Paul and Silas remained

in Philippi long enough to

visit the new believers
and encourage them in
the Lord.
GRAND LESSON:
We can see that the work
of the Lord progresses
Sometimes the workers
have problems with each
other
Sometimes the problems
come from the outside.
It is also worth noting that
not every sinner comes to
Christ in exactly the same
manner.
Timothy was saved partly
Lydia was converted through a
quiet conversation with Paul at
a Jewish prayer meeting,
while the jailer's conversion
was dramatic.
One minute he was a potential
suicide, and the next minute
he was a child of God!
Different people with different
experiences, and yet all of
them changed by the grace of
Others just like them are
waiting to be told God's
simple plan of salvation.

Will you help them hear?

In your own witness for

Christ will you be daring?
BEWARE!
ACTS 17
Thessalonica - Resistance
(Acts 17:1-9)

 Paul & Silas went 100

miles from Philippi to
Thessalonica.

 Thessalonica, (our
modern Salonika: The
 It was a center for
business, rivaled only by
Corinth.
 Located on several
important trade
routes & boasted an
excellent port.
 Predominantly Greek.
 On the Sabbath, Paul
ministered in the Jewish
synagogue where he knew
he would find both devout
Jews and Gentiles, "God-
seekers" and proselytes.
(Only for 3 Sabbaths)

 Acts 17:2-3 describe Paul's

approach to the synagogue
He reasoned:
Dialogued with them
through questions and
answers.
He explained ("opening")
the Scriptures to them and
proved ("alleging") that
Jesus is indeed the
Messiah. Proving by
As the result of 3 weeks'
ministry:
 a large number of people
believed (Greek proselytes
and influential women)
 Among the men were
Aristarchus and Secundus,
who later traveled with Paul
(Acts 20:4).
 Luke's phrase "not a few"
OBSERVATION:
Paul hoped that the salvation of
the Gentiles would "provoke" the
Jews into studying the Scriptures
and discovering their promised
Messiah (Rom 11:13-14)

Paul results did not bring joy to

everybody. Jews grieved to see the
Gentiles and the influential
women leaving the synagogue. It
OBSERVATION:
 The Jews manufactured a riot to
get the attention of the
magistrates.
 Unable to find the missionaries,
the mob seized Jason, host to
Paul and his friends, and took
him and some of the believers
instead.
 Who was Jason?
 It is possible that Jason was a
Jews' accusations:
 “disturbing the peace and
promoting treason (Lk
23:2).”
 Their crime was: "saying that
there is another king, one
Jesus.“
 Of course, our Lord's
kingdom is neither political
nor "of this world" (Jn 18:36-
 Jesus conquers with
ambassadors, not armies
 His weapons are truth and
love.
 He brings men peace by
upsetting the peace and
turning things upside down!
 He conquers through His
cross where He died for a
world of lost sinners. He
 Jason had to put up the
money and guarantee that
Paul and Silas would leave
the city and not return.
 Paul saw this prohibition as
a device of Satan to hinder
the work (1 Thess 2:18)
 But it did not hinder the
Thessalonian church from
"sounding out the word" and
 Berea - Receiving the Word
(Acts 17:10-15). About 45
miles away.
 Paul discovered a group of
people keenly interested in
the study of the OT
Scriptures.
 They met daily to search the
Scriptures to determine
whether or not what Paul
FACT:
 All of us should imitate these
Bereans by faithfully studying
God's Word daily, discussing it
and testing the messages that
we hear.
 God used His Word so that
many people trusted Christ.
 Once again, Satan brought the
enemy to the field as the
unbelieving Jews from
Paul was put on a ship bound
for Athens.
Silas and Timothy later joined
Paul in Athens
Then Timothy was sent to
Thessalonica to help the saints
there (1Thess 3:1-6).
Silas was also sent on a
special mission somewhere in
Macedonia (Philippi?), and
1. What was Paul confronted
with in Athens? Please
name it and give a summary
of its understanding
2. What did Athens
understand about Jesus and
the ressurection?
3. What was Paul’s hook in his
defense of his doctrine? And
why?
Athens
 The glory of its politics
and commerce had long
since faded.
 But was still recognized
as a center of culture
and education.
 Famous university &
numerous beautiful
Athens
 Was given over to a
"cultured paganism"
that was nourished by
idolatry, uniqueness
(Acts 17:21), &
philosophy.
 In Athens it was easier to
find a god than a man.
We today admire Greek sculpture
& architecture as beautiful works
of art, we must know that much
of this is directly associated with
their religion.

Paul: “idolatry was demonic (1

Cor 10:14-22) & the gods of the
Greeks were only characters in
stones unable to change men's
lives (1 Cor 8:1-6).
 The city was also
devoted to
philosophy.
 When you think of
Greece, you
automatically think of
Socrates and
Aristotle and a host of
Q1. Paul had to confront 2
opposing philosophies as he
witnessed in Athens
The Epicureans said "'Enjoy
life!" and the Stoics said
"Endure life!"
 The witness.
"Left at Athens alone" (1 Thess
3:1), Paul viewed the idolatrous
city and his spirit was "stirred".
He "dialogued" in the synagogue
 Philosophers came to listen,
they gave 2 different responses.
1.One group ridiculed Paul &
his teachings & called him a
"babbler."
Means "birds picking up seed,"
(someone who collects various
ideas & teaches as his own)
It was not a very flattering
description of the church's
2. 2 group was
nd

confused but
interested.
They thought Paul
believed as they
themselves did in many
gods, because he was
preaching "Jesus and
 The defense.
 Life in Athens
consisted in hearing
and telling new
things, and Paul had
something new!
 The Council of the
Aeropagus courteously
 Paul's message is a
masterpiece of communication
The Hook (Q3): by referring to
their altar dedicated to an
unknown god.
Then explained who that God is
and what He is like.
He concluded the message with a
personal application that left each
council member facing a moral
decision, and some of them
CONSTRUCTION: Start,
A compliment: I see that in every
way you are very religious" (Acts
17:22, NIV).
have an altar to "the unknown
god." WHAT DOES THIS
MEAN? (Q3b)
lest some beneficent deity be
neglected. If they did not know
this god, how could they worship
him? Or how could he help them?
1. The greatness of God (Creator,
v. 24).

 Can one tell some of the

questions every thinking
person asks!
 E.g. "Where did I come from?
Why am I here? Where am I
going?"
 Science attempts to answer the
first question (evolution)
 The Epicureans, who
were atheists, said that
all was matter & matter
always was.
 The Stoics said that
everything was God, "the
Spirit of the Universe."
God did not create
anything, He only
TEACHING:
 But Paul boldly affirmed, "In the
beginning, God made the world
and everything in it, & is Lord
of it.
 He is not a distant, divorced
from His creation, nor is
imprisoned God.
 He is too great to be housed in
manmade temples (1 Kings
8:27; Isa 66:1-2; Acts 7:48-50),
 2. The goodness of God,
He is Provider (v. 25).
 Men may pride themselves in
serving God, but it is God who
serves man.
 If God is God, then He is self-
sufficient & needs nothing that
man can supply.
 Not only do the temples not
contain God, but the services in
the temples add nothing to God!
FACTS:
 In 2 brief statements, Paul
completely wiped out the entire
religious system of Greece!
 It is God who gives to us what we
need: "life, breath, & all things"
(James 1:17; Matt 5:45).
 It is the goodness of God that
should lead men to repentance
(Rom 2:4).
 But instead of worshiping the
Creator and glorifying Him, men
3. The government of God.
He is Ruler (vv. 26-29).
 The God of history &
geography!
 He created mankind
"from one man" (Acts
17:26, NIV) so that all
nations are made of the
The Greeks felt that they
were a special race,
different from other nations;
but Paul affirmed otherwise.
Even their precious land
that they revered came as a
gift from God.
It is not the power of man, but
the government of God, that
4. God is not far from every one of us"
(Acts 17:27).
 Therefore, men ought to seek
God and come to know Him in
truth.
 Here Paul quoted from the poet
Epimenides:
 "For in Him we live, and move,
and have our being."
 Then he added a quotation from
two poets, Aratus and
CAUTION:
Paul was not saying that all people
on earth are the spiritual
children of God, for sinners
become God's children only by
faith in Jesus Christ (John 1:11-
13).
Rather, he was affirming the
"Fatherhood of God" in a natural
sense, for man was created in the
image of God (Gen 1:26). In this
Paul's logical conclusion:
 God made us in His image,
so it is foolish for us to make
gods in our own image!
 Greek religion: was the
manufacture & worship of
gods who were patterned
after men & acted like men
(the folly of temples,
rituals & of all idolatry).
The grace of God: He is Saviour (vv.
30-34).
Evidences of God's grace. For
centuries, God was patient
with man's sin and ignorance
(see Acts 14:16; Rom 3:25).
What does this mean?
That God held back divine
wrath. In due time, God sent a
Saviour, and now He
The grace of God: He is Saviour (vv.
30-34).

This Saviour was killed

& then raised from the
dead, & one day, He
will return to judge
the world. The proof
that He will judge is
It was the doctrine of the
Resurrection that most of
the members of the
Council could not accept.
To a Greek the body was
only a prison, & the
sooner a person left his
body, the happier he
Why raise a dead body &
live in it again?
And why would God bother
with a personal judgment of
each man?
This kind of teaching was
definitely incompatible with
Greek philosophy. They
believed immortality, not in
Q4.There were 3 different
responses to the message.
1.Some laughed & mocked & did not
take Paul's message seriously.
2.Others were interested but wanted
to hear more.
3.A small group accepted what Paul
preached, believed on Jesus Christ,
and were saved.
We wonder if the others who
postponed their decision eventually
trusted Christ We hope they did.
After all, one soul is worth the
whole world!
We still need witnesses who
will invade the "halls of
academy" & present Christ to
people who are wise in this
world but ignorant of the true
wisdom of the world to come.
(1 Cor 1:26)