Acts 17
Devotional by Lauren Lee
Read Acts 17
Acts 17
Paul and Silas in Thessalonica
17 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 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. 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.
Paul and Silas in Berea
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. 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.
Paul in Athens
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.
Paul Addresses the Areopagus
22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for
“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.
Devotional
In today’s reading, we see Paul and Silas share the gospel with different groups of people. One observation is that people will respond in different ways to the message of Jesus. We read here of Jews in Berea responding with “eagerness” and intellectuals in Athens responding with a spirit of inquiry. However, some of the Jews in Thessalonica had a more aggressive response.
Because of their jealousy, “They formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked” (v. 5). They claimed that the disciples “Turned the world upside down” with their message. What a testimony! These men are giving them a compliment in disguise. They’re saying that Christians have radically impacted the world and that things are different now. Of course, that is what the resurrection of Jesus did. It changed everything, and now, like Paul and Silas, we get to impact the world with this good news.
We do this by reasoning with people, loving them well, and telling them of the existence and character of God. Paul says to the people of Athens, who worshipped an “unknown God,” that this God is actually known, and his name is Jesus! He is the one who gives us life. They just needed to be told about him.
Let’s come alongside Paul and Silas with a radical faith that turns the world upside down. And, if faced with opposition or persecution, like they sometimes were, take courage because Jesus warned us of this. “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18).
What is one practical way you can impact the world for the gospel today?
Starting TODAY let’s be INTENTIONAL in reaching out to people! Speak to the neighbor that never speaks to you—invite your coworker to lunch because they seem to be having a bad day—call a friend or family member that you haven’t spoken to in awhile. We don’t have to go out of the country, leave the state or city. We have a “Mission Field” right here where we can start sharing the LOVE OF JESUS 🙏🏾❤️
Lorraine,
AMEN AND AMEN 🙏 🙌 👏
Lorraine said we don’t have to leave the country to reach out to people to share the word of God. We can reach people where ever we go. HALLELUJAH AND AMEN!!🙏⛪🙏📖
We are all GOD’S offspring and GOD is not far from each one of us.
May GOD Almighty continue to guide and protect us as we spread the gospel and grow HIS kingdom by our thoughts, action and words.
Like Lorraine said we don’t have to go out of country.
In where you find yourself, share the Love of JESUS CHRIST.
GOD is always with us.
I always find this chapter interesting since each group responded so differently, When Paul was at the Areopagus I have always been intrigued by the way he opens the conversation, by not attacking their beliefs but acknowledging that they must be very religious. He opens up the conversation in a way that they are willing to listen to him as opposed to shutting him down. Paul then has the opportunity to speak of the unknown God and share the gospel to a crowd that is willing to hear him. When we approach others that have no knowledge of Christ or a different worldview we should engage them in conversation and then once we have their attention not focus on their beliefs but rather on sharing our own experiences with Christ. The same thing may happen to us that some will mock or not believe but some will want to learn more. Our role is not to save but to open the door for the Holy Spirit to work in each person who hears the gospel. We don’t ever know how that impacts others it may be the first opening to long road of salvation and we may never know that they later accepted Christ as their savior.
This is incredible David! 🙏🏽
Someone first spoke those words of faith to me, expressed a kind gesture and prayed for my soul -on my long road to salvation.
Love this David. We can not take it personally when we share. We may be the beginning seed or we may be the one to bring that person to salvation because of all the seeds left.
But the truth is no one listens if they don’t feel safe with you. We must find connection first.
Like Ms Lorraine said we all need to be intentional about soul winning this year and prayerfully seek the face of God. We can start from our Jerusalem ( our home, neighbors and everyone that we know) and then move to ourJudea and Samaria.
Another lesson I learned is that we must be ready to face to opposition, disappointment or any form challenges when we tried to share the Gospel or establish the righteousness of God among our family members, our work place, and even local churches.
The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. As long as we choose to live for Jesus and we are not ashamed of the gospel, there will be challenges, but Jesus has encouraged in the book of John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
I think listening is probably the simplest way to begin having an impact on our world with the Gospel. Listening to the voice of His Spirit that will lead us to whom we need to engage with. But also listen to the people around you. For all we know, there words and conversations could be subtle “cries” for help. Before we can obey or respond we have to listen first!
This is right on Durrell. Meet people where they’re at. Some could be ready, or crying out, and not realize it. Some are so hardened they just love. It starts with knowing them enough…
Do the next right thing Jesus puts on your path to do
Amen
Thank you Champion Forest for the devotionals
Lord, help me listen to people well so that I can strategically reason from a place of both, understanding the Gospel, as well as understanding the person’s current view of the world.
Don’t we find hints of life today in this chapter? People making up lies about the messengers and starting upheaval to get others distracted from hearing the Truth…
We have to keep our eyes on God, our ears listening to the Holy Spirit, and our feet ready to move to tell others about Jesus.
I want to shine brightly for You, Lord. Help me to preach at all times and use words when necessary. Help me to love like You do, Lord.
Amen Lauren! Paul and the other disciples are inspiring to read about. They gad a singular mission of taking the gospel to whoever needed to hear. Convicting.
They *had
Meet people where they are, but with the understanding that not all will be receptive .
This is amazing! The book of Acts has come alive to all of us like never before… Thank you all for your comments….
Just yesterday, I had a strategical & very comfortable conversation with a women & her daughter. The mom was a believer…and knew when/where it happened. The daughter told me, “No… I don’t know about all that stuff….” So the Lord had me pull her aside and share the Gospel with her… Just the scripture and His Holy Spirit had determined long, long ago that this would be the day that her name was written into the Book of Life! As we prayed a sinners prayer, the Father, Jesus and the angels were all rejoicing!
Look for those opportunities all around you – they are your unengaged – unreached – people – groups (UUPG).
Following Christ today 🙏🏾
I love how insightful Paul was when he saw they worshiped an “Unknown God”, and he used that to tell them about God. God was the creator of everything. Knowing God loves us so much that He wants a relationship with us brings tears to my eyes every time. We should live our lives as a testimony to that incredible love.
Loretta Adler
When witnessing to someone who is lost, get them talking about themselves and then what they believe. Listen closely for those opportunities to interject the truth of the Gospel, and watch the Spirit do His work to open their hearts to the truth!
The ultimate practical way to worship God is by reading his word, because when we read the Bible and pray to him, it is his way to communicate with us even though we don’t understand what he is saying and why this issue is happening. I think of reading the Bible as our daily bread.