His Word Today

Thessalonica (modern Salonica) lies near the ancient site of Therma on the Thermaic Gulf at the northern reaches of the Aegean Sea. This city became the capital of Macedonia (c. 168 B.C.) and enjoyed the status of a “free city,” which was ruled by its own citizens (Acts 17:6) under the Roman Empire.

The city was located on the main east-west highway, Via Egnatia, and served as the hub of political and commercial activity in Macedonia. It became known as “the mother of all Macedonia.” The population in Paul’s day reached 200,000 people. It would be comparable in population to the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Paul had originally traveled 100 miles from Philippi via Amphipolis and Apollonia to Thessalonica on his second missionary journey (A.D. 50; Acts 16:1–18:22). As his custom was upon arrival, he went to the synagogue in which to teach the local Jews the gospel (Acts 17:1–2).

He spoke with them from the OT concerning Christ’s death and resurrection in order to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was truly the promised Messiah (Acts 17:2–3). Some Jews believed and soon after, Hellenistic proselytes and some wealthy women of the community were also converted (Acts 17:4). Among these converts there was Jason (Acts 17:5), Gaius (Acts 19:29), Aristarchus (Acts 20:4), and Segundus (Acts 20:4).

Because of their effective ministry, the unbelieving Jews had Paul’s team evicted from the city (Acts 17:5–9),. So, they went south to evangelize Berea (Acts 17:10). There, Paul had a similar experience to Thessalonica with conversions followed by hostility. Therefore, the believers sent Paul away.

He then headed for Athens, while Silvanus and Timothy remained in Berea (Acts 17:11–14). They rejoined Paul in Athens (cf. Acts 17:15–16 with 1 Thess. 3:1), from which Timothy was later dispatched back to Thessalonica (3:2). Afterwards, Silas traveled from Athens to Philippi while Paul journeyed on alone to Corinth (Acts 18:1). It was after Timothy and Silvanus rejoined Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:5), that he wrote 1 Thessalonians in response to Timothy’s good report of the church.

Take the opportunity to read I Thessalonians 2 today. I particularly like I Thessalonians 2:1-4 and Paul’s unswerving commitment to the Gospel. “For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. ² But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. ³ For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, ⁴ but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.”

My each of us, as followers of Christ continue to view the Gospel of god as a sacred trust.

Soli deo Gloria!  

“Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.” (1 Thessalonians 1:1)

While the Apostle Paul was in Corinth, he not only ministered to those within that Grecian city, but also took the opportunity, by the work of the Holy Spirit, to write his first letter to the church at Thessalonica. For the next several days, we will briefly look at the structure and the content of I Thessalonians.

In the Greek NT, 1 Thessalonians is listed literally as “To the Thessalonians.” This represents the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the church in the city of Thessalonica (cf. 1:1).

Paul identified himself twice as the author of this letter (1:1; 2:18). Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy (3:2, 6), Paul’s traveling companions on the second missionary journey when the church was founded (Acts 17:1–9), were also mentioned in Paul’s greeting (1 Thess. 1:1).

Although the apostle was the author, most of the first person plural pronouns (we, us, our) refer to him and his two companions. However, during Timothy’s visit back to Thessalonica, they refer only to Paul and Silvanus (3:1–2, 6). Paul’s epistles came with the full support of his companions.

Paul’s authorship is further supported by (1) the direct assertions of Paul’s authorship (1:1; 2:18); (2) the letter’s harmony with Paul’s travels in Acts 16–18; (3) the multitude of intimate details regarding Paul; and (4) the confirmation by multiple, early historical verifications beginning with Marcion’s canon in A.D. 140.

The first of Paul’s two letters written from Corinth to the church at Thessalonica is dated c. A.D. 51. This date has been archeologically verified by an inscription in the temple of Apollos at Delphi (near Corinth), which dates Gallio’s service as proconsul in Achaia to A.D. 51–52 (Acts 18:12–17). Since Paul’s letter to the churches of Galatia was probably written c. A.D. 49–50, this was his second Holy Spirit inspired epistle.

Take the opportunity today to read the first chapter of I Thessalonians. I Thessalonians 1:2-3 appeals to me as the kind of reputation I desire to have as a believer in Christ. “² We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, ³ remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Have a blessed day in the Lord. Merry Christmas.

Soli deo Gloria!  

In the December 2005 issue of Ligonier Ministries Tabletalk Magazine, which addressed the subject of The First Advent, author Starr Meade contributed an essay entitled A Woman Richly Blessed. Here is an excerpt from that article.

Imagine a contemporary teenage girl who becomes convinced, without a doubt, that God especially favors her. She knows God will bless her richly, beyond what any other woman ever has known. What does she expect that to mean? Surely God will provide romance for her, followed by a happily-ever-after marriage. There will be several healthy children, who will grow to successful adulthood and provide her with grandchildren someday. She will surely have all she needs of material possessions, and probably a little more — most likely, she’ll be able to do some traveling. Of course, since she is so favored by God, she will have the good health needed to enjoy all these things. Aren’t these the kinds of things we of the twenty-first century mean when we say, “We’ve been so blessed”?

What would our young lady think of God’s blessing if it caused heartache and misunderstanding with her fiancé and ended in a broken engagement? How much would she want to be especially favored by God if it required a long, arduous trip, on foot or on the uncomfortable back of a donkey, while pregnant with her first child? Would it seem that God was blessing her, when she lay in the straw on a barn’s floor, giving birth with the stench of manure strong in her nostrils? What if God’s blessing meant laying her first fragile little baby in a cow’s feeding trough because that was the best she had?

When this young woman, eager to go home and show her newborn to her family, found herself fleeing to a foreign country instead, her heart in her throat with fear for her baby because soldiers were on the way to kill Him, would she feel particularly blessed? Would she still want God’s favor if she knew that, because of it, she would feel a mother’s anxiety when public opinion turned against her adult child? How desirable would she find God’s blessing when it included a night filled with the crowd’s screams for the death of her son? How can a mother enjoy God’s favor as she watches her child slowly being tortured to death?

It is the time of Roman rule. An angel comes to a Jewish teenager and assures her that she is richly blessed. He does not mean that she will be happy, healthy, and rich, nor does the girl seem to expect that. We have no record of her ever complaining or protesting her lot as she wended her painful way through all the experiences mentioned above. What, then? If God’s blessing and favor don’t guarantee happiness and peace, what do they give? What does the angel (and later Elizabeth) mean by calling Mary blessed? God has planned for Mary a chance to serve. He has designed for her an enormous role in His plan to redeem a people for Himself. He is about to give the Savior He has been promising since the Garden of Eden, and Mary is part of His plan. “Do not be afraid, Mary,” the angel tells her. “You have found favor with God” (Luke 1:30 NASB). She is to be an instrument in God’s hand as He accomplishes the world’s salvation, like Noah, who “found favor in the eyes of the Lord” and whom God also used when He saved the world (Gen. 6:8 NASB).

So Mary’s blessedness will not be in experiencing peace and prosperity, but in having a chance to serve, a chance to die. Her willingness to die to self will make a way for the Messiah to die for the salvation of His people. She doesn’t know that yet, of course. She knows only that she, a virgin, will have a son whom she’ll name “Jehovah Saves” and who will rule forever. She is sure of these things and herein lies the other component of her blessedness. “Blessed is she,” her cousin Elizabeth greets her, “who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord” (Luke 1:45 NASB). How can she have a baby when she has never been with a man? Yet God has said it will be, so it will. How can her son rule on the throne of David and that without end? The Romans rule Israel as they rule all the world, with a grip of iron. A king on David’s throne is impossible. Yet God has said it will be, so it will.

It must be that Mary has a great vision of the greatness of God. This is how she can accept a role that is sure to cost her something — and how she can go on in faithfulness as she learns just how great is that cost. This is how she can trust God to do what He has said when she can see no possible way. This is how she can find blessing in serving and in suffering. She is content, based on what she knows of God, to let Him be God. She does not need to know how or why; she knows Him. She can trust Him to do the impossible. She can trust Him while she suffers, while their son suffers. She is content to serve, to suffer, to trust while He works through her to accomplish His will.

May each of us be content to serve, to suffer and to trust the Lord while He works through us to accomplish His will. Have a blessed Lord’s Day on this Fourth Sunday of Advent, 2020.

Soli deo Gloria!

“After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth” (Acts 18:1).

When Paul left the City of Athens, he ventured alone to the Greek City of Corinth. Corinth was located due west of Athens and had a population of approximately 200,000 people. The city straddled a narrow strip of land between two harbors. It was a major hub for trade alone the Mediterranean coast.

Dr. R. C. Sproul writes, “Since 27 B.C., this city had been the capital of the Roman province of Achaia. It was 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Athens, near the isthmus that joins Attica and Peloponnesus. Corinth was large and prosperous in the eight to sixth centuries B.C. but it declined. It became a Roman colony in 44 B.C.”

Corinth’s population included Greeks, freedmen from Italy, veterans of the Roman army, businessmen, government officials, people from the Near East, Jews and slaves. The city was thoroughly pagan and immoral. The city was filled with pagan temples. If the Apostle Paul was grieved by the idolatry he saw in Athens, he would be even more so when he arrived in Corinth. It was while Paul was in Corinth that he wrote the epistle we know as I Thessalonians.

Dr. John MacArthur explains that, “Because of their effective ministry, the Jews had Paul’s team evicted from the city (Acts 17:5–9), so they went south to evangelize Berea (Acts 17:10). There Paul had a similar experience to Thessalonica with conversions followed by hostility, so the believers sent Paul away. He headed for Athens, while Silvanus and Timothy remained in Berea (Acts 17:11–14). They rejoined Paul in Athens (cf. Acts 17:15–16 with 1 Thess. 3:1), from which Timothy was later dispatched back to Thessalonica (I Thess. 3:2). Apparently, Silas afterwards traveled from Athens to Philippi while Paul journeyed on alone to Corinth (Acts 18:1). It was after Timothy and Silvanus rejoined Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:5), that he wrote 1 Thessalonians in response to Timothy’s good report of the church.”

We will table our exegetical study of the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul from the Book of Acts, in order to introduce and summarize Paul’s first epistle (letter) to the church in Thessalonica.

Soli deo Gloria!      

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.” (Acts 17:32–34)

The Gospel of Jesus Christ always, always solicits a reaction. The response may be negative, positive, or an ambivalent in-between, but the Gospel always solicits a reaction. What is true now was true in biblical history. There were three reactions by the Greek philosophers and the Athenian citizens who heard the apostle preach concerning the One, True God of the Bible and the person and work of Jesus Christ. What were those three reactions?

First, there were those who mocked the message: “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked.” The Greek word for mocked (χλευάζω; chleuazo) means to jeer, to joke at something, or to make jest or fun of. The grammar indicates that this mocking was done continually, personally and actively by many people. 

The second reaction to the Apostle Paul’s message is what I refer to as “deferred interest.” To defer something, or someone, is to postpone, reschedule, adjourn or suspend. Interest means to pay attention, to notice something, to be curious, and aware.

The third reaction was repentance and belief. Some of the people joined Paul. The word “joined” (κολλάω; kallao) means united. The verb is in the passive voice though. Therefore the literal meaning is “But some men were joined to him.”

The moment when these men were united in faith with Paul was a work of God upon their souls and not a human work of their own doing.

Luke lists some of the notable Greeks, who placed their God given trust, dependence, commitment and worship of Jesus Christ. These people included were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. Dionysius was a member of the city’s ruling council. He would have been a person of great notoriety in Athens.

Dr. R. C. Sproul writes, “In this passage we see three frequent reactions to the Gospel: ridicule (Jude 17-18), intellectual interest (2 Timothy 3:1-7), and acceptance. The very real harvest the Gospel reaped in pagan, hard-hearted Athens should reassure us that it can penetrate hearts anywhere.”

The reason the Gospel penetrates the hearts of fallen sinners is not because of stirring oratory and motivational, and dramatic speakers. Rather, it is because of the Holy Spirit’s work in the soul of the sinner through the preaching of the Gospel (I Corinthians 3:5-9).

Soli deo Gloria!

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.” (Acts 17:32–34)

The Gospel of Jesus Christ always, always solicits a reaction. The response may be negative, positive, or an ambivalent in-between, but the Gospel always solicits a reaction.

What is true now was true in biblical history. Take Paul’s message at the Areopagus for example. There were three reactions by the Greek philosophers and the Athenian citizens who heard the apostle preach concerning the One, True God of the Bible and the person and work of Jesus Christ. What were those three reactions?

First, there were those who mocked the message: “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked.” The Greek word for mocked (χλευάζω; chleuazo) means to jeer, to joke at something, or to make jest or fun of. The grammar indicates that this mocking was done continually, personally and actively by many people.  

The second reaction to the Apostle Paul’s message is what I refer to as “deferred interest.” To defer something, or someone, is to postpone, reschedule, adjourn or suspend. Interest means to pay attention, to notice something, to be curious, and aware.

There were others within the Athenian audience who did not mock Paul’s teaching concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Rather, they were interested but only superficially. They were curious but decided to table the discussion for a later day.

Have you encountered people like that when you share the Gospel? They are respectfully attentive and seem to be generally interested. However, that is as far as it goes. They promise to discuss the person and work of Jesus Christ with you at a later date but that appointment never arrives. They are respectful, but this never leads to repentance.

Pray for a future opportunity to share your faith with someone you either work with, go to school with, or live nearby. Pray that the Holy Spirit will genuinely open their heart to the truth of the Gospel.

Soli deo Gloria!

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.” (Acts 17:32–34)

The Gospel of Jesus Christ always, always solicits a reaction. The response may be negative, positive, or an ambivalent in-between, but the Gospel always solicits a reaction.

What is true now was true in biblical history. Take Paul’s message at the Areopagus for example. There were three reactions by the Greek philosophers and the Athenian citizens who heard the apostle preach concerning the One, True God of the Bible and the person and work of Jesus Christ. What were those three reactions?

First, there were those who mocked the message: “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked.” The Greek word for mocked (χλευάζω; chleuazo) means to jeer, to joke at something, or to make jest or fun of. The grammar indicates that this mocking was done continually, personally and actively by many people.  

Dr. Simon Kistemaker writes that, “Plato and other Greek thinkers had developed a doctrine of the soul’s immortality. They reasoned that the soul migrated to another place, but that death terminated man’s physical existence. Indeed, to the Greek’s way of thinking, spirit was good and matter evil, and the soul was said to dwell in the prison house of the body, receiving its liberation only at death. Given such a view, it is not hard to see why a Greek would struggle to understand why a soul returning to reanimate a body could be a good thing.”

Therefore, many in the audience that day completely rejected the Apostle Paul’s proclamation of the Resurrection. In effect, they rejected the only source of eternal life, which gives the individual soul’s immortal joy. That source of joy is found only in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Do you know anyone who mocks the Gospel of Jesus Christ? I do. Please, do not hold them in derision but continually pray for them and your efforts, and my own, to share and show the truth of the Gospel and new life in Christ.

Soli deo Gloria!

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.” (Acts 17:32–34)

The Gospel of Jesus Christ always, always solicits a reaction. The response may be negative, positive, or an ambivalent in-between, but the Gospel always solicits a reaction.

What is true now was true in biblical history. Take Paul’s message at the Areopagus for example. There were three reactions by the Greek philosophers and the Athenian citizens who heard the apostle preach concerning the One, True God of the Bible and the person and work of Jesus Christ. What were those three reactions?

First, there were those who mocked the message: “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked.” The Greek word for mocked (χλευάζω; chleuazo) means to jeer, to joke at something, or to make jest or fun of. The grammar indicates that this mocking was done continually, personally and actively by many people.  

Dr. Simon Kistemaker writes that, “Plato and other Greek thinkers had developed a doctrine of the soul’s immortality. They reasoned that the soul migrated to another place, but that death terminated man’s physical existence. Indeed, to the Greek’s way of thinking, spirit was good and matter evil, and the soul was said to dwell in the prison house of the body, receiving its liberation only at death. Given such a view, it is not hard to see why a Greek would struggle to understand why a soul returning to reanimate a body could be a good thing.”

Therefore, many in the audience that day completely rejected the Apostle Paul’s proclamation of the Resurrection. In effect, they rejected the only source of eternal life, which gives the individual soul’s immortal joy. That source of joy is found only in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Do you know anyone who mocks the Gospel of Jesus Christ? I do. Please, do not hold them in derision but continually pray for them and your efforts, and my own, to share and show the truth of the Gospel and new life in Christ.

Soli deo Gloria!

^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.” (Acts 17:30–31)

We must remember that the Apostle Paul was addressing a predominantly Greek, or Gentile, audience when he spoke the Gospel on the Areopagus. The Greeks were ignorant of the Jewish Old Testament, because God up to that time almost exclusively revealed His plan of redemption to Israel. Except for His general revelation in creation, the pagan nations were largely left in ignorance. The Lord’s commissioning of Paul as an apostle to the Gentiles was changing this reality (Acts 9:15).

Paul preached that God commanded all people everywhere to repent. God’s command remains a present active reality. It is a command to, and for, all kinds of people, wherever they are. He commands them to repent. To repent (μετανοέω; metanoeo) means to turn away from sin. As such, the evidence of true, biblical repentance is a change of one’s attitude and behavior concerning sin and righteousness. True repentance is a continual rejection of sin and a continuing embracing of righteousness because of one’s conversion to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Repentance means a literal change of mind, not about individual plans or intentions, but rather a change in one’s attitude about God. Such repentance accompanies saving faith in Christ (Acts 20:21). Repentance and faith are both centered in Jesus Christ. They are two sides to the same coin of conversion.

The Tyndale Bible Commentary explains that, “It is inconsistent and unintelligible to suppose that anyone could believe in Christ yet not repent. Repentance is such an important aspect of conversion that it is often stressed rather than saving faith, as when Christ said that there is joy in heaven among the angels over one sinner who repents (Lk 15:7). The apostles described the conversion of the Gentiles to Christ as God granting them “repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18). Evangelical repentance and faith in Christ are in fact inseparable.”

The reason for the need of repentance, and faith, in Jesus Christ is because God the Father is going to judge the world. The righteous standard of that judgment will be whether one has faith in Jesus Christ. The righteous standard of Christ is assured by Christ’s resurrection from the dead.

Dr. R. C. Sproul writes that, “The final day of judgment (Revelation 20:12-15) would be an alien idea to Epicureans who believe that the gods could not be bothered by earthly events, and to Stoics, who view history as running in endless cycles. Yet the Athenians’ rejection of the Man who God appointed will result in Jesus finally and justly rejecting them on that Day of Judgment. Paul stresses that God’s call to repentance and faith is not merely an invitation but a command.”

Have you responded to God’s call to repent of your sin and to place your God-given faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ? If you have not, I urge you to do so today.

Soli deo Gloria!

“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.” (Acts 17:29)

When he referred to the Greeks in particular, and all mankind in general, as God’s offspring (quoting from the Greek Poet Aratus), the Apostle Paul was not teaching the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. Rather, he taught that all mankind are a result of God’s creation. Every human being, whether converted or unconverted, is dependent upon the sovereign and biblical God in whom mankind lives, moves and has its existence.

This understanding of God being the creator should prompt humans to no long view God from a human point of view, but rather from a divine and biblical perspective. In other words, God should not be fashioned into an image of gold, silver or stone. The Athenians had done so, as others before, at an unprecedented level. It was time to stop.

God should no longer be formed by the artistic and imagination of man’s thoughts of what God is like in appearance. Exodus 20:1–6 (ESV)

Exodus 20:1-6 says, “And God spoke all these words, saying, ² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ³ “You shall have no other gods before me. ⁴ “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”  

John 4:24 says, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

In his classic work Knowing God, Dr. J.I. Packer writes, “The realization that images and pictures of God affect our thoughts of God points to a further realm in which the prohibition of the second commandment applies. Just as it forbids us to manufacture molten images of God, so it forbids us to dream up mental images of him. Imagining God in our heads can be just as real a breach of the second commandment as imagining him by the work of our hands.”

Dr. John MacArthur writes, “If man is the offspring of God, as the Greek poet suggested, it is foolish to think that God could be nothing more than a man-made idol. Such reasoning points out the absurdity of idolatry (cf. Isa. 44:9–20).”

Take the time today to worship the Lord in your thoughts, emotions and will and also do so according to His inerrant Word. Have a blessed day.

Soli deo Gloria!