Acts chapter 17. I love the book of Acts for different reasons. It shows us the energy with which
not only these great apostles, these great men of God, full
of faith, and the Holy Spirit. But common Christians, common
preachers and common teachers, went everywhere preaching and
teaching Jesus Christ. And I want you to notice this
this morning as I read this, and I want to comment on it just
a little, because it's very important. But not only the energy with
which these men traveled and preached, but how they taught. How they taught people, and what
they taught. That's sort of what I want to
look at this morning, and it's not just two or three points
that I have, but it's just looking at these verses here as we find
them. The Apostle Paul and his friend
Silas had been thrown into jail at Philippi for preaching the
gospel. The Lord had opened the door with an earthquake. They
had preached to the Philippian jailer, the Lord had saved him,
and he had washed their stripes, and immediately they went on
their way with the stripes still fresh upon their backs. And they
traveled 100 miles. Can you imagine that? 100 miles. If you've ever been
to Madison, Indiana, well, from where I live at Springport to
Madison, Indiana, it's 100 miles. If you can imagine walking, after
you had been beaten and thrown into prison and walking that
far, then you know what I'm saying when you say, I love this book
because it shows us the energy with which these men went and
served the Lord and preached. Now let's read it. Here they
left Philippi. And when they had passed through
Amphibolus and Apollonia, they came through to Thessalonica,
where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner
was, he went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with
them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ's needs
must have suffered and risen again from the dead, and that
this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ. And some of them
believed and consorted with Paul and Silas. And of the devout
Greeks, a great multitude, and of the chief women, not a few."
Now, the first thing I want us to notice here is when they left
Philippi, as I said, with these stripes fresh on their back,
been up all night, as far as we know, because they prayed
at midnight They sang a hymn and the earthquake come. And
then they were delivered from the prison. They went into this
Philippian jailer's house, taught him and his family the Word of
God. He was saved. And as they often did, they took
him the same hour of the night and baptized him. He was a believer,
so they baptized him, buried him in a watery grave. And as
far as I know and can tell, they were up all night. And in the
next day, they left here and went through these towns, these
communities. And I don't know how long it
took, but they went for 100 miles. Now can you imagine the energy
that these men expended? The energy that they used up
in traveling as they did in preaching. There was another place. I think
it may be in the 18th chapter of this or the 20th chapter.
You remember when Paul had preached all night? Remember when he got
a group of Christians together in an upper room and he talked
to those people about midnight again? And this young fellow
was sitting in the window and he fell out and he killed him.
And Paul ran down and fell on him and prayed for him and his
life came back into him. They went back upstairs and the
apostle Paul continued teaching to those people until the breaking
of day. Never laid his head down. And
they had to go on the journey so some of his companions got
in the ship. But Paul walked. He walked. He walked, if you can read it
there in chapter 20 of the book of Acts, he walked from a place
called Troas, about 20 miles, to a place called Essos. And
there's where they took him in. Can you imagine that? Up all
night, and next day walking for 20 miles. And why I'm so concerned
about this, where did these men get this energy? It just amazes
me when you study the whole book of Acts and see how they traveled,
how they suffered. But nothing hindered them. Day
after day, month after month, year after year, they continually
traveled and preached the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well,
if you want to read it, I can show it to you. If you want to
hold on to Acts 17, if you want to turn over in 2 Timothy and
chapter 2 and verse 17 and verse 18, I'll show this to you. 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 17
and 18. Look at what the apostle Paul
said. 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 16 and verse 17. Now, I want you to see this.
I'm interested in this. Not just because we see it in
the apostles, the energy they had, but you know something,
brothers and sisters, we need some of their energy. We need
some of their energy. We need it in our souls. We need
it in our bodies. Now look here what the Apostle
Paul tells us. This is where they got this energy.
He said in verse 16, that my first answer, no man stood with
me, but all men forsook me, I pray God that it be not laid to their
charge, notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and He strengthened
me, that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that
all the Gentiles might hear." How did they get this energy?
Where did it come from? Well, he said, the Lord stood
with me. I tell you, if a person is privileged
and blessed to do anything for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ
and His Kingdom, and for the cause of Christ our Savior, He
may well experience this energy. You read about men like Charles
Spurgeon who traveled like these apostles did so often. And he
says, not even considering his service to the Lord, he said
so many times that he was up late at night and that he would
be meditated in the Word or write in a book, and he would pray,
Lord, don't let me get sleepy. Lord, don't let me get tired.
And he said he could feel the energy of the Lord not only in
his soul, but in his body. I have felt something in a very,
very small degree of what he's talking about. When it seemed
like you pushed yourself, When you're off somewhere, I remember
a couple of Sundays ago, three Sundays ago, I preached. We had
a weekend meeting and I preached in one town on Sunday morning.
And I thought, man, I don't know about preaching tonight. I had
to drive about a hundred and something miles and preach again.
I felt that energy. I felt this strength that the
Apostle Paul is talking about. When you flash, even though it's
weak, it's held up. and your soul, your mind, the
clearness of your thoughts. And that's the energy that these
men experienced all through the book of Acts. You remember when
Paul and Silas had been thrown into jail, and the Scripture
says at midnight they prayed and sang songs. Most men were
asleep. The jailer was asleep. I bet
you the town of Philippi was asleep. But these men weren't
asleep. But yet they were awake and they
were singing and praying and praising God. Where did that
energy come from? Paul said, the Lord strengthened
us. And it's not only these New Testament
saints. Way back in the book of Genesis,
you remember when Jacob was left alone by himself? And he wrestled
with the Lord? And you remember how many hours
he wrestled with the Lord? He wrestled with the Lord until
the breaking of the day. And here's where these men got
this energy to do such a thing. Oh, brothers and sisters, I cannot
help but believe today that you and I still need this same energy. Sometimes when you wake up of
a night and it's late, and maybe you're tired, and you haven't
been in bed long, and you feel prompted to pray, Then go to
prayer. Just go off by yourself, away
from the kids, away from the wife or the family, and get along
by yourself somewhere in the house, and begin to seek the
Lord in the midnight hours. The Lord does a lot of night
work. Did you ever notice that in the
Scripture? And though you may begin your prayer and seeking
the Lord, and you may feel tired and sleepy, But just try this. Just try this. Just begin to
seek the Lord in your soul, and perhaps you'll obtain this same
strength, this same energy of soul and body, just to stay there
a while and seek Him. Here's what David said about
this. He said, My eyes prevent the night watches. that I might
meditate in Thy Word. With my soul have I desired Thee
in the night, and with my spirit will I seek Thee early." See
the night work that he did? And it's usually of a night when
we're sleeping. It's usually of a night when
we feel we need a rest. But here David is saying, that's
the very time that I felt this energy in my soul. Now I want
you to look in Psalms 63. Look way over in Psalms chapter
63. David was speaking here of this
very thing. You begin here reading in verse
1 all the way down through verse 8. And look here at some of the
things which David said. He said, Thou art my God. O God,
Thou art my God. Early will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee. My flesh longeth for Thee in
a dry and thirsty land where no water is. Why was he thirsting
and longing for God? Verse 2, he tells us, to see
Thy power. To feel Your power in my soul. Your saving power. and to see
your glory. I want to see your glory. I tell
you what, when a man's heart is filled with this desire, it
will keep you up. It will keep you up. As I have
seen thee in the sanctuary, because thy love and your kindness is
better than life, my lips shall praise thee. I will bless thee
while I live, and I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied with
marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful
lips, when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee
in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help,
therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I trust." Now look
what he says in verse 8. My soul followeth, it follows
hard after thee. It's got a hold of you and won't
let go of you. My soul has. And it can't be
shucked and loose. And though my soul may seem weary
and my flesh is tarred, I've got such a hold of you I can't
let go. That's strength in it. That's
resolve of soul. That's faith. That's hope. But
look at the cause of it. Here's the cause of it. Here's
why. Thy right hand upholdeth me. Your right hand has gone underneath
me, your hand of strength, and it's helped me up in this way
of seeking and believing and hoping and thirsting and longing. Old John Bunyan said about Jacob
wrestling against the Lord. And he said the Lord was indeed
wrestling against Jacob. But he said he was wrestling
against Jacob with his left hand. And he was wrestling in Jacob
with his right hand. Haven't you and I experienced
that? Have at some time you felt a strength and an energy just
to keep on seeking the Lord? That's where these apostles got
their energy. and got their strength to travel
and preach and suffer like they did. Now look back over again at Acts
chapter 17. It's not only that, but notice
this. Notice something else about this.
And I think all of these things tie together. If you have time
to go meditate on these this evening and this week to come,
I think you'll see that all of these things that I mention here
are tied together. This energy, this spirit that
was in their souls, the Spirit of God's Son strengthening them
and enabling them to serve the Lord and worship Him as they
did, ties in with this very next thing in this great apostle.
He says in the last portion of verse 1, "...they came to Thessalonica,
where was a synagogue of the Jews." And notice this, "...and
Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them." As his manner
was. Here's the habit of those who
walk with the Lord. Here's the manner of those who
are filled with this strength, this energy. They've got a manner
about them. They have this habit about them.
And here's what it was with this great apostle. Wherever he went, you could just about tell what
he was going to do. He had a manner. This was his
manner. Everywhere he went, If you were
watching him and knew this man, you could say this about him.
This is the Lord's day. I know where he's going to be.
There's a pulpit open. I know who's going to be filling
it if he's around. He had this manner about him,
you see. What was that? It wasn't a jump
start. Look here in chapter 20. I love
this. Look in chapter 20. He mentions
this again, his manner of life. In chapter 20, he called the
church. He was just passing by Ephesus. And he called the Ephesian elders
together. And he wanted to say goodbye
to them. And look, and look how he addressed them. In verse 18
of chapter 20. And when they were come to him,
he said unto them, You know from the first day that I came unto
Asia what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving
the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears, and
temptations which befell me by the laying in wait of the Jews."
See what he says to them? He says, from the first day you
met me, and I introduced myself to you, and you introduced yourself
to me, you have known my manner of life at all seasons. See what he's saying? Wherever you saw this man, no
matter what or where he was, you know what he was doing? Serving
the Lord. in humility. That was the manner
of this man's lie. In other words, Paul didn't have
a secret lie that he was afraid somebody was going to expose.
Everybody knew his lie. He did nothing in secret. Everything was open with this
great man. And when you watched it, You
could just tell what he was going to do. You could tell what kind
of man he was. He was a faithful, he was a truthful,
he was a gracious, he was a generous, he was a humble servant of the
Lord. Every day. Every day. Now, ain't that wonderful? That's
wonderful. How many of us, brothers and
sisters, to our own embarrassment, We have these fits and these
starts, don't we? We're faithful for about a week,
and then we let go, don't we? Not this man. This was his very
lifestyle. Listen to 2 Timothy 3, verse
10. This is so important. Paul was
talking to Timothy about men who professed the Lord's name,
but they had this secret life. Some of them were creeping into
widows' houses and young women's houses. They were fornicators
and truce breakers, liars. And Paul said this about them. He said, Timothy, don't be grieved
over these people, for God will very soon expose these men for
who they are. He will expose their secret lifestyle,
their secret sin. And then, in the very next verse,
he makes this statement to Timothy. But he says, Timothy, but, but,
you have fully known my doctrine. You have fully known my manner
of life, my purpose, my faith, my long-suffering, my love. You
fully know who I am and what I am. I was talking with a lady that
went to church not too far from here in a little town, church
she went to, and we were talking about election. And I said, what
does your pastor believe about election? And I explained to
her what election was. Well, she'd never heard of it
before. And I said, don't your pastor preach this? She said,
I never heard him preach it. I said, why don't you ask him
why he don't preach it? Maybe he just never heard of
it either. So she went and asked him. I said, what did he say?
You know what he said? I'd be afraid to preach that. I'd be afraid to preach that.
Is it truth? You have fully known my doctrine. Huh? It was Paul's manner. It was
his habit to be an open book. He never hid anything. He never
pretended. He never snuck in the back door
on anybody. He opened up the Bible. He was
honest. Oh, that was just his manner.
You've got preachers today. God help us. God help us. They're like politicians. They've
got to wet their finger and stick it up in the air to see which
way the winds are blowing. What will happen to me if I said
this this morning? What will happen to me if I preach
this particular subject this morning? Paul wasn't like that,
was he? Oh, he had a habit about him.
He had a manner about him. He was an honest man. He was
a truthful man. And wherever you saw him, and
here's the thing, brothers and sisters, wherever you saw him,
whenever you saw him, he's the same man as his manner was. You know the world today. You
know what the world really Well, maybe not the world, but you
know what a lot of people want to see. You know what a lot of
lost people want to see. They're tired of seeing what
I call jump starts. A man professing the Lord this
month, and next month he's back out in the world. That doesn't
impress anybody, does it? Paul wasn't like that. They came
to Thessalonica. Silas, where is Paul? Well, you
know where he is. You know where he is. I was working,
what I used to work in a steel mill, board shop. We had a certain preacher in
there. And about six months, six months, he would go around
preaching to everybody. In about six months, he lay drunk.
And then he'd come back, about six months, he'd be preaching
to everybody. See what I'm saying? And everybody knew it. I remember
one time I was laid off of work and I went back in and I was
working with my friend who knew this preacher. We all knew. And
I knew this man. He was a friend of mine that
I worked around. I knew he wanted to ask me a
question. I just knew it was on his mind.
He hadn't seen me for a number of months. And he said, I want
to ask you a question. I said, what is it, Claude? He
said, you still on the way? Why would he even ask me that?
Why would he doubt that? That preacher, that other preacher
down there, on the way, out of the way, on the way, out of the
way. I said, Claude, by the grace of God, I'm still on the way.
I'm still on the way. I tell you, that's what the world
wants to see, men. Even if they get mad at men,
they want to see consistency. They want to see a man profess
the Lord and see a change in his life and day after day, month
after month, year after year. Boy, they learn your manner of
life because it's consistent. And I tell you something else,
brothers and sisters, about this manner of life. It not only does
those lost people good that are around people like that, but
I tell you it's good for our souls too, ain't it? You know what hurts me more than
anything? And I bet you can relate to this.
In my own experience, you know what discourages me and gets
me down so often? It's my inconsistencies. You
seek the Lord for a while, and you're earnest, and you read
His Word, and then you slack off. Did you ever do that? You know
what they tell us in the medical realm about staying in shape? That you don't do it just in
spurts. If you go on a diet for a month and you splurge for a
month, you gorge yourself for a month, that ain't no good,
is it Stephanie? That ain't no good. You exercise for a month,
you about kill yourself and burn up your exercise equipment, and
then for a month you don't do nothing but lay on the couch.
That's not good for you. You know what they say about
staying in shape and being healthy? It's a lifestyle. It's a lifestyle. This manner of life that the
Apostle Paul lived, it's a lifestyle. And boy, if you want to stay
encouraged in your soul, if you want to be stronger in your soul,
it's a lifestyle. It's a lifestyle. Me and Joe
went into town yesterday, and I love Whoppers. I love Whoppers. I can smell
them a half a mile. I'm telling you, I can smell
them a half a mile. Joe and I went in. We were about a block away
from Burger King. And we opened the door, and there
it was. I thought, boy, I'm on my way
out of here. I'll just swing right through
the drive-up, and I'll get me a Whopper. Oh, I could taste
it. I could taste it. We went into
the store and come back out, and I started thinking about
it. Now, listen. What if you go get you a Whopper?
and get it loaded down with cheese and fries. How's that going to affect you?
When you go home and you go for your two and a half mile walk,
and you come back and try to do a few bends on your total
gym, you think that walker's going to help you do that? And
you know what I did? I talked myself out of getting
that walker. And I felt so much better when I went for a walk
yesterday. What am I saying, brothers and sisters? I'm just
saying this. Our inconsistency will affect our soul. The joy,
the strength of it. Exercise ourselves unto godliness. Whatever would hinder us in our
trusting, whatever hinders us in our hoping, Whatever hinders
us in serving the Lord with humility of mind, whatever would hinder
us in doing that, just lay it aside. Say, it's not worth it.
There's a lot of things that you and I could do, but boy,
it don't profit us, does it? Did you ever sit down and watch
a TV show that you knew while you were sitting there watching
it, this ain't wholesome? It's like eating a Whopper, ain't
it? Did that ever happen to you? And boy, your conscience tells
you, man, you're loading me down. You're loading me down with what?
Worldly things. Worldly food. You think of Paul's
manner of life. He said, from the first day at
all seasons... That's what I'm getting at, brothers
and sisters. At all seasons, serving the Lord. Whatever hinders
you from doing that. Just treat it like I did that
walker. I don't need that kind of food. You know what manner
of a life I have in all things. Back over in our text, now look
at this. In chapter 17 and verse 2, look at this. The energy with
which they preached, their lifestyle, I think those two correspond.
I imagine, brothers and sisters, if you and I could experience
being filled with the fullness of God, being filled with the
Holy Spirit, don't you imagine our manner of living would be
more consistent? In private and in public, I bet
it would. There's no sense of us trying
to change our manner. That's an intolerable task. What
we need first is this energy. That's all we need. He says here
in verse 2, And Paul, as his manner was, went in to them,
and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scripture. Notice how he says that. I love
this. He didn't say three Sabbath days
he fussed with them, or three Sabbath days he yelled at them,
but he reasoned. with him. He had a dialogue with him. It
was a civil discussion he had with these people. You know why
I don't join the anti-abortion crowd and go out on the streets
and walk and hold up the signs? It ain't because I agree with
abortion. I abhor abortion. That's awful. But I don't want
to get in a shouting match, do you? I don't want to get out
in the street holding up a sign saying, I hate you people. And you see two people out on
the street and they look like two dogs ready to just eat each
other up. Did you ever know anything that
was accomplished by doing that? The servant of the Lord must
not strive. He must reason. He must reason. You and I want to understand
the issues. I do, don't you? That's why I
asked Brother Larry the question I did this morning. I want to
understand what he was saying. And I wanted him to explain it
to me. And he did. There are some issues that I
want to understand and I want you to understand. And the way
we Teach each other these issues is not by yelling and fussing,
it's by reasoning one with another, you see. Yelling does no good. Fussing
does no good. When we become angry and we yell,
that only proves one thing, that our opponent is more intelligent
than we are. Here's what Ambrose Bierce said.
He said contempt is the emotion we feel for an opponent whose
arguments are too formidable to refute. Ain't that the truth? You know why some people resort
to yelling and fussing? They've just been defeated in
their argument. And all they know to do is start throwing
stones. You notice down here in verse 5, Here's exactly what
I'm talking about. Paul reasoned. But look in verse
5 what these Jews did. The Jews, which believe not,
moved with envy, took unto them certain worthless fellows of
the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city
on an uproar. That's the way they argued, boy.
Paul out-argued them. He out-reasoned them. And he
did it so calmly and politely. One time, you remember where
Paul was preaching to them, teaching to them, and reasoning with them?
They got down in the dirt. Remember this? They got down
in the dirt and they started throwing up the dirt in the air. Jumping
like a bunch of monkeys. You ever go to the zoo and you
see these little monkeys running around throwing dirt up in the
air? That's the way they look like. We don't do that, do we? We reason. We reason. I tell you, these
things are too serious. The issues that you and I talk
about are too serious to fuss and feud about. We should be rational about these
things. These are the things of God.
These are the things that concern the eternal salvation of a man's
soul. God help us not to just try to
win an argument. But to be enabled to reason with
people about these things. That brings us to this. What was the foundation? What
was the basis upon which Paul reasoned from? He reasoned with
them out of the Scripture. That's our basis, ain't it? That's
what regulates. That's what determines what we
believe anyway. We reason from the Holy Scripture. We can't reason from human laws
because they change. We can't reason from human wisdom
because the natural man receiveth not the things of God. We can't
reason after our tradition. Who was it that introduced those
silly things? We can't reason after human logic. The only thing we can reason
from that's infallible and will bring us to a sure and steadfast
conclusion is reasoning out of the Scriptures. You and I are standing on the
brink of eternity. I don't want to discuss these
matters with someone and give them my mere opinion. And you don't want to do that
either, do you? I don't want to give people my
own opinion, and I don't want other people's opinion. Let it
be settled, brothers and sisters. And when it's settled from the
Scriptures, it will be settled. If you open the Bible, and you
teach somebody from this book, and they see it and they believe
it in their hearts, I tell you, you have just done that person
an eternal favor. You have helped that person's
soul. He reasoned with him out of the
Scripture. He reasoned with him. You shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. And look what he says about him
in verse 4. And some of them believed. And
some of them believed. They heard. Paul reasoned with
them. They heard what he was reasoning
about. And the Scripture says they believed. How were these people affected? And how were they profited by
believing what Paul taught? Look in some places with me right
quick. I've got to hurry because I'm going to keep you too long.
Look in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. This is the church that he was
preaching to. He left there after preaching
to them, and they believed it, and he wrote back to them. He
wrote back to them and told them how they were profited by believing
what He preached to them, what He taught them. Look in chapter
2 of 1 Thessalonians and look here in verse 13. Look in verse
13. For this cause also thank we
God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of
God which ye heard of us, You received it not as the word of
men, but as it is in truth the word of God, and look at this,
which effectually worketh also in you that believe." He had
an effect upon you, Paul said. Oh, he said, as I was reasoning
with you, I was turning to these different scriptures and comparing
scripture with scripture. He said, the word of God. begin
to work effectually in your heart, in you that believed it. What
does he mean, begin to work effectually? Well, look back in chapter 1. Look in verse 5. Here's how it
worked. Our gospel came not unto you
in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Ghost, and in much
Assurance. He came to him with assurance.
Assurance of what? He saved me. Christ has died
for me. He's mine. My sin is gone. He saved me. Blessed assurance. Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste
of glory divine. He said He'd come to you with
assurance. With power. And look what He says in verse
4 of chapter 1. Look here how it affected them.
It gave them proof of something. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God. You know you're one of His elect.
How do you know that? Because I preached you the gospel
and you believed it. And it came to you in its power.
How did it affect them? Look down in verse 9. It converted
them. It converted them. For they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we have into you, and how
you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God."
It converted them. It turned them from their idols.
It tore them loose from their idolatry. And it turned them
to God. And it gave them hope. Look what
He said in verse 10. And to wait for His Son from
heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered
us from the wrath to come. How did it affect them? It put
them to hope. And look what He says about it
over in chapter 5 and verse 9. Oh, the Word of God worked in
you effectually. He said in verse 9 of chapter
5, For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but He has appointed
us to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. There's what it did. There's
what it did. What do you and I need, brothers
and sisters? I'll quit. I'll quit. I wanted to get to
verse 3, but I'm going to have to quit. What do you and I need
in our day? We don't need anything else but
what they have. We need the Lord to strengthen us, don't we? As
the Lord strengthens us, one thing we can be for sure, it
will change our whole manner of life. And people will see
it. And it will affect us. And you
know what we'll start doing? We'll start doing just what these
great men did in Acts of the Apostles. We'll start preaching. We'll start teaching. We'll start
telling people what the Lord's done for us. And you know what
may well happen, if God willing, the Word may come to them as
it did to these people, in power and in much assurance. Let's
pray.