Acts 17:16-34 Paul versus Athens

P a g e 1 Acts 17:16-34 Paul versus Athens Our missionary team has found themselves in Thessalonica 2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths with them from the Scriptures, The Greek word translated is the root of our English dialogue. There was exchange, questions, and answers. 3 and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, Further, there was opening., as verse 3 indicates. This word literally means In detail as to lineage, birthplace, time, and lifestyle, Jesus matched the Messianic expectations of the Hebrew Scriptures. Paul would have explained and reasoned with them 4 And some of them were persuaded; 5 But the Jews who were not persuaded, gathered, the KJV says, lewd fellows of the baser sort. A. T. Robertson s rendering bums. They claimed the Christians had turned the world upside down A believer lives right side up in a topsy-turvy world. Chased out of Thessalonica they head to the small town of Berea. Luke claims the Bereans were more fair minded than the TThessalonians Two things earned this compliment for the Bereans first they received the word with all readiness. 2. Second they searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. The Bereans listened to Paul as he taught in the synagogue. Every day, they searched the Scriptures, saying, Let s check out the teaching Paul s giving. Let s consider what he s saying as it relates to the Scriptures. And because the Bereans searched the Scriptures daily, they have been noted

P a g e 2 throughout the ages as being noble. PRAY Hughes gives a little intro to our text today Today it is commonly held that it is fine to be a Christian as long as one does not take it too seriously. Christianity has produced some of the world s greatest minds. Some of her doctrines are fascinating for intellectual exercise. But to take them seriously to base one s life on them? Surely you cannot be serious! That not only describes the attitudes we commonly face, but what the church has historically encountered and what Paul faced in Athens. Paul, one of the most passionate and fiery Christians who ever lived, collided head-on with the dispassionate intellectualism of Athens. The story of Paul versus Athens can set our hearts on fire. Acts 17 verse 16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, (Didn t have his missionary team with him he was alone on this one well, never alone.) his spirit (He was angry about a lie) As a Jewish monotheist he would have been disturbed and as a Christian apostle he was even more enraged! Every idol demonstrated the Athenians hunger for God but it also testified to their spiritual emptiness. when he saw that the city was given over to idols. (swamped by idols) in the intellectual center of the world, were over 3,000 altars and temples built to different deities. Pausanius, who visited Athens 50 years later, said it was easier to meet a god or goddess on the main street of Athens than to meet a man. This was statistically true because the population was about 10,000, but there were 30,000 statues of gods. The temple dedicated to Aphrodite, with temple prostitutes abounding, was man s attempt to justify sexual promiscuity. The Temple of Bacchus was for those who enjoyed alcohol. Williams notes this, "By now the greatest days of Athens were behind it, but it could still be fairly described as the intellectual capital of the Greco-Roman world and, at the same time, the religious capital of Greece."

P a g e 3 This was 400 years after the golden age of Greece, but still a center for art, beauty, culture, and knowledge. Still the most sacred shrine of the fair humanities of paganism... Paul had probably never been to Athens before, and like any tourist, he was ready to be very impressed by this incredibly famous and historical city. But when Paul toured the city, he was only depressed by the incredible idolatry he saw all around him. Despite all her glory, Athens was empty because she was living on the memories of the past. In philosophy she simply repeated the echoes of men long gone. Proud, glorious to the eye, but dead. 17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. 18 Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, What does this babbler want to say? Others said, He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods, because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. were the philosophers who said, Eat, drink, and be merry, Tomorrow we die, so satisfy yourself sensually. Live the good life. Relax. Take it easy. Epicureans were couch potatoes. They did not deny the existence of gods, but believed that they had nothing to do with man. The Epicureans believed that everything happens by chance, and death is the end extinction with no afterlife., on the other hand, were aerobics instructors. Be disciplined, they said. Free yourself from anything that is emotional, sensual, or material. The Epicurean said Enjoy life. The Stoic said Endure life. Neither considered eternal life. The Stoics were pantheists who put great emphasis on moral sincerity and a high sense of duty. They cultivated a spirit of proud dignity, and believed that suicide was better than a life lived with less dignity. Hallmark: spiritual pride.

Epicureans more popular among the Greeks; Stoics were more comfortable to the Roman mind. Both are hostile to the Gospel. P a g e 4 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? 20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean. 21 For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. Paul stood amidst the symbols of departed greatness, with the gods of Greece staring down at him. Immediately before him sat the most exclusive philosophical review board in the world! The whole atmosphere in Athens was very much like a university atmosphere, the public pastime was to exchange ideas and traffic in new thoughts. These ancient Greeks lusted after the latest, just like we today. Mars Hill The court of the judges (where Socrates was tried and put to death 400 years earlier). It is still the name of their Supreme Court today. It was 337 feet in elevation and located in the center of Athens. It was the place where philosophers hung out and where the council of education and religion met daily. Whenever a new religious thought was propounded, it had to clear the council of education and religion. Interestingly enough the Athenians the smartest men in history from the world s perspective said, Religion and education are inseparable. How far we have come from that today. 22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; The religious character of Athens was noticed by many ancient observers, some of whom thought that Athenians were the most religious of all human beings. But when Paul says this of the Athenians, he doesn't necessarily mean it in a positive way. Religion can lead a man away from God and if we trust in a false religion it is little credit to say of us that we are "religious."

P a g e 5 Courson So Paul began what is unquestionably his most polished presentation complete with good introduction, applicable illustrations, and sequential order of thought. In verse 24, he spoke of the greatness of God. In verse 25, he spoke of the goodness of God. In verses 26, 27, he spoke of the government of God. In verses 28, 29, he spoke of the glory of God. In verses 30 34, he spoke of the grace of God. 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Just in case they missed one let s make one to the unknown God. His message also made brilliant application, for he pointed directly to the problem. The word translated unknown is the root from which we get agnosticism, which means without knowledge. Athens was filled with statues dedicated TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. 600 years before Paul, a terrible plague came on the city and a man name Epimenides had an idea. He let loose a flock of sheep through the town and wherever they lay down, they would sacrifice that sheep to the god that had the nearest shrine or temple. If a sheep lay down near no shrine or temple, they would sacrifice the sheep TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Having established the bridge, Paul now began giving the Athenians doses of spiritual truth first about God and then about themselves. Truth about God always helps us understand ourselves. So continuing verse 23 Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. In bringing an understanding of who God is to these people, Paul started at the beginning: God is the Creator, and we are His creatures. "This

view of the world is very different from either the Epicurean emphasis on a chance combination of atoms or the virtual pantheism of the Stoics." P a g e 6 The fundamental truth about God is that he is the Creator: the God who made the world and everything in it. That may not sound earth-shaking to us, but it challenged their whole theology. The Stoics were pantheists and the Epicureans practical atheists. Paul s declaration denied the premises of both groups. The accompanying statement in verse 25 that God is the Lifegiver he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else drove the truth home even further, for it directly attacked the Epicureans belief that God was absent and the Stoics belief that he was in everything. As the giver of life, God is actively here, but he is not contained in creation. 26 And He has made from every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and and the boundaries of their dwellings, their preappointed times One race, one source, one species. God draws men; does not seek to evade them! This opposes both Stoical fate and Epicurean chance, ascribing to periods and localities his sovereign will and prearrangements 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring. live and move and have our being - For we are also His offspring. The apostle explained that as God s creatures, the Athenians had intrinsic dignity. He quoted a couple of their own poets to build in order to maintain rapport and keep their interest. The first part of verse 28, For in him we live and move and have our being, is from the work of Epimenides. The final line in verse 28, We are his offspring, is from the writings of Aratus. 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think

P a g e 7 that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man s devising. Since we are made in the image of God, it is insulting to God and degrading to us to make an idol of Him. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, Don t mistake God s patience with indifference for apathy there will be a day when all men will answer for their how they lived and believed. We will either allow Jesus to pay the price for our sin or we will pay the price with eternal separation from a Holy God. Men are to for refusing moral demands (Ps 14:1, 53:1). Of what? Idolatry. Man retreats to intellectual excuses Hughes again, Everything is fine as long as we remain theoretical, but when we call for action, men begin to shift their posture and look at their watches. Seeing their accountability to the true God makes many uncomfortable. 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead. 1. Inescapable day: God has fixed as the time when He will judge the world. Every life evaluated. 2. Unchallengeable judge. 3. Irrefutable fact: The resurrection. 32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, For Paul, none of the Christian life made sense without the triumph of Jesus' resurrection. Paul mentions the resurrection, the party broke up. The Greeks viewed the body as evil the prison for the soul. Why would it

be resurrected? It s been said, An agnostic is a person who says he knows nothing about God, and, when you agree with him, he becomes angry. P a g e 8 Verse 32 again And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, Courson again, Some will always mock. They mocked Noah for one hundred years. You re all wet, Noah, they said. But when judgment came, they missed the boat. while others said, We will hear you again on this matter. Mark 16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. So Paul departed from among them. Paul had no patience with intellectual flippancy and moral dishonesty. 34 However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. [The church that Paul founded in Greece was the lineal predecessor of the Greek Orthodox Church, which has now become sunken in apathy, liturgy, ritual, and dead orthodoxy, and is now persecuting the fresh, alive evangelical church in those areas.] Paul starts with God the creator and ends with God the Judge Paul s sermon had three results mockery, delay and belief. Great White Throne separation of believers and non-believers. Matthew 25:31-46. Sheep and the goats

P a g e 9 Goats Never received the free gift of God. Never surrendered their life for Jesus to cover their sins with His blood. Goats will be eternally separated from the loving God that made them. Sheep The redeemed forgiven and free. No judgment of sin but the things they did here will be. 2 Cor. 5 10 For we must all appear before the judgment (Bema) seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Bema seat 1 Cor. 3 tells us that our works will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one s work Wood, hay, stubble Gold, silver or precious stones. One life, soon to pass and only what is done for Christ will last! Monopoly The object of the game is to become the wealthiest player! When the games over all the pieces go back into the box. The Box isn t that what we bury people in When we die everything goes in the box all our accomplishments, worldly treasures He who dies with the most toys wins You may have seen the other one He who dies with the most toys still dies No u-hauls following a hearse. When they are standing at my graveside I don t want them to say well he had a lot of stuff That s why Jesus says, Matt. 6:19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

P a g e 10 the word of God and the souls of men Do more that will last when you are gone more of God s word and more sharing with the lost.