The following teaching is the 20th of a series on the Book of Acts by the Reverend John W. Howe of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia. The title of this teaching is, Good Infection or Bad? And the scripture reference is Acts chapter 17 and chapter 18 verses 1 through 23. We had started a study of the second missionary journey that Paul took, this time with Silas, Timothy, and Luke. And they had gotten as far as Philippi, the first entrance into Europe of the Christian Gospel. Their purpose was to strengthen and encourage the brethren in the various communities visited on the first missionary journey and then to press beyond them carrying the good news of Christ into areas that it had not previously penetrated.

We got to Philippi and I call that the most unlikely fellowship. You may remember the story that God called together people who in the natural would have absolutely nothing to do with each other. There's no way that a successful businesswoman from Asia Minor, from Thyatira, and a demon-possessed slave girl and an ex-convict would become a family.

And yet that's exactly what God called them to do, to become a family, to fall in love with each other, and to bear witness through their relationships to the Lordship of Christ. We left off then at the end of chapter 16 of the book of Acts, and really from here events begin to tumble very fast. We're going into the latter part of the book, and I think we're going to see a speeding up because there's a tremendous amount of travel detail.

I want us to look fairly carefully at the next couple of chapters, at least through chapter 19, and then we're going to be rather quickly summarizing the last third or so of the book of Acts in our remaining sessions together. Notice as we move into chapter 17 that the we passages end. You remember that we noticed in 16 that it suddenly changed from they went here and they went there and they did this and they did that.

It suddenly became we. And we were aware of the fact that Luke obviously joined them at that point in their journeys. He hadn't started out on this trip, but he joined them as they went into Philippi.

It reverts back to they as we move into chapter 17. And so we're not sure, but it's very possible that Luke stayed on in Philippi for some time as a sort of a pastor to the work that had begun there. In any event, he's no longer with the missionaries as they continue traveling.

They move on from Philippi to Thessalonica. And Thessalonica really was a kind of a first century hate Ashbury. Really a hippie haven.

and it seems somehow that everybody who had a new message or a new worldview or a new philosophy sooner or later ended up in Thessalonica and gathering around him a group of dropouts and that really was the spirit of the place and I just mentioned that, I don't want to make overly much of it but I want to mention that in passing because I think if you look for it you'll see a pattern that is repeated over and over and over again I'll put it to you this way that the greatest threat to the church anywhere, anytime, is that it would be infected by the spirit of the culture in which it finds itself. And you find this, some of you have studied the book of Revelation with me. And in the seven letters to the seven churches in the opening chapters of Revelation, you find invariably that the threat to the life of each one of those congregations is that rather than being a catalyst for change, they become chameleons to culture.

That whatever is going on in the city in which the church lives threatens to infiltrate the church so that it takes on the characteristics of its particular setting rather than the other way around. The church is supposed to take a kind of a good infection to affect the culture, you see. But it so often tragically works the other way around. I just mention that because I think if you look for it, you'll see that this kind of drop-out, hippie, kind of philosophic spirit that is already present in Thessalonica ends up, to some extent, infecting the church that gets planted here.

Next time you read 1 and 2 Thessalonians, just bear that in mind. Notice how the primary issue that Paul has to address himself to, theologically it has a lot of questions about the return of Christ. When is he coming?

Has he already come? How do we relate to that, you see? But practically, what it has to deal with is the fact that everybody's just sitting around waiting for him.

And Paul has to say in very strong terms, he who does not work shall not eat. And what's happened? It's got a theological trapping to it, but the practical issue is that they've been infected by this spirit of dropout-ism.

All right? Probably enough on that. They arrive in Thessalonica, and the pattern is becoming very, very familiar to us.

Paul goes to the synagogue. Isn't it interesting that though he has said on two occasions already, I go to the Gentiles, where does he first start? The synagogue, invariably.

He goes to the synagogue, argues with the Jews, A few of them believe. Most of them don't. They react very violently against his message, particularly as he brings a message that says God is welcoming Gentiles into this new thing that he's opened through Christ. Most of the Jews are very angered at that.

A number of Gentiles get converted, but there's a mob scene, and they just barely escape. We've seen that. We've seen that.

We're going to see it again. Note the accusations. I'm interested in this.

verse 6 they could not find them they dragged Jason and some of the brethren before the city authorities they were looking for the leaders instead they got some of the new converts and here's the accusation these men who have turned the world upside down have come here also wouldn't you love to be accused of doing that you've turned the world upside down or maybe right side up nothing quiet and hidden about Paul. And Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar. You see, the decrees of Caesar are among other things that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Caesar is Lord, to the glory of Caesar.

And they will not comply with those decrees. They're saying there's another Lord. And you're probably aware of the fact that the issue, that led to the early martyrdoms was, will you confess Caesar is Lord?

And they said, no, on pain of death, Jesus is Lord. And that's where the rubber hit the runway. These men are acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.

May I just remind you that Paul got no opposition whatever for saying that he had discovered a wonderful relationship with Jesus. No opposition whatever for claiming that he knew his sins were forgiven and that he was going to heaven. How nice for you, Paul.

The issue was when he said, there is another king, one Jesus, and him only will we serve. Then they're up in arms. The people in the city authorities were disturbed when they heard this.

when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. So they've gone from Philippi to Thessalonica, now to Berea.

And when they arrived there, they went into the Jewish synagogue, same thing again. But notice the next sentence, I love this sentence. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica.

For they received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. There's a definition of nobility for you. Biblical definition of nobility is what?

They received the word eagerly and checked it out. What word did they receive eagerly? What does the word mean in that phrase, that sentence?

Paul's word. The word, in this case, is Paul's word. They received Paul's message.

They received the gospel eagerly. But they checked it out with the scriptures. What are the scriptures?

Old Testament, right? Do you see the pattern there? I have no doubt that even today, God is giving fresh, wonderful new insight as people meditate and seek his face and as he gives prophetic utterance.

he's giving new insight but may I say to you it will never contradict his word written and if it does have nothing to do with it maybe fresh new insight that will open a world of understanding to you you never saw it that way before that's fair enough but it is not in contradiction of his word written the definition of nobility they received the word eagerly and they examined the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. And the result, in contrast to Thessalonica, many of them therefore believed. Why?

Because Paul's word was in accord with the scriptures. Not at all in accord with their preconceptions about what the scriptures said, but in accord with what the scriptures actually said. Strip away the preconceptions and Paul's message unveils the gospel contained there prophetically.

Do you follow what I'm saying? The result, many of them therefore believed and not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. But, notice, when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, stirring up and inciting the crowds.

It wasn't enough to have this mob scene back in Thessalonica from which they barely escaped, but they chase them into Berea and stir up yet another riot there. And so once again, Paul takes off, this time to Athens. This time he leaves Silas and Timothy behind in Berea to care for the work there.

So you see Paul starting out with this little missionary band and one by one dropping people off to care for the work that is being begun in these new places as he continues moving on. If you were looking at a map, what he would be doing at this point moving virtually due westward in Greece. He's moving from Philippi on to Thessalonica, on to Berea, and then he begins south toward Athens.

Athens, as you know, I'm sure, was the cultural center of Greece, of ancient Greece. It was filled with idols, absolutely filled with idols. I don't think I've ever really appreciated that until this recent trip into India, where they're absolutely inescapable everywhere you turn, every piece of artwork, every public center, they're idols.

And that is exactly the case as he arrived in Athens. Idols everywhere. And they were so incredibly concerned with their worship of idols that they would have a god for every possible contingency that in the middle of the city they had a very special altar erected and written on it was to the unknown God.

Having an idol and a God and a divinity and an incarnation for every imaginable occasion, just in case they missed one. They had this additional very prominent altar set up. If in case there's a God somewhere who we don't know by name, we'll cover ourselves by, we have the unknown soldier, Here's the unknown God.

And so Paul turns this as an occasion for evangelism. You really have to see the wisdom of God in selecting Paul for this task. In addition to his tremendous Pharisaic training and knowledge of the Old Testament scriptures so that he can dispute with the best of the Jews, he's also schooled in the Greek classics.

and he's on very firm ground as he enters into dispute with the philosophers on Mars Hill here in Athens. He goes in and he says, that which you worship as unknown I proclaim to you. You know that there's a God whose name you don't know, about whom you know nothing.

You've erected this tremendous altar to Him. You've given Him a place of great prominence. But I've come to tell you that He's got a name.

And let me proclaim him to you. I see that you're very religious, he says. But instead of coming broadside with an attack against their religiosity, he picks on the one point that can be a springboard for evangelism and moves on to declare Christ to them.

You may remember the visit to Lystra back in chapter 14 when they healed a lame man. And the people were so impressed with this that they hailed Paul as Hermes and Barnabas as Zeus, the sky god who came to earth. And what did Paul do?

Immediately he said, let me proclaim to you the true sky god who really did come to earth. And he took that as an occasion for evangelism. Exactly the same thing here in Athens.

You worship the unknown god? Let me tell you who he is. And instead of quoting the Old Testament scriptures with which they would be pretty unfamiliar, see, they would have some vague awareness of the Old Testament because there are Jews even in Athens.

But by and large, these men don't know the Old Testament scriptures. They've come through a completely different cultural tradition. And so the message is ultimately exactly the same, but whereas in virtually all of the preceding speeches that we've examined, they begin with, here's what the Old Testament has to say, and then go on to say, here's how it's fulfilled in Jesus.

In this case, Paul, instead of that, quotes some of their own philosophers and poets. And you just see the wisdom of God in selecting such a man for the task. He quotes from Epimenides and from Eratus, which I know you've already memorized.

Two of your big heroes, right? Verse 27, Yet he is not far from each one of us for, in him we live and move and have our being tremendous statement you've heard that quoted over and over and over out of context comes from greek classics and even some of your poets have said for we are indeed his offspring and paul turns that into an occasion for proclaiming the gospel i want you just to notice two things about this little summary of the gospel verse 29 being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold or silver or stone or representation by the art and imagination of man. Isn't that lovely?

See, here's this city with all of these idols, and Paul comes around to attacking the idols by virtue of what they themselves already accept as authoritative. If we, human beings, are God's offspring, now obviously he's using that in a somewhat different sense than the uniqueness in which Jesus is God's only begotten son but even the general sense that we have a likeness unto God by virtue of being created in his image if that's so then these idols must somehow be a mistake but Paul doesn't start there as I say with a broad side which would just get their defenses up in that lovely verse 30 the times of ignorance God overlooked. But now he commands all men everywhere to repent because he's fixed a day on which he'll judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he's appointed and of this he's given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead.

In one sentence, if you want an answer to the question is it fair of God to hold people responsible for that which they've never heard, You've got it right here. The times of ignorance God overlooked. God doesn't hold people responsible for that which they don't know.

If they're in ignorance, God overlooks the ignorance. He holds them responsible for that which they do know, not for that which they don't know. In Romans chapter 1 and 2 is an elaboration on that theme.

The more information you have on the subject of who God is and what he's done, the more responsible you are. In fact, that's the root of the word, response able, able to respond. The more light you have on the subject, the more response able you are to walk into the light.

The preaching of the gospel is a matter of shedding more light on a subject which is very dimly understood. It's consistent with what is true, even in paganism. Maybe just a little glimmering of the truth in all of the paganism of Greek society.

But they do have a little bit. We are indeed his offspring. In him we live and move and have our being.

God is not that statue over there. We live in God. We're created in his image.

Just a little piece of truth in the midst of all that superstition and idolatry. Yet it's true truth. And the gospel builds upon it.

And now they have more light on the subject and God commands them to live up to the level of the understanding, the light that they're now given. But now he commands all men to repent by this man whom he's appointed. And the resurrection is the proof of his authority.

Same message, but adapted to his very, very different audience. The result, verse 32, when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. others said we'll hear you again about this and some believed some mocked remember what he said to the corinthians to the greeks foolishness to the jews a stumbling block some mocked here's where he encountered it some mocked foolishness ridiculous but some believed some said we'll hear from you again about this.

We're interested. We're not convinced. We'll listen again, give you another chance. But some believed.

Among them, Dionysius, the Areopagite. Church history tells us that Dionysius became the first bishop of Athens. Not a bad convert.

On to Corinth. Silas and Timothy come from Thessalonica to join Paul, and they bring a bunch of questions from the Thessalonians. You remember he left them there when he moved on.

Now they come and catch up with him here in Corinth, and Paul writes 1 Thessalonians from Corinth. It's written in Corinth, addressed back to the Thessalonians, primarily to answer their questions, and in the process to address himself to this general spirit of hippiedom that I mentioned earlier. You might just note in reading 1 Thessalonians, it begins Paul and Silvanus and Timothy.

Silvanus is another name for Silas, so that just ties it all together for you. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace. And off he goes.

If you want to coordinate that reading, it would be interesting to plug in to your understanding the first two chapters of 1 Thessalonians. Look at what Paul has to say about the character of the ministry that they had in Thessalonica. It's a very revealing picture that he draws of the style of their leadership in chapter 1 and in chapter 2 the results of their leadership and the church that was founded.

Now he addresses it from Corinth. Once again the same pattern is observed. He starts with the Jews.

They revile and oppose him. And again he says, I go to the Gentiles. It's in Corinth that we meet a couple, married couple, who figure fairly prominently in a couple of major details that we'll pick up next time.

Somewhere along the way he sees a sign, Aquila and Priscilla, tent makers, help wanted. And whether they had already been encountered by the gospel or more likely responded to it as Paul brings it to Corinth isn't completely clear. But they obviously, before he's done, are committed to Christ.

And they're in the tent-making business, and Paul has that skill all the way back from his days in his own hometown in Tarsus. And they invite Paul to join him in this secular occupation, which he does as a means of supporting himself. He stays in Corinth for at least 18 months.

perhaps a little bit longer it says and many days I don't know how long that is you may remember in 2 Corinthians that Paul makes quite a point of the fact that he accepted no money for his support he says even though I had a perfect right to do so a fourfold right for accepting support from the church he says I chose not to that I would have an occasion to boast that the gospel was made available to you free of charge. This is how he did it. He supported himself by joining in the secular occupation of making tents for people.

And so even today we talk of a tent-making ministry of people who are called into Christian leadership but do not accept any money for their support. They have a secular job. Corinth is the center of Venus worship.

And again, it's a city filled with idolatry like Athens was, but it's rather more specific in Corinth. It is all tied up with the worship of the goddess Venus. And the principal way that she was worshipped was with sexual immorality.

Sexual promiscuity was made a ritual act of worship. It was little more than institutionalized prostitution, both male and female, both hetero and homosexual. If you want to come and worship at the Temple of Venus, you come and you spend the evening with a prostitute.

Okay? I want you to really let that register in your mind into what kind of a city Paul was coming at this point. There was, in fact, a verb to Corinthianize meant to make someone or something unbelievably immoral.

This was the sewer of society as far as most of the rest of the world was concerned. It was a dirty, it was a filthy, it was an immoral city. Legalized, ritualized sexual immorality.

And here Paul stayed for 18 months. Interesting, isn't it? Here we have Paul founding the church, which becomes the subject of those two letters, 1st and 2nd Corinthians.

They are in fact two of four. The other two are lost to us. It is the church which is proudest of all the churches in the New Testament of its spirituality.

Isn't that interesting? People who are so impressed with the gifts of God's Spirit, which He distributed amongst them, that they are turning spiritual things into carnal things. There is a carnal spirit in Corinth which infects the church so that even spiritual gifts become an occasion for fleshly pride.

Are you following what I'm saying? And in fact, it's worse than that. They have literal sexual promiscuity and immorality undisciplined in the very heart of the church.

And that's why Paul has to rebuke in some of the strongest terms that you'll ever find in the New Testament in chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians where a man is living with his father's wife and the church is just not even doing anything about it. And Paul talks about consigning him to Satan that he might learn not to sin. But once again, do you see the pattern?

The culture surrounding the church subtly and not so subtly infects and invades the church and captures its spirituality. watch for that what is the greatest threat to the church in America that we will baptize Americanism wrap the gospel in the flag you know and take pride in that rather than in seeing that Jesus Christ calls us to infect America for his sake Paul stays here as I say for about a year and a half and then finally starts for home, retracing some of his steps, visiting some of the churches along the way, again strengthening disciples at every stop. It is estimated that at the end of 18 months in this filthy city of Corinth, Paul left behind a church of approximately 60,000 converts.

Not too bad. I've been here five years. Edna's been in Fairfax for 20 years.

When he got to Ephesus, he left Achilla and Priscilla there while he went on through Galatia and Phrygia, and that's where I'm going to leave them and pick up at verse 24 next time. Let's stand and pray together. Let's just pause for a moment and allow ourselves to see the sweep of this journey from Philippi, the most unlikely fellowship, Thessalonica, the hippie hangout, many Gentiles converted, the Jews up in arms, Drop out spirit.

On to Berea. They're more noble there. They search the scriptures daily to see whether these things be true.

On to Athens. You're very religious, but that which you worship as unknown I proclaim to you. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He's appointed a man to judge.

And He calls all of us to repentance. And on to Corinth, this filthy city in which 60,000 or more are so hungry for the truth that they accept it. And yet, there's a spirit of carnality that invades even at that point.

Lord, we would see the sweep of what you're doing throughout all the world. We would be reminded forcibly that in each place, at any point in history, the greatest threat to the church is not primarily that it will be oppressed and harassed, that it will be persecuted, that it will be martyred, but it's primarily that it will simply subtly accept the lifestyle around it. Lord, you call us to be catalysts for change.

we would not be chameleons to culture Lord we would bear vigorous bold uncompromising witness that there is another king one Jesus and in his name we ask you to build your church here in Fairfax in the diocese of Virginia throughout the world for your great name's sake. Amen.