Reason Explain and Prove

Acts 17:1-4 When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. ² As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, ³ explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. ⁴ Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

REASONED—EXPLAINED—PROVING–PERSUADED

Reasoned “The Greek word translated ‘reasoned’ is the root for our English word dialogue. There was exchange, questions and answers. He dialogued with them “reasoned with them from the Scriptures.”

Explaining To explain means, “to open what was closed; to unroll.” Paul took the time to make sure his listeners understood what he was saying. Paul opened the Scriptures with clarity and simplicity.”

Proving The word “prove” means to lay undeniable evidence before someone.” Paul presented compelling evidence how Jesus fulfilled hundreds of prophecies found in the Old Testament. My guess is he went to Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 to establish how it was necessary for Jesus to both “suffer and to rise from the dead.”

Persuaded  To cause (someone) to Do/believe something through REASONING, EXPLAINING & PROVING.

Some of them were persuaded: Vs4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women. By all accounts, the work was a success.

Paul and those with him went into the Synagogue and preached about the resurrected Jesus. For 3 weeks in a row, Paul preached Reasoned—Explained—Proved that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead and that Jesus was the only way to eternal life.

Some of those people chose (were persuaded) to follow Jesus as Savior.

Even as I typed this, I thought, “Everyone is going to think that this is way too obvious”. It may be simple; but the decision these people made that day was absolutely the most important decision they would ever make..And because they chose to believe their lives and eternity were changed forever!

Acts 17:5-9 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. 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. ⁷ Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus.” ⁸ And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. ⁹ So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.      (Matthew 12:30 gather-scatters)

Some were not persuaded. They heard the same message, right?

Again, this seems very basic and it is basic; but it is the foundation of our faith. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Jesus became the world’s sins and died on a cross.

He had victory over death and physically rose from the dead on the 3rd day.

He did that so all people would have the opportunity to be saved.

But it’s a choice. God does not make anyone get saved.

You can be the best preacher, the best orator, you can have a vast knowledge of scripture, you can reason, explain, and prove the bible to be true and that Jesus is who He claimed to be, and yet, there will always be those who choose not to believe. Those who are not persuaded.

Paul was faithful to preach the Word of God and he left the results to God.

Before we follow these men to Berea: I want to zero in on a statement made by the enemies of the gospel about this missionary team Acts 17:6 “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”

That’s quite a statement, isn’t it? This small team of missionaries (whose reputation had preceded them) is credited with turning the entire world upside down!

 (RIGHT SIDE UP)

“We are not going to turn this world right side up by simply criticizing it, surely not going to do it by conforming to it. Listen please, we (you & I) have a primary role if we hope to turn this city/state/country/world right side up. And that’s by witnessing/teaching preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Reasoning, Explaining, and Proving it to be true.

To turn the world right side up, the Word will have to first change us from the inside out.

Acts 17:10-15 As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. ¹² As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. ¹³ But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. ¹⁴ The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. ¹⁵ Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

Paul arrives in Berea and goes to the synagogue because that’s his MO. What do you think he’s doing in the synagogue? Reasoning Explaining Proving and again we see there are those who were persuaded to believe.

Vs 11 tells us “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” The word “noble” means, “refined, fair minded-NKJV, open minded.”

There were two traits which made the Bereans stand out as noble.

• They eagerly received the Word. They listened and absorbed the truth.
• They examined the Scriptures every day. The Bereans were eager to receive the Word, but they also examined the evidence. The word “examine” means to “discern, test, scrutinize. “They were committed to get to the core of what was being said and to determine whether or not it was true.

This was a daily discipline for them, not just something they did occasionally.          They took the Scriptures so seriously so they wouldn’t be misled.

They immersed themselves every day in God’s inspired Word, studying the Scripture scrolls daily. They were careful and cautious about what they believed. Scripture alone was their sole authority of what was true, and what was false.

It’s important to check what I say with what the Scriptures say. I work hard at being true to the Word, but I’m not infallible. While I would never knowingly mislead you, that doesn’t mean I’m not capable of doing so.

Be in God’s Word every day. The only way to grow is to get God’s Word in your mind and heart so you can live it out through your hands and feet.

If you say you don’t have time, then essentially you’re saying:

We should be eager to read and understand God’s message to us and examine the scriptures daily, because Scripture do not disclose it’s riches to lazy minds and lazy hearts.

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Make sure the Bible is your final authority. If you ever hear yourself, say “I know what the Bible says, but…” you should repent immediately. James 4:17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

It’s amazing really just how much the Lord can accomplish with just a few committed followers! Paul, Silas, Luke, and Timothy were just four men traveling in an almost completely pagan world. They left behind fledgling churches that were decisively in the minority. And yet they turned the entire world right side up for Jesus Christ!

We have seen this morning those who were persuaded and those who were not. But at some point, in your life you were persuaded. TITLE

At some point you came across someone OF NOBLE CHARACTER WHO RECEIVE WITH EAGERNESS AND EXAMINE HIS WORD EVERY DAY. Who because of that was able to REASON, EXPLAIN AND PROVE THE SCRIPTURES OF JESUS TO BE TRUE.

You made the best decision of your life…And with that comes responsibility.

Anything less than absolute dedication must be considered insubordination to our Lord and Savior and mockery of his cause!

Here are some common Christian clichés which are not found in the Bible:

• “God helps those who help themselves.” God helps those who CAN’T help themselves.
• “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” He won’t give you more than HE can handle.
• “God wants you to be happy.” He wants you to be holy.
• “Heaven gained another angel.” Humans don’t become angels.
• “This too shall pass.” Maybe not.
• “The devil made me do it.” No, you chose to do it.
• “Follow your heart.” Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked.”