The Revelation Of God Series

The Revelation of God

Jeffery Anselmi / General

Proclaim. The Gospel Has Come / Character; Salvation / Acts 17:22–34

The first church proclaimed that the unknown God had become known through Jesus.

INTRODUCTION

• Today we are in the final message of our Proclaim; The Gospel Has Come series.

• Our text takes us to one of Paul’s more famous sermons in the Areopagus (AIR OP A GUS) or what many call Mars Hill.

• Mars Hill is the Roman name for a hill in Athens, Greece, called the Hill of Ares or the Areopagus (Acts 17:19, 22).

• Ares was the Greek god of war, and according to Greek mythology, this hill was the place where Ares stood trial before the other gods for the murder of Poseidon’s son.

• Rising some 377 feet above the land below and not far from the Acropolis and Agora (marketplace), Mars Hill served as the meeting place for the Areopagus Court, the highest court in Greece for civil, criminal, and religious matters.

• Even under Roman rule in the time of the New Testament, Mars Hill remained an important meeting place where philosophy, religion, and law were discussed. (https://www.gotquestions.org/Mars-Hill.html)

• When Paul was in Athens, he was deeply distressed by what he saw.

• The city was full of idols.

• According to New Testament Professor Dr. Gareth Reese, it has been estimated that there were somewhere between two and three thousand idols in the city of Athens during the New Testament period.

• What did Paul do about it? He started reasoning with the Jews and those who worshipped God in the synagogues, and he also sparred with the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in the public arena.

• These philosophers brought Paul to Mars Hill or the Areopagus (AIR OP A GUS).

• I could preach a whole message concerning the lead-up to Paul's message, but for time's sake, I want to summarize a couple of important points that we need to understand if we are going to have a chance of reaching people with the gospel.

• Let’s turn to Acts 17:22-23 for a couple of quick insights.

Acts 17:22–23 (CSB)

22 Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, “People of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect.

23 For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

• In the first few verses in Acts 17, we see the first key to successfully sharing the gospel.

• In verse 16, we see that Paul was troubled. Paul had a burden for the condition of the people of Athens. This burden drove him to try to share the truth with the people of Athens.

• Then from verses 22-23, we see that Paul was respectful of the belief system of the people of Athens.

• In fairness, the term EXTREMELY RELIGIOUS can also be translated EXTREMELY SUPERSTITIOUS. So when Paul addressed the crowd, it could have been taken as a swipe at them or a compliment.

• Context tends to lead to complement.

• The next thing we see, and we see it throughout the message, is that Paul took the time to know the audience he was dealing with.

• Since Paul knew the audience, he connected with them in verse 23 concerning the altar to the unknown God!

• This is the connection point he used to be able to get their attention!

• Paul used this knowledge to bring us our BIG IDEA FOR THE MESSAGE TODAY!

› The first church proclaimed that the unknown God had become known through Jesus.

• Let’s turn to Acts 17, we will begin with verses 24-26 as we see Paul unveil the characteristics of the unknown God to the people ay Mars Hill!

Acts 17:24–26 (CSB)

24 The God who made the world and everything in it—he is Lord of heaven and earth—does not live in shrines made by hands.

25 Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.

26 From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.

SERMON

I. The unknown God is creator of all.

• The Greeks had a ton of gods they worshipped.

• The people lived in fear of upsetting any number of gods.

• The people were in a religious prison!

• Paul begins verse 24 with the fact that God is the creator of all things, not the gods they were enslaved to.

He made all things.