LET’S TURN THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: ACTS 17:1-6



INTRODUCTION:


  1. Some times the enemies of Christ inadvertently say the right thing. For example, you may recall that back in John 11:50, Caiaphas the high priest said "that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not."
  2. Caiaphas certainly did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, who came down from heaven to die for the sins of the world.
  3. And here in Acts 17 we see unbelieving Jews complimenting Paul and Silas and the other Christians (Acts 17:6). I can think of no greater compliment than having the unsaved people of Elmont say: "BBC has turned the Elmont area upside down."
  4. Beloved, sin has turned this world the wrongside up. Now we must turn it back the right way.
  5. But it is not just Elmont that needs to be turned around, it is the whole world (Acts 17:6). If we are to advance the Gospel throughout the Elmont area; and throughout the entire metropolitan area through our radio ministry; and throughout the entire world through our faith promise missions program – then it must be through the power of prayer and the power of God’s Word.
  6. We have to get out on the streets with the Gospel. We must put the GO into the GOSPEL.
  7. On Friday nights some of our men have been praying that God will save this community. First, God has to send revival to our church before He shakes up the community. And it is wrong to pray for souls and then not knock on doors. And it would be just as wrong to go out and knock on doors without praying.
  8. We cannot pray for the conversion of sinners and then neglect our responsibility to win souls (Matt.28:18-20).
  9. We cannot pray for revival and skip Sunday School, skip the evening service, skip prayer meeting, etc. There must be total consecration before God sends revival. There must be total commitment before God sends revival. There must be total surrender before God sends revival.
  10. Nearly 2,000 years ago, the apostle Paul, along with some other faithful believers such as Silas and Timothy, established churches all over the Roman Empire, up and down the Mediterranean coast, in Macedonia, in Greece, and all over Asia Minor.
  11. How did they do it? By going out and "preaching the Word" (Acts 8:4).
  12. Today I would like for us to see how the Gospel was advanced throughout Thessalonica (and eventually the whole world) through the faithful soulwinning of obedient Christians. Our Lord said: "Go," and so they went.
  13. Lee Roberson said he once heard an old preacher preach a message from Acts 17:6. This was his outline:
    1. The world is wrong side up.
    2. The world must get right side up.
    3. We are the fellows to do it.
  1. My outline is slightly different. How are we to turn the world upside down? I. Obedience. II. Through the power of the Holy Spirit. III. By preaching the Word of God.

I. IF WE HOPE TO TURN THIS WORLD UPSIDE DOWN, WE MUST BE OBEDIENT TO GOD’S COMMANDS

    1. Right before He ascended into heaven, our Lord gave us specific instructions (cf. Matt.28:18-20; Mark 16:15,16; Luke 24:46-53; Acts 1:8). If we consider ourselves Christians then we must be obedient to our Lord and Saviour.
    2. It is fascinating to read about the church-planting work of the apostle Paul and his co-laborers. In chapter 16 they led Lydia to Christ, and then they cast the demon out of that "certain damsel" involved in fortune telling.
    3. Then they were falsely accused by the damsel’s masters and thrown into prison. Then they led the Philippian jailer and his family to Christ. A church would soon be established in Philippi, probably in the house of Lydia (16:14,15,40) and now it was time for Paul and Silas to move on.
    4. Next they arrived at Thessalonica. And what did Paul do? He preached the Gospel (Acts 17:1-3). Soon a church would be established at Thessalonica. How did the apostle Paul accomplish so much for God? How did he see so many souls saved? He was obedient (Acts 26:12-20).
    5. Some Christians try to defend their disobedience by saying, "Well, that was the great apostle Paul. God does not expect all of us to go out soulwinning." Yes, He does.
    6. If the Samaritan woman could go back to her town and tell every one she met about Jesus, why can’t you? Why can’t I? John 4:39 says, "And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him for the saying of the woman, which testified."
    7. Acts 8:4 says, "Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the Word." Not just Paul and Silas and Timothy and Luke, etc. They all went out with the Gospel.

II. IF WE HOPE TO TURN THIS WORLD UPSIDE DOWN, WE MUST GO IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

    1. Let us look again at the Great Commission (Luke 24:47-49; Acts1:8).
    2. We must be led by the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 16:6-10). He will close and open doors if we are sensitive to His leading.
    3. We must ask the Holy Spirit to help us as we talk to unsaved people. Paul "reasoned with them out of the scriptures" (17:2). Some people are extremely unreasonable – but God is very reasonable (cf. Isa.1:18; Rom.12:1). And He wants us to reason with sinners by using the Scriptures.
    4. We are not to try and persuade people with our own rhetorical skills or our ability to win a debate or our vast knowledge of logic and so forth – we are to just let the Bible do the work.
    5. You know, it is easy to win an argument. But God has not told us to win arguments. He has told us to win souls. "He that winneth souls is wise" (Pro.11:30).
    6. The problem is that too many Christians cannot handle the Word of God. However, the apostle Paul knew how to skillfully use the Word of God. He explained the Scriptures ("opening and alleging" – vs. 3; cf. Luke 24:32). What a privilege it is to open up the Word of God.
    7. This brings me to my third and final point. Beloved, if we are to turn the world upside down we must do it by preaching the Word of God.

III. IF WE HOPE TO TURN THIS WORLD UPSIDE DOWN, WE MUST PREACH THE WORD OF GOD

    1. Paul preached the Gospel (17:3). So did Peter (Acts 10:34-43; 2:37-41). So did Philip (Acts 8:35-38). And Stephen, et al.
    2. It is a fact that when the Gospel is preached with power and clarity souls are saved and churches are established. But when churches get away from preaching the Gospel, they dry up.
    3. Paul emphasized that Jesus was the "Christ" (cf. Acts 17:3b), i.e., the Jewish Messiah.
    4. There is much confusion today in Christian circles. We must get back to the basics. Today churches are turning into entertainment centers, with worldly music and drama teams and all sorts of foolishness. We must resist these worldly rends and keep preaching the Gospel.
    5. Some so-called churches are obsessed with demons and deliverance and all sorts of strange and weird teachings. I am constantly meeting people who have been badly hurt by these churches. And the people who go to these meetings do not even understand the Gospel! And oftentimes they are so confused it is hard to explain the Gospel to them. How sad.
    6. Paul preached the Gospel to lost sinners and we’re told that "some of them believed" (17:4). We may not win every person we meet but beloved, we can see many souls saved if we just do things God’s way. "And of the chief women not a few" (17:4).
    7. "And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas…" (vs. 4). In other words, they left the synagogue and joined with Paul and Silas in establishing a local church.
    8. Dr. Luke tells us "a great multitude" of devout Greeks got saved (17:4). These "devout Greeks" were Greeks who were tired of paganism and false religion and idolatry. They turned to Judaism because they were attracted by the higher standards and monotheism. Thus a new church was established in Thessalonica.
    9. Paul says that they "turned to God from idols" (I Thess.1:9). Beloved, there are many people right here in Elmont blinded by idolatry. If we want to see them turned to God from their idolatry, we must go to them with the true Gospel.

CONCLUSION:

  1. "Turning the world upside down" is a strong expression. But it is not the only strong expression found here in Acts 17. Two times in this chapter we see the word "stirred" (17:13,16). Everyone gets stirred up some times, one way or another. What is it that stirs you?
  2. If God is stirring your heart then why don’t you come and tell Him today you are going to do what ever He wants you to do.
  3. Yesterday morning we were out knocking on doors, giving out Gospel tracts. A man opened the door but refused to take a tract. When I asked him why, he said, "I’m alright."
  4. I then asked him if he knew he was going to heaven and he said, "No."
  5. Beloved, there are many like that today – not saved, lost, on their way to hell – but they say they are "alright." And they refuse to even read a Gospel tract.
  6. My friend, if you are not 100% absolutely sure you are going to heaven then you are not "alright."

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