Paul’s Revelation Of The Unknown God Series

Sermon – Paul’s Revelation of the Unknown God

Scripture Lesson-Acts 17:16-33 “While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. 17 He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there. 18 He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.” 19 Then they took him to the high council of the city. “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. 20 “You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” 21 (It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.) 22 So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about. 24 “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. 27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone. 30 “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.” 32 When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” 33 That ended Paul’s discussion with them, 34 but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.”

Introduction: All of creation was designed to make the unknown God known to men. In the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, became the channel through which God the Father would make Himself known to men. Through Jesus, God would make Himself known to those who fail to acknowledge the evidence of creation. But the people had rejected natural revelation of God as disclosing the existence and the power and the beauty of God. Christ came to make the Father known. Mankind was created to worship. If God is not clearly revealed, man will create something to worship.

When Paul preached the gospel in Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens. He found no shortage of gods. Religion was the order of the day. The hills were dominated with statues and symbols of worship everywhere. Paul began where the people were. Athens was a city filled with philosophers and great thinkers. Two main schools of thought were Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. The Epicurean believed that the greatest good of life was to seek modest, sustainable pleasure in the form of a state of tranquility and freedom from fear and the absence of bodily pain through knowledge of the workings of the world and limiting desires. The Stoic’s school of philosophy that taught that men should seek a particular way of living, focusing living a virtuous life, maximizing happiness and reduce negative emotions. Paul could have begun by pointing out the faults in their beliefs, but He did not.

1. Revealing God Means By Lifting God Up, not Putting Others Down. Acts 17:22, 23, “So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.”