Acts 17:1 through 6
(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)
“This picture is ridiculous! Obviously, it must be a joke because any fool would know the sign is upside down!” Yes, any fool would know!
But look what happened in Thessalonica when Paul and Silas came to town!
...Paul...for three Sabbaths...went into [the synagogue and]...
reasoned with...the Jews...from the Scriptures, explaining and
demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from
the dead, and saying “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the
Christ.” And some of [the Jews]...were persuaded; and a great
multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading
women, joined Paul and Silas. And some of the Jews who were not
persuaded, became envious, [and] took...evil men...and gathering
a mob...set all the city in an uproar...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.”
(Acts 17:1 through 6).
That is quite an accusation! But Paul and Silas (or whomever Paul was traveling with on his missionary journeys) did preach Jesus Christ! And the gospel can stir things up!
- What is the gospel? It is the good news of Jesus Christ!
✞ Paul spelled it out quite plainly in I Corinthians
15:3 and 4: “...Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures....He was buried, and...He rose
again according to the Scriptures....”
✞ And the apostle wrote in I Timothy 3:16, “...great
is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in
the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels,
preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world,
received up in glory.”
✞ Here is what the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 7
and verse 25: “...He is also able to save to the ut-
termost those who come to God through Him, since He
always lives to make intercession for them.”
- The gospel can change people!
✞ In Galatians 5:19 through 23, Paul highlights the
change that should come about in a person after ac-
cepting Christ as Savior! Compare...
➔ “...the works of the flesh...” in verses
19 through 21 with...
➔ “...the fruit of the Spirit...” in verses
22 and 23.
✞ This is the Apostle Paul’s own testimony of how the
Lord changed him, from I Timothy 1:15 and 16 (Inter-
national Standard Version):
To this world Messiah came, sinful people to
reclaim. I am the worst of them. But for that
very reason I received mercy, so that in me,
as the worst sinner, the Messiah Jesus might
demonstrate all of His patience as an example
for those who would believe in Him for eternal
life. (see also Galatians 1:13 through 16)
✞ And the change can be so radical that people, not
understanding it, vehemently oppose it!
And so the unbelieving Thessalonians were “…crying out, ‘These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.’ ”
But were Paul and Silas really turning the world upside down? For we are told in Isaiah 24:1 and 6 (Jubilee Bible): “Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it naked and turns it upside down and scatters abroad its inhabitants….Therefore the curse has consumed the earth, and those that dwell therein are found guilty….”
- So if God turned the earth upside down millennia before Paul and Silas (when the sin of mankind entered the world – see Genesis 3:1-6)…
- And when God plainly announced that fact through Isaiah the prophet more than 700 years before Paul and Silas…
…what Paul and Silas were doing was
turning the world rightside up!
In sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who are lost, we contribute to reversing what the LORD said He did in Isaiah 24:1 and 6! We are…
- …helping to fill the earth with righteous people! (see II Corinthians 5:21).
- …clothing their spiritual nakedness before God with robes of righteousness! (see Isaiah 61:10).
- …gathering people together into one Body! (see I Corinthians 12:12-27).
- …assisting in reversing the curse! (see Galatians 3:13).
- …standing in court, and hearing the Judge say, “This one is not condemned!” (see John 5:24).
Now go…and help turn the world
Rightside Up!