Background: Acts 17:1-15
(Acts 17:16 NKJV) 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.
Athens was home to the most renowned philosophers in history, including Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, who was arguably the most influential philosopher of all. Athens was also the religious center of Greece—virtually every deity known to man could be worshiped there. Paul viewed Athens as a city of lost humanity, all doomed to a Christless eternity because of rampant pagan idolatry.
Today, even in our sophisticated, highly technological culture, men, women, boys and girls worship idols—one most of us knows about sits in our living rooms and we bow before it several hours each day.
Some of our idols sit parked outside of our homes and others of our idols are paid homage to some forty to sixty hours each week.
As Paul waited in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. Is your spirit provoked within you when you look around and see that Baltimore is given over to idols?
(Acts 17:17 NKJV) 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.
What did Paul do when his spirit was provoked within him concerning the sin of the city? Well, what do some Christians do?
Some Christians gossip about it.
“Did you know that so-and-so is shacking up with so-and-so?”
“You know, I saw so-and-so in the liquor store.”
“She’s pregnant and is only 15 years old! Oh my.”
Some Christians envy it.
Some Christians try to run and hide from it.
But Paul met the idolatry head on:
Verse 17 tells us He went into the synagogue—to reason with the religious community.
Verse 18 tells us He went into the marketplace—to reason with the unbelievers.
(Acts 17:18 NKJV) 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.
In verse 18 we find Paul encountering two groups of philosophers prominent in the culture of that day: Epicurean philosophers and Stoic philosophers.
Epicurean philosophers were those who followed Epicurus (341-270 B.C.). Epicurus believed that happiness or the avoidance of pain was the chief end of life.
We live in a culture with a similar mindset. “Go for all the gusto you can get,” they say. “You only go around once in life,” is our culture’s motto.
Christians seem to be caught up with this way of thinking—happiness, wealth and prosperity is the mantra of many preachers. However, happiness is based on conditions being right but the Lord calls the Christian to be content in whatever state he or she finds himself or herself in. “Joy” is the fruit of the Spirit that the Christian should be desiring and manifesting, not happiness.
Our culture like the Epicurean’s avoids pain. We have hundreds of medications that have been developed to get rid of pain. We have pills for physical pain, pills for emotional pain and pills for spiritual pain. We have pills for depression and pills for aggression. We have pills for when your head hurts, ears hurt, throat hurts, eyes hurt, stomach hurts, joints hurt and pills for when your back hurts. Ours is a culture that hates pain!
Epicureans were materialists—they did not deny the existence of God, but they believed He did not become involved with the affairs of men. When a person died, they believed his body and soul disintegrated.
The Stoic philosophers, on the other hand, regarded Zeno (340-265 B.C.) as their founder and whose name came from Stoa Poikile which means, “Painted Porch” or “Painted Promenade” the place from which Zeno taught in Athens. Zeno emphasized the rational over the emotional. Stoic philosophy taught self-mastery—that the goal in life was to reach a place of indifference to pleasure or pain. The Stoics were pantheists that believed that God was in everything. Their ethics were characterized by moral earnestness and a high sense of duty. Stoics advocated conducting themselves "according to nature."
In our culture one might call these people, “New Agers” because they are part of what is called “The New Age Movement.” These are the people who worship nature by the very fact that they put more importance on saving an endangered species than an endangered fetus. They believe that God is not only in you and me, but He is also in the tree and in a rock. Some New Ages claim that if “god” is in you, then you are god.
Solomon said, “there is nothing new under the sun.” (Eccl 1:9-10)
Satan hasn’t come up with any new methods; he is using the same bag of tricks that he was 2000 years ago when Paul was on the scene.
The Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered Paul and Acts 17:19 says, “And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak?”
The Areopagus was a council that had charge of religious and educational matters in Athens. It possibly met on the Hill of Ares located west of the Acropolis. This hill is also known as the Areopagus, though some think it met in a building in the agora (marketplace).
Verse 19 tells us that these philosophers were amazed at this “new” doctrine that Paul was speaking. They were amazed because they never heard of it.
(Acts 17:20 NKJV) "For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean."
(Acts 17:21 NKJV) 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.
Doesn’t this mirror our culture? Biblical Christianity is a strange concept.
When you talk about the biblical Jesus many will say that you are bringing some “strange” thing to their ear.
If you use the words, “Jesus Christ” many kids think that you are mad or upset with them.
When you mention the Cross they will think that you are talking about the brand name of an ink pen.
The Epicurean and Stoic philosophers and others residing in Athens weren’t familiar with this new teaching of Paul’s about the resurrection and they wanted to know more.
Verse 21 says, “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.
We are no different in our culture. There always has to be the latest fad, trend or preoccupation. Whether it is in the political arena or about sports, many people spend their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. This is why the “kiss and tell” magazines like Star, People, ET and the National Inquirer are so popular and the fashion magazines have so many readers.
But the Athenians weren’t as concerned about the fads and the trends as much as they were concerned about something new for the mind. They wanted to hear about some new philosophy.
They heard Paul teach about a Jesus who died and was raised from the dead.
They heard Paul teach that this man was alive and changing the lives of His followers.
The heard Paul teach that this man Jesus had a certain code of ethics that they had never heard of before—it was new! So they gave Paul the floor and let him babble about his Jesus and the resurrection.
(Acts 17:22 NKJV) Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious;
(Acts 17:23 NKJV) "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:
If Paul had come through Baltimore, he would stand up and say, “Men (and women) of Baltimore, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, found:”
* A TV in every home.
* A cell phone in every hand (sometimes two and three)
* Computers all over the place
* Fast food restaurants in every community.
* Shopping centers and malls dotting the landscape.
* Video stores lining the streets.
* Sport arenas and stadiums lighting up the skies.
Paul would say, “As I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found churches on every corner with pulpits that preach messages devoid of the one true God. Therefore, the One whom you have abandoned, Him I proclaim to you:”
Paul continues his messages to the Athenians:
(Acts 17:24 NKJV) "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.
Some people have a difficult time coming to a house to worship in because it doesn’t have a steeple and church furniture. But God doesn’t “live” in a regular church building no more than He lives in this house at 2001 N. Rolling Road.
Paul wants his hearers to know that he serves a “BIG” God. He says that his God is He who made the world and everything in it and since He is the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.
When King Solomon was dedicating the temple he prayed these words:
(1 Ki 8:27 NKJV) "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!
Paul continues in Acts 17:25:
(Acts 17:25 NKJV) "Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.
We have people in our time running off to these huge churches with these huge buildings believing that there is more of God in the large churches then in the smaller ones.
Others are erecting these statues in their churches hoping that God will pay more attention to them.
Still others carry “lucky” crosses in their pockets and purses believing that God will rain down His blessings on them.
Peddlers are pushing “money blessing” handkerchiefs, air fresheners, incense, necklaces, bracelets, and coins upon people who believe that God needs these things before he will act on our behalf.
But Paul says, “Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.” "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…” (vs. 25-26)
Paul is saying here that God doesn’t require anything from us. There is nothing that we have that will add any value to who God is in and of Himself. God doesn’t need our little trinkets, after all, He is the One that gives life, breath and all things.
Listen to what was written about one thousand years before Paul preached at Athens:
(Psa 24:1 NKJV) The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.
(Psa 24:2 NKJV) For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters.
(Psa 24:3 NKJV) Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?
(Psa 24:4 NKJV) He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.
Paul says, “My God isn’t worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things 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…” (vs. 25-26)
Paul is saying that God has determined the exact times and places in history during which you and I would emerge and live. In other words, Paul is saying that you were no accident.
* Your parents may have told you that you were an accident but you weren’t.
* You may have showed up on someone’s doorsteps after being abandoned, but this was no unexpected event.
* Your skin isn’t the color it is because of genetics, nor were you born in the part of the world your mother birthed you as a result of coincidence.
Paul writes that God has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth—this means that we all are related and it doesn’t matter what color our skin is or what facial features we have for we all came from one blood and his name is Adam!
Not only has God made us all from the same person, but He has determined our preappointed times and the boundaries of our dwellings…”
God appointed you to this time in history and He preselected where you would be born and where you would grow up.
God predetermined that I would be born in Fort Meade, MD and spend time in New York and come back to Maryland and grow up in Baltimore. He predetermined that my wife would grow up in Baltimore. We have since figured out that there were times that we probably walked past each other and maybe looked at each other because we lived in the same section of the city when we were in grade school. When we got older we attended the same high school but I don’t remember seeing her and she acts like she doesn’t remember seeing me.
But God did all of this for a purpose; He does nothing in vain! Listen to Paul explain in verse 27:
(Acts 17:27 NKJV) "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;
God has orchestrated history in such a way as that men, women, boys and girls might seek His face, in the hope that they might grope for him and find him, though He is not far from each one of us.
I don’t know about you but it was God who brought me to Himself. He orchestrated the events of my life to cause what was very painful at the time to sensitize my heart that I might trust Him as Savior. He used the loneliness in my life for a father to create a vacuum that only He could and would feel.
Paul wants us to know that historically and geographically you are where you currently are because God appointed you to that place for a purpose. Those of us who have experienced the saving grace of God in Christ know that God brought us to that place in time where we cried out for mercy and called upon the Name of Jesus.
Maybe God has appointed this day for you that on Resurrection Sunday, 1999, you might give your life to Jesus.
Even for the Christian, that suffering you are experiencing—whatever it is—is not coincidental; it is for a purpose. Perhaps it is a broken relationship, a wayward child or a lost job. Perhaps it is financial pressure or an illness—it is all as a result of an appointment made by a loving, sovereign God who desires that you might seek Him in hope that you might grope or reach out to him and find Him though He is not far from you.
Paul continues in verse 28…
(Acts 17:28 NKJV) "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.'
(Acts 17:29 NKJV) "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.
In saying that we all are God’s offspring, he is not saying that everyone is a child of God and are His redeemed ones. He is making the point that all people were created and given life by God and since we were created and given life by God we shouldn’t think that He is like a man-made idol.
Paul’s point is that we should know better than to worship anyone and anything but the one true God.
We can look around us and look at His creation and see that He is the almighty God.
We should be able to tell that He is an infinitely wise God because his creation is complex.
We should be able to look at ourselves and come to the conclusion that God is a loving God for He takes care of us even when we don’t love Him.
He caused the rain to fall upon the earth and the plants to grow to bring nourishment to our tables even when we chose to worship creation rather than the Creator.
Paul writes in verse 30 that at one time God withheld His judgement upon a succession of sinful and rebellious generations but now it is different.
(Acts 17:30 NKJV) "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
In the past God dealt primarily with His people Israel. When Israel would sin, He would send His prophet to them commanding them to repent. In the past, God also allowed Gentiles to come to Him by faith but in these last days, He now commands all men everywhere to repent.
Why the change? Why after thousands of years of withholding His judgement does He now command all men everywhere to repent? Paul answers this question in verse 31:
(Acts 17:31 NKJV) "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."
The difference is found in “a Man.” I like the NKJV’s translation, “the Man.” The Man’s name is Jesus.
Paul says that just as God has determined our preappointed times and the boundaries of our dwellings, “He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man who He has ordained…”
It was ordained that Jesus would be born of a virgin—Paul wrote in the “fullness of time god sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law to redeem those who were under the Law…” (Gal. 4:4)
It was ordained that He would be born in Bethlehem.
It was ordained that He would be born in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.
It was ordained that King Herod would be jealous and cause Joseph to flee to Egypt.
It was ordained that Jesus would grow up in Galilee.
It was ordained that He would find favor with God and man.
It was ordained that He would begin His public ministry and teach in the synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
It was ordained that He would be betrayed into the hands of evil men.
It was ordained that He would be beaten for the prophet Isaiah wrote:
Isa 53:1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
Isa 53:2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Isa 53:4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
Isa 53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
It was ordained that Jesus be crucified not for His own sin, because he had none, but for the sins of you and me. It was ordained that Jesus die for you and me.
Paul writes that "God has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. And just in case you are sure who “the Man” is, Paul writes at the end of verse 31 that He will be the One that was raised from the dead.
(Acts 17:31 NKJV) "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."
This is what we are here to celebrate today—the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
This is how Paul ended his “babbling” with the most important point being made last. God will judge you and I according to what we do with His Son, Jesus Christ. And He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead.
Conclusion:
Well how did the philosophers of Athens respond to Paul? Verse 32 gives us the answer.
(Acts 17:32 NKJV) And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, "We will hear you again on this matter."
How would you have responded? Would you have mocked or would you have put off making a decision about Jesus. Did you know that any decision other than “yes” to Jesus is a rejection of Him? Even “wait” is the same as saying “no” to Jesus because tomorrow isn’t promised.
(Acts 17:33 NKJV) So Paul departed from among them.
(Acts 17:34 NKJV) However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Which group will you be a part of? The ones who mocked, the ones who said “no” or the ones who believed?
