Open our Bibles to Acts chapter
17. Acts chapter 17. I want to look at the first four
verses of Acts 17 this morning. Let's begin in verse one. Now, when they had passed through
Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was
a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner as his
manner was, went in unto them and three Sabbath days reasoned
with them out of the scriptures, opening and alleging. that Christ
must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead. And
this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ. Verse four, and
some of them, some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas
of the devout Greeks, a great multitude, and of the chief women,
not a few. I want us to look together at
these four verses here this morning. The title of the message is Paul's
Manner of Preaching, but that could be, rightly said, any minister
of God's manner of preaching. I believe there's a pattern here
of preaching the Gospel. There's four things, four things
I pray the Lord would let us see this morning. is found in verse one. In verse
one, we see that Almighty God sends his messengers where he
sees fit, where he's determined to send them. Look again at verse
one. Paul says, when we had passed
through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica. They
passed through Amphipolis. It just went on through. They
passed through Apollonia. Being led by the Spirit of God,
they passed through these cities. I looked these up in the concordance.
I found this Amphipolis. Amphipolis, if you look there
at the definition, it says a city surrounded by a river. It's a
city that's left to itself. And that other city, Apollonia,
the base of that word, it means to perish. To perish. They passed. They passed through.
They passed through. Listen, if the Lord passes us
by, if he leaves us to ourselves, we'll perish. We will perish. Passed me not. Don't we love
that? Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on
others Thou art calling, do not pass me by. I pray that the Lord
would not pass us by. I'm thankful. Aren't we thankful
that the Lord's raised up this place? How often do we take that
for granted? How often, if we're honest, do
we take that for granted? That the Lord's been pleased.
to not pass us by, that He's given us a faithful pastor, that
He's given us a place that we can gather together and worship. Amphipolis and Apollonia. Here
in Acts 17.1, it's the only time, it's the only time they're mentioned
in God's Word. Only to say that the apostle
passed through, passed through. Let's read on. It says, They
came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. The Lord, in his mercy and grace,
sends one of his chosen servants to preach to that group of people
there in Thessalonica. And listen, he does the same
thing today. He sends his messengers where
he pleases, where he pleases. And we see this throughout the
Word of God. Throughout the Word of God, we
see God sending forth His choice servants, those whom He's raised
up, those whom He's equipped to preach the Gospel. Over in
the eighth chapter of Acts, we read that the angel of the Lord
spake unto Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south, to the
way that goeth down to Jerusalem, under Gaza, which is desert.
And Philip went there and he preached to that Ethiopian eunuch. That Ethiopian eunuch was just
standing there reading the prophet Isaiah. Didn't have a clue what
he was reading. Think about that. And God sends
his message to him. To him. Do you understand? Do you understand what you're
reading? How can I? How can I accept some man should
guide me? And there, he preached the gospel
to her. Our Lord, in John 4, we read,
he must, needs, go through Samaria. There's that woman at the well. Who's going to bring the gospel?
Who's going to bring good news to her? The Lord Jesus Christ
himself, he goes there and preaches. He speaks to her, and it says
she left her, listen, After she heard the master speak, she left
her water pot. The only thing she had in her,
she left her water pot and she went back into the city and she
said, go hear a man. Go hear a man that told me, told
me everything. Is not this the Christ? Is this
not the Christ? The Lord Jesus Christ. Well,
how about, how about that, that man there in the Gadarenes? There
he was cutting himself. running through the cemeteries
naked. And the Lord crosses over, crosses over, speaks peace to
him. And the next thing we read is
there He is. He's sitting at the feet of the
Master, clothed and in His right mind. He's not going to leave
one of His sheep. He sends forth His messengers
where He sees fit. What about in prison? Paul and Silas, how can Paul
and Silas end up in prison for wrongdoing? Why are they there? I know this, they were there
to preach the gospel. I know one old prison guard and his
family, they were awful happy about it. Puts them there to
preach the gospel. And here in our text, Here in
our text, they come to Thessalonica. Passing through all those cities,
they come to Thessalonica. We read this. How shall they
call on Him of whom they've not believed? And how shall they
believe in Him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sinned? Sin of God. Second, here in our text, in
verse 2, we see the source, the source of the gospel message.
Where does this gospel message come from? It says, Paul, as
his manner was, this is what Paul did, he went into the synagogue
for three Sabbath days and he reasoned with them. He preached
to them. He preached to them. And if we
look in verse 3, we read that he was opening and alleging And
what that means is that he was explaining, he was expounding,
he was giving the true sense of what those words meant, those
scriptures, in a clear and in a plain manner. I'm sure Paul
could have wowed them. No one was taught like Paul.
No one was gifted like him. But Paul did this in a clear
and plain manner. He spoke to those people in that
synagogue. And the source of it, the source
of the message. Look there in verse two. He reasoned
with him out of the scriptures, out of God's word. Now, in Paul's
times, that would have been that would have been the Old Testament
scriptures. Listen, this this thing of. This thing of God's, it comes
from the scriptures, OK? It's not it's not a book written
by the popular preacher of the time, you see the folks, they'll
have a You know, a month-long study on something some popular
preacher has written. It's not the philosophy of the
day. It's not the church creed. The message comes from the Scriptures. It comes from God's Word. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15. Look beginning in verse 1 of
1 Corinthians 15. Paul says, Moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel, the gospel which I preached unto
you, which also you received and wherein you stand, but which
also you are saved if you keep in memory what I preached to
you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first
of all that which I received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures." This message comes from the Scriptures. Turn to Luke 24. Turn back to
Luke chapter 24. These are the words of our Lord
Himself. Look at Luke 24, verse 44. Our Lord said, look here in verse
44, He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto
you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which were written, written in the law of Moses and in the prophets
and in the Psalms These Scriptures concerning me, concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Law of Moses, the Law of Moses, the
first five books of the Old Testament. You know, no doubt, no doubt,
Paul went back to the Old Testament. I can just You try to imagine
what Paul said. What did he speak to them in?
He spoke to them out of the Scriptures, and there are so many of those
pictures that we see in the Old Testament that point to the Lord
Jesus Christ. I wonder if he went back to Exodus,
to the Passover lamb, to that picture and read, When I see
the blood, I'll pass over you. No salvation, no deliverance
apart from the blood of Christ. There had to be, the blood had
to be shed. That blood had to be shed. The
wages of sin is death. That lamb had to die. And then
the people, the people go free. Imagine what a joyous time it
was. It was a horrible time to wake
up in Egypt in the firstborn. Every firstborn was slain, all
but in the house of Israel, where that blood was over the door.
He said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Can you imagine,
mom and dad, how quick they ran over to that firstborn to just
look at him? Probably wondered. That blood
was up there, safe and secure under the blood. How about the
prophets? He said, the law, and the prophets. The prophet Isaiah. Turn over
to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. He spoke to them out of the Scriptures.
Out of the Scriptures. Look at Isaiah 53, beginning
with verse... We could read this whole chapter,
but for sake of time, look beginning with verse 4. Surely, surely
he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did
esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he
was wounded. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. And with his stripes, we're healed. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way. The Lord hath laid on
him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. You know, when you're guilty,
there's nothing to say, is there? We try to do that sometimes,
but when you're truly guilty, there's nothing to say. Our Lord
didn't open his mouth. He was guilty. Guilty. Our sin was laid on him. That's
why he was guilty. Our sin was laid, and he opened
not his mouth. He's brought as a lamb to the
slaughter and as a sheep before her shears is dumped, so opening
not his mouth, taken for prison and judgment, who shall declare
his generation? For he was cut off out of the
land of the living, for the transgression of my people was he stricken. He made his grave with the wicked
and with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence,
Neither was there any deceit in his mouth." Scriptures. Paul went back to the Old Testament
Scriptures and he preached Christ. Our Lord said the law of Moses.
He said the prophet. How about the Psalms? He said
the Psalms. Turn to Psalm 22. Psalm 22. Beginning with verse verse one.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so
far from helping me and from the words of my Lord? Oh, my
God. I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not, and in the
night season and not silence, but thou art holy. Thou art holy,
O thou that inhabitest the praise of Israel. Our fathers trusted
in thee, they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried
unto thee and were delivered. They trusted in thee and were
not confounded. But I am a worm, no man, a reproach
of men and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me
to scorn, they shoot out the lip, they shake their head saying,
he trusted in the Lord that he would deliver him. Let him deliver
him, seeing he delighteth in him. Thou art he that took me
out of the womb. Thou didst make me hope when
I was upon my mother's breast. I was cast upon thee from the
womb. Thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from
me. Trouble's near. None to help. All these scriptures, and these
are just a few, but throughout the Old Testament, point to the
Lord Jesus Christ. And it says Paul, as his manner
was, he went back, he went back to the scriptures. That was the
source of his message, these scriptures. Well, third, look
at verse three. What's the subject of this message?
What's the subject of Paul's message? opening and alleging
that Christ, that Christ must needs have suffered and risen
again from the dead and that this Jesus whom I preach unto
you is Christ. He is the Christ, the subject,
the subject of the message Christ crucified. Christ crucified. Paul speaking to the Corinthians,
he said the Jews require a sign and the Greeks, they seek after
wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified. Christ crucified under the Jews
a stumbling block and under the Greeks foolishness. But unto
them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power
of God and the wisdom of God. Turn to 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2. Paul speaking
to the church of Corinth, he said, look at verse 2, he said,
I determined to know nothing among you. I determine to not
know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
You know, no doubt, no doubt Paul could have went back to
the Old Testament. He could have spoke about the
law. He could have spoke about morality. He could have spoke
about the tithe. I suspect any subject you find
in the Old Testament, Paul could have spoke upon it well. But
listen, he said, I determined not to know anything among you
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You know, men, men in our day,
they find a lot of things to talk about, a lot of things to
talk about. Me and the boys, a few weeks
ago, we went to we went to Lake Erie. We went to Lake Erie. We
went fishing. And, you know, you drive and
you see churches, you see these buildings and all these things.
And the craziest things they put on those signs out front,
but one of them said, Sunday morning, worship service, Thursday
night, karate lessons. We laugh about that, but that's
sad. That is so sad to think. I overheard a conversation. just
a few days ago. And there was a fella, he was
talking about his church, and he went on for 20 minutes. 20 minutes he talked, and listen,
I'm not kidding you, he talked about the music, he talked about
this band and all the instruments they play, talked about the youth
programs, talked about how many people they had there on Sunday
mornings for 20 minutes. Not one word. Not one single
word about preaching the gospel, not single word. Isn't that,
isn't that, isn't that sad? Isn't that sad? Now, you know,
no doubt, no doubt. And I don't have anything against
karate lessons, OK? And nothing, nothing at all against
that, OK? But listen, these things, I'm sure they can entertain people.
I'm sure they can make people feel good. I'm sure they can
draw people in and fill the, fill the pews with, with entertainment.
That's all it is, is entertainment. It can't save a sinner. It can't give a man hope. If
it does, it's giving him a false hope. The Lord Jesus Christ. Christ crucified. That's our
message. And when we preach Christ crucified,
Brother Henry said, it's more. It's more than talking about
a man named Jesus that died between two things. To preach Christ
crucified, it's to preach Him as our eternal surety. Our eternal surety and our representative. Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ is the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the
world. Men say that, I've heard men say that God was going to
save people with the law and when He figured out that that
wouldn't work, then He sent the Lord Jesus Christ. My friends,
he's the lamb slain from before the foundation of the earth.
Before there was a sinner, there was a Savior. He purposed to
sin. He purposed to save his people. He's the Messiah. He's the Messiah. All those Old Testament pictures,
all those types, they point to him. The Passover lamb, the serpent
lifted up, that ram caught in a thicket. These all point to
Christ crucified. It's preaching the virgin birth.
Any man, any man is not going to do, any son is not going to
do. He has to be perfect. It must
be perfect to be accepted without sin. We read in the fullness
of the time, God sent forth his son made of a woman, made under
the law to redeem, to redeem them that were under the law
we might receive the adoption of sons. It's declaring Him as
the sinless substitute. He was, listen, He was made sin.
Okay? There's no other way to... We
don't need to explain that scripture. He was made sin. That's just what it says. He
was made sin. The Lord Jesus Christ was made
sin for us. He knew no sin. He was perfect. perfectly righteous. He knew
no sin, but He made sin for us that we might be made the very
righteousness of God in Him. Christ must needs have suffered. And listen, He must be risen.
He must be risen. If Christ be not risen, our preaching
is vain, our faith is vain, and the Scriptures say we're dead
in our sins. Thank God he's risen. Listen,
he's risen and he's exalted. He's given him a name which is
above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. He's risen and he's exalted. Well, God sends his messenger. He sends
him where he sees fit. The source of the message is
the scriptures. The subject of the message is
Christ and Him crucified. And then fourth, last, what's
the results? What's the results of that preaching?
Well, look at verse four. To some, it's a saver of death
unto death. All but to some, it's the Savior's
life. Look at verse 4. Some, some believe. Some believe. This is the message,
again, sent to those folks there in Thessalonica. A message from
the Scriptures, a message concerning Christ crucified, preached in
the power of the Spirit of God. Some men and women there, They
were given ears to hear. They were given eyes to see.
They were given hearts to receive, faith to believe that message,
to believe Christ and Him crucified. Some believe not. Some believe
not. He said, My word won't return
unto me void. It'll accomplish the purpose
whereunto I sent it. Some believe. Some believe. Look at verse four again. Some
of them believe. and they consorted with, they
associated with Paul and Silas, the devout Greeks, a great multitude,
and the chief women, not a few. There's a bunch of people who
believe the gospel. Thank God. Quickly, let's turn. Luke read this for us. Turn over
to 1 Thessalonians 1. Let's just look Let's look at
verse 1. This is I don't know how many
years later, but Paul writes this letter to the church there
at Thessalonica. Think about that. God in His
mercy, He sent Paul there to preach. And here we see that
there were some that believed in, and there was a church. God
raised up a church in that place. Paul and Silvanus. What's the
result of this preaching? Paul and Silvanus, Timotheus,
unto the church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be to you. These weren't
unfamiliar words to this group. Grace be to you. And peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God
always for you, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering
without ceasing, your work of faith, your labor
of love." You know, when labor's... labor, there's toil and pain
involved in that, isn't there? He said, I remember. He said,
I remember your labor of love, your work of faith, your patience
of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God, our Father,
knowing brethren, beloved, your election of God. I knew something
about God electing a people, God choosing a people, God saving
His people, your election of God. For our gospel came not
unto you in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance, as you know what manner of men we were
among you for your sake. And you became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction,
with joy the Holy Ghost, so that you were examples." This church,
he said, you were examples to all them that believe in Macedonia
and Achaia, and from you sounded out the word of the Lord not
only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your
faith, the God word, is spread abroad so that we not need to
speak anything. This church, he said, it was
spoke of, it spoke of today. Think about that. We still speak
about that church. We're still talking about it.
For they themselves show us what manner of entering in we had
unto you and how that you turn to God. You turn to God, you
turn from idols. You turn to God from your idols
to serve the living and true God. What's an idol? It's anything
that takes our eyes off Christ. He said you turn from idols to
serve the living God. And listen, to wait for the Son,
to wait for Him. You know, we're not a people
that wait, are we? We want something, we just go get it right now.
We don't wait on, we order it on eBay or Amazon, next day we
got it, right? We don't wait on anything. Listen,
wait for the Son. Wait on the Lord. Don't we read
that in the Scriptures? Wait on the Lord, be of good
courage, He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the
Lord. Wait for His Son from heaven,
whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ,
which delivered us from the wrath to come." That's the results
of preaching right there. When we read about it, we read
about Him going there, and then however many years later, He
wrote that letter back to them. All right. Well, I pray God be
pleased to bless His Word. that he'd be pleased to continue
to send forth his gospel, to call out men to preach his word,
and to faithfully, faithfully declare it from the scriptures,
to faithfully declare that Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
and that men would continue, God continue to give us faith,
and men would believe. All right, Brother John, come
lead us.