January 8, 2021January 5, 2024

Turning the World Upside Down

by in From The Desk of Pastor Gene
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Turning the World Upside Down
Every year we settle on a theme that is connected to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). But why do we have an annual theme? Why do we have t-shirts made with the annual theme printed on them? Why do I preach a sermon on the annual theme the first Sunday of every year? Why do we remind all of you of our annual theme throughout the year? These are good questions that direct us to good reasons. Annual themes provide direction. Without guidance and focus there is disorder (ref. Proverbs 29:18). Themes are signposts. It is a reminder of our mission as a church. It exposes God’s plan. It also reveals our desire as a church. It is a statement of our longing. Our theme last year was “Availability” from Acts 8:26-40. We learned that our availability to serve God’s purposes is determined by our willingness to listen, desire to obey, openness to the Holy Spirit and readiness to share the gospel. So then, what is our desire and longing for 2021? Our 2021 Theme is “Turning the World Upside Down” from Acts 17:1-9.

AC 17:1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” 8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

There are four highlights from this text that help us understand what it means to “turn the world upside down.”

First, the disciples were “Going and Coming.” Notice the phrases in verse 17:1 “they passed through” and “they came to.”

Why were they going and coming or passing through and coming to? It starts with the Great Commission and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Even before the coming of the Holy Spirit Jesus promised that we would be witnesses when the Holy Spirit came (Acts 1:8). We see the impact of this as Barnabas and Saul are sent out by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Word of God (ref. Acts 13:2-5). Even though they were persecuted and had to move around, they continued to preach the gospel (ref. Acts 14:5-7). Although Paul was stoned and had to move on, the work continued as they persisted in preaching the gospel (ref. Acts 14:19-23). They were guided by the Spirit from one place to another and they continued to preach the gospel (ref. Acts 16:6-10). As well, when Paul and Silas were jailed they continued their mission and the jailer was saved (ref. Acts 16:22-31). If we are going to be on mission in obedience to the Great Commission, we can’t come and go as we please. We can’t come and go based on our feelings. We can’t come and go based on our dreams. We can’t come and go when it’s convenient. We must go and come based on purpose, obedience and the leading of the Holy Spirit. If we are going to turn the world upside down, we have to be obedient to the Great Commission and be led by the Spirit. It will require going and coming.

Second, Paul “Reasoned from the Scriptures.” Notice in verse 17:2 “he reasoned with them from the Scriptures.”

Was Paul’s purpose to start an argument? Is this based on his opinion? No. Paul based his message, his reasoning, on the scriptures. Too many of us value our opinions so much that we argue about politics, religion, culture and philosophy in lieu of reasoning with others from the scriptures. We had the privilege of hosting Bill Fay a couple of years ago. He wrote the book, How to Share Jesus Without Fear. His system of evangelism is built on reasoning with others from the scriptures. What does Paul approach say about how he viewed the scripture? I hope we’d all agree that he had a very high view of scripture. Why should you have a high value of scripture and use it to reason with others? Here are some good reasons:
JOSH 1: 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
  2 TI 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
  HE 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
  2 PE 1:20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

What does our approach say about our view of scripture? If you don’t use scripture to reason with others, it’s highly possible that you don’t either know scripture or you don’t have a high value of it. If you don’t share the gospel, it is also very likely that you don’t value others, Jesus and His work. If we are going to turn the world upside down, we have to reason with others from the scripture.

Third, the disciples were “Proclaiming Christ.”  Notice the phrases in verse 17:3-4 “who I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”

What was Paul’s focus when explaining and proving from the scriptures? It was proclaiming Christ. It showed that it all pointed to Christ. Why is it necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead? Sometimes people ask, “Why did Jesus die and rise again?” That’s a very good question. We say, very simply, He died and rose again for the forgiveness of our sins. And we would be right in answering that. The Bible tells us, HE 9:22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. As wonderful as that is, there is more. The Bible tells us that Jesus died and rose again not only for the forgiveness of sins, but more so, He died and rose again so that we might have life. Notice, it is through His death and resurrection that we receive life. 1 JN 4:9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. Also that we may live for Jesus. 2 CO 5:15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. Jesus also died and rose again that we might live with Him. 1 TH 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

Let’s make sure we all understand that the gospel includes not only the cross but the empty tomb.
1 CO 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
  1 CO 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Putting it all together, Christ died and rose again that we might live through Him – that’s salvation. He died and rose again that we might live for Him – that’s serving and obeying. And He died and rose again that we might live with Him – that’s eternal life. The reason Paul is explaining and proving is because He is ultimately presenting Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah. Do you get it? Jesus died and rose again so that you and I might live through Him, and for Him, and with Him. Are you trusting Him as your Savior and Lord? Are you sharing the gospel with others? Notice that some of them were persuaded. Praise God. Is everyone persuaded? No. Unfortunately not. However, that shouldn’t dissuade us from proclaiming Christ because some will believe and be born again. Hallelujah! If we are going to turn the world upside down, we have to proclaim Christ … death, burial and resurrection.

Fourth, the disciples “Withstood Persecution.” Notice the phrases in verse 17:5-9 “they attacked the house of Jason.”

When you follow Christ and proclaim Christ, opposition will come. Persecution will even come from inside the church. The persecution comes from within the church from wolves in sheep clothing. For example, there are those who say they love God but they hate their brothers. The Bible calls them out as liars (ref. 1 John 4:20). In this particular case, the Jews rejected Christ. They were also jealous of large number of Gentile coverts who embraced the gospel. As a result of their jealousy, the Jews followed a standard practice: enlist some troublemakers, form a mob and start a riot.

Can we allow the opposition to confine or define our ministry? No. The disciples were threatened and jailed. Paul was beaten and left for dead. A mob was formed to incite a riot. The house of Jason was attacked. Whatever the case, when persecution comes, we must withstand it and never stop preaching the gospel. So then, what is the impact if we do what we’re commissioned to do and what the Holy Spirit empowers us to do? We will “turn the world upside down.” Some will believe and some will persecute you. Can you withstand the persecution? If we are going to turn the world upside down, we must withstand persecution.

Please remember that our annual theme has a purpose. It is connected to the Great Commission. Annual themes provide direction. Without guidance and focus there will be disorder (Proverbs 29:18). Themes are signposts. It is a reminder of our mission as a church. It exposes God’s plan. It also reveals our desire as a church. It is a statement of our longing. So, let’s join together and “turn the world upside down.” Turning the world upside down requires us to continue coming and going, starting with the people of our community, reasoning from the scripture, proclaiming Christ as Savior and King and withstanding persecution.

A Work in Progress,

Pastor Gene