"But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, saying, 'This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.'  But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, 'If it were a matter of wrong of a vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you; but if there are questions about words or names and your own law, look after it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.'  And he drove them away from the judgment seat.  And they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat.  And Gallio was not concerned about any of those things."

First of all, these accusers are correct.  Paul was speaking contrary to the law.  He was speaking about the grace of life... the way Jesus touches us with love and not legalism.  Many people miss the true implications of serving God over serving law.

But look at Gallio's reaction to the people.  It is one of complete negligence.  He is washing his hands of their decision as well as their ideas.

In this world, we often find people in the same boat.  Unconcerned with our lifestyle.  They wash their hands of us and the God we worship.

Our hope is to help people notice God.

        

"Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.  And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, 'Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.'  And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them."

What would it take for you to learn boldness?

Paul was challenged directly by God.  God spoke in a vision and told Paul not to be afraid.  Why not be afraid?

Because God has more people in the city than you know about.

In other words:  Don't be lonely.  You have friends - you may not know who they are right now.  That is fine.  God has hidden people there.

My favorite verse is 2 Kings 6:16:  Do not fear, for those that are with us are greater than those who are with them.

Church - do not be timid.  Those that are on our side, though we may not see them now, are greater than those that are against.

Be bold!

        

"After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth, and he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome.  He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent makers.  And he was reasoning in the Synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.  But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the Word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.  But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, 'Your blood be on your own hands!  I am clean.  From now on I will go to the Gentiles.'  Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue."

Here we see the concept of best practice.  Paul says that he becomes a slave to the slaves...  That is what he is doing here.  He is giving up his rights in order to reach people for Christ.

He tries to reach the tent makers by having a trade. 

He tries to reach the Jews by devoting himself to the Word.

He tries to reach the Gentiles by living next door to the synagogue.

This is sacrifice, and it is effective.  It works.

What will you do to see Christ be realized in your area?  What is sacrifice to you?

        

"Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art or though of man.  Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has a fixed day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.  Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, 'We shall hear you again concerning this.'  So Paul went out of their midst.  But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius and others with them."

Paul is trying to convince the Athenians of their possible relationship with God.  He tells them here, they are all equal in getting to know God.  An artist does not have a better view of God.  A sinner does not have a worse view of God.  And intelligence is not the ultimate way to find Him.

Paul does say that God has a command for all men:  repent.

God is now declaring that all men everywhere repent.

God has chosen us.  All of us.

What has God chosen us for?  Repentance...  All of us.

He will judge THE WORLD, not merely a section of it.

How will you deal with your equality?

        

"(Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)  And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagas and said, 'Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects.  For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, "TO THE UNKNOWN GOD."  What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.  The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He hiself gives to all life and breath and all things; and he made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His offspring.'"

The Athenians had a custom of following whatever was new.  They loved the fresh, the exciting life of discovery. 

But there is a problem with only loving what is new, and that is the temporary nature of newness.

So Paul flips their belief structure on its head.

Paul tells them about the living God.  Living, as in 'has always been, but is still new every day.'

Paul says, this is the God that you have missed almost completely. 

Are we missing the living God?  Who was and is and is to come.

        

"Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was beholding the city full of idols.  So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present, and also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him.  And some were saying, 'What would this idle babbler wish to say?'  Others, 'He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,' because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.  And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, 'May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming?  For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; we want to know therefore what these things mean.'"

Paul finds himself in the midst of the knowledge capitol of the world, and all because he listened to the provocation of his spirit.

Often we are provoked as well.  It can be difficult to listen to what we don't understand completely.  But we hear, non-the-less.  What will we do with that provoking?

Paul heard the Spirit say to his spirit, 'Go!'. 

So he went to the synagogue, and the market place, and the philosopher's center.  Anywhere he could because that was what obedience meant to him.

How will you deal with the provocation of your spirit?  Today?

        

"The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.  Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.  Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men.  But when the Jews of Thessolonica found out the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds.  then immediately the brethren sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and Silas and Timothy remained there.  Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come as soon as possible, they left."

There are a couple of important things we see in this verse:

One is the 'when it rains, it pours,' concept.  Once opposition hit the gospel message, it kept coming.  Amazing what people will do to keep the power they think they have.  These opposers would not let go - just like Paul when he was known as Saul.

The second point to notice here is the fact that, no matter how much opposition was present, the word of the Lord still saved people's lives.  Paul and Silas were still effective.  This is not because of man, it is because of God.

In fact, you will notice that the only thing Paul and Silas continually did was show up and talk about God.

Maybe that is our call today:  Show up and talk about God.

        

"Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.  And according to Paul's custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, 'This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.'  And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a number of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women.  But the Jews becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people.  When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, 'These men who have upset the world have come here also; and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.'  They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.  And when they had received a pledge from Jason and the others, they released them."

Paul and Silas have a plan of action.  They go to cities and begin talking at the synagogues.  There is a specific reason for this.  Paul is comfortable speaking to intellectuals.  He IS an intellectual.

So the two go first to the synagogue.  They speak to people who have a faith that they understand well. 

That is why the people of Thessalonica believed.  They spoke the same language of intellect.  The Bible says that Paul reasoned with them.  They understood this as well.  Paul and Silas learned how to listen and teach.

What about you?  Have you learned how to tell people about Jesus?  Have you learned how to reach people that are like you?

If we are going to see people's lives changed, we must teach them about the way.

        

"Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, 'Release those men.'  And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, 'The chief magistrates have sent to release you.  Now therefore, come out, and go in peace.'  But Paul said to them, 'They have beaten us in public without a trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly?  No indeed!  But let them come themselves and bring us out.'  And the policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates.  And they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city.  And they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed."

Being a Roman citizen at this time allowed a man certain privileges:  Citizen's were allowed free access to all of the Roman civil services, including a trial.  Every Roman citizen was allowed the right to a trial if they were accused of any crime.  It was also forbidden for citizens to be beaten in public.

Paul and Silas had the law on their side.

Yet still they were submissive.  They still allowed themselves to be beaten without saying a word.

They allowed themselves imprisonment without raising their voice.

This is a learned response.  They learned it from Jesus.

We are sometimes so consumed with our own rights that we forget what submissive looks like.

Christ is our example.

        

"And he called for the lights and rushed in and, trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas and after he brought them out, he said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'  And they said, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.'  And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.  And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.  And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household."

The healing power of a simple message.

The Philippian jailer was ready to die.  He had the sword at his heart.  But was rescued by the knowledge that he was still doing his job.

Then he heard the message he needed to hear all of his life.  Salvation.  Jesus.  Life.

It is an obvious change.  The symbolism is great:  Life lived because of chains turns to life without chains.  One effects the jailer, the other effects the jailer and his entire house.  One leaves a man wanting, the other leaves him rejoicing.

And that is what the gospel message means to us today as well.  Life.  Without chains.  With joy.

Do you want this life?  Do you know someone who does?

Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved.  You and your whole household.