Based on Acts 17:1-15 (New King James Version)
“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 in to 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. 7 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. Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. 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. Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away, to go to the sea; but both Silas and Timothy remained there. So those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed, they departed.”
John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States proclaimed: “I speak as a man of the world to men of the world; and I say to you, Search the Scriptures! The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life; not to be read once or twice or thrice through, and then laid aside, but to be read in small portions of one or two chapters, every day, and never to be intermitted, unless by some overruling necessity.”
As we can perceive in today’s passage, everyone reacts differently to the Word of God. Some are attracted to it and are even convinced and captivated by the Truth of God, considering today’s example which involves one of the most prominent figures in US history, a man with great history. To start, this John Quincy Adams was John Adam’s oldest son, the second president of the United States. He was a highly educated person, having graduated from the University of Harvard as a lawyer. Before becoming president, he had served as an ambassador and then a US senator. He was a man with great experience and reputation. He held on to the Word of God not because it was something popular, but rather, because he was convinced that it was the Truth and he believed that it had to be part of every person’s daily life.
Nonetheless, others are not attracted as much to the Word of God, but rather, it can even awaken such negative feelings that they can come to do unthinkable and immeasurable things. They can come to cause harm, to do unjust things, and even kill because of it. We see in this passage that some of the Jews who were unpersuaded rose up and took some more people (by spending their money and using their influence, because no one was going to do something for nothing, especially evil men), and created a mob that set the whole city in an uproar, and they even attacked the house of an innocent person. And in their great hypocrisy, they did everything with the excuse that those that preached altered the world while they were the ones that were really stirring up the people and leaving a disaster of large proportions behind (literally).
Why is there such an immense difference in feelings? How can a man like this John Quincy Adams who was a president of a nation, not only believed personally, but also, encouraged others who would listen to him to search the Scriptures while these Jews that did not believe cause such destruction because of their anger and wrath, because of their envy against the Word of God? The issue is that the Truth, by virtue of being the Truth, cannot simply be accepted by everyone, because of the sin that is in men. Now then, the Bible teaches that we are all sinners, and if that is true (which it is), then none of us should be able to accept the Word of God, if it is the sin within us that causes enmity with the Word of God. And here is where we need to draw a line, per se, within the world of sin. The Lord teaches us through the Apostle John: “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.” 1 John 5:16-17. So then, even though all sin is unrighteousness, there are some that do not cause death. Now, the goal is not to excuse sin, but rather, to try to understand the type of specific sin that causes such rebellion against the Word of God. We need to try to identify precisely not just the symptoms, but the cause of the illness, so we can deal with the real issue, not for God’s benefit (obviously, because God has nothing to lose), but rather for our benefit, so that we can put what we need to put before God so that not only do we come to have Christ’s salvation, but also, to be able to grow without obstacles (because salvation is just the beginning of a narrow, long, and hard road, because it involves the greatest war that can ever be fought, the war against ourselves).
The primary sin that determines everything in a human being is unbelief. There is no worse sin than this, because even pride, all though it is a very bad sin, it does not have the same impact as unbelief. Even pride can be subjected if a person believes. That’s why the Bible is very clear with this, when it says: “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36. So then, and to start, there can simply be no salvation if a person does not believe in Jesus as Lord. And when a person comes to believe in the Lord, if it is something genuine (because there are many that say that they believe, but have still not come to that reality), it is only just the beginning, because there is also something like a level of unbelief. The level of unbelief is what determines how much a person looks to obey and follow the Lord. In other words, if a person can believe some things but has trouble with other things, that is what determines their walk. So, everything in a person depends on their unbelief, and everything in the life of a person is determined by their level of unbelief. Therefore, today’s questions are rather simple, yet determining: “Do you believe that Jesus is God?” And, “Do you believe in the Word of God, that it in fact is the Truth?” Lord bless! John