Acts 17

Acts 17:6

Upside Down And Right Side Up These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.—Acts 17:6.When we read those words I think our first inclination is to smile; they are such “upside down” words themselves. Here is a city mob led by the very rabble of the city, the habitual disturbers of the peace, and they are accusing a few quiet Christian missionaries of turning the world “upside down.” But that is often the way in this world. When people are in the wrong they are very fond of blaming those who are in the right. They think they must be right themselves, so, naturally, everybody else must be wrong.Of course these wild men didn’t care one bit whether Paul and his friends were turning the world upside down or downside up. All they minded about was having an excuse to create a little disturbance. The people who really cared were the jealous Jews who had stirred them up to make the disturbance, so that they might get rid of the missionaries.Paul and Silas and Timothy had come to Thessalonica —which is just the modern Salonika—to preach the gospel.

They had been showing the Jews how the prophets had foretold that Christ should suffer, and die, and rise again. But the Jews did not like their message.

They had looked for a Messiah who should be an earthly king to lead them on to great victories. And they did not like the influence of the missionaries over the Gentiles who had adopted the Jewish religion, for a great many of these had believed Paul’s message and become his followers. They were too crafty and too dignified to create a disturbance themselves, but there were plenty of lazy good-for-nothings who would be glad to do it for them. So while they remained in the background, the rabble set the city in an uproar. And this was the accusation that they put in the mouth of the mob—“These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.”Now the Jews were nearer the truth than they thought when they accused the apostles of turning the world “upside down,” only they made one important mistake. The poor old world was already as upside down as it possibly could be, in fact it was standing on its head; and it was the message which the apostles brought that was going to turn it right side up.I want you to think first of what turns the world upside down, and second of what is going to put it right again.1.

And first, What turns the world upside down? Of course there is just one answer to that, and it is Sin.” God did not mean the world to be upside down.

He meant that it should be good, and beautiful, and noble; but sin entered and spoiled it. And what turns the world upside down is just what turns you and me upside down; for the world is made up of the men and women in it. When we are angry, when we are selfish, when we are untruthful, when we are disobedient or dishonorable, we are just upside down, and we are helping to keep the world upside down too.2. But, second, What is going to turn the world right side up? Again we can answer in one word—“Love.” Jesus Christ was just Love Incarnate, and it is the love which He sheds abroad in men’s hearts that is going to set the old world right again.When Christ came down to earth He found things in a sad state. The Romans were the conquerors of the world in those days and they were supposed to be highly civilized.

Yet in the Coliseum at Rome men were torn to pieces by wild beasts while emperors and fine ladies looked on and applauded. Tiny babies were left outside the city gates to perish of cold and hunger.

And when people grew old and frail and of no more use, they, too, were turned out to die. For the weak, and the poor, and the helpless, there was no pity and no help. There were no hospitals and no asylums. Slaves were over-burdened, ill-treated, tortured. And the worst of it all was that very few people thought there was anything amiss in these things.But Jesus came into the world. He healed the sick, He comforted the sad, He blessed the little children. And wherever they went His followers tried to imitate Him. Gradually people came to have new ideas about things.

Instead of neglecting and oppressing the weak and the helpless they began to try to help them.And is the world still upside down? I’m afraid it is still pretty topsy-turvy, but very slowly and surely it is coming right. Sometimes we think it is going back a bit, but that is only because we are so shortsighted. God, who sees all, knows that it is coming right.But we must do our part. Jesus Christ can set the world right, but He cannot do it without men to help Him. Every deed of love and kindness, every piece of self-sacrifice, every act of forgiveness, helps to turn it in the right direction.The world can only come right side up when the men and women in it are right side up. So first we must get right ourselves by letting the love of Jesus into our hearts to drive out all that is bad, and then we can help to put the world right by loving and serving others.

Acts 17:21

Something New Now all the Athenians and the strangers sojourning: there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.—Acts 17:21.If I showed you a map of Europe I suppose most of you could point out the city of Athens. You know that it is the capital of Greece and is situated on the Gulf of Aegina. You also know that it is celebrated for its beauty and antiquity, and that Edinburgh has often been called “the modern Athens” on account of its beauty.But I didn’t come here to give you a geography lesson. I want to tell you something about the Athenians in St. Paul’s time.Once upon a time Athens was the center of learning and art and beauty. It was noted for its wonderful buildings, for its famous statesmen, for its philosophers, its poets, its sculptors.

Perhaps the world owes more to Athens in the way of culture than it does to any other city. When our forefathers were savages, living in dens or caves or rude huts, the Athenians were giving to the world their poetry, their learning, and their culture.But when St.

Paul came to Athens its glory had departed. The city was not less beautiful than it had been. Magnificent palaces and fine statues and temple-crowned hills were still to be seen. The sun still shone as brilliantly, the sea was still as gloriously blue, as it had been in the days of yore. But the people had changed. There were no longer any famous men in Athens; and the Athenians, instead of devoting themselves to the pursuit of knowledge and poetry and art, “spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.” They rushed after the latest craze, but as soon as the novelty had worn off they tired of it and deserted it for the next new thing.

It was this love of new things that was sapping the very life of Athens. Her glory lay in the past, and the Athenians were content to let it rest there.

For the present their chief concern was the latest sensation, the most recent idea.Now I want you to notice three things, and the first is that mere talkers and listeners never accomplish any great thing. It is not the boy who talks but the boy who acts that counts. The boy who boasts of what he will do generally fails when the test comes. And it is all very well to glow with enthusiasm and pride when we hear of noble and brave deeds; but if our enthusiasm does not carry us any farther, if it does not help us to be noble too and to bear bravely the little troubles that come our way, then it has been all in vain.And the second thing I want you to notice is that those who are constantly rushing from one thing to another never accomplish any one thing well. It is easy enough to begin with enthusiasm, but the thing that counts is keeping on to the end. If we set out to learn a game it won’t do just to play a few times and then give it up.

If we want really to excel we must peg away at it and get through a lot of drudgery.Some of you are constantly changing your hobbies. You tease your father and mother for rabbits, or a canary, or a kitten; but are you quite as keen on them when you have owned them for a few weeks?

Are you sure they wouldn’t die of starvation if somebody else didn’t feed them? And some of you are constantly changing your friends. You are “friends” with a boy or a girl one day and have fallen out with them the next, and so you never make a real friend.And if it is so with your games, and your hobbies, and your friendships, how is it with your work? It is a splendid thing to have a nice clean fresh copybook and to try to write in it better than in the old one, but it is a more splendid thing to keep on writing well to the end. Perseverance always wins the day. It wins against mere brilliance. One day the late Mr. Chamberlain was talking to a man who was bright, but lazy—who often began things well but seldom finished them.

Mr. Chamberlain gave this man some good advice. “My dear boy,” he said, “observe the postage stamp. After you have put the stamp on a letter, it sticks to that one thing till it gets there.”Lastly, I want you to remember that old things are often the best. We return to the old toys and the old books when we are tired of the new ones. And as we grow up we sometimes think that the old home is the dearest place on earth, and the old friends are the best. Of course if we were always going to stick to old things we should never make progress, but we must be sure that the new thing is better before we reject the old for it.And remember that the grandest, most wonderful thing in the world is nearly two thousand years old— the old, old story of the love of Jesus and of how He came to earth to give His life for us that we might live with Him forever.

That story is very old, and yet the wonderful thing about it is that it is always new. It is new for every boy and girl who comes into the world, just as if it had been written for them alone.

And Jesus wishes every one of you to claim that story as your own, and to share in the joy of His love.