Acts 17

1 – 2

Paul and Silas traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica. In that city there was a Jewish synagogue. Paul went into the synagogue as he always did. On each Sabbath day for three weeks, Paul opened the Scriptures to the Jews.

If you want to be used by the Lord, keep the conversation on the Scriptures. You can talk about many interesting things and give your opinion, but hearing God speak from His Word is what changes people’s lives.

My Word which goes forth from My mouth will not return to Me empty. Isaiah 55:11

3 – 4

He explained and proved that the Christ must die and then rise from death. He said, “This Jesus I am telling you about is the Christ.” Some of the Jews were convinced and joined Paul and Silas. Many of the Greeks who worshiped the true God and many of the important women joined them.

If you read Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians you will see how amazing it is that Paul could teach everything from church life to the last days just three weeks! These people were not playing church, they immediately began to spread the Gospel. 1 Thessalonians 1:6–10

5 – 6

But the Jews became jealous. They got some evil men from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot. They ran to Jason’s house, looking for Paul and Silas. The men wanted to bring Paul and Silas out to the people. But they did not find them. So they dragged Jason and some other believers to the leaders of the city.

The people were yelling, “These men have turned the world upside down have come here too! Jason is keeping them in his house. All of them do things against the laws of Caesar. They say that there is another king called Jesus.”

The world does not understand. We do not turn the world upside down, we turn it right side up. If you feel like your world is upside down ask the Lord to take you back to the last place where you were living close to Him.

8. When the people and the leaders of the city heard these things, they became very upset.

So-called experts are always looking for problems in the Bible. For many years these experts said that Luke used the wrong word to write about the leaders of the city. A few years ago in Thessalonica, they found an old stone from Bible days which uses the same word for “leaders“ that Luke used. Every time the experts think they have found a problem in the Bible true science proves them wrong.

9. They made Jason and the others pay some money. Then they let the believers go free.

Some teachers think that this Jason was a relative of Paul’s. Romans 16:21

10 – 12

That same night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. There Paul and Silas went to the Jewish synagogue. These Jews were better than the Jews in Thessalonica.

They were eager to hear the things Paul and Silas said. These Jews in Berea studied the Scriptures every day to find out if these things were true. So, many of them believed. Many important Greek men and women also believed.

Test everything you hear to see if it agrees with the Bible. These people were saved because they saw the truth in the Bible.

13 – 15

But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the Word of God in Berea, they came there, too. They upset the people and made trouble. So the believers quickly sent Paul away to the coast.

But Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. The men who took Paul went with him to Athens. Then they carried a message from Paul back to Silas and Timothy. It said, “Come to me as soon as you can.”

It is not God’s way for us to work in ministry by ourselves. Jesus sent them out two by two so that one can pray while the other one is sharing Scripture.

And He called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two. Mark 6:7

16 – 17

Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens. He was troubled because he saw that the city was full of idols. In the synagogue, he talked with the Jews and the Greeks who worshiped the true God. He also talked every day with people in the marketplace.

Street ministry is the best way to get to know the people you are working with. If you are not willing to go where they are then they will think that you are only interested in bringing them to your church. They think of church as joining something like a club. We should always make sure they understand that we want them to know who Jesus is and that we are not just adding bodies to the church.

18. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers argued with him. Some of them said, “This farmer doesn’t know what he is talking about. What is he trying to say?” Paul was telling them the Gospel of Jesus’ rising from death. They said, “He seems to be telling us about some other gods.”

The original language shows that they were making fun of Paul by calling him a “seed picker.” Pay attention and see that people who do not know Christ have no idea what we are talking about so ask God to give you words that they can understand!

19 – 21

They got Paul and took him to a meeting of the Areopagus. They said, “Please explain to us this new idea that you have been teaching. The things you are saying are new to us. We want to know what this teaching means.” All the people of Athens and those from other countries always used their time talking about all the newest ideas.

It is the devil’s idea to tell young people not to listen to older people. He tells them that only their friend’s new ideas are good! They want to think that they are very mature by pushing away from their parents. They could have learned from the experience of others, but now they will have to learn everything the hard way.

22. Then Paul stood before the meeting of the Areopagus. He said, “Men of Athens, I can see that you are very religious in all things.

The Areopagus is located on a hill below the famous Parthenon of gods in Athens. Paul uses something that he sees these men are interested in. He could have said, “I see that you are interested in sports” and started the conversation from there.

23. I was going through your city, and I saw the things you worship. I found an altar that had these words written on it: “TO A GOD WHO IS NOT KNOWN.” You worship a god that you do not know. This is the God I am telling you about!

There is a story about a plague in Greece. The people asked a wise man what they should do to stop the plague. He told them to let a herd of sheep go free, and wherever they stop to eat that would be the place where they should build an altar.

He thought that maybe the people had made some god angry and that if they made an altar for this god without a name then the plague would be stopped. Paul used this as a way to tell them how the true God can be known.

24. He is the God who made the whole world and everything in it. He is the Lord of the land and the sky. He does not live in temples that men build!

Remember that Paul was listening to Stephen saying these same words just before he was killed. These words, and some other things that Paul said show us that he still felt bad about his part in Stephen’s death. Acts 7:48, Acts 26:10

25. This God is the One who gives life, breath, and everything else to people. He does not need any help from them. He has everything he needs.

If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and all it contains. You thought that I was just like you. Psalm 50:12,21

26. God began by making one [blood of all men]. From Him came all the different people who live everywhere in the world. He decided exactly when and where they must live.

There is no difference between us no matter where we come from. We all come from the same blood. God has a reason for why we were born and why we live during the exact years that we are living. He has a reason for why we live in the place that we live. Our purpose in life is to find out the reason and get busy doing it!

27. God wanted them to look for Him and search all around for Him and find Him. But He is not far from any of us:

We can tell people to ask God, “Please help me find You! Please show me what is true!” These are prayers that God will answer. You will look for Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

28. ‘By His power we live and move and exist.’ Some of your own poets have said: ‘For we are His children.’

This is not the only time that Paul has quoted some local poets. It is a good idea to use the things that the modern world is thinking about, to show them that you understand them and can compare these things to God’s Word.

29. We are God’s children. So, you must not think that God is like something that people imagine or make. He is not like gold, silver, or rock.

It does not make sense for you to create a God from your imagination. When people do this they say things like, “God is a God of love and He will send everybody to heaven. This means that I can live any way I want to, and He will forgive me.”

30 – 31

In the past, people did not understand God, but God [knew that you did not know how to worship Him ]. But now, God tells everyone in the world to change his heart and life.

God has decided on a day that He will judge all the world. He will be fair. He will use a man to do this. God chose that man long ago. And God has proved this to everyone by raising that man from death!”

We can tell people, “God understands that you do not know how to come to Him.” We can tell them that the first thing to know is that they have offended Him by breaking His Laws as seen in the Ten Commandments.

Now they will see that they are not good people and that they need to be honest with God. If a person thinks that he is a good man then he will never think that he needs to be saved.
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24

32 – 34

When the people heard about Jesus being raised from death, some of them laughed. They said, “We will hear more about this from you later.”

So Paul went away from them. But some of the people believed Paul and joined him. One of those who believed was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus. Also a woman named Damaris and some others believed.

When people laugh like this after hearing the Gospel you can know that they are feeling guilty. Paul left them because they were not serious. He delivered the message and left the rest to the Holy Spirit.

Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. Matthew 7:6