 Let's begin here in chapter 17 as I normally do. I will read a few verses to you Give you again a little bit of a reminder for those who may not have been with us in our last study just to set the tone And then we'll move into our study. We're looking today at verses 1 through 15 of chapter 7 17 I'll read verses 1 through 3 and we'll get into our study acts chapter 17 beginning at verse 1 Reading to verse 3 Luke writes now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia They came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews Then Paul as his custom was went into them and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead and Saying this Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ is the Messiah And so we've been following the Apostle Paul on what has been called his second missionary journey He had been ministering into what is today modern Turkey He had crossed the Aegean and he had entered into a region at that time known as Macedonia which is northern Greece and We saw how that when he was there in that area in Macedonia He had planted the first church ever planted in Europe the church of Philippi so as He's ministering Paul is encountered in tense persecution and he in he encountered in severity in Philippi again remembered there was a demon possessed young woman who was Demon was cast out or and as a result of that Paul was placed in jail. He had suffered a beating and a night in jail for doing something good Now in 1st Peter 2 verse 19 Peter said it like this He said it is a credit to you if being aware of God you endure pain while suffering unjustly And so persecution was something that he had become ready for it was actually something that was becoming common Now Jesus had prepared the church while he was still walking on the face of the earth And and he said you need to be prepared even to expect this kind of opposition Because there's a price that believers will pay when they actually really follow the Lord Psalm 3419 says it like this many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all So Paul knew that he was going to suffer affliction as well as knowing that he was not abandoned He knew that God was with him and God was fully aware of what he was enduring He was enduring all of this for the sake of the kingdom So after his night in jail, he and Silas had been released They they went to a woman by the name of Lydia's house and and there they encouraged the saints And he made it very clear that through many tribulations we enter into the kingdom of God So after all of this has taken place Once again, he resumes his mission and that's where we pick up our study here in verse 1 now Notice how it begins in chapter 17 verse 1 when they had passed through Amphipolis and at Bologna They came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews And so Jesus had commanded the disciples to take the gospel and mark chapter 16 verse 15 to the entire world He had said go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature So in obedience to the command Paul is traveling from Philippi to a place called Thessalonica now Amphipolis is around 30 miles south of Philippi Apollonia 30 miles from Amphipolis and Thessalonica is around 37 miles from Apollonia So Apollonia was Prince's girlfriend, but anyway, I wanted to show you for you oldies Okay, this is basically giving you an idea of what's going on So you see up in the top there by Thrace you see Philippi, and then you see south Southeast Amphipolis in Apollonia You see Thessalonica up there to the to the west and and then you'll see Berea We'll be looking at all of those places He'd actually will be seeing Thessalonica and Berea today, but that's been the way that Paul has been traveling So he's from Philippi to Amphipolis to Apollonia Thessalonica and then we're gonna close with Berea So I wanted you to have that in your mind So all of this is you know giving to us an understanding of how long it took him to get the Thessalonica So from where he was to where he ends up in Thessalonica. It was about a five-day journey Now Paul had spent a night in jail He had been beaten with rods. He had been put in the stocks He had been placed on a cold wet floor in a prison And he had every reason to complain to God about what was happening to him. This is unjust This is wrong. I shouldn't be going through these kinds of things But instead of giving up he and Silas actually gained strength through it Instead of it causing him to close his mouth He continued ministering Proverbs 28 verse 1 says it like this the wicked flea though no one pursues But the righteous are as bold as a lion and that's what's happening in the ministry life of Paul the more He endures the stronger he becomes He's gaining strength and he's once again on the move and he's on his way now to the city of Thessalonica Later on he's gonna he's gonna plan a church and we'll see this in a moment But later on he's gonna write to this church and he's gonna say in 1st Thessalonians 2 verse 2 As you are aware, we had already endured suffering and shameful treatment in Philippi But in the face of strong opposition, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God So they're gonna be aware of what has taken place and what has driven him basically to come and minister So notice in verse 1 it says they came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews So this this city Thessalonica is called Salonica now. I've been there in in Greece in northern Greece This city was uh, uh, was a large city It had a commercial port and it attracted many foreigners and amongst the foreigners who came to this place Were a large group of Jews. That's why you have a synagogue that is mentioned Now it was a chief seaport in the region that we just looked at called Macedonia It was what is called a harbour town It had a population of 200,000 now that doesn't sound like much today and the way that we think but that was a huge city in ancient days It was a very large city It was like there san francisco or their new york los angeles boston or san diego It was a large large city But it was also filled with corruption and persecution and it was very difficult for paul the minister there It had rigidly religious jews who were completely against the message of the gospel Now as we're looking at this laying another bit of the foundation his ministry pattern has been developed He often entered first into larger cities Because he knows that the larger city has an influence that it wields on the smaller ones If he could plant a work in a large city Very often smaller villages would follow suit. It's true to this day large cities influence Various other places. So what takes place will say in hollywood for the longest time is going to influence the whole nation And so when something was planted in a large city very often It had a progressive kind of effect on on the villages and all that were around it So he went into into this area and he he's beginning to do a work and with the hope of reaching others And so he makes his way notice here He makes his way verse 17 to the verse one verse one in chapter 17 He makes his way to the synagogue. He says this calls it the synagogue of the jews And he would go there and he would minister to the jews And and that's because he wanted them saved in and romans 116 He said i'm not ashamed of the gospel because it's the power of god That brings salvation to everyone who believes first to the jew and then the gentile So he would take the message of the gospel to his people And first and and then minister to others And so it says in verse two it was his custom to go in and to reason and went into them for three Sabbaths three consecutive Sabbaths So again, paul consistently would first enter a synagogue It became his practice in chapter nine We saw it in verse 20 at once he began to preach in the synagogues that jesus is the son of god In chapter 13 verse 5 when they arrived at salamis they proclaimed the word of god in the synagogues Chapter 14 verse 1 at iconium paul and barnabas went as usual into the jewish synagogue Now he would do that for many reasons But one is because he had a commission to take the gospel out and to preach it He wanted to reach all the people it was a commission that jesus christ had given Jesus said you shall receive power after that the spirit has come upon you You shall be witnesses of me and judia Jerusalem judia samaria unto the uttermost parts of the earth Jerusalem and judia in you would go to the jew first and then to the gentile was the pattern And so he would go out and he would reach the jews As a matter of fact in romans 1520 he said i have made it my aim to preach the gospel not where christ was named Lest i should build on another man's foundation I want to go out and preach the gospel but to the jew first and also the gentile You see the entire world is spiritually lost it's in spiritual bondage And so it needs to be set free and the gospel brings the word of god that brings freedom and first uh john 519 John said we know that we're children of god the whole world is under the control of the evil one And so he's preaching the gospel to the whole world and he's preaching to israel You see as a as a jewish man he had a special burden for jewish people In romans 9 2 through 4 i have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart I could wish that i myself were cursed and cut off from christ for the sake of my brothers Those of my own race the people of israel So he had a general love for the world and a special love For the jewish people the people that he himself was part of And so what does he do? Well, it tells us in in verse 2 that he he went there for three consecutive sabbaths and he reasoned with them From the scriptures He reasoned with them the word reason means to dialogue or discuss it actually carries with it the meaning of arguing So he would argue with them. He would reason with them. He discussed with them dialogue for them He was disputing with them And how did he do it? Well, he he did it through the old testament scriptures What he's doing as he's there is he's showing them the old testament How that it speaks to them concerning their messiah. That's what he's doing He's quoting old testament prophecies. He's showing how jesus christ fulfilled those prophecies We know that jesus fulfilled somewhere in the 300 plus range of prophecies And so he's using scripture to demonstrate to them who jesus christ is He quotes the scripture because the scripture reveals christ Remember in the gospel of luke in chapter 24 remember the story of jesus Having a conversation with disciples who were on the road to imeas And he initiated a conversation with them and and they told him that they were confused They said that they had thought messiah had come But the messiah whom they thought was messiah had been killed and And then they went on to say certain women came to his tomb and they couldn't find his body And so at that point jesus told them that he had fulfilled what the prophets had written In luke 24 26 and 27 he said it jesus said not the christ who have suffered these things and to enter into his glory And beginning at moses and all the prophets He expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself And that's what he's doing here. He is reasoning with them paul in verse 2 from the scriptures He's speaking to them about messiah So he's giving them passages from the old testament These are passages that reveal jesus and what god has done In order to save people now i want to make going simple point And then i'll move on today we very often Want to reach people and we use a variety of means by all means necessary. Let's reach as many as we can paul would tell us But what happens sometimes is we will We will advance our music and we'll advance personal testimonies and we use those as As a a gospel presentation and of course I'm not opposed to either one of those I think of course that scriptural music and worship of christ is very appealing of course And also personal testimony goes a long way God can use those things to reach people on a very personal level when I first got saved I began to learn scripture through the songs Not just through the reading and studying of scripture and having bible studies presented to me that of course But part of the way that I began to learn scripture was through the songs We called them scripture songs and we would sing we would sing them in in church services Many of the young musicians who had gotten saved would pick up the bible They would find a verse you know rejoice in the lord always and again I say rejoice and we would sing and clap and all of that You're great as the lord greatly to be praised And and we would sing these different songs that were scripture songs and we knew a lot of them You know we we did that we we sang about the love of god that we god saves and scripture songs are powerful And that's how I I memorized a variety of scriptures and not only that But when we'd go to church and very often the the young pastor like lania frisbee or somebody like him At calvary chapel would would speak concerning how god had transformed their life and me as a hippie I would listen to these people I could relate so there's nothing i'm not speaking against the music and i'm not speaking against the testimony Those things are great those are great tools god uses those things of course he does But the thing that he uses to save people is not just the music and it's not just the testimony And this is what we're seeing the things that saves people the thing that he uses to save is the scriptures And that's what it says here Paul as his custom was went into them and for three sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures explaining And demonstrating that the christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead It's saying this jesus who my priest used to christ see i could i could sit down and i could say to a Buddhist which at that time I did i could say this to somebody with the religious science or whatever i could say well You know i was a doper i was a i was a drunk you know i was this and that And and i came to faith in christ and and they'd say well i was that too but i found my truth in in buddha So it wasn't enough that i was giving my testimony there had to be something else that was stronger It's the power of the word of god and that's what he's doing. He's giving them passages from the scripture Again testimonies are great But it doesn't bring people to salvation in the end salvation comes from god's word In first chrithians 1 21 Paul said it like this he said since in the wisdom of god The world through its wisdom did not come to know god God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe So it's a word of god that sets you free It's a word of god that saves. It's a word of god that transforms In john 6 63 jesus said It's the spirit who gives life The flesh prophets nothing The words that i speak to you our spirit and their life And so second samuel 229 you o lord are my lamp The lord turns my darkness into light You know i had people say you know that you go to this particular hindu guide and you'll be enlightened That was a word i i think it's still used fairly commonly today You know you'll be enlightened And all of that no enlightenment doesn't come through some guru pressing me in the forehead and then a great light shot Because that's what we were told that they press your forehead and and a burst of light will take place And you're going to be enlightened No enlightenment comes by the word of god and by the power of the spirit That's how that comes he enlightens my darkness I once walked in darkness paul said to the ephesians, but he has become to me the light of life Jesus christ has given us enlightenment by the power of the spirit. That's why when i got saved i didn't go to some guru I went to the word of god And the word of god enlightens my darkness by the power of the holy spirit And so that's what he's doing he's sharing these things and he's explaining God's word to them notice in verse two when it speaks of him reasoning When it says he's reasoning that includes fielding questions So he's dialoguing he's presenting to them the claims of christ It says in verse three explaining and demonstrating That the christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead and saying this jesus whom i preach to you is the christ And so he's quoting various old testament passages passages that we the church Are familiar with there are over like i said over 300 specific scriptures related to christ in the old testament So he would be speaking concerning The fact that jesus was born in bethlehem that he was from the tribe of juda that he's a descendant from king david But he especially is speaking of how he fulfilled what was spoken of him in isaac as well as the Psalms So verse three when it says that he's explaining and demonstrating that the christ had to suffer and rise again Well in isaac 53 A book that was written in the old testament over 700 years before christ It prophesies messiah in isaac 53 verses 3 through 12 where isaac was inspired to write He was despised forsaken of men A man of sorrows acquainted with grief And like one from whom men hide their face he was despised we did not esteem him Surely our griefs he himself bore our sorrows He carried yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken smitten of god afflicted But he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed For our iniquities the chastening for our well-being fell upon him and by his scourging by his stripes We are healed so he would be quoting from the old testament He'd speak from isaac. He'd speak from the Psalms Because it says he had to suffer and rise again Psalm 16 verse 10 you will not leave my soul in sheol nor will you allow your holy one To see corruption so he's pointing out who christ is through scripture And that's what he says in verse 3 this jesus whom i preach to you Is the christ Again in acts 10 43 all the prophets testify about him That everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name He is the christ the christ is a word that is a greek word In the hebrew it's mashiach. He's the messiah the anointed one of god So as he's pointing to to jesus as a suffering servant He also is pointing to his death as well as his resurrection Well listen verse 4 says Some of them were persuaded And a great multitude of the devout greeks and not a few of the leading women joined paul and sylas And so gentiles and women were open to the message and it says here that they were persuaded now The word persuaded means to be convinced it means to be convinced by somebody's words that they might believe They were persuaded they're convinced by what was said That they might believe That has led to what we today in in the church community refer to the ministry of apologetics The apologists is the one who presents the scriptures. I remember my mom saying to me She she used to call me daddy. She said daddy. Why do they call? Uh christians Apologists we don't apologize for anything. That was my mom We don't apologize for believing in jesus. My mom was real radical And I said no mama. We don't but the word apologists or apologetics is speaking of explaining the reason behind our faith And that's what an apologist does. That's a ministry of apologetics is to explain what we believe. That's what he was doing He was pointing to christ as the suffering servant that he died and that he was resurrected and he was persuading And people were listening now Earlier we had seen the birth of the church of filipi and now we're seeing the birth of the church in thessalonica Notice how it says that the majority of the new believers were Gentiles Later on paul would write them in his first letter And in first Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 9 he would say to them that they had turned to god from idols to serve the living and true god So these were people who are devout greeks who became what are called godfarers Included he says many prominent women. They were attracted to the purity of the faith of israel But not everybody is going to believe verse 5 the jews who were not persuaded becoming envious Took some of the evil men from the marketplace and gathering a mob set all the city in an uproar and attack the house of jason And sought to bring them out to the people that word attacked means literally to raid they raided his house Now they did not allow themselves to be persuaded. I want you to notice this in verse 5 Let me explain something briefly notice again in verse 5 it says the jews who were not persuaded That speaks of not allowing themselves to be persuaded It is what has been called a willful rejection. It's something that has been fueled by a spiteful envy They would not allow themselves to believe Now we had seen this in what is called by city in antioch when the jews had rejected the gospel It says in acts 13 45 when the jews saw the multitudes They were they were filled with envy and contradicting and blaspheming opposed the things spoken by paul In verse 50 of acts 13 the jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city Raised up persecution against paul and barnabas and expelled them from the region Now that's happened before the religious jews rejecting the gospel Such persecution rejection that they just pushed them out So these are people who are hardening their hearts. They're not listening to what is being said I've spoken to people who are Who have told me they are who have literally said it? I remember on one occasion. I was speaking to one one one fellow and his name was rich and I said I was speaking to him I I shared some things with him about Jesus and and he said to me He goes well, he says I have no reason to disagree with you He says but I can't follow I can't follow Jesus the way you're telling me to and I or calling me to and I said Or calling me to and I said well, why is that? He says because he says I can't come to faith in christ in the way you're presenting to him because That my mother Will be upset if I become a christian and step away from the faith that she raised me and he said and for me To to change my what he thought was his religion for me to change that is is saying that my mother Lied to me. He said I can't do that I've had that happen twice. I had somebody else say to me one time the same Basically the same thing. I was sharing the gospel with him and and he said to me He said, you know, he says, yeah I go, okay. You can you can think I'm I'm an idiot and he says I don't think you're an idiot. I respect you he says that's He says I I just can't because I've been raised by my mom to believe this and I won't turn my back on my mom And I said to him. Are you willing to go to hell for your mother? And he said yes And I said I wasn't But I was willing to bring my mom to heaven I said you need to know Jesus so you can bring her to heaven with you But there are people who know But they willfully reject they hear But they on they're hardening their hearts like it says in ezekiel 3 verse 7 the house of israel will not listen to you Because they will not listen to me For all the house of israel are impudent and hard hearted ezekiel was a prophet And god is saying they're not going to listen to you because they don't listen to me Hebrews 4 verse 2 says Indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them But the word which they heard did not profit them not being mixed with faith and those who heard it So they may hear but they don't put their faith in these were not persuaded they rejected willfully They rejected what was being said they had nothing to do with it wanted nothing to do with it as a matter of fact They firmly opposed it look at verse 5 The jews were not persuaded became envious Took some of the evil men from the marketplace gathered a mob Said all the city in an uproar attacked the house of jason and sought to bring them out to the people So they gathered these wicked men who were hanging around the marketplace And uh, these are the kinds of guys that would be easily encouraged to create Uh trouble it says in verse 5 that they raided the house They attacked the house of jason and they wanted to bring them out to the people It seems that jason was a believer who was hosting paul and the team but verse 6 when they did not find them They dragged jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city crying out Those who have turned the world upside down have come here too Now that's something similar that was brought against them when they were in the city of philipi in act 16 20 and 21 These men being jews exceedingly trouble our city and they teach customs which are not lawful for us being romans to receive or observed And so they're making a similar charge But notice how they say it in verse 6 they have turned the world upside down That shows you the the power and the impact of the church in the early days for them to say the world is being turned upside down Would to god that the church would once again have the charge of turning the world upside down It seems sometimes that the world has has infiltrated to the church so much that the church is doing very little to influence the world And yet in the early days they said these people are turning the world upside down But as believers we say no, we're not turning the world upside down We're turning the world right side up and the way we're doing that is by the word of god and the spirit of god And so they're saying these people are trouble makers And they're causing problems for us here And the idea that we christians are trouble makers Uh hasn't stopped it continues to this day Uh the the right to life even as we're celebrating the reality of that Today here in our fellowship aware of and celebrating the reality of that. We're still looked at as trouble makers We're still being presented as those who don't care and things like that and And the argument is still going on because we do care because we care about the babies We care about the women we care about the the young men involved There's lives that are being destroyed that the church ought to care for And that's what we're doing, but they're saying now you guys are just a bunch of trouble makers well verse 7 says that jason has harbored them And and these are acting contrary to the decrees of seas are saying there's another king jesus And so These are not charges that can be ignored That they're they're charging them with disturbing the peace of preaching and illegal religion Advocating sedition by proclaiming a different king Jesus christ is the king potchess pilot had asked them. Are you a king and jesus responded to it's as you say But i'm not a king after this world If i had a kingdom that was modeled after this world my servants would be at war But my kingdom is a kingdom of the heart That's what jesus taught and so they're saying they're advocating a different king and we as believers would say Our king is jesus christ We we bow our knee to him. We follow his commands. We're part of his kingdom Yes, of course. Well, they got them upset and it says they troubled the crowd And the rulers of the city when they heard these things These were charges that they couldn't ignore so verse 9 So when they had taken security from jason and the rest they let them go So they forced jason to post bond Like today it would have been forfeited if if violated and and so what happens is by doing this They're guaranteeing that paul and sylas will not create any more trouble And so after they post the bond verse 10 the brethren immediately sent paul and sylas away by night to baria When they arrived they went into the synagogue of the jews and so To allow the bond to be refunded for their safety paul and sylas Leave we just saw the map barrio is around 50 miles southwest of thessalonica And again notice when they arrived they go into the synagogue Once again, they go to the lost sheep of the house of israel to preach to them And this is in spite of how they had recently been treated Just because Some are not interested in christ doesn't mean that we should give up There are a lot of people who are But it seems sometimes that nobody is But there are a lot of people who are saying and i'm hearing this now Just tell us the truth Can't you just tell us the truth? Everybody is so careful not to speak what is true because they're afraid of being called judgmental or harsh That they keep their mouths quiet. No, we need to learn to speak the truth in love But if we don't speak the truth, how are people going to know that they're blind and walking in darkness? And the world sets up systems to keep them in darkness. They're already dark They're already in the darkness as is because spiritually they are darkened But they're hiding if you will and thinking that the way that they're living isn't going to be noticed I have a three-year-old granddaughter myalena And she will cuddle up next to me On the couch and she'll bury her head in my shoulder And she will hide she's hiding from grandma She's three years old. She's hiding from grandma And so what i'll do is i'll put my hands over her eyes And i'll say she can't see you And she'll sit there and she'll yell grandma But my hands are blocking the view and she actually at this point one day she'll realize her grandfather's a liar, but Right now it's just fun She'll say grandma and i'll say she can't see you she can't see you Because something is blocking the view. You know what that's how we are before we're saved Is we think that if we hide behind good works Or hide behind something whatever religion If we hide behind something god won't see the evil that we actually do We have this idea that we can hide from god And what we are actually is we're hiding from truth And so they don't want to hear the truth They don't want to hear it because it's convicting because it makes them realize what they need and so Paul hasn't given up sometimes it seems that people don't care But every time an invitation is given in this fellowship there are people who respond to it Because they need jesus christ And they know what you may be one of those even today you need jesus christ You're living in darkness hiding from god But god sees all that you're doing and he's welcoming you to himself if you turn from your wicked ways and come to him And so this is what's taking place here They arrive they go to the synagogue. They go to the lost sheep But notice how he's there in the synagogue. He receives a different reception Verse 11 says they were more fair minded Than those in thessalonica in that they received the word with alreadyness and searched the scriptures Daily to find out whether these things were so They are more fair minded when it says they were more fair minded That means they were the the word is of noble mind They were They had a a nobility in the way that they were listened. They were listening with a heart that was willing to hear and to test They were not predisposed in other words to reject what was being said These were people who were aware of their own lacking and they wanted to hear the claims of messiah Now paul is preaching to them in a simple way And when he did that by the way He wasn't trying to impress him with the way that he spoke he he said to the Corinthians in first Corinthians 2 verse 1 So it was with me brothers and sisters when I came to you I didn't come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about god He went on into verse 4 of the same chapter Verses 4 and 5 to say my message of my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words But with the demonstration of the spirit's power so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom But on god's power And that's what paul's doing. He's he's bringing the word of god in a simple fashion He's explaining to them. He's not trying to use eloquence. He's not trying to deceive them in a crafty way He's speaking clearly. He's not making untrue statements and claims He's not trying to impress him with his ability to communicate or his vast knowledge of scripture He's simply preaching simply. He's saying this is who jesus christ is You see the gospel doesn't need to be dressed up to entertain people The ones who need the gospel to be entertaining Are normally the ones who drift away But paul preached salvation to a fair-minded people and their desire was to know god Now that reminds me of a devout man we find in scripture. His name was simian He's referred to in the gospel of luke This is a man who longed to see messiah and the spirit had received him that he wouldn't die until he had Had been able to do so and joseph and and mary had brought jesus to be presented in the temple and Simian was there and when simian saw them in luke 2 29 through 32 This is what he said. He said lord now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word For my eyes have seen your salvation which you've prepared before the face of all peoples A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people is real These people wanted to know god That helps us to understand what our purpose and what our reason for attending bible studies are Why do we go? Why do we attend certain places or do certain things? Why we need to always be very quick to look at our own hearts to ask ourselves that reason Why do we go? a long time ago when I first began to teach a made a A decision That I would do the very best I as a pastor teacher could do to actually teach the word of god It's it's not hard To tell stories as a matter of fact, that's the way that I learned my mom would tell me stories all the time That's how I learned my mom was a storyteller And so she would tell me stories about this and that she told me i'll give you one example I could tell you many But my mama for example said to me, you know, david, do you ever pray and not get your prayers answered? Well, i'm six seven years old. I don't even know what that means really, but I say yes mama I do And she says well, let me tell you a story. That's how mama would do it. She said let me tell you a story She said there was a little girl. This is one of my mom's stories There was a little girl who when she was little would pray and ask god to give her red wings She wanted red wings And then one day because she didn't get the red wings she told her mama I don't believe in god anymore and i'm not going to pray to him anymore I asked for red wings and he didn't give me red wings And she said you know what happened and right now again, I'm I like stories. I said well, what happened mama Well, she was a young teenager going to her first prom And she had a backless dress And as her mama helped her to get ready for the prom Her mama said to her baby, aren't you glad now that you didn't get those red wings? So my mom would tell me stories like that about Why god can and she didn't even know the lord yet But she had kind of like these people. She was fair-minded She wanted to know god My dad wouldn't allow a bible in the house when I grew up because the only people he knew who read the bible He said we're crazy And so mama that's the only thing I know for certain that she ever disobeyed my dad in it She hid a bible And she would read her bible and my mom wanted to know god So when I got say forgive me, I don't know why I get emotional But when I got saved mama had been reading in her bible Misunderstanding it by the way in the book of isaia a little child shall lead them. She read that She said what's that mean? So when I came in and told her about Jesus, she said well, I had read a little child. Well, mom that was incorrect but You got saved because she was I want to know god I want to know see so for me I I don't like to waste my time I just don't I don't have enough of it left in my life to be wasting now I don't like to waste my time So if I go to a bible study I want to know what the bible says I don't want to hear the stories that the evangelist can give me I don't want to hear how great that person may be I want to know how great Jesus is because that helps me to live You see and that's what's taking place And so it says in verse 11 they received the word with our readiness and searched the scriptures The word received means to welcome To accept the word readiness means to be willing or eager And the word searched means to thoroughly Investigate these burrians are models of faith and reason They are ready to believe but they're examining what is being said They're not going to simply trust everything he says they're going to Trust what the scripture says they're not going to trust everything he's saying or what they're feeling They want to know what god's word says so they made a determination to examine the word itself. They weren't naive but they weren't cynical either They wanted to know god Again, that's a model to every believer in jesus christ. We are not to naively believe everything we hear We hear and we search In first on four verse one beloved do not believe every spirit But test the spirits to see whether they are from god many false prophets have gone out into the world later Paul would write the Thessalonians and it would seem to infer something of the burrians using them as an example because In first Thessalonians 5 20 and 21 he said do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all Hold on to what is good And so they heard what was being said they searched the scriptures daily To find out whether these things were so therefore verse 12 many of them believed And also not a few of the greeks prominent women as well as men So god used this to reach them But verse 13 when the jews from thessalonica learned that the word of god was preached by paul at baria They came there also stirred up the crowds Immediately the brethren sent paul away To go to the sea but both sylas and timothy remained there So those who conducted paul brought them to athens and receiving a command for sylas and timothy to come to him with all speed They departed And so notice how the jews the unbelieving jews from thessalonica came to do what they could to interrupt him preaching The world is diligent to ensure that the gospel is not preached uh Football quarterback a believer in christ recently won a game and he gave testimony of how good jesus is This happened just within the last week or two And he he was giving testimony of christ But the the station broadcasting his interview after the game cut off his testimony Because they do that If you were a muslim it wouldn't been cut off But he was a christian And we don't want to hear jesus be in honor. It's going to offend people Well, that's what happens the world is diligent to ensure that the gospel is not preached and driven by envy The enemies of the gospel pursue paul that they might make more problems And they were willing to take a good journey to interrupt his ministry notice in verse 13 how they stirred up the crowds The word stirred up speaks like a storm on the sea. They're disrupting it And the men that they that they got these evil men Were enemies their enemies of the laws what it is And so it's making it dangerous for paul to remain and so they send him away Verse 14 says the brethren sent paul away, but sylas and timothy remained So in verse 15 to protect paul from further danger they sent him to to athens And from there he's sending for sylas and timothy that they might join him immediately Why would that be well paul was concerned for the new believers in thesilonica and baria He wants to know what has happened to them since he has left He knew that they were going to go through things and as a father in the faith He wanted he wanted to hear how they're doing and it always bothers It always will bother a person who Brings somebody else to the lord to hear that they've gone through pain I remember a young man in one of the bible studies here in the fellowship in our earlier days Who had he was a real rough guy? He was a real tough guy And he gotten saved and he and I got to know each other He'd come and talk to me and all and I got to know him a little bit And one day he had come to a midweek bible study and And as he was there I saw him he walked up and his he had a black eye his his eye was swollen shut I looked at him and I said what happened to you He says oh He says I work at and he told me some some store. He says and he says some guy walks in And he put some alcohol down on the counter Now I've been telling people, you know share your faith tell people about jesus So he says so he put the alcohol on the counter He said all I said to him was you really don't need that So he hit me He says and I'll tell you the rest of the story. This is what he told me He said so he hit me and he says so I jumped over the counter and grabbed him And I put him down and I pulled my hand back He said But I remembered I'm not supposed to be violent He says because you've been teaching me the word that I'm supposed to be loving and forgiving So I let him go When he walked in with his black eye I felt bad I I did Because what I encouraged him to he paid a price for But that's what happens When you're encouraged to do the right thing There will be prices you pay And a lot of people are not willing To pay the price not that we should go out and start, you know, what are you doing there? What are you doing there? What are you doing there pow pow pow? We don't need that What we need to do is be aware Of what's taking place and paul knew Something was happening as a matter of fact, he writes in 1st asloonians 2 14 And says for you brothers and sisters became imitators of god's churches in judia Which are in christ jesus? You suffered From your own people the same things those churches suffered from the jews He heard news what happened persecution Persecution erupted as a pastor as well as an apostle Paul loved the people there He knew that those who live godly in christ jesus shall suffer persecution But that doesn't mean he didn't want to hear how they're doing How are they doing their new believers in thesalonica these new believers in baria? It's a it's a pressure cooker. There's going to be violence So i want you guys to come as fast as you can I want you to tell me what's happening And so it says receive in a command for sylas and timothy to come to him with all speed They departed and as they depart will be picking this up next time paul is in the great pagan city of athens And we're going to be seeing what happens What is the thing that provokes a person to preach we're going to be seeing that next time we get together