What do you do with truth?
What do you do with the Truth?
Acts 17:1-15
Almost every baseball fan has heard of Babe Ruth, the famed Yankee homerun king, but few have ever heard of the other Babe, Babe Pinelli. Pinelli was an umpire who once called the Great Bambino out on strikes. The whole crowd started booing and Ruth looked at Pinelli and said, “There’s 40,000 people here who know that the last pitch was a ball.” Pinelli looked the big slugger right in the eye and said, “Maybe so, Babe, but mine is the only opinion that counts.”
We all have our ideas of what is right and true in the world. We make judgment statements every single day. And yet, in the end, there is only one opinion that matters. And isn’t even an opinion. God has given us the truth, not a truth, but the truth. God’s Word is true. Psalm 119:160,
The sum of your word is truth,
and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
Throughout the book of Acts we see two groups of people: those who receive the truth and those who resist the truth. The question for us today is, “What do you do with the truth?” Do you receive or resist the Truth?
We may want to start out with, “What is truth?” Webster defines truth in several ways, first, truth is the body of real things, events, and facts. Secondly, truth is a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true. And, truth is the property (as of a statement) of being in accord with fact or reality. I find the second listed definition as curious. Truth is an idea or judgment that is true or accepted as true. Accepted by whom? Does the truth change? If what is accepted as true changes, then is it the truth? Who is the arbiter of truth?
The only one who can ultimately define reality is the one who created reality. The Creator defines what is true for the creature. He is the arbiter of what is and what is not truth. And God, the Creator, has given us his Word to define our reality. Truth is. Truth does not and cannot change. If we want to know what is true, we do not look at what society accepts as true, leaning on the creation, but rather we trust in the Creator. The Apostle Paul would travel from town to town and build his ministry on the truth of God’s word for, 2 Timothy 3:16–17,
[16] All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [17] that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Scripture comes from God, therefore Scripture is true. We must let Scripture define our reality, for Scripture defines reality. We know the truth through the Scriptures. And the Scripture teaches that truth is a person. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Revelation 19:11, “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.” Jesus is the truth. He defines truth and thus, Jesus defines our reality.
And during Jesus' earthly ministry, he had to reinterpret reality to his disciples. In Matthew 16, Peter made what theologians call the “good confession,” rightly identifying Jesus as the Messiah. Matthew 16:13–16,
[13] Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” [14] And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” [15] He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” [16] Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Peter confesses Jesus is the Messiah. Even though he gets it right, Peter does not understand what the Messiah must do. Matthew 16:21,
[21] From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
Jesus, knowing the Scriptures, shares that the Messiah must suffer many things and be killed, and on the third day be raised. But at this point, Peter did not believe the Messiah must suffer so, Matthew 16:22–23,
[22] And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” [23] But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Peter believed Jesus was the Messiah but he did not understand the Scriptures. He did not know the truth of the Messiah.
Remember how Luke opens Acts, “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”(emphasis added) Jesus will continue to do and teach through the witness of the apostles that the Messiah must suffer and be raised from the dead. Which brings us to Acts 17 and Paul’s teaching in Thessalonica. Paul will continue the ministry of the Lord Jesus by teaching that the Messiah must suffer and on the third day be raised.
Reasoning with the Truth (.v 1-4)
Paul and Silas left Antioch on their second missionary journey with the aim to go to Asia to strengthen the churches before being redirected by the Holy Spirit to go to Macedonia. Their first stop was Philippi, the leading city in Macedonia, where they saw the conversion of Lydia, a slave girl and the Philippian jailer. They also were beaten and arrested without a trial before being released by the magistrates of the town. After leaving Philippi, they would travel to the capital city of Macedonia, Thessalonica. Acts 17:1,
[1] Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
In Philippi, Paul and his companions did most of their ministry outside the city gates at the place of prayer probably because there was no synagogue.
Luke notes the existence of a synagogue in Thessalonica which implies a stronger Jewish community existed here so that Paul would continue his normal pattern to go to the synagogue and speak about Christ. Acts 17:2–4,
[2] And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, [3] explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” [4] And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
First, notice the words Luke uses to describe Paul’s ministry: reasoned, explaining, proving, proclaiming, and persuaded. As a Pharisee, Paul was an Old Testament scholar, but it wasn’t until his Damascus road conversion until his eyes were opened to see the truth of the Messiah. Paul taught the Scriptures and the truth of the Messiah. First, Paul must prove, with reason and explanation, that the Christ or Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead from the Scriptures. Remember Peter pulled aside Jesus to correct him on the suffering of the Messiah. Here Paul must do the same.
Paul begins to unlock the Scriptures for these Jews proving from the Scriptures that the Messiah must suffer and die, then be raised from the dead. Paul would have walked through key passages in the Old Testament that the Christ must suffer. Here are a few verses Paul may have used,
Genesis 3:15,
[15] I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
Psalm 2:1–3,
[1] Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
[2] The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
[3] “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
Psalm 22:1a,
[1] My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Isaiah 42:1–3,
[1] Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
[2] He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
[3] a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
Zechariah 9:9,
[9] Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (ESV)
Zechariah 12:10,
[10] “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
Isaiah 53:3–6
[3] He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
[4] Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
[5] But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
[6] All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. (ESV)
Isaiah 53:11–12,
[11] Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
[12] Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Psalm 118:22–23,
[22] The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
[23] This is the LORD’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
Paul spent three Sabbath days unpacking the Old Testament to prove that the Messiah must suffer and then be raised from the dead.
After Paul walks through Scripture after Scripture on the suffering of the Messiah, he says, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” Jesus is the Messiah. He came riding on a donkey. He is the one who was crushed for your sins. He was rejected and despised. He was numbered with the transgressors. He was a bruised reed that did not break. And he crushed the serpent’s head and defeated death through his resurrection from the dead. Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the Lord, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Friend, if you are a non-Christian, there is no better news that Jesus came to suffer for your sins on the cross. He was perfect yet was condemned as a sinner. He was dead and buried but God raised him from the dead. His resurrection defeated death for all who would turn to him in faith. Your sins can be paid for in Christ this morning. And I am not asking for you to abandon reason and logic, but I am actually appealing to you with reason to turn to Christ just as Paul did to those Jews in the synagogue. Notice their response, “And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas.” Do not abandon your reason but look at how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies.
R.C. Sproul once asked someone how many numbers someone has to get right to win the lottery. Only six numbers and one wins then he asked,
How much money do you suppose someone would get if they won the big prize ten times—untold riches? No, the winner would likely get nothing, but a long sentence in a penitentiary because the only way anybody could get six correct numbers ten different times is if he is crooked. The odds are just too astronomical. In the same way, no one can predict in advance with exact precision what will happen in our world in the future or in the life of a human being. Yet it is an indisputable fact that over a thousand specific prophecies from antiquity regarding the Messiah were fulfilled–specifically, particularly and perfectly in the person of Jesus. If skeptics would take time to look at those prophecies, their mouths would be shut forever about any doubt of the divine origin of the Scriptures and of Jesus.
Friend, believing in Jesus as the Christ and the Savior is not in absence of logic but because of it. Be persuaded.
But Paul did not just preach mere words, but he proclaimed Jesus with power. 1 Thessalonians 1:4–5,
[4] For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, [5] because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
The Thessalonians were not only persuaded but believed in the power of the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. As we will see, their faith was tested.
Rioting against the Truth (.v 5-9)
Paul appealed to people from the Scriptures with reason and careful explanation. While some people, others resisted the truth and actively fought against it. Acts 17:5–9,
[5] But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. [6] And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, [7] and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” [8] And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. [9] And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. (ESV)
The stated reason for the riot was that Paul and his companions were going against the decrees of Caesar and saying there is another king, Jesus. Thessalonica was a senatorial province of Rome and anything that went against Caesar would have caused them great concern. We do not know if they were actually acting against Caesar decrees, they most definitely were proclaiming Jesus as the Christ and King.
But as so often is true with conflict, there was truth mixed with lies making it more believable. Yet the Jews were not actually concerned with Caesar and going against his decrees, they were merely jealous that some of the Jews and key leaders followed the teaching of Paul about Jesus. Their stated reason was not the real reason. Many refuse to believe in Jesus on intellectual grounds while many others claim it is on intellectual grounds but it is actually on moral grounds. Someone once asked Timothy Keller to identify a couple of the major obstacles in our current culture that keeps people from repentance. Drawing on his experience among young adults in New York, Keller said one of the biggest obstacles to repentance is that almost all singles outside the church and many inside the church were sleeping with each other. Many claim they do not want to follow Christ on intellectual grounds, but in reality they do not want to repent because they do not want their sexual freedom to be restricted.
Keller shared how one of his college pastor friends confronts young adults after they return home,
He’d ask them to grab coffee with him to catch up on life. When he’d come to the state of their spiritual lives, they’d often hem and haw, talking about the difficulties and doubts now that they’d taken a little philosophy, or maybe a science class or two, and how it all started to shake the foundations. At that point, he’d look at them and ask one question, “So who have you been sleeping with?” Shocked, their faces would inevitably fall and say something along the lines of, “How did you know?” or a real conversation would ensue.
The stated reason was doubts about the truth of Christianity, but the root was actually a troubled conscience. Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, once confessed he did not want there to be a God because it inferred with his sexual freedom.
Not everyone who says they do not believe in the truth about Jesus actually disbelieves the truth about Jesus. They resist the truth because they do not want to submit it. They want to be King of their lives and their choices. Jesus demands to be King. He is the Christ. He is the Truth. The Jews rioting against the truth because they were losing power and were jealous. Many today reject Jesus because they do not want to lose their freedom. In our evangelism, we have to help people be honest with why they are resisting the truth. Sometimes their stated reason is the real reason but in cases there is something that is lying beneath the surface.
Romans 1:18-28 connects truth and morality. As we are in the middle of “Pride” Month as a nation, notice how destructive pride is to the soul when it stands against the truth. And I believe one of the reasons “Pride” has taken a hold of our nation is many who may disagree with unnatural forms of sexual expression are silent because of their own sexual immorality. Romans 1:18–28,
[18] For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. [19] For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [20] For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. [21] For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. [22] Claiming to be wise, they became fools, [23] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
[24] Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, [25] because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
[26] For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; [27] and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
[28] And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
Theology affects morality. Morality affects theology. Let’s first ask, “Are we resisting the truth in any way?” Secondly, let us help others diagnose how they and if are resisting the truth. Good questions, a listening ear, prayers of wisdom and the Holy Spirit’s perception are all necessary to help others identify how they are responding to the truth. Proverbs 20:5
[5] The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water,
but a man of understanding will draw it out. (ESV)
Let us be men and women of understanding to help draw out the truth in people’s souls.
Receiving all the Truth (v. 10-15)
Circumstances in Thessalonica cause Paul and Silas to move on to Berea where they continue to reason from the Scriptures how the Messiah must suffer and be raised from the dead and proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah prophesied in the Scriptures. This time, the Jews had a very different disposition, Acts 17:10–12,
[10] The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. [11] Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. [12] Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.
Notice how one’s character impacts how one receives the word. Again, morality affects theology. Theology affects morality. Luke points out that Jews in Berea were of more noble character than the Jews in Thessalonica for they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
The Bereans were not skeptics of Paul and Silas. They were eager and willing to obey the Scriptures. Paul was teaching the Scriptures and the Bereans were daily examining the Scriptures. We should all be like Bereans. We should study the Scriptures daily and be eager to obey them. One of the greatest joys I have as a pastor is the “Berean-ish” of our congregation. Park loves the Scriptures and is eager to obey them. I pray we will always delight in the Word of God and be ready to receive it. Arms and hearts open wide week after week, month after month, year after year to receive the Word. Pastors scatter the seed but we must prepare the soil of the heart to receive the word. Paul may have seen the reception of the Bereans and thought back to how the Thessalonian Christians received the word. 1 Thessalonians 2:13,
[13] And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
How are you receiving the word? I would encourage you every week to take time during the offering to prepare your heart to receive the Word. Pray for a receptive spirit to hear and understand well with an eager and obedient heart.
I would also caution us not to be hyper-critical of every teaching we receive. Listen with a critical ear, but not a hyper-critical ear. I am not sure how to explain that but I feel it needs to be said.
Those who oppose the truth will continue to oppose the truth even at great cost among themselves. Acts 17:13–15,
[13] But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. [14] Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. [15] Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.
It was not enough for the Jews in Thessalonica to dismiss Paul but they wanted to silence him. We see the same spirit alive and well today. The world not only resists and rejects the truth but wants to vilify and silence those who proclaim it. Nothing is new under the son. Jesus said, John 15:18–21,
[18] “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. [19] If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. [20] Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. [21] But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
People will always hate the truth because it confronts our idols. Jesus chose to be hated by the world so we would be loved by God. Jesus suffered and died because people rejected the truth. Beloved, we are not greater than our master. The world will hate us if we proclaim the truth. We must choose to be hated by the world so that some would experience the love of God. Jesus was rejected and despised so we could be saved. And now as his followers, we must choose the lonely road of rejection so that others may be saved as well.
At the end of the day, there may be many who think we are wrong, but only the truth matters. The question is, “What will we do with the truth?” Will we reject or accept it? Remember truth is a person. Truth lived and suffered for sinners. Truth defeated death and has given eternal life. After carefully studying the Truth and all that He was willing to do for you, how could you not receive him?” John 1:11–12,
[11] He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. [12] But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
Receive the Truth and become a child of God.