They Turned the Word Upside Down
Dearly beloved of God, while Paul, Silas, and Timothy were in Thessalonica, we read in Acts 17: “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also….”
What did they say that turned the world upside down?
The gospel of God concerning Jesus Christ our Lord is what turned the world upside down as they spoke about it.
After Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead, his ascension into heaven, and God seated him at His right side, God sent the revelation of His Word concerning Jesus Christ and his accomplishments, and what they mean to people.
The joyful proclamation of God’s gospel concerning His Son decreed that anyone who confessed the Lord Jesus with their mouth and believed in their heart that God raised him from the dead will be saved.
What a joyful proclamation; but wait, there is more!
For by grace we are saved by believing regarding Christ, and that salvation is not by our works, it is the gift of God.
We are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus on the basis of his good works which God ordained that we should walk in them.
The gospel proclaims the righteousness of God by the believing of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all that believe regarding him.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but now people are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
All Christians are justified, forgiven, and there is no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus.
These truths turned the world upside down, but wait, there is more.
The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the gift of holy spirit that has been given to us.
Every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is sealed with the promised holy spirit for the inheritance, eternal life, new bodies like Christ’s glorious body that dies no more, the physical entrance into the kingdom of God, and life in the new heaven and new earth when God makes all things new again.
We were sinners, but now we are born again of the spirit from God making us the children of God.
We have received the totality of the new spirit nature with all the rights, all the privileges, the power from on high which gives us spiritual ability, and the hope of glory that is to come when Christ returns.
This is what turned the world upside down; but wait, there is more.
In Christ Jesus our Lord you are washed, you are now sanctified and justified, and you have been redeemed and reconciled to God.
We are now holy, and without blame, and unimpeachable in His sight.
We are dearly beloved and highly favored in His sight. It is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
In Christ and by his accomplishments, we have access by one spirit unto God as our Father. We have boldness and access with confidence by the right way of believing in the Christ.
Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace so that we may obtain mercy and find grace for timely help.
The Father hears our prayers, and He promises to answer them so have confidence in Him. You are now a child of the One True and Living God; you are not alone.
The Father will never leave you, nor ever forsake you; He is your Helper. You can cast all your cares upon Him because He cares for you.
You are now more than a conqueror through him that loved you, and nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord; nothing! Oh, rejoice!
These truths turned the world upside down when these faithful men spoke the gospel of God concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. They spoke the gospel of salvation.
It is in this glorious proclamation by God that we learn that Jews and Gentiles who believe in the Christ are fellowheirs, and of the same body, and are partakers of the promise is Christ.
Furthermore, every believer in him shares in the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY.
This is God’s glorious proclamation of peace. This is the mystery of the gospel that turned the world upside down in the first century.
When men and women hear this gospel of the grace of God, and believe it, it will again turn the world upside down.
Go stand and speak all the words of this life, beloved of God. God and His Word has not changed.