Newton's Third Law of Missions: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

1. The World Turned Upside Down
Acts 17:1-9

2. Jerusalem
Judea
Samaria
Ends of Earth
Acts 1:8

3. Book of Acts
Acts 1 - 12 Mission to the Jewish People
Acts 12 - 28 Mission to the Nations

4. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and
Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a
synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his
custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with
them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it
was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the
dead, and saying, “This Yeshua, whom I proclaim to you,
is the Messiah.”
(Acts 17:1–3 ESV)

5. 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. 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.
(Acts 17:4–5 ESV)

6. 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, and Jason has received them, and they
are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that
there is another king, Yeshua.
(Acts 17:6–7 ESV)

7. And the people and the city authorities were disturbed
when they heard these things. And when they had taken
money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them
go. The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by
night.
(Acts 17:8–10 ESV)

8. “Surrender of Cornwallis” (John Trumbull, 1828)

9. The World Turned Upside Down
London, 1643
If buttercups buzz'd after the bee,
If boats were on land, churches on sea,
If ponies rode men and if grass ate the cows,
And cats should be chased into holes by the mouse,
If the mamas sold their babies
To the gypsies for half a crown;
If summer were spring and the other way round,
Then all the world would be upside down.

10. Thessalonika

11. Philippi
Troas
Thessalonica
Jerusalem

12. Philippi
Thessalonica

13. Thessalonica founded 315 BC

14. Jews in Thessalonica from 300 BC to 1943

15. Paul taught in the synagogue
Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days
he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and
proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to su
ff
er and to
rise from the dead, and saying, “This Yeshua, whom I
proclaim to you, is the Messiah.”
(Acts 17:2–3 ESV)

16. Paul taught in the synagogue
a. Paul went to the Jews
fi
rst (Romans 1:16)
b. Paul used Scripture

17. b. Paul Used Scripture
Don’t
• Use it like a club
• Use it like magic dust
• Lecture
D
o
• Use their Bible
• Sit alongside
• Ask them read
• Explain
• Ask questions

18. Paul taught in the synagogue
a. Paul went to the Jews
fi
rst (Romans 1:16)
b. Paul used Scripture
c. Paul used REASON

22. What If. Nichole Nordeman

23. Newton’s Third Law of Missions
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. 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.
(Acts 17:4–5 ESV)

24. Newton’s Third Law
For every action there is an opposite & equal reaction

25. Newton’s Third Law of Missions
1. For ever action: Pro-active proclamation
2. There is an equal: Some will respond
3. And opposition: Some will reject

26. 1. For ever action…
Pro-active proclamation
a. Paul was planned
b. Paul was pro-active
c. Paul was persistent
d. Paul was able to explain the gospel

27. 2. There is an equal [action]…
response
a. Some will always respond
b. But it is not always those we expect

28. Israeli Backpackers
India

29. 3. And opposite reaction
Gospel is met with opposition

30. 3. And opposite reaction
These men have turned the world upside down

31. 3. And opposite reaction
• Resistance can be unexpected
• Resistance can involve slander
• Resistance can lead to legal action

33. Although they are called Messianic Jews, they are not
Jewish. They are Christians, by de
fi
nition, because
they believe that Jesus was the son of God, the
Messiah, and died for their sins. (Some of them
happen to be Jewish, by birth, but their religion is
de
fi
nitely not Judaism.)
Messianic Jews are a speci
fi
c sub-group of Christians
who really think they are the only ones getting it right.
They teach that Jesus was Jewish, and so the right
way to serve him is to keep the Torah more or less as
he did.

34. They believe they have replaced us (the real
Jews) because God rejected us. If they call
themselves Jewish, they mean it, because to
their way of thinking they are real Jews. They
think they are establishing a new utopia where
there’s no di
ff
erence between Jew and
Christian.

35. Imagine there’s no Jews, it isn’t hard to do
Messianic Jews want to get rid of the
di
ff
erences between Jews and non-Jews.
One of the main evangelical messianic
goals is to blur the lines between Jew and
Christian. They want to remove the lines.

36. Make no mistake, Messianic Jews, like all
missionary Christians, want nothing other than the
total destruction of the Jews as a distinct nation.
No, that’s not an exaggeration. They want us to
lose everything that sets us apart.
The goal of every missionary, no matter how sweet
and nice they are, is no di
ff
erent to that of the
Muslim Brotherhood, or the Bolsheviks, or the
Islamic Caliphate, or of the Catholic church for
centuries: to replace the Jews

38. Newton’s Third Law of Missions
1. For ever action: Pro-active proclamation
2. There is an equal: Some will respond
3. And opposition: Some will reject

39. How can we respond to opposition

40. 1. Make sure it is
only the gospel that
offends

42. 2. Seek to de-escalate

43. 3. Qualify their
opposition

44. 4. Disengage
Don’t try to “sell” the “Sellers”

45. 4. Disgengage
Don’t sell the sellers • Don’t be proud
When they had taken money as security from Jason and the
rest, they let them go. The brothers immediately sent Paul and
Silas away by night to Berea
(Acts 17:9–10 ESV)

46. 5. Protect others
when they had taken money as security from Jason and
the rest, they let them go.
(Acts 17:8–9 ESV)

47. 6. Don’t become bitter
Opposition is those who would
do what we do, if they only
knew what we knew