the Scriptures that all of these things are necessary. Later on, he praises the Bereans because they have received the word of God about Jesus.
The reason these people are accepting the message about Jesus and the reason Paul is preaching a message about Jesus is because he sees a similarity between what the Old Testament says about the messianic promise and the way Jesus Christ lived. It seems like the evidence of Jesus' life matches the biblical expectations for the Messiah. Not just picking a random Savior, not just picking a random man to take away our sins, but saying that the very things God predicted would happen to the Messiah have happened to Jesus.
As Isaiah 53 says, he'd be led away silently to the slaughter. Didn't Jesus do this? As Isaiah 53 says, he would suffer on our behalf. He would be buried in a rich man's grave. Have these things not happened to Jesus? He was buried for us, and now he's raised to walk in newness of life. It's not just that Jesus died but rather now that Jesus lives.
As he sees these things, the similarities between the Old Testament account and how they're fulfilled in Jesus, he says, "If he looks like the Messiah and acts like the Messiah, he must be the Messiah." Jesus fulfills the entire Old Testament expectation of how God is going to deliver and redeem his people. This is why Paul believes that Jesus is the Messiah.
The question we're left to deal with is…If the Messiah is this king who rules over and redeems God's people and Paul believes and preaches that Jesus is this Messiah, how then are we to respond? In this passage, we see two very different responses to the true news about Jesus Christ being the Messiah.
We see some be very excited about it and taste it like honey, and we see others be very angry about it to the point where the Thessalonians are actually pursuing Paul across state lines, 50 miles down the road by foot. It's not just going from Dallas to Richardson; it's walking all the way from Dallas to Fort Worth to go oppose his preaching in Berea. Some receive it with joy and others reject it.
Is it so simple, then, just to say, "Hey, I don't want you to walk out of here and be a Thessalonian, but I want you to walk out of here and be a Berean"? I don't think that's exactly what's happening here, because it's interesting. The very thing he praises about the Bereans, that they receive the word of God as the word of God, he actually points to the Thessalonians and says the exact same thing about them in 1 Thessalonians 2:13. He praises them and says, "I always thank God for you because you have received the word of God not as my words but as the words from God, a faithful deposit given to you."
So, it's not so simple as not being a Thessalonian and, yes, being a Berean. I think what's actually coming along here is that the text invites us to receive God's Word, not to reject God's Word. It has nothing to do with the fact that they are Thessalonians or Bereans. No. The text casts them in two different lights because some receive and some reject.
What do these two things mean? I don't want to overcomplicate it, but I do want to explain it for a second. To receive God's Word is to accept the message of the Word that Jesus is Messiah. As we see this, we see all of the promises of God come to fruition. When we accept the message that Jesus Christ is Messiah, we have to see it all in view.
Yes, Jesus reigns as a king, and we submit to him as subjects. We see that the Messiah was destined to take away the sins of the world, so we trust him with that, and we allow him to forgive us and cleanse us. We see that Jesus being king, now we have to submit to him and live our lives for him. We see so many examples, even in this passage, of what it means to start receiving the message that Jesus Christ is King.
We see Jason, who was once a stranger, go on to be someone who's even willing to sacrifice his life. He goes on, is almost arrested, thrown in jail, and eventually released on bond, going from a stranger to one who is willing to suffer for the cause of Christ. As we look to Jesus and call him King, he starts to transform us from the inside out and make us people who look like we believe Jesus is King.
But is it information alone and just believing this fact that Jesus is King that transforms us? My mind is drawn to the book of John, where Jesus, when he's talking to the Pharisees who think all these right things about God, says, "Friends, you search the Scriptures in vain because you think that in them you have eternal life, but don't you know it's me they testify about?"
When we receive the Word of God, what do we receive? God is not just trying to fill our minds with facts. When we receive the Word of God, what do we get? We get God himself. God gives us himself. God does not abstractly, impersonally pour out spiritual blessings from heaven, but as Ephesians 1 tells us, every spiritual blessing for the Christian is contained in Jesus Christ.
So, when we accept the message about Jesus, we're not just changing our minds; we're getting a new friend in Jesus, who now, because we are in right relationship with him, secures for us everything God has for us. He blesses us in himself and shares with us the full abundance of the right hand of God. To receive God's message about Jesus is to receive Jesus himself.
I pray that if you have received Jesus, you would know what a great friend and Savior you have in him. He has taken your sins. He now rules and reigns over the world, and he makes intercession for you. As he sits on the throne of God, he sends his Spirit to lead you, to guide you, and to help you. What a wonderful thing it is to know that our King Jesus now sits on the throne of God, leading us, protecting us, defeating his enemies and even ours. Jesus Christ is the Messiah. To receive this message is a great and privileged gift.
On the other hand, to reject God's Word is to deny its message that Jesus is Messiah. I think there are a lot of reasons we might deny this message about Jesus being Messiah, but this text notes one. In verse 5, it tells us that the Jews in Thessalonica, the same people who go to pursue Paul all the way to Berea to oppose the ministry… It tells us they became jealous.
What an interesting detail, describing all of these grown men, these leaders of the synagogue, as these jealous kids running around. I think jealousy, though, is actually a pretty normal response for us. We don't like to admit we're jealous. We don't like to feel jealous. We don't like to see it in ourselves. I think what's happening here is that these Jewish leaders are seeing the fact that they were once in control of the spiritual life of their city.
They were once the ones who were trusted to shepherd and to steward God's people, and then this random guy named Paul comes in and starts preaching a message they disagree with, and as people start to believe this message, what happens? Well, they stop looking to these leaders of the synagogue and instead start looking to Paul. I think jealousy is a normal response for the human. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but I'm saying I see it in myself. It's a normal response for the human when we feel control stripped away from us.
Now, this jealousy ends up blinding them. Isn't it fascinating and kind of ironic that the very people who were deeply rooted in the Old Testament, who knew the messianic promises, who knew what God was promising to do in his coming servant who was going to reign over God's people and redeem them… These very same people who knew everything fail to see it when it comes to them. Their jealousy has blinded them. It has blinded them to spiritual realities, but it has blinded them so much they start seeing the world incorrectly.
Isn't it quite ironic that the very people who start a riot, who travel 50 miles by foot to oppose someone else's teaching in another city, who kidnap Paul's friend just because he's his friend and is hosting him in his house and bring him in front of the city officials, that they would then have the audacity to point to the officials and say, "Hey, listen. These guys are causing trouble." They are the ones who have caused trouble. The jealousy has blinded them.
You might be thinking, "I'm not a jealous person." I'd beg you to reconsider. We are. I'm jealous every day. I don't like to see it, but when I am jealous, I am blinded, because as I become jealous, I hoard my life. I say, "I don't want you to rule it, King Jesus; I want it. I want the glory. I want the influence. I want the strength. I want the power."
Whether you believe in Jesus or not, could it be that some of the reason you resist the message of Jesus is because you might be jealous too? You don't want to surrender the control you have over your life. Some receive God's Word and accept the message that Jesus is Messiah, and others reject God's Word and deny the message that Jesus is Messiah. As we leave today, I want to put two things before you, depending on which camp, to consider as you walk out.
First, to the one who has received God's message about Jesus, I want to encourage you to gratefully reflect in the days ahead on what Jesus has accomplished as your Messiah. Again, isn't it a good thing to know that your sins have been forgiven? Isn't it a good thing to know that as you navigate this life, as you walk through this terrible world we call life… It's scary. Isn't it a good thing to know that your Savior, Jesus Christ, sits on the throne of God and watches over you? Isn't it a good thing to know that every spiritual blessing has been handed over to you because you have Jesus?
Isn't it a good thing to know that Jesus' inheritance as our King has now become yours? Isn't it a good thing to know that the peace that is promised in the Messiah is now yours, that the joy in God's presence everlasting has now become yours? Why? Not because we deserve it but because Jesus has given it to us by grace. Isn't that a wonderful, wonderful message? I would beg you, if you call upon the name of the Lord, let your heart be stirred to devotion. Let your heart be stirred to gratitude because your King, Jesus Christ, reigns.
Secondly, if you have not yet received Jesus and this message about Jesus, I'd encourage you to thoughtfully consider what Jesus offers as the Messiah. There are a lot of things that might keep us from receiving that message about Jesus. There are a lot of things that make us want to reject him, but I'd love for you to focus and think about what he offers you. Remember, Jesus is not just a king. He is a king, and he rules over our lives, but he's not simply a king. He is the Messiah, the suffering servant who takes away our sin, our shame, and our pain and offers us a new life.
Won't you let Jesus serve you today? Yes, he will call you to serve him in response, but you can't serve Jesus enough to make him serve you. No, he serves us first and then enables us to serve him. What a gift it is to be served by the risen Lord, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. I'm not asking you to change your mind, first and foremost; I'm asking you to meet my friend, to talk with him, and to know that he offers to serve you by giving his life. Let me pray for us.
Father, would you bring to mind the things that might inhibit us from knowing you, from trusting you, from loving you, and from following after you? I pray, Lord, that you would help us receive the message about Jesus, and not just receive it but also not reject it. Lord, I pray that you would help us see more and more of what those things are in our hearts that prevent us from accepting.
Lord, as we follow after you and seek you, I pray that we would always remember that the reason we can, the reason we can know you and follow you, is because Jesus Christ, our Messiah, has enabled it in us. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus, that now that you sit at the throne of God, you live to make intercession for us. We love you. We praise you. In your name we pray, amen.
