Many believers (those who have been genuinely born again in Christ) ask, "What is God's will for my life?"  Part of His answer to us is found in the 17th chapter of Acts through which Dr. Luke provides a picture of EVERY Christian's "call for service" (a command and a literal "mission from God") to evangelize the lost, disciple believers and otherwise share the Gospel with a hurting world. While this video clip from " The Blues Brothers" is tongue-in-cheek, it is in fact a great title for this week's Bible study: " We're on a mission from God." 

All fun aside, when you think of a missionary, what do you picture?  Most likely you imagine those who are called to overseas mission fields in some remote "jungle" (Why is it always a jungle?). Yet the truth is that Christians in many other countries are coming to the United States to do missionary work!  Folks, as recent studies have shown, both our country and our world are broken and very much in need of those who will step out in faith to WIN the lost to salvation, DISCIPLE the believer and SEND the trained back out to "repeat."  In fact, the context of today's passage is that EVERY born again believer should be on " a mission from God" whether it be in some far away country or right in our own back yards.  Let's break it down:

When are the "last days?"  Both then and NOW!  In fact, Isaiah 5:20 is very much alive and kicking today: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 

In verses 1-3 of Acts 17, we find Paul planting a church in Thessalonica, the second largest city in modern day Greece, and even in the first century a large, prominent city filled with about 200,000 souls.  And how do we know Paul planted a church there? He would of course write two New Testament letters to the believers there. In planting the Thessalonian church, Paul set a four-point pattern for us to follow in sharing the Gospel with others:

(1) He REASONED with them from the Scriptures. To "reason" literally means to dialogue -- to "mingle thought with thought." In addition, he listened to what they had to say and compared it with God's truth as revealed in Christ.  

(2) He EXPLAINED God's Word to them -- literally to "open the mind and cause understanding." 

(3) He DEMONSTRATED (literally, to "set the table") that Christ had to suffer, die and rise again in fulfillment of the Scriptures. 

(4) He TAUGHT from the SCRIPTURES: from the Word, in the Word and through the Word so as to build a rock solid foundation of truth.  What Scriptures?  Very likely Isaiah 54, Psalm 16 and Psalm 22 to start with.  

Paul's main goal and ours is the same: teach the Word of God so that it will penetrate the lives of those who receive it.  This is the reason we are so intent on giving away Bibles at our outreach events, and God's Word must be the foundation for His church as revealed in Acts 2:42 -- "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." Other resources are most certainly beneficial but they must NEVER replace the centrality of God's wholly inerrant and sufficient Word, the Bible.   

Moving on to verses 4-6, we see that the teaching was bearing fruit in that there were those who came to a saving faith. Beyond that, we know that the teaching was effective because the enemy was on the warpath (an attack on Jason's house). In his own teaching on this passage, Pastor Ed Taylor (Calvary Aurora) rightly spoke of his (and my) concern that Christians are no longer "turning the world upside down" as Paul did in his day. Instead of Jesus being the priority and focus, we now see "self" (the "selfie generation" -- a form of idolatry in itself) taking His place: lax attitudes towards sexuality, relationships (being unequally yoked with unbelievers), marriage and divorce. In fact, many "churches" are replacing the teaching of God's Word with the pursuit of "programs," emotionalism and general depravity.  

In verses 7-9, we are introduced to Jason, a believer whose home seems to have been the center of the growing church in Thessalonica (just three weeks old at this point). The enemy stirred up the unbelievers (just as he is doing today) and Jason stood in the gap by posting Paul and Silas' bail. What is this an example of? The love Jesus spoke about in John 13:34-35 -- "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

As we see in verses 10-12, Paul and Silas escape to Berea (modern-day Veria) some 54 miles to the west.  Why did they flee? In part, they did so in order to avoid more persecution for the new believers and to not jeopardize Jason's bond money (a cooling off period, if you will). However, Paul did not stop preaching but was rather right back in the Berean synagogue (Paul's pattern was to reach out to the Jews first in keeping with Romans 1:16 -- " For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek"). Clearly, Paul's yielding to the Holy Spirit to stay in the fight in Greece served as part of his inspiration in later writing the church in Galatia (Turkey -- Galatians 6:9 and young Timothy (2 Timothy 2:15). 

The result of their staying the course?  Verse 11 reveals that the Jews in Berea (the Bereans) were a people well-known for examining the evidence and basing their conclusions on truth: "they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so." The result? Luke tells us in verse 12 that "many believed" (came to a saving faith)!  Inasmuch as the best commentary on Scripture is Scripture itself, we find this echoed in Hebrews 4:12 --  "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  

As we see in verses 13-14, the unbelieving Jews were not at all happy and kept up their attacks (the enemy is relentless in pursuing, attacking and seeking to destroy a fruitful ministry). Peter echos this in his first epistle: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world." (1 Peter 5:8-9)  

From Berea, Paul moves on to Athens (verses 15-16) while his "backup" -- Silas and Timothy -- remain behind to finish their work before following.  Athens was at that time the intellectual, artistic and architectural capitol of the known world. It was also home to some 30,000 "gods" (idols) and famous for its "Epicurians" -- a sect that pursued pleasure as their chief aim in life (Sound familiar?). Taken as a whole, Athens was a prosperous, proud, and "religious" (pious) city that stood high above any other of that day. As such, from Paul's perspective, it was a "target rich environment" (2 Timothy 3:1-5 personified) for preaching the Gospel and "the Cure" found in a right relationship with God in Christ. In many ways, first century Athens was a picture of today's society, although ours is like Athens "on steroids" with technology being both a blessing and a curse (an "idol" to be sure) and leaving little time for God's Word (or time with Him in general). 

Paul's answer (and ours): reach the culture with the authority and relentless teaching of God's Word! In that, Paul's  "Code 3" sense of urgency for the lost was such that he had no time to wait for his "backup" to arrive. In fact, he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to live out Romans 1:16-17 -- For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." 

In the rest of this chapter, Paul and his "SWAT" (Spiritual Weapons and Tactics) team give us five points for reaching the lost in our wayward generation:

(a) We MUST have a Code 3 sense of urgency (a burden) for the lost: How should we respond when we see our communities and even our nation given over to idolatry? Tent City in DC during Police Week is a great example -- all kinds of idolatry in a place filled with our lost brethren (most definitely a "target rich environment").  In verses 17-21, Paul lives out this sense of urgency (with "burden" meaning "exasperated, irritated, roused to anger...") for the lost and in response to the idolatry and false teaching that was pervasive then as it is today. 

(b) We MUST go where the people are: The Areopagus (v. 19) was a kind of public courtyard where people went to hear debates and speakers.  Moreover, Athens was were the people (the lost) were.  Frankly, I never had a desire to live in a large metro area and when I first moved to Colorado as a unbeliever my intent was to be as far away from Denver as possible. Yet Denver (or any other large metro area) is where the lost were at and it was to those that God sent Paul and his SWAT team on their "mission." Likewise, Jesus went to where the sinners were and this is why we go to DC every year during Police Week -- it is the largest concentration of cops gathered in one place in America!

(c) We MUST deploy the TACT in "tactical" in connecting folks to Christ (verses 17-23): My bride will be the first to tell you that "tact" is not my spiritual gifting!  Yet our Lord calls us to exercise tact (the "art of making a point without making an enemy") and build bridges to share the Gospel instead of burning them. That said, we must NOT be so tactful that we water down the message (as Pastor Ed correctly said, "relevance that waters down Jesus is not relevant at all"). 

(d) We MUST preach truth without compromise (verses 24-29):  Sadly, so much of the modern "church" is anything but. In many you would be hard pressed to even find a Bible. Yet in Athens and throughout his ministry, Paul continued to declare Jehovah God as our Creator (v. 24), our Giver (v. 25), our Overseer (v. 26) and our Father and Savior (v. 27-28). 

(e) We MUST preach the whole Gospel (verses 17-34):  While tact and relevance have a place, we must NEVER waver from preaching Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2) -- the whole Gospel! Part of that is the need for repentance (verse 30 -- see my link to that below).  Why is this important? Because repentance is the doorway to salvation (they go hand-in-hand), and a judgement is coming!  To do anything less is to deny backup (the eternal kind) to those who need it the most.

Again, God is seeking faithful believers who will be radically obedient to His command to go "on mission" with Him.  Notice again the word I used here: believer -- one who has been genuinely born again in Christ (not just radically saved but radically changed). Part of that change includes the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in every believer, and thus the power to successfully carry out our " Mission from God." Do you have that?  Consider the following:  

 

(1) Jesus' first words in His earthly ministry were: " Repent and believe in the Good News " ( Mark 1:15 ). There's that word again! To repent  is a "180" -- a complete, radical change of mind and heart as it relates our sin. To believe  as God intends it to  completely and radically surrender to Him in faith  ("believe" and "faith" have the same Greek root meaning) in the same way you have faith that your body armor will stop the rounds it is designed to stop or that a skydiver's parachute will open (we stake our lives on it)! Moreover, the words repent and believe are literally two sides of the same coin in meaning and intent.