From
Acts to Revelation
Part
47 – Athens
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House
of Faith Church | www.PS127.org
| www.TruthDigest.org
INTRODUCTION
Last week we saw in scripture, Paul
preached to the Berean's, and how they were ready to receive Paul's message of
Jesus Christ, because they searched the Word of God daily, and it prepared
their hearts to receive the Truth of God.
In Berea, we saw the greatest number of
Jews accept Jesus as the Messiah, and this was directly related to the fact
that they studied the Word daily.
Again, as in other cities and towns, Paul
was hunted, and had to leave.
Paul traveled to Athens, where he sent word
back to Silas and Timothy to come and be with him there. But while he awaited
them, he did not sit idly by. He continued to do what he always did, share the
message of the Cross and salvation.
In today's message, we will learn the
following;
1) How to live in a
world, surrounded by sin
2) How to build bridges,
so that others may meet Christ
3) finally, how to
stay true to God in a sinful world, while reaching out to others, bringing them
to the Lord, instead of attacking, offending, and pushing them away.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Acts 17:16-34
16 While
Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the
city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and
God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who
happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate
with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others
remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul
was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then
they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they
said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are
presenting? 20 You
are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what
they mean.” 21 (All
the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing
nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the
Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are
very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects
of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant
of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord
of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human
hands. 25 And
he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself
gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the
nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their
appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God
did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find
him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move
and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his
offspring.’
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that
the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design
and skill. 30 In
the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all
people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with
justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to
everyone by raising him from the dead.”
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of
them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this
subject.” 33 At
that, Paul left the Council. 34 Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed.
Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named
Damaris, and a number of others.
I.
PAUL DID NOT IDLY WAIT FOR SILAS AND
TIMOTHY
a. Paul
was greatly distressed to see the city full of idols
i. Paul is sensitive to sin
ii. Paul is driven to do something about that sin
iii. Paul addresses the CAUSE of the SIN, NOT THE SIN!
iv. The cause, is the need for Christ
b. Paul
taught and preached Christ to the people
i. First in the Synagogue to the Jews and the
God-fearing Greeks (Gentiles)
ii. Then in the marketplace to ALL there, day by day
iii. What message did he preach?
a. Jesus and the Resurrection
c. Epicurean
and Stoic Philosophers
i. Heard Paul, and began a debate, because that's what
they do in Athens
a. This was a simple debate, not an attack, like we've
seen in previous scriptures
ii. Some of them were confused
iii. Other understood a little
iv. So they brought him to Areopagus to discuss it more
a. There is no mention here that Paul was arrested, or
taken against his will.
II.
AREOPAGUS - ATHEN'S SUPREME COURT
a. All of
the Athenians who lived there, spent their time doing nothing but talking and
listening to the latest ideas
i. Like the local beatnik cafe'
b. Paul
begins by affirming the Athenians religion
i. He does not open with an attack on their faith or
beliefs, rather, an acknowledgement of it
ii. In doing this, he is showing a common ground
iii. and, he does not offend them, or attack them, which
would just shut their ears to the Truth!
c. Paul
states the following about their religion;
i. that he looked carefully at their objects of worship
ii. that there was a statue to the "unknown
God"
iii. Then Paul says, "I see you worship a God you do
not know, so let me introduce you to Him!"
d. REMEMBER
i. They do not believe in GOD
ii. They do not know God
iii. They did NOT build this statue to Him!
iv. Paul is simply using this COMMON GROUNDS of religion
and faith, as well as the fact that there just happened to be a statue with no
name in Athens, to BUILD A BRIDGE for the Athenians to come from where they are
in their understanding, to where they need to be, in relationship with GOD!
e. Paul
explains "who" this God is in Acts
17: 24-31
III. THE
RESPONSE TO PAULS MESSAGE OF CHRIST
a. Some
sneered...what's new?
b. Some
wanted to hear more! Praise God!
c. Paul
left the council, and some of the people became follower of Paul and believed!
CONCLUSION
In today's message, we will learn the
following;
1. How to live in a world, surrounded by sin
Paul addresses the SIN in the proper
manner, by tackling the CAUSE...NOT THE SIN!
2. How to build bridges, so that others may meet Christ
Paul uses COMMON GROUND between himself and
the sinners, to build a bridge to Christ
3.
Finally,
how to stay true to God in a sinful world, while reaching out to others,
bringing them to the Lord, instead of attacking, offending, and pushing them
away.
Paul taught the TRUTH of
scripture, WITHOUT attacking the sinner, or offending the sinner, thus drawing
them into the understanding of Christ, rather than pushing them away from God.
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