INTRODUCTION
1. Please open your bibles to Acts 17:16&ff.
(1) The verses ahead of verse sixteen report about the travels of Paul’s second missionary journey. They tell us that due to the persecution from the Jews at Thessalonica, Paul had left from Thessalonica and went to Berea.
(2) While he was preaching in Berea, the Jews from Thessalonica came to Berea and stirred up the crowds.
(3) The brethren from Berea sent Paul to Athens. Silas and Timothy stayed behind at Berea.
(4) Let’s read Acts 17:16&ff, “16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. 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. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus,”
(5) Let’s explain the word “Areopagus”. The Areopagus was the highest religious and moral court in Athens. It was the legislative body for the religions of Athens. It took its name from Mars Hill. “Mars Hill” was a high rock ledge from which one could stand and overlook part of the city of Athens.
The court of men may have on occasions assembled at Mars Hill. Through the years many speeches and sermons have been given from this ledge to people down below. In 1974 I had the opportunity to stand on “Mars Hill” and read Paul’s sermon from Acts 17.
As we have said, the Areopagus was composed of the most learned and outstanding men of Athens and was charged with keeping the religion and morals of Athens.
Paul was taken to this court and given the opportunity to explain Christianity. Since it was in the open, many who passed by and anyone interested could stop and listen. The audience was probably very large that day.
(6) Continuing to read from verse 19, “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.”
2. From verse 18, we learn that due to Paul’s preaching about Jesus and the resurrection, the people of Athens wanted to hear Paul preach about what they understood as a “foreign god”.
3. Our purpose in this lesson will be to discuss what Paul preaches about the God, not of idolatry, but the God of the bible.
DISCUSSION
I. FIRST, FROM ACTS 17:22&23 PAUL PREACHES TO THOSE OF ATHENS ABOUT THEIR “UNKNOWN GOD”.
1. In verse 22, Paul begins his sermon with a compliment. He speaks of them being “very religious” due to the many idols that they professed to worship. It was true that they were “very religious”, but they were religiously wrong!
2. Let’s read vs. 22&23, “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;
(1) “Very religious” comes from Greek words which literally mean demon fearing or reverencing.
(2) The Athenians took it as a compliment to be spoken of as those who reverenced their idol gods (spelled with a little “g”.)
3. Continuing to read v. 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. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:”
(1) Paul takes advantage of the opportunity to start on common ground with his listeners.
(2) The people of Athens had an altar with the inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Paul takes advantage of the common ground agreement and begins to inform them of the Great God that he was serving and preaching.
II. SECOND, IN VERSE 24a PAUL PREACHED THAT GOD IS “THE CREATOR OF EVERYTHING THAT MAN KNOWS”.
1. Let’s read Acts 17:24a, “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.”
2. The Epicureans did not believe that their gods created them or the earth.
The Epicureans believed that pleasure was the chief purpose of man. They did not believe in life after death. They believed everything happened by chance. They believed there were gods, but they were far removed from earth and took no interest in man.
3. The Stoics were pantheistic. Pantheism believed that god was everywhere and in everything, but not a personal being. They believed everything that happened was pre-determined and man must accept it. They did not believe that the soul existed after death. Interestingly, relating to morals, the Stoics were different than the Epicureans. The Stoics made an effort to live good moral lives, whereas the Epicureans sought much pleasure.
4. Turn to Jeremiah 32:17. Here, Jeremiah spoke of the same God, that Paul and all the other bible writers speak to us about. Let’s read Jeremiah 32:17, “‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.”
5. God’s people must shout it to the world, that we do not exist because of evolution, but we exist due to the Great creative power of God.
III. THIRD, ACTS 17:24b TEACHES THAT THE GOD THAT PAUL PREACHED IS SPIRITUAL AND NOT PHYSICAL IN NATURE.
1. Let’s read the last phrase of verse 24, “does not dwell in temples made with hands.”
2. The idols that the Athenians worshipped all were placed in temples that had been built for them.
3. The God that Paul preached cannot be contained in a temple made with men’s hands.
4. In Jeremiah 23:24, we read, “Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?” says the LORD; “ Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD.”
5. In John 4:24a, we read, “God is a Spirit ………..”
IV. FOURTH, ACTS 17:25 TEACHES THAT THE GOD THAT PAUL PREACHED IS NOT WORSHIPPED WITH MEN’S HANDS.
1. Idol worshipers think that they must provide gifts to gods [spelled with a little “g”] and that the gifts are essential to the well-being of the gods.
2. However, the God that Paul introduces to us can get along quite well without us, but we cannot get along without him. God does not need anything from man to exist. God is self-sufficient.
3. Let’s read v. 25, “Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.”
4. This verse also teaches that God was no longer to be worshipped by offering the animal sacrifices that were formerly offered under the law of Moses.
5. This verse also teaches that worshipping God by playing instruments of music with our hands would also be forbidden by God.
V. FIFTH, ACTS 17:25b TEACHES THAT THE GOD THAT PAUL PREACHED PROVIDES AND SUSTAINS THE LIFE OF EACH PERSON.
1. Let’s again read the latter part of verse 25, “since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.”
2. Man is completely dependent upon God for life, breath and everything. Each breath of air that we take in comes from God and so does everything else. Man is only a manger and steward of what God loans him, during our brief stay here on earth.
3. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
4. Psalm 68:19 says, “Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah”.
VI. SIXTH, ACTS 17:26a TEACHES THAT THE GOD THAT PAUL PREACHED MADE ALL MEN TO DESCEND FROM ONE ANCESTOR.
1. Let’s read verse 26, “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings”.
2. God created all men and they all came from Adam and Eve. Science can examine
a blood specimen and know the kind of being from which it came, whether from man, cow, dog, or some other animal or bird and etc.
3.The blood of mankind is different from that of all other beings; only the specific blood type distinguishes the blood of all men.
4. Genesis 3:20 says, “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living”.
(1) The proof of this is evidenced by many things, one of these being the ability of a man of any race to provide a blood transfusion for a man of any other race, if the blood type matches.
(2) The oneness and brotherhood of the whole human race are affirmed here.
5. The reason for the apostle declaring that all men are of “one blood” was, probably, to convince the Greeks that he regarded them all as brethren; and that, although he was a Jew, yet he was not enslaved to any narrow notions or prejudices in reference to other men.
(1) It follows also from this, that no one nation, and no individual, can claim any pre-eminence over others in virtue of birth or blood.
(2) All are in this respect equal; and the whole human family, however they may differ in skin color, customs, and laws are to be regarded and treated as brethren.
VII. SEVENTH, ACTS 17:26b TEACHES THAT THE GOD THAT PAUL PREACHED WORKS BEHIND THE SCENES AND IN PROVEDENTIAL WAYS IN THE LIFE’S OF MEN AND NATIONS.
1. Let’s again read the later part of verse 26, “and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings”.
2. God gave the seasons and the area in which man lives. God guides and controls history. This all points to the fact that there are not many gods, but there is one true and living God who created man and who controls the entire universe.
3. Turn to Gen. 1:9&10 and then 1:14-19. This passage tells of the “preappointed times or seasons and the boundaries that God has set”.
(1) Let’s read Gen. 1:9&10, “9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.”
(2) Let’s read Gen. 1:14-19, “14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day”.
4. God is not so distant, unconcerned, and uninvolved with mankind as the philosophers thought.
(1) God has worked behind the scenes in various ways to direct the different nations into the places in which they were to dwell, and has set limits to the times of their existence as nations and the influence they will exert.
(2) Some have continued to our day and some have lost their identity as distinct nations.
(3) Daniel 4:32 says, "The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will".
VIII. EIGHTH, ACTS 17:27 TEACHES THAT THE GOD THAT PAUL PREACHED IS “THE GOD” THAT HAS LEFT EVIDENCE THAT HE EXIST AND THAT HE SHOULD BE WORSHIPPED AND SERVED!
1. Let’s read verse 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.”
2. One reason that men should seek the Lord is because of God’s wisdom that is shown, and stated in verse 26, in God creating everyone from “one blood” and God’s appointing the seasons and boundaries that man is able to have knowledge about.
3. “Groping for the Lord and finding the Lord” refers to man searching diligently and finding evidence to the true existence of the Lord.
4. “Though He is not far from each one of us” is a statement that Paul makes to show that it is possible, for even those who are involved in idol worship to know God.
5. Turn to Rom. 1:20. This passage is one among many that teaches man that God has made it possible to know Him through natural revelation. By natural revelation, the bible is referring to there being evidence of the true God due to the great design that God shows in what He has created. Let’s read Rom. 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse”.
6. Turn and let’s Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.”
7. God has designed everything that He has created so perfect that men and women who are honest will admit that God is our Great Creator and that we should serve Him.
8. God has designed man with a soul. God is a Spirit and man should acknowledge the existence of God and serve Him as their Supreme Creator.
IX. NINTH, ACTS 17:28 TEACHES THAT “THE GOD” THAT PAUL PREACHED IS “THE GOD” OF “OUR LIFE”, “OUR MOVEMENTS” OR OUR ACTIONS AND “OUR BEING” OR OUR CONTINUED EXISTENCE.
1. Let’s read verse 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.”
2. Paul is teaching that man could not exist without God for a single minute. This is what Paul means by “for in Him (God) we live, and move, and have our being.
3. Paul then quoted from Aratus of Soli in Cilicia. Aratus was a Stoic philosopher who was born in 310 B.C. and died around 240 B.C. He was right when he said, "For we are also his offspring."
4. Gen. 1:27 states that God created man, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
5. The Stoics saw God as pantheistic and carnal and existing in all plant and animal life, but God Himself not being a personality. The Epicureans viewed God as imaginary;
(1) but Paul set God forth as a real Being who cared for his offspring.
(2) Instead of man trying to tend to God’s needs, like the worshippers of idols did, man is totally dependent upon God for even his breath and life.
X. TENTH, ACTS 17:29 TEACHES THAT “THE GOD” THAT PAUL PREACHED AND THAT MANKIND CLAIMS AS HIS CREATOR SHOULD NOT BE THOUGHT OF AS NO MORE THAN THE GOLD OR SILVER OR STONE THAT SOME MEN MAKE “idol gods” FROM.
1. Let’s read verse 29, “Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.”
2. The skill of man is able to produce some impressive and beautiful images, but that does not make those things divine beings. The Greeks’ conception of deity was along materialistic lines; separate the concept that the Greeks had of their idols and they could not picture the true God that has created everything.
3. Men themselves, who are the offspring of God, and made after God’s image, are not to be compared to graven images of gold, silver, and stone.
(1) Men know that they themselves are superior to gold, silver and stone.
(2) Men know that when they make idols of gold, silver or stone, that such idols are shaped by art and man’s devising.
(3) Men should also acknowledge that God, the One who created them should certainly not exist as some idol and made from something made of gold or silver or stone.
4. To claim that “the Being”, that man is the offspring from, is no more than gold, silver or stone would imply that man would be less important than gold or silver or stone.
5. Claiming that God is no more than gold or silver or stone is implying that God is of lesser value, which would be ridiculous.
XI. ELEVENTH, ACTS 17:30 TEACHES THAT “THE GOD” THAT PAUL PREACHED ONCE “OVERLOOKED” SUCH SINFUL PRACTICES, BUT NOW COMMANDS ALL MEN TO REPENT!
1. Let’s read verse 30, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent”.
2. The men of Athens admitted their ignorance by erecting the altar to "The Unknown God."
3.Turn to Acts 14:16-18. In this passage Paul teaches the people of Lystra [who also worshipped idols] that God overlooked certain things among the Gentiles of the Old Testament period of time. God also overlooked certain things among the Jews. For example he allowed David and others to have more than one wife and to put away their wives for more reasons than one mate being guilty of fornication (Matt. 19:1-9)
(1) Let’s read Acts 14:16-18, “16 who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” 18 And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.”
(2) Acts 17 & Acts 14 do not teach that God completely ignored sin in times past. These passages and others in the bible teach that God had not provided a written revelation to the Gentiles. God had not provided prophets for the Gentiles in the way he had for the Jews. Some Gentiles did seek to follow the teaching that was provided for the Jews, but the majority did not.
(3) During the absence of written revelation, for the Gentile world for the first 4,000 years for man on earth, God had provided nature and providence to motivate people to come to God. Instead of coming to God, the majority worshipped idols.
(4) In both Acts 17 & Acts 14 Paul was teaching that the day of stumbling in the dark was over.
4. Paul’s preaching is bringing to focus that the full information about God and His requirements for all men and women is made know through His Son Jesus Christ.
5. The time had come for all men and women to “repent” and turn and worship and serve the One true God.
(1) The requirement of repentance is met when one learns God’s will sufficiently to believe it, and sees his own condition; genuine sorrow is produced by this faith, which in turn produces a decision to change one’s life; that commitment is then lived out in a reformed and obedient life.
(2) This would have been a marvelous opportunity for Paul to teach salvation "by faith only" if he had ever believed or taught such a thing;
1) but here he used "repent" in exactly the same manner as he often used "believe," that is, as a synecdoche for all of the things required of the alien sinner,
2) namely, faith, repentance, confession and baptism.
3) Notice also that in the very strongest language possible “repentance” is set forth as invariably demanded and required of "all men everywhere."
XII. TWELVTH, ACTS 17:31 TEACHES THAT “THE GOD” THAT PAUL PREACHED HAS APPOINTED A DAY IN WHICH HE WILL JUDGE THE WORLD!
1. Let’s read verse 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.”
2. “God has appointed a day”! This refers to the final judgment of all men and women. Revelation 20:11 teaches that this could be called the “The Great White Throne Judgment”.
3. “The entire world will be judged on the basis of whether they have lived the righteous life that God commands.”
4. “The Man whom God has ordained to be in charge of the judgment will be Jesus, the Son of God”.
(1) If you have obeyed the plan of salvation and have lived a faithful life, as a Christian, Jesus, as you Savior, will welcome you into heaven on that Great Day.
(2) If you have not become a Christian and remained faithful thru the experience of death, then on Judgment Day, Jesus will declare you to depart into the horrors of hell!
5. “God has given assurance of the future Judgment Day to all, by raising Jesus from the dead.”
(1) Just as sure as there is abundant proof that Jesus has been resurrected from the dead just like God promised that Jesus would be resurrected,
(2) all men and women can be assured that God’s warning in regard to the future Judgment Day will for sure come and happen!
Conclusion
1. In Paul’s sermon delivered in Athens and recorded in Acts 17 Paul emphasized Oneness throughout the sermon.
2. Paul proclaimed the “One True God.”
3. Paul proclaimed “One human race.”
4. Paul proclaimed “one way of salvation.”
5. Paul proclaimed “One judgment.”
6. If you need to express your belief, repentance, confess that you believe that Jesus is the Son and God and obey the command of baptism, please come to the front when we sing the invitation hymn.
7. Are you a Christian that has said or done something that needs confession and prayers?
8. Are you a Christian that needs prayers for strength?
9. If you need to respond, please comes as we stand and sing!
Acknowledgments for proper interpretations and explanations and making sure they are in harmony with the rest of the bible go to Bob Winton CD Commentary on Matthew 27:50-54. 464 Ridgewood Drive Manchester, Tennessee 37355. If interested in CD covering many O. T. & N.T. books call (866) 753-8456.
