Assault on Jason
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2023 · 16 July 2023
Now, the world fell when Adam sinned. And it was a two-fold problem, Adam not only became cursed, but the earth itself became cursed. And mankind became comfortable in sinning, right? And the reason for that is this: you put a cursed man in a cursed system, and he’s going to get along pretty well. It’s when you apply righteousness to that cursed system then you make things difficult.
And that’s why the truth of God, throughout all history has tended to flip man’s world upside down. The duality of this problem is indicated in John 3, where it says that men love darkness. In other words, they love their system because their deeds are evil. The thing which really upsets his world system is the application of righteousness, or is the introduction of truth in a system of error.
At the end of Acts 17:6, the people in Thessalonica characterized Paul, Silas and Timothy with these words, “These that have turned the world upside down.” Now, the statement they make is these people are flipping our worldly system. Now, wouldn’t you like to be known as the person who turned the world upside right? And so, they really commend them in saying that.
These people turned the world upside down because of five things illustrated in the text. One is courage. You’re never going to affect the world unless there’s courage. Second is content. Third is converts. When you start changing people’s lives, you really create chaos. Fourth is conflict, which will happen when the first three happen. And fifth is concern, that’s the motive that makes it happen.
Courage equals confidence in God. That’s simply the definition of courage biblically. And in the Christian’s life, God has given us a guaranteed victory, and a guarantee of fruit. And we can enter into anything that God designs for us to do, and the Spirit moves us to do that, knowing that it always turn out for our good. And if you’re hesitant because there’s fear, that translates into a poor theology.
Now, Paul is going against the worldly system too, knowing that if God wants to put him in jail, that’s fine. The last time he was in jail, the whole jailer’s family got saved. Now, he did the same thing in verse 10. We’re going to jump back and forth between Thessalonica and Berea, because there are parallels. He goes to the Berea from Philippi, and he goes into the synagogue again.
Yes, because he just got out of a riot in Thessalonica. He went to the Jewish synagogue in Thessalonica in verse 1 and 2, and by the time you get to verse 5, there’s a riot going on. And they beat – they chase him out of town, and he bails out in verse 10, and goes right back into the next Jewish synagogue. That’s real courage, which translates into confidence in God.
Now, the second thing is content. He took Old Testament texts, and he opened and reasoned from those Old Testament texts that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. Isaiah covers that in 53, and so does Psalm 22. Then he proved that, as David, the psalmist says, that the Messiah had to rise again. Then at the end of Acts 17:3, he offers that Jesus, whom I preach, is that Messiah.”
Now, he did the same thing there, in verse 11, when he got to Berea. So, the brethren at Berea were pretty sharp and noble. More noble than those in Thessalonica. Why? Because they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so. They were more spiritual Jews than the ones in Thessalonica and Gentile proselytes.
You better study for the crisis when the life comes across your life that needs answers and you’re the only resource. Secondly, study the Word. There’s no shortcut. Third, personalize the Word. Make it living in your own life. And fourth, share it. The best way to learn something is to tell somebody else. What you give away is what you really keep, especially when you do it many times.
Thirdly making converts. Every Christian should see some converts. Well, it may be that you plant; it may be that you water; it will be that God gives the increase. You may not see it now, but it’s going to happen if you’re faithful. Listen to John 15:16, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and ordained that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.”
Paul presented such a tremendous argument, that they were persuaded, as it were, against their will to believe. And of all the churches that are written to in the New Testament, they seemed to be the most like Christ wanted the Church to be. The Thessalonica Church had to be persuaded. But when they got saved, they went wild; they became what God wanted the Church to be.
It doesn’t matter what you were before you were saved, at the moment of salvation it becomes an issue of what you do with the resources. You can expect just as much as you can expect out the finest guy that ever was when he gets saved. Because the resources are the same. Thessalonica may not have been as noble as Berea, but once salvation happened, they grew much in Thessalonica.
Now, I don’t know that Berea didn’t. Salvation isn’t gradual, it’s instantaneous. And that’s something that we have to remember, because sometimes we don’t expect enough out of certain people. Salvation is the equalizer, beloved. The most common reason that people will not believe is that they do not investigate the Scripture. They are quick to say, “Well, I don’t believe the Bible.”
Do you know that the Bible covers all of the revelation of God who made about the universe? It covers spiritual reality. Do you realize that such a statement encompasses a tremendous amount of information? You must have studied it for years, because I know men who have studied the Bible year after year, and they totally believe it. People don’t really search the Scripture.
Tom Paine who wrote ‘The Age of Reason’, which was the classic book against God and against Christ. He criticized the Bible. He died without God, and he knew it. But here’s an interesting quote on page 65. He said, “I had neither the Bible nor the New Testament to refer to, though I was writing against both.” If you’re going to write a book against the Bible, you ought to know what the Bible is about.
First, recognize your obligation. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Acts 1:8, “You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit is come upon you and be my witnesses.”
Secondly, recognize the results are not always positive. You go out and say, “I witnessed, but nothing happened. I’m not doing that anymore.” The more you do it, the harder Satan’s going to resist it. Thirdly, recognize your power. And whatever the negative reactions are, your power will supersede them. The Holy Spirit will do the convicting; the Holy Spirit will do the empowering.
And remember His promise. John 15:16 says, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit.” That’s His promise. That’s a guarantee. Fifth, there will be conflict. Why? Because you’re creating holiness in an unholy environment. That’s what God wants you to do, which happened in Thessalonica.”
Verse 5, “But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.” The thing that they envied was that Gentiles had been offered the Messiah on an equal basis. They believed in the singular quality of the Jews.
Well, they knew they were staying with Jason, who must have been a new Christian there, and so it says they all assaulted the house of Jason. But you know? Paul, Silas and Timothy were gone. Verse 6, “But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”
So they took Jason and the other Christians instead. They ransacked Jason’s house, and they drag him out of there. They pressed two charges. The first charge is a general revolution. The second thing they charge them with is a specific treason against Rome. Verse 7, “Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king, Jesus.”
That’s the same thing they crucified Jesus for, right? They crucified Him for claiming to be a king. Remember, Pilate questioned Him, “Are you a king?” And here Paul had been preaching the kingship of Jesus Christ. The same thing that the crowd used to execute Jesus they were going to use again to execute Paul. Verse 8, “And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things.”
But, these rulers were pretty cool. And they really acted wisely. I’m sure God had something to do with this. So, they were between a rock and a hard place. And in verse 9, “So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.” They made Jason come across with a bond to guarantee that Paul, Silas and Timothy wouldn’t trouble them anymore.
Well Paul, Silas and Timothy had to go. And they went to Berea in verse 10. What happened there? Now, in Berea, they were waiting to believe. You go to verse 11, and they searched the Scriptures and so forth. Verse 12, “Therefore, many of them believed.” They believed; while the others had to be persuaded. “Some believed” in verse 4, and one of them was Jason and some people in his house.
Verse 12 continued, “And also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.” They were more noble, more open, and honorable women who were Greeks, and Greek men. So, they had another harvest down there. And so, the church in Berea was born. You never hear another word about Berea, and Thessalonica became the most beloved church that Paul ever wrote to.
Verse 13, “But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds.” So, here come all these people, 60 miles from Thessalonica, and they stirred up trouble. Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16, talks about how the Jews have followed him all his life. Well, Paul had to leave again.
Verse 14, “Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away, to go to the sea; but both Silas and Timothy remained there.” They faked it like they were going to the sea, and then they cut another direction. Paul, the ringleader left, but he left Silas and Timothy. Why? What was Paul’s great concern for new believers? Discipleship. He left them there. So, he left Luke, he left Silas and he left Timothy.
Verse 15, “So those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed, they departed.” Verse 16 says something you never read about Paul. “Now, Paul waited.” You don’t see him doing that much, do you? Some commentators think that he was just going to wait there till they got there; he was hurting.
Well, that’s conflict. But out of conflict came joy. And out of conflict came the productivity of those churches. Well, out of conflict in Athens came fantastic results. And we’re going to see that in the weeks to come. But let me close with this. The last thing; if you miss this, you miss everything. The last thing that made these people men that changed the world was concern.
You say, “Yeah, concern for the lost.” No. That is not the issue. Concern for the lost is great; that’s not what concerned Paul. Verse 16, “While Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him.” Why? “He saw the city given to idolatry.” It means that he saw that God was not being glorified, and the greatest motive that any Christian could ever have is for the glory of God.
Paul says in Romans 1:5, “I preach obedience unto the Gentiles for the sake of His name.” It pervades the entire Bible. Paul saw God not being glorified, and it tore him up. Now, he could have looked at all the beauties of Athens. Man, that place was something else: it had architecture; art and science. It was easier to find a god in Athens than it was a man,” it was so given to idolatry.
But Paul didn’t see the glory of Athens; he saw only the glory of God, and he saw God not being honored, and it concerned him. I’ll tell you something; this is what made him a man that changed the world. He was preoccupied with the glory of God. He saw every man as one who gave glory to God or one who didn’t, and he knew God deserved it. There’s the ingredients.
When he saw a city given to idolatry, he disputed that in the synagogue, and with devout persons, and in the marketplace daily. He never stopped when he saw that God wasn’t being glorified. You can see that throughout what he wrote. You too can be someone who affects the world. The pattern that Paul gave to us is clear; now it’s up to you. Father, make us people who count, make us people who affect the world. Let us pray.