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We can turn back to the book 
of Acts, Acts chapter 16 specifically. Acts chapter 16, we'll pick up 
the reading at verse 35 and we'll continue to chapter 17 at verse 
9. So beginning in Acts chapter 
16 at verse 35, And when it was day, the magistrates sent the 
officers, saying, Let those men go. So the keeper of the prison 
reported these words to Paul, saying, the magistrates have 
sent to let you go. Now, therefore, depart and go 
in peace. But Paul said to them, they have 
beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into 
prison. And now do they put us out secretly? 
No, indeed. Let them come themselves and 
get us out. And the officers told these words to the magistrates, 
and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. 
Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out, and 
asked them to depart from the city. So they went out of the 
prison and entered the house of Lydia. And when they had seen 
the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. Now, when 
they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, 
where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Then Paul, as his custom 
was, went into them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with 
them 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 them 
were persuaded, and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not 
a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas. 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. 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. Jason has harbored them, and 
these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying, 
There is another king, Jesus. And they troubled the crowd and 
the rulers of the city when they heard these things. So when they 
had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. 
Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, thank 
you for the Word of God. Thank you for this passage of 
Holy Scripture. Thank you for these missionary journeys and 
the great lessons that we learn. And even now, Lord God, guide 
us and direct us by the Holy Spirit. Help us to be encouraged 
with the Word. Help us to find great joy and 
comfort in the Scripture. And may it be our daily food. 
For Jesus said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every 
word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Bless that word even 
now. And we ask in the name of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. So we're continuing on 
the second missionary journey, which is recorded here in the 
book of Acts. It took place in about 49 to 
52 AD. It covered a lot of places. And here I want to look first 
at the departure from Philippi at the end of chapter 16 and 
verses 35 to 40, and then the ministry in Thessalonica. that 
we find in chapter 17, verses 1 to 9. But I want to get right 
to it. Let's look at this departure 
from Philippi. Notice in the first place this 
order to release the missionaries in verses 35 and 36. Verse 35 
says, when it was day, the magistrate sent the officer saying, let 
those men go. It's a big change from the day 
before. Now, if we hadn't had the previous 
verses concerning the Philippian jailer, we might be left to wonder, 
why is it that these magistrates had this sudden change of heart? 
The day before, they had beaten them with rods, they had ordered 
them to be in prison, they put them into the inner prison, and 
put their feet in stocks, and now they're coming and they're 
saying, let these men out. perhaps they had experienced 
the earthquake. It is intriguing that when they 
come to order the jailer, they say, those men. They don't talk 
about the other prisoners, just like the Philippian jailer didn't 
fall at the feet of the other prisoners. He fell at the feet 
of Paul and Silas and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Well, 
these magistrates understand most likely that those men had 
something to do with this particular earthquake and now they want 
them gone. It could be the case that they 
understood that they were wrong, which I highly doubt, or it could 
be the case that they thought perhaps the missionaries had 
learned their lesson and now it was time for them to go. But 
I think the weight of the evidence suggests they understood the 
earthquake, they knew that somehow it was connected to those men, 
and now they give the order for those men to leave. And then 
the jailer, along with others, goes into Old Spall. Notice in 
verse 36, so the keeper of the prison reported these words to 
Paul saying, the magistrates are sent to let you go. Now therefore 
depart and go in peace. No doubt the jailer is happy. 
These are now his brothers. Remember, he did believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ. His sins were forgiven. He has 
now received the imputed righteousness of Jesus. He is heaven bound. 
Paul and Silas are his friends. They are his brothers in Christ. 
So no doubt he's happy for them to be released so that they can 
go on their way and preach and teach to others. But this statement 
concerning go in peace doesn't set well with the apostle Paul. 
And that provokes from him this response that he gives in verse 
37. Notice the problem as he addresses 
it. Paul says to them, they have 
beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into 
prison. And now do they put us out secretly? 
No indeed, let them come themselves and get us out. Each of the things 
that he says aggravates or exacerbates how bad what these magistrates 
did to Paul. He says in the first place they 
were beaten without any due process. Do I need to remind you what 
a Roman Empire view of due process was? In verse 16 in chapter 25, 
Festus says, to them I answered, it is not the custom of the Romans 
to deliver any man to destruction before the accused meets the 
accusers face to face and has opportunity to answer for himself 
concerning the charge against him. Paul understood his rights 
as a Roman citizen, and Paul invoked those rights as a Roman 
citizen in this particular instance. So he says, they beat us without 
any due process. Secondly, he says we were beaten 
publicly. Again, that is shameful. That 
impugns the character of these particular men. Now Paul doesn't 
want his character as Paul to be received in the empire as 
him being a great guy. But his character and his testimony 
directly impinge upon his responsibility as a minister of the gospel. 
So they were not only condemned without due process, then they 
were beaten publicly. Then as well, they were, or he 
then indicates that they were uncondemned. We didn't have a 
trial. We didn't get to present our 
evidence. We didn't get to answer our accusers. Rather, we are 
uncondemned and they have nevertheless beaten us. And then he invokes 
his citizenship. We're Roman citizens. Later on, 
we're gonna see how that freaks out the various magistrates that 
come into contact with Paul. It freaks these magistrates out 
as well, as we will see in just a moment. But one of their own, 
Cicero, who was a Roman statesman and a lawyer in 106 to 43 BC, 
he made this statement concerning Roman justice. He said, to bind 
a Roman citizen is a crime. To flog him is an abomination. To slay him is almost an act 
of murder. To crucify him is what? There is no fitting word that 
can possibly describe so horrible a deed. Now in each of these 
instances of punishment that Cicero mentions, if the crime 
was seriously bad or it was a particularly heinous crime, they could make 
exceptions. But the general rule affecting 
Roman citizens is that you didn't treat them that way. They were 
entitled to due process. They were entitled not to have 
their clothes ripped off their backs and then to be publicly 
flogged before everybody else and then thrown into a prison. 
I mean, that is more akin with Joseph Stalin and the Soviet 
Union than it was with the Roman Empire. Again, they prided themselves 
on this level of jurisprudence. We see that in Festus before 
Agrippa. It's not the case that we just 
condemn a man. It's not the case that we just 
beat a man. It's not the case that we just crucify a man or 
we imprison a man. Men have rights and Paul invokes 
his rights. Brethren, we learn from this, 
it's not always wrong to invoke one's rights relative to the 
body politic that they live in. We are not Amish. We have not 
retreated into our little ghettos. We are citizens of a body politic, 
and for us to exercise those rights are consistent with what 
we see in the model of the Apostle Paul. On the one hand, he invokes 
his rights as a Roman citizen when he's fighting corruption 
that is going to impinge upon gospel ministry. But when it 
comes to his rights as a Christian brother, he's all too willing 
to let those go. 1 Corinthians 8-10, he says, 
if my eating of meat causes a brother to stumble, one for whom Jesus 
died, then I'll never eat meat again. I think we as Christians 
model the apostle Paul when we have the wisdom that Jesus says 
we need to have. We need to be gentle as doves, 
but we need to be cunning as serpents. And in this instance, 
to further the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul invokes 
his Roman citizenship. And when he says in verse 37b, 
back in chapter 16, and now do they put us out secretly? No 
indeed, let them come themselves and get us out. I think there 
are three reasons why Paul does invoke his Roman citizenship. 
And the three reasons aren't, I don't like being in a jail, 
I don't like being beaten, I don't like being mistreated, I don't 
want to suffer. No, Paul rejoiced when he was 
counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ, but there 
are three valid reasons for Paul to invoke his Roman citizenship. 
In the first place, he was in fact innocent of any crime. Again, 
he's not so consumed with or so concerned about his reputation, 
but if he's looked at as a guilty man, if he's looked at as a criminal, 
if he's looked at as a threat to Roman society, when he goes 
from city to city in the Roman Empire to preach the gospel, 
he's not going to get a hearing. It is crucial that he be vindicated. 
It is crucial that he be seen as an innocent man relative to 
law-breaking in the empire. Secondly, because magistrates 
are accountable. We need to remember that. If 
you haven't thought through this, God has given the power of coercion 
to the civil state. The government possesses the 
power to coerce. They can make laws, and then 
they can punish you for violating those laws. Therefore, they are 
accountable to God. For those who stumble with that 
word coercion, that's precisely what Romans 13.4 means. He is 
God's minister to execute God's wrath in history with the sword 
entrusted to him by God. Never underestimate and never 
forget that it is within the purview of a civil government 
to coerce its citizens. Now, that's also very crucial 
going through this time. It's always that way. It's described 
as this time, with the ominous sort of music in the background. 
Recommendations aren't laws, brethren. Recommendations are 
just that. If they are not commanding something 
and backing it up with the coercive power of the civil state, and 
they recommend that you do something, you don't have to do it. I saw 
a news story, and I'm not advocating social injustice or rebellion 
or anything like that, but there was a news story this weekend 
that the government recommended that people don't travel. Guess 
what? Not everybody took that recommendation. The civil state cannot coerce 
under those particular, in that particular situation. but they 
can coerce when it comes to laws that they have enacted and they 
are given the sword. That doesn't always mean that 
every crime is punishable by death, but it's certainly something 
that they can enforce with coercion. And in this instance, Paul understands 
that these civil magistrates are accountable. And then as 
well, because of precedent. Right? Whatever happens here 
is going to affect future missionaries that occurs in the Roman Empire. If Paul does not challenge them 
at this point, if Paul allows them to treat his brothers in 
the future in a similar manner, that will impede the progress 
of the gospel. So he's not all about his reputation. He's not all about his safety. 
He's not all about his comfort. He doesn't crave that everybody 
in the empire sees him as a wonderful person. but because he was in 
fact innocent, because the magistrates are in fact accountable, and 
then as well because of precedent concerning the future and operations 
within the empire. That's why he does what he's 
doing here. That's why he invokes this Roman 
citizenship, and that's why he says they're not going to do 
what they did and get away with it. They're not going to beat 
us in violation of Roman law to one of the citizens of the 
Roman Empire and then put us out secretly. No, they need to 
come and they need to deal with this one-on-one. Now notice the 
fear of the magistrates in verses 38 to 40. Verse 38 says, and 
the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they 
were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. Again, we saw 
that with Festus. There couldn't be a better scripture 
reading than Acts 25 to set out something of the contours of 
Roman jurisprudence. Festus said that to Agrippa, 
and here these men now know that they didn't do that. They know 
that they are guilty. They know that they messed up. 
They know that they now have to try and fix this situation. 
They are afraid. So look at what they do. It says 
in verse 39, then they came and pleaded with them and brought 
them out and asked them to depart from the city. See, they recommend, 
they plead. They don't have the legal jurisdiction 
to eject Roman citizens who were not condemned of any crime from 
their city. This was not the way they could 
have proceeded according to Roman law. They had to be very wise 
and very sensible and very judicious as they approach these apostles 
or as they approach the apostle Paul and Silas. So they plead 
with them, would you please leave? In this instance, they ought 
to be very thankful that Paul and Silas agreed. They ought 
to be very thankful that Paul and Silas didn't exercise their 
rights even more so and call for their indictment, call for 
their arrest and call for them ultimately to stand before a 
Caesar for having violated their calling as officers in the civil 
state. And then notice what the missionaries 
do according to verse 40. So they went out of the prison, 
they went out of the prison, entered the house of Lydia, and 
when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. 
So they depart Philippi. Again, Paul invokes his citizenship 
so that these things could set precedent for the future. Now, 
secondly, they move into the city called Thessalonica. Thessalonica 
was the capital of Macedonia, it was a foremost city, it was 
a port city, and therefore it was very highly populated, and 
a very good place for Paul and Silas to engage in gospel ministry. I want to look at two things 
here. First, the ministry in Thessalonica, verses 1 to 4, 
and then the uproar in Thessalonica, in verses 5 to 9. They pass through 
Amphipolis, they pass through Apollonia. We don't know why. 
Obviously, they're under the bidding and the power of the 
Holy Spirit. We saw that in the Macedonian call and in Acts chapter 
16, they were forbidden or prohibited for going into Asia Minor. They 
were prohibited from going into Bithynia. And then Paul had that 
vision concerning the Macedonian plea for help. So the Spirit 
is guiding and directing. And so we must assume that Amphipolis 
and Apollonia were not the places the Spirit wanted them to go 
at this present time. but they do go to Thessalonica. 
And then notice the custom of the apostle Paul. We should already 
be quite aware of this in verses 1b and 2a. They get to Thessalonica, 
and then verse 2 tells us, then Paul, as his custom was, His 
custom was to go to synagogues, because at synagogues, he would 
have Jews to preach to, and he would have God-fearing Gentiles 
to preach to. A God-fearing Gentile was a Gentile 
who was interested in the covenant God of Israel. He was interested 
in Yahweh. So Paul knew that he had a place 
where he could go to preach the gospel to souls that stood in 
need of redemption by our Lord Jesus Christ. When we look at 
the book of Acts, We see that pattern, we see it is in fact 
a custom. You see it in chapter 13, chapter 
14, chapter 16, even at verse 13. Remember there's no synagogue 
in the city of Philippi. So Paul and his team go to that 
riverside and there they meet the women. And there it is that 
the Lord opens Lydia's heart. And then later we'll see it in 
the book, continuing in the book of Acts, this custom in chapter 
18, and then this chapter 19 as well. Now, when it says three 
Sabbaths, that's probably to be understood literally. On three 
successive Sabbaths, Paul went into the synagogue to preach 
to them. That doesn't mean he wasn't in 
the city longer. In the book of Philippians, it 
seems that Paul was longer in the city of Thessalonica. So 
on three successive Sabbaths, him and his team go into this 
synagogue and there they preach the word of the living God. And 
I think that the way that Paul preaches is very instructive 
for the church today. Notice what he does. In the first 
place, he reasons from the scriptures. Don't you just love that? That's 
what our religion is grounded upon. He reasons from the Scriptures. He doesn't come to them promoting 
mystical experience. He doesn't come to them celebrating 
his own feeling. He doesn't come to them in some 
esoteric manner. Rather, he comes with open Bible, 
and he reasons from that Bible. If you look at the particular 
verbs that are employed by the Apostle Paul, he is in earnest 
to do this. This isn't some share therapy 
moment, but rather it is the declaration and the proclamation 
of God's Holy Word. He reasons from the Scriptures. Notice what it goes on to say. Then Paul, as his custom was, 
went into them and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from 
the Scriptures. And then notice the next two, 
explaining and demonstrating. You see, this wasn't a three-minute 
sermonette for potential Christianettes, but the Apostle is proclaiming. 
The Apostle is doing the spadework of exegetical theology. He is telling them what Scripture 
says, and that is absolutely crucial for today. If we want 
to see sinners saved, we need to demonstrate from the Scriptures 
that Jesus is, in fact, the Christ. We need to call men to believe 
on that Christ, We need to reason with them, we need to explain 
to them, we need to take the time, have the patience, in order 
to make that happen. Remember Paul's last official 
command to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4. Preach the word, be 
ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort, with 
all what? Long-suffering and teaching. In other words, Rome wasn't built 
in a day and neither will be the kingdom of God on earth. 
We need to preach, we need to teach, we need to demonstrate, 
we need to reason, we need to explain. In other words, we need 
to be heavy on Bible and heavy on theology. Certainly prayer 
and singing and worship and all those things are consistent with 
our approach to God. But a church is a pillar, the 
church is the pillar and ground of the truth. It is the house 
of the living and true God. And as a result, it's this kind 
of stuff that should be transpiring in terms of missions, in terms 
of evangelism, but as well in terms of the ongoing nourishment 
of the people of God. The word reason means to engage 
in speech interchange, to converse, discuss, argue. Explaining means 
to open, figuratively, the ears. And then in a non-figurative 
way, it means explain, interpret. And then demonstrating is to 
set forth in teaching, to demonstrate, to point out. Again, Paul had 
this intellectual ability because he knew his Bible, but as well, 
Paul had this ability because he had a fear of God and he had 
a love for the souls of men. See, if Paul didn't have compassion, 
if Paul wasn't a lover of men, why would Paul do what Paul did? 
Paul loved God, Paul wanted the glory of God, but Paul loved 
his fellow creatures as well. The application of the second 
great commandment is most evidently seen in the way that we treat 
men relative to their spiritual state. We need to preach to them 
the word of God. If it is the case that silver 
and gold have I not, such as I have, give I thee. In the name 
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Acts chapter 
three, that's what Peter and John said to that lame man who 
was begging alms at the gate called Beautiful. So the apostle 
Paul took pains to instruct people. He took pains to demonstrate 
from scripture. He didn't go to share his heart. 
He didn't go there to engage in storytelling. He didn't go 
there to just have a chat session or to promote some sort of civil 
camaraderie. He went with an open Bible to 
demonstrate that in fact, Jesus Christ is Lord. Notice he proclaims 
Christ. He appeals to the Old Testament. 
Look at about the middle of verse 3 there, explaining and demonstrating 
that the Christ, Messiah, had to suffer and rise again from 
the dead. Now, this is what Jesus did in 
His earthly ministry. Remember that on several occasions 
He told His disciples that the Christ must go to Jerusalem, 
He must suffer at the hands of godless men, He must die and 
be raised again the third day. Well, Jesus didn't just make 
this up. This is what the Old Testament prophesied. This is 
what the Old Testament meant. The Old Testament is a messianic 
document. Christ is the scope of Scripture, 
all Scripture, not just the New Testament, but the Old as well. 
Now, Luke doesn't tell us what passages he turned to, but it 
doesn't take long to figure it out. Psalm 16 is a psalm concerning 
the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter appeals to 
that in Acts 2. Psalm 22 has been rightly called 
the Psalm of the Cross. It prophesies in great detail 
the sufferings of Messiah, the death of Messiah. As well, the 
prophet Isaiah. Some have called him the Apostle 
Isaiah, because when Isaiah comes, or the evangelist Isaiah, because 
when Isaiah comes to amplify the work of the servant of Yahweh 
in Isaiah 52 and three, he highlights the suffering of the Savior. 
He highlights the death of the Savior. And I would argue highlights 
the resurrection of the triumph of the Savior as well. But also 
Daniel 9, that Messiah is cut off. What does that mean? It 
means that he would suffer. It means that he would die. But 
it would mean that he would rise again and rule over this people. So Paul took the pains to go 
to the Old Testament and to first tell them that with reference 
to Israel's Messiah, it wouldn't be this political top down imposition. Remember, that's what the Jews 
were looking for. That's precisely why or one of the reasons why 
they rejected Jesus in his earthly ministry. Remember that bit in 
John chapter 6 when Jesus feeds the multitudes. He feeds them 
with bread. And then they try to seize him 
by force and make him a king. Jesus would later say, my kingdom 
is not of this world. He doesn't mean it doesn't include 
this world. It's not of it. It doesn't originate 
in the same way. He's not put on a ballot. We 
don't take a box next to his name and somehow vote him in. 
Certainly his kingdom rules over all. And he has got all authority, 
not only in heaven, but on earth. But they were looking for this 
subjugation of the Romans. They were looking for this exaltation 
of Israel. And in their mind, they had politicized 
the message of the Old Testament in terms of the messianic messiah. And so Paul says, no, the Old 
Testament, the Psalter, the prophets, the law, when you go back to 
the books of Genesis to Deuteronomy, that whole scene at Mount Moriah 
in Genesis chapter 22 teaches us something concerning substitutionary 
atonement. That formative or programmatic 
text in Genesis 3.15 concerning the skull-crushing seed of the 
woman who would devastate or decimate the effects of the devil. 
You see, all of this indicates that the Old Testament was a 
messianic document, but with reference to the messianic mission, 
it wasn't just to subjugate Rome and to exalt Israel. It was rather 
that the Christ would suffer, the Christ would die, and the 
Christ would be raised the third day. In other words, this kingdom 
is grounded upon, first and foremost, the spiritual rule of God in 
the hearts of His people. He forgives us of our sins, He 
imputes the righteousness of Jesus Christ to us, gives us 
the faith wherein we can receive it, and there are certainly physical 
ramifications, there are certainly physical applications to that, 
But in the first sense, brethren, the mission of Messiah is the 
salvation of all those whom the Father had given to Him. And 
the Jews missed that. And so Paul now, in a synagogue 
of the Jews, is telling them. Their own documents prophesied 
this kind of a Messiah. Now notice what he goes on to 
say. At the end of verse 3, This Jesus 
whom I preach to you is the Christ. So you see his method. Here's 
what your Old Testament says. Here's what the documents testify. 
Here is what is specified in the prophets and the law and 
the Psalter that the Christ would happen to the Christ. And now 
he says, this Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ. This is 
the embodiment. This is the fulfillment. This 
is the yea and amen of God Almighty. This is the champion of Israel. 
This is the only redeemer of God's elect, the one whom I preach 
to you, this Jesus of Nazareth. He was one who suffered. He was 
one who died. He was one who was raised again 
the third day. Matthew Poole says, that Jesus 
whom Paul preached was the true and only Messiah. And that what 
was written of the Messiah was fulfilled in him. So you see 
the methodology of the apostle in this instance. It's brilliant. 
It is absolutely crucial that we imitate it. If we are ever 
exposed to or have opportunity to speak to Jews, go to the Bible. Don't be afraid of them. Don't 
say, oh well, you know, I don't want to, I want to respect your 
monotheistic position. No, their monotheistic position 
has ultimately resulted in them rejecting the true and living 
God. The true and living God is Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit. And so you go to the Old Testament, 
you show them what Scripture says, and then you say along 
with Paul, this Jesus, whom I preach to you, is the Christ. John Stott 
says it this way, he says, he identifies the Jesus of history 
with the Christ of the Scripture. That almost sounds neo-orthodox 
and weird, but I think it makes sense. He identifies the Christ 
of the scripture with the Jesus of history. In other words, this 
Jesus of Nazareth, this one who I preach, he is the one that 
fulfills all the requirements, everything that was specified. 
in the Old Testament is fulfilled by this Jesus. Now, note the 
result, note the effect. We're very caught up in that, 
aren't we, in our day? Well, what happened, Paul? When 
you went and preached in Thessalonica, how did people respond? What 
was it like? Because we've witnessed and we've 
testified and we've shared the gospel and we've declared it. 
We don't always see people get saved. Brethren, do you realize 
that in the first and foremost place we witness and testify 
for the glory of God? God is glorified in the declaration 
of his truth, whether or not sinners are saved. Now, obviously 
we pray for and we desire, and we hopefully, you know, as far 
as we're able, exert some persuasion upon them to be saved. But in 
the first place, God is glorified in the proclamation of the gospel. That's why we do it, because 
we love God. Secondly, we do it because we 
love man and we want them to be exposed to the truth of Scripture 
so that they in turn can believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and 
be saved. But notice what happens in Thessalonica. Verse 4 tells us, some of them 
were persuaded. Here we ought to understand some 
of them being Jews, because in verse 5, we'll see the others 
that were not persuaded launch this revolt against Christianity. But in verse 4, notice what it 
says, some of them were persuaded. But look at where the great addition 
comes. And a great multitude of the 
devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined 
Paul and Silas. It's an amazing testimony concerning 
the grace of God and the fulfillment of the covenant made, first and 
foremost with Abraham, in terms of its historical expression, 
but brought to realization in the new covenant of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Noah himself had prophesied that 
Gentiles would enter in. Noah himself said that Japheth 
would occupy the tent along with Shem. Noah himself had prophesied 
concerning Gentile inclusion in the promises of God. But it's 
clearly revealed to Abraham that in him all the families, all 
the nations of the earth would be blessed, and here it comes 
to pass. Now, it seems almost incidental, but we ought to think 
covenantal when we read such passages and praise God for the 
glory of the covenant of grace. It was never made simply for 
the tribes of Jacob. In fact, in another servant song 
in the prophet Isaiah, God says to the servant, it's too small 
a thing that you should only save the tribes of Jacob. I am 
going to give you as a light unto the Gentiles. In other words, 
it's not a showcase of the redemptive power of our Lord Jesus Christ 
to simply save one small people group. God says, I'm giving you 
as a light unto the Gentiles. It's a beautiful and a wonderful 
thing. So a great number of converts 
are from the devout Greeks and leading women. Now, among them 
are likely the Jason that's going to come up later in this particular 
section, which is a Greek form of Joshua, and then a man by 
the name of Aristarchus and Secundus. We learn later in Acts 20 that 
they were converts in the city of Thessalonica. So Paul's preaching 
was blessed and owned by God. In fact, he tells us this in 
1 Thessalonians 1, verse 5. Listen to how he describes this. 
I've already mentioned that he was no slacker when it came to 
the work of preaching. He was no lazy pastor when it 
came to the task of preaching. He explained to them, he reasoned 
with them, he declared or demonstrated from the Scriptures. He took 
pains to set forth the truth as it is in Jesus. But Paul himself 
understood all too well that apart from the ministry of the 
Holy Spirit, all of the learning, all of the passing on of that 
learning to others wouldn't avail for anything. These are dead 
sinners. They're not going to be brought 
into the Kingdom of God based on the reasoning power of the 
Apostle Paul. Certainly the reasoning power 
of the Apostle Paul is instrumental as the Word goes forth. Faith 
comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. But the power, 
the efficient power behind the salvation of sinners is God. 
We've seen that. Acts 13, 48. All those who were 
appointed unto eternal life believed. Acts 16, with reference to Lydia, 
chapter 16, verse 14. And the Lord opened Lydia's heart 
to heed the things spoken by Paul. Well, Paul understands 
that in Thessalonica, the same thing occurred. Paul doesn't 
say, man, I'm such a great preacher. Everybody who heard, except for 
those miserable Jews, came and started following Paul and Silas. 
That's not what he says. 1 Thessalonians 1.5 for our gospel 
did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the 
Holy Spirit, and in much assurance." He tells them later in 1 Thessalonians 
1-9 what occurs when he went, or rather what occurred when 
he went, and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living 
and true God. And then 1 Thessalonians 2.13, 
because when you received the word of God, which you heard 
from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it 
is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works 
in you who believe. It's a beautiful testimony concerning 
the grace of God. When Paul is writing these things 
later to them in 1 Thessalonians, he's not saying, I'm great and 
you're great because of the decisions that you've made. He says, God's 
great. God sent us on our way. God called 
us to missionary endeavor. God brought us to the place of 
Thessalonica. God gave us opportunity to speak 
the truth. We spoke the truth. The Holy 
Spirit attended and you received that word. He even says in 1 
Thessalonians 1, verse 7, how they, the church in Thessalonica, 
became examples to others in the colony of Macedonia. It was a wonderful and a glorious 
expression of God's grace. But unfortunately, it doesn't 
end there. Notice the uproar in verses 5 
to 9. The instigators are told us in verse 5, but the Jews who 
were not persuaded. Now that shouldn't mean every 
single Jew. It means the unbelieving Jews, the Jews that were not 
persuaded, the Jews that did not receive the great news that 
Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the one who suffered, the one 
who died, the one who was raised the third day. So we see here 
the instigators of this, the Jews who were not persuaded becoming 
envious. Now notice they They hatch this 
sort of plot to destroy the missionaries. Don't mistake this. They don't 
want to just, you know, throw eggs at them. They want to destroy 
them. They want to stop them. They 
want to rid the world of these menaces. In fact, you can turn 
just a moment to see Paul's comment about this in 1 Thessalonians 
2. 1 Thessalonians 2. We'll go at verse 13. For this reason, we also thank 
God without ceasing, because when you receive the word of 
God, which you heard from us, you welcome it not as the word 
of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively 
works in you who believe. For you, brethren, became imitators 
of the churches of God, which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. 
For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, 
just as they did from the Judeans." What's he saying? He's saying 
unbelieving Jews were your problem there in Thessalonica. It was 
unbelieving Jews that were provoked and that were instigated and 
that wanted to try and destroy the Christian movement at this 
particular point. He goes on to say in verse 15, who killed 
both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets. It's at this point 
that some will cry anti-Semite, anti-Semite. Paul's not saying 
every single Jew, every time in history has the blood of Jesus 
on their hands. He is saying first century Jews 
who saw the Redeemer himself, the one who fulfilled the messianic 
document, the one in their presence, they did deliver him up. They 
did cry, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Paul himself 
was a Jew, so the charge of anti-Semitism is very bizarre when it's leveled 
against the New Testament documents. He says in verse 15, who killed 
both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted 
us, and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, 
forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved. So as always, to fill up the 
measure of their sins, but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost." 
That last statement, I believe, is a reference to the coming 
destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. Paul knows that that is going 
to occur in their situation. But back to chapter 17, the plot 
to destroy the missionaries. We notice in the first place, 
they're envious. We've already seen that with 
this lot. They were envious in Acts chapter 5. They didn't like 
the fact that now persons were flocking to hear the apostles 
and not them. It's the same thing that happened 
in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus. Those men, those 
religious leaders were envious. They didn't like that Jesus had 
all these people, all these multitudes coming to hear him. It just rubbed 
them the wrong way. And as a result, they end up 
delivering up our Lord Christ. Well, the same sort of situation 
happens here. Barrett says the Jews feared 
that they were losing control of the synagogue and their appeal 
to religious non-Jews and objected to the success of the Christian 
preachers. That is precisely what is happening. And Luke hints that or tells 
us that in terms of them being envious. Now notice they create 
an uproar. I've always been intrigued by 
that next statement, took some of the evil men from the marketplace. You've probably seen the guy 
when you're coming out of Costco, and he's got the sign, and it 
says, we'll work for food. Or you've been in Chilliwack 
or Abbotsford, and you see the guys with signs, we'll work for 
food. They typically stand by the sign 
that says, no panhandling, which is always incredible to me. They 
stand right in front of that sign and say, we'll work for 
food. They panhandle. I've often had this conception 
that in the city of Thessalonica, there was this band of men that 
had signs that said, we'll do evil for food. I don't think 
that's really what it is, but that's kind of how it sounds. 
We'll do evil for food. They need men to help them create 
an uproar in the city. Think about the implications 
of that. They are so opposed to these 
two Christian missionaries, well, four, Timothy and, well, I don't 
think Luke is with them anymore. The we section stops. So you've 
got Paul, Silas, and Timothy, these three men. And they are 
so opposed to these three men, they're gonna find these ne'er-do-wells, 
they're gonna employ them for the day, so that they can create 
this uproar to try and rid the city of this menace, this gospel, 
this news concerning Jesus. In terms of the actual description, 
I think the old King James is good. Certain lewd fellows of 
the baser sort. So they weren't holding, you 
know, we'll do evil for food, but they were certain lewd fellows 
of the baser sort. Now, notice what they do. They 
attack the house of Jason. It's a new convert, brethren. 
It's a man who's freshly converted to Christ. Later on in application, 
we're gonna marvel at the people of God and their faithfulness. 
Jason is one such faithful man. They attack his house. Paul and 
Silas had been staying there, Timothy too, and so they don't 
just go and knock and say, hey, Jason, can we talk to those men 
that are inhabiting your home? No, they attack the house. They 
are driven with fury and rage, and they will even attack an 
innocent man's house so that they can try and obtain these 
missionaries and get rid of them. Notice the missionaries aren't 
there. According to verses 6 and 7a, 
they seized Jason. Look at verse 6, but when they 
did not find them, why didn't they find them? Most likely because 
Jason hid them. Probably, or, hey, Paul, we got 
wind. The authorities are coming. Get 
out. They didn't say, well, you know, 
we always trust our government. We're going to just let them 
do whatever they want to do. Brethren, they defied the civil 
state at this point because what the civil state was doing was 
wrong. It was godless. They are accountable 
men, and they were acting as if they were not accountable. 
And this was, again, instigated by unbelieving Jews. They involved 
the magistrates. They want to get all this stuff 
into play. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason 
and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out. Now, 
notice the first charge with reference to the missionaries. 
This is what they say concerning Paul, Silas, and Timothy. These 
who have turned the world upside down have come here too. These 
who have turned the world upside down have come here too. Now 
on the one hand, that's a sad thing because these unbelieving 
Jews are presenting this to the rulers so that they can foment 
a reason to go ahead and seize these men and stop them from 
their task. But on the other hand, it's pretty 
encouraging, isn't it? A handful of men were able to 
turn the world upside down. Now, the world here is oikumene. 
It means the inhabited earth. It means pretty much the Roman 
Empire, as far as a first century Roman citizen was involved. But 
that was the charge. They're the disturbers of the 
peace, these missionaries. We cannot allow them to do this 
in our fair cities, this is not good. They are turning the world 
upside down. And then they implicate Jason. 
Notice in verse 7, Jason has harbored them. That's a bad thing. If these men are turning the 
world upside down, Jason has harbored them. That's a bad thing. 
So you should come down on Jason. Now here's the second charge. 
The first charge concerns the missionaries. Now notice the 
second charge that concerns Jason and other brethren. And I quite 
like this one as well. They say there is another king, 
Jesus. That was their crime in the first 
century. Again, a faulty understanding 
of kingship, a faulting understanding of kingdom, just like with reference 
to Jesus. I think Pilate understood this. 
I think Pilate knew that this was a mockery. I think Pilate 
understood after having talked to Jesus, that Jesus' intention 
wasn't to overthrow the Roman state. It wasn't to subjugate 
the Roman empire. It wasn't to preeminent, exalt 
the nation of the Jews. Pilate understood that Jesus 
was no threat to Pilate's kingdom. But the Jews continued to push 
and ultimately Pilate worked at their behest and offered up 
Christ in terms of execution. The same sort of thing is happening 
here. They are trying to make the case, these unbelieving Jews, 
with the Roman magistrate so that they may rid the city of 
these missionaries. Jason has harbored them and these 
are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar. So you've 
got to get that in there. It's got to appear pious. It's 
got to appear consistent. It's got to be apparent that 
your concern is for the greater good of this body politic. And in order to do that, we have 
to present this material to the rulers of the city so that they 
will act on our behalf and get rid of these men. It really is 
a sham. It really is a mockery of the 
judicial system. Again, fortunately here in Thessalonica, 
these magistrates, these rulers were a little bit more on the 
ball and a little bit more well-balanced, probably because they didn't 
have Paul and Silas, so that certainly helped. But with reference 
to their proceedings, they fare better than those men in Philippi. 
But notice as well what takes place. Verse 8, And they troubled 
the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. 
So they were concerned as well. We don't want a band of men turning 
the world upside down. We don't want a band of Christians 
doing things contrary to the decrees of Caesar and actually 
professing fidelity, or rather allegiance, to another king, 
Jesus. We can't have that. We've got 
to stomp that out. Remember, the Roman Empire was 
a polytheistic society. And there was a plethora of gods. 
You could have all kinds of gods. But if your God happened to be 
the true and living God, well, no, that just won't stand. Do 
you see a lot of parallels between then and now? You can worship 
anything you want today, but if you proclaim Jesus Christ 
as Lord and Savior, you're the threat in our civil society. 
You're the problem. You're the menace. We just read 
so many letters concerning various nations where people are persecuted 
for the very things that Jason and his fellow believers are 
being persecuted for. Brethren, it ought to concern 
us when we see that. We ought to rejoice it's not 
currently that way now, but we ought to be prayerful that it 
doesn't evolve and become that, that we don't become these sort 
of renegade places where the people of God have no protections 
afforded to them whatsoever. And when we see this sort of 
thing, we ought to be concerned, not only that it happened then, 
but that it's happening as well today. So let's see what happens 
to Jason. Verse eight, they troubled the 
crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. 
So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they 
let them go. You know what that means? They 
had to take money. They took money from Jason and 
the others. You have to pay us. You have to give us sort of a 
bail. You have to put down some monetary 
deposit, as it were, to ensure that our city will not be threatened 
again by these menaces, Paul and Silas. Now, thankfully, Jason 
stood the test. Thankfully, Jason was godly. Thankfully, Jason did what Jason 
should have done, and he protected Paul and Silas. Bach says concerning 
the language that is used, in this context the term refers, 
this received security or taken security, refers to the taking 
of legal security or bail, something to guarantee that this missionary 
group will not break the Roman law. That is just so bad. It's so unfortunate. Jason and his fellows have to 
give up their money, and they do it because they love Paul, 
they love Silas, they love God, chief of all, but that's a pretty 
bogus way to have to spend your money on a given day. You have 
to pay off the civil state so that they won't breathe more 
persecution down upon you? It's a terrible situation, and 
one, as we move through the book of Acts, we see continue. We 
see it there in Acts 25. We'll see it in Acts chapter 
22 as well. So Paul's first enemy, or rather 
the first enemy of the Christian church, is unbelieving Israel. 
At this particular juncture or point in history, they are utilizing 
the civil government to help them achieve their ends. As time 
proceeds, the Roman Empire becomes very hostile to Christianity. 
Nero blames them for burning down the city. Nero blames them 
for engaging in the sorts of things they engaged in. Nero 
was a very beastly man and the sorts of opposition and the sorts 
of persecution he inflicted upon our brothers and sisters is horrifying. Feeding them to lions. Brethren, 
that really happened. Nero was a beast, and it was 
ultimately under Nero's charge that Paul lost his head. Tradition 
or history tells us that he was beheaded under the reign of Nero. So it is not the case that it's 
only unbelieving Israel that is opposed to Christianity. The 
Roman Empire becomes increasingly so, and you see it as the Book 
of Acts marches on, and then you see it in the New Testament 
epistles. I've got three thoughts and then 
we'll close. First, actually I hope they're not my thoughts, 
I hope they come right from the text. But in the first place, 
the persecution of the Church of God. It happened in Philippi, 
we saw that last time. It happened in Thessalonica. 
Now for those who are persecuting the Church, causing an uproar 
in a city, Taking extortion money from poor people, it's chump 
change. We do what we do in order to 
affect what we want to affect. That kind of stuff is chilling. 
And it's not the case that it doesn't happen anymore. The particular 
prayer request I received this morning was from Nigeria. Those 
Fulani herdsmen, those militant Muslims, kill Christians like 
it's their job. Other nations around the earth 
are terminating our brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus 
Christ. It happens continuously. Do you think the militant Muslims 
say, well, COVID-19, we better not lay hands on these Christians 
because we might get the Wuhan. No, they terminate them. They 
murder them. They execute them unabated as 
we continue on in relative ease and safety and comfort. It is 
carried out by individuals. We see these unbelieving Jews 
then going and prevailing upon the civil state to try and carry 
out their wickedness. So you've got individuals, you've 
got the civil state. But brethren, we need to understand 
something, and I don't think we always do. I'll confess, I 
don't always. This is satanic. What does Paul 
say in the book of Ephesians? We don't wrestle against flesh 
and blood, but against principalities, against dark forces, against 
evil spirits that are at work through the physical. In other 
words, if you take a situation or an organization, say, like 
Planned Parenthood, How does such a thing ever occur where 
a company, an organization receives countless dollars to murder people? Something more sinister is behind 
that and it's likely the one who was a murderer from the beginning 
and one who speaks lies constantly. But you don't need my sort of 
Monday morning quarterbacking to sort of fill you in on that. 
Paul indicates that satanic oppression was what was behind this persecution. 1 Thessalonians 2.18, had we 
continued reading, this is what we would have read. Therefore, 
we wanted to come to you, even I, Paul, time and again, but 
Satan hindered us. You see, I'm not convinced I 
always see the satanic opposition behind the scenes with reference 
to the Planned Parenthoods, with reference to the Fulani herdsmen, 
with reference to these people that are targeting our people. The devil is behind this and 
we need to understand that and hopefully it will affect the 
way that we pray concerning this situation. In fact, look at the 
relentlessness of these unbelieving Jews in Thessalonica. Drop down 
to verse 13. They leave Thessalonica because 
they were told to get out. Notice in verse 10. Then the 
brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. 
Again, they hid them. They sent them away by night. 
They used subterfuge. They were like Rahab the harlot 
who hid the spies on her roof from the king of Jericho. This 
was legit in terms of extending the kingdom of God and in terms 
of obeying God rather than men. That is an act of legitimate 
civil disobedience. So then the brethren immediately 
sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. But look at 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. I've often thought 
that if the people of God were as relentless as the enemies 
of the people of God, we'd be a whole lot better off. I mean, 
they are relentless. Chapter 23, remember the reading 
from a couple of weeks ago? Forty men bind themselves with 
an oath that they will no longer eat or not eat again until Paul 
the Apostle's dead. Boy, if we called for a day of 
prayer and fasting, we'd get to about nine o'clock and say, 
can we be done now? I gotta eat, right? The relentless 
pursuit of the people of God by the enemies of God should 
shame the people of God in our lackadaisical attitude relative 
to promoting the glory of God and his gospel. These people 
are bent on destroying the work of Christ. Secondly, we see in 
the passage the preaching of the gospel of God. If you have 
not believed today, believe. We see that in Acts 16.30. Sirs, 
what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you shall be saved. That's why Paul does what Paul 
does when he's in a synagogue of the Jews. He indicates to 
them what Messiah's purpose and function was, and then he highlights 
that that is precisely what Jesus fulfills. And then he tells them, 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Some 
of the Jews did believe, but a great number of the devout 
Greeks and leading women in the city, they followed Paul in silence. not because they were Paul and 
Silas, but because God had changed their heart, and now they wanted 
to be where the word of God was taught. It is the preaching of 
the word of God that the God of heaven and earth blesses for 
the salvation of sinners. If you are hearing this live, 
or if you are hearing this on a computer, and you are not at 
peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, I'll go back to 
last week, or at least the passage we looked at then, and tell you 
what they told them. Believe on Christ and you shall 
be saved. Saved from the wrath and fury 
and judgment of God. Saved from something that is 
far more severe than even the Fulani herdsmen. Something that 
is far more severe than any persecution any civil state could ever inflict 
upon us. It is the very judgment of God 
Most High and the way of escape is through His Son, the Lord 
Jesus Christ. I did want to end with one final 
note concerning the practice of the people of God, the faithfulness 
of Jason. A brand new convert hides these 
men, tells the people, no, no, they're not here. Make sure they 
get out of town. Make sure that they're safe. He even pays of 
his own. We're not talking about the wealthy and the rich. We're 
not talking about the nobles in society. Jason was a regular 
workaday guy like the rest of us. He doesn't have cash on hand 
to pay off unbelieving Jews and civil state leaders to cover 
for Paul and Silas, but he does it. He does what's necessary 
for the advancement of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. He digs deep, 
if that's what it means, to finance this operation so that Paul and 
Silas are not stopped in Thessalonica, but they can go on to Berea. 
And from Berea, they can go to that citadel of philosophical 
learning. Paul will take Christ to Athens, 
and there he will preach Jesus and the resurrection to the Stoic 
and Epicurean philosophers. He can do that, humanly speaking, 
because Jason hid them, Jason protected them, and Jason paid 
for them so that they could be on their way. It's an amazing 
thing, isn't it? I think I've shared with you 
the stupid preacher that was used by God for the salvation 
of C.H. Spurgeon. That's his language. 
That's how he describes the situation. It was a snowy day. He finds 
himself in a little chapel. The minister couldn't make it. 
And some man that didn't know how to preach stood up and preached. 
And essentially all he could say was what Isaiah the prophet 
says. Look to me, all the ends of the 
earth, and be ye saved, for I am God, and there is no other. And 
then he affixes or alights right on Spurgeon, and he says, young 
man, are you saved? Well, under the weight of that 
preaching, God saves Spurgeon through the means of a stupid 
creature no one knows the name of. But what happens? God unleashes 
C.H. Spurgeon on the world, and a 
great multitude are saved. Humanly speaking, Paul and Silas 
would have never arrived in Berea or in Athens apart from Jason. Secondly, the faithfulness of 
the people of God. Where are the people in our generation 
who confess saving faith, proclaiming allegiance to another king, Jesus? Brethren, that was subversion 
in the Roman Empire. Caesar was Lord and Savior, not 
Jesus in the Empire. So when the Christians come along 
and say, Jesus is Lord and Savior, you see why they lost their minds. It was a challenge. It sounded 
like subversion. It sounded like they wanted to 
overturn the civil state. It sounded like they wanted to 
subjugate the Romans, and they would have none of that. But 
in the midst of that, the church didn't back down in their proclamation. In the midst of that, the church 
continued to profess their allegiance to Jesus the King. See, it wasn't 
enough for the state to say, don't do that. They did it anyway, 
and we ought to praise God for their faithfulness. And then 
obviously the faithfulness of the Apostle Paul. We could add 
Silas and Timothy. I mean, Paul's the more famous 
of the lot, but Silas and Timothy are right there with him all 
along the way. What's Paul's faithfulness look 
like? Well, relative to preaching, he reasons, he demonstrates, 
he explains what the scripture says concerning Jesus. See, that's 
what's supposed to occupy the bulk of Christian preaching. 
Not that we shouldn't study Deuteronomy in terms of the various laws 
that were that were given to the nation of Israel. Not that 
we shouldn't study the book of Genesis, but in an indirect way, 
Genesis and Deuteronomy all testify to the scope of Scripture, which 
is our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the primary occupation 
of the minister, and Paul demonstrates that by proclaiming Christ and 
Him crucified. But the fact that he invokes 
his citizenship in this instance ought to promote in us a willingness 
to do the same. As I mentioned, government officials 
are accountable. Now take a man like Joseph Stalin. 
He certainly wasn't accountable to his people. If anybody got 
out of line, they ended up in a gulag or they ended up with 
a bullet in the head. But he was ultimately accountable 
to God, wasn't he? Now, with reference to our body 
politic, our civil authorities are ultimately accountable to 
God, but to us as well. And when it comes to us as well, 
unless we are mesmerized with the lucky bucks they are handing 
out for free, we vote them out of office. That is precisely 
how we maintain accountability in a body politic. This isn't 
the Soviet Union. This is a body politic wherein 
citizens have rights. It's not necessarily evil to 
invoke those rights. That's the point. When it comes 
to our interaction, brother to brother, Christian to Christian, 
certainly we give up rights, certainly we abdicate, certainly 
we say to people, if it offends you when you come over to my 
house and I'm having steak, I won't eat steak because I don't want 
you to be offended. He doesn't capitalize upon those 
rights, but he does capitalize upon the other rights. But again, 
notice it's not always touching on his own safety, his own peace 
and his own comfort. It is for the propagation of 
the glorious gospel of our blessed God concerning the life and the 
death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. When the 
civil state outlaws Christianity, or if that were to occur, we've 
got big problems based on what we're observing now in terms 
of a legitimate response to such an eventuality. If we are not 
proclaiming the kingship of Jesus now, most likely we will not 
proclaim it if Joseph Stalin takes the reins. I hope that 
doesn't happen, brethren. I pray for better and more glorious 
things. But as Christians in a body politic 
that affords us certain rights and privileges, it's not wrong, 
as we see here from the Apostle Paul, to invoke them and to use 
them. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank 
You for Your Word, and we thank You for Your grace, and we thank 
You for the power of the Gospel, and we thank You for these great 
and wonderful examples in the pages of Holy Scripture, faithful 
brethren proclaiming their allegiance to the kingship of Jesus, faithful 
brethren like Jason who does what he can in order to advance 
the cause, and faithful brethren like Paul and Silas and Timothy 
that will suffer, that will be beaten, that will be imprisoned, 
that will use their citizenship as they are able in order to 
advance the preaching of Christ and Him crucified. And even today, 
God, the Lord's day all over the earth, We pray this word 
would go forth. We pray that more and more people 
would come out of darkness into marvelous light. We pray for 
those who are suffering great persecution in other countries. 
We ask that you would surround your people as the mountains 
surround Jerusalem, that you would afford them safety, health, 
grace, and peace. But if not, God, if they still 
are undergoing affliction and all of the miseries associated 
with that sort of a situation, receive them into glory when 
they pass from this life. May they look to the prize. May 
they be like Moses, who sees the prize as more valuable, more 
glorious, and more wonderful than anything that this world 
has to offer. God, help us to do so likewise, 
and we ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.