A farmer decided he knew as much as any doctor, so he opened doctor’s office in town. He charged $500 a visit, but he promised that if he couldn’t cure you he’d give you $1,000. The town’s regular doctor was offended by that and decided to expose him as a fraud, so He went to the farmer’s office and said “Doc, I seem to have lost my ability to taste. Can you cure me?” The farmer called out, “Nurse, give him 3 drops from that blue bottle.” She administered the drops, and the real doctor began to choke. “That’s gasoline!” The farmer smiled and said “Congratulations! Your taste has been restored. That’ll be $500!” The real Doctor realized he’d been had, but he paid up, and stalked out of the office.
A few days later he came back and said “Doctor, I think I’ve lost my short-term memory; can you cure me?” “Sure. Nurse give him 3 drops from that little blue bottle.” “NO! That’s gasoline!” cried the Doctor. “Congratulations! Your memory is cured. That will be $500!” The Doctor got out his checkbook and paid up.
A week later, he thought of one more thing that might stump presumptuous farmer. He walked into the office with a white cane and staring off into space and said “Doctor, I’m think I might be going blind. Can you restore my sight?” The farmer looked at him, and then he looked at the floor and sadly said “No, I’m afraid I can’t do that… so I guess I’ll have to pay you the $1,000. Hold out your hand so I can pay you.” The doctor smiled and thought to himself, “At last I’ve beaten him!” Then the farmer put a $50 bill in it. Seeing that, the doctor shouted, “Hey! That’s only a $50!” The farmer smiled… and said: “Congratulations! Your eyesight’s been restored!... That will be $500!”
(PAUSE)
Now, of course that’s just a joke. But notice - that farmer always knew just what to say to the doctor. In our text today, that’s what Paul seems to be able to do. He seemed to always know what to say to his audience. Here he is in Athens, one of the most advanced cities of the age. Athens was a center of learning. It had one of the greatest universities of the ancient world, and it was a center of philosophy, literature, science and art. Some of the greatest philosophers and thinkers lived there: Euripides, Plato and Socrates. It was here in Athens that the idea of Democracy took root. (Eerdmans’ Handbook to the Bible)
And now, here is Paul standing in front of a highly educated audience, and he’s being challenged to convince them about Jesus… and he says just the right things.
Now, I’m generally not like that. I mean I can come up with some clever stuff… if you give me a day or two. But I’m rarely any good at saying anything profound if you put me on the spot. And I’m convinced that most people are just like me. That’s why a lot of Christians don’t talk to folks about Jesus or their faith - they’re afraid they’re going to mess it up somehow.
But as I was looking at this story in Acts 17, I began to realize that what Paul did HERE at Athens was really very simple. And it would be fairly easy for you and I to put what Paul did into practice, if we just paid attention and relaxed with it.
First thing I want you to notice: Paul SPOKE to the crowd because he was provoked. “While Paul was at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.” (Acts 17:16) That’s what got Paul to talking. He was provoked. He was agitated. It bothered him to see this city so filled with idols. Here he was in Athens one of the great centers of learning in the ancient world, and these folks can’t make up their minds what to do with God.
One scholar noted it was easier to find an idol in Athens than it was to find a man. It’s estimated that they had over 30,000 idols that were worshipped in Athens. And just in case they missed one… they had an idol to an “unknown god.”
And Paul is … provoked. It bugs him no end to see these folks being so foolish about God.
Now, here’s the thing: why was Paul so provoked? Was he provoked like how I get when I go to Walmart, and I find that some lazy person hasn’t put one of the shopping carts back where it belongs? I mean… does that provoke you? Do you say something under your breath when you see that? Well, I do! I’m PROVOKED - and so I speak! (Not real loud, but I tend to internally verbalize my annoyance. I think to myself – “how can they be so disrespectful?” And I don’t think kind thoughts about those folks
Was Paul provoked like that? I don’t think so. Because when I see those carts at Walmart I don’t think kind thoughts about those people. But Paul thought kind thoughts about the people of Athens. He didn’t say mean things to them that day. He said things like “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious” (Acts 17:22) But that’s NOT an insult. That’s NOT a put-down. He complimented them! Why would he do that?
Well, he did that because he wanted them to know HIS GOD! He’s not trying to put them in their place! He’s trying to bring them into God’s grace.
Now, if you miss everything else in this sermon… don’t miss this! Paul said what he said because he KNEW who his God was. You see, these people were ignorant about God. They were going to go to hell because they couldn’t see who God was. (Pause) And Paul REMEMBERED that, at one time, he too had been ignorant about God! And he too… was on his way to hell!
When Paul wrote to Timothy he admitted that. “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” I Timothy 1:15-16
These people in Athens had messed everything up. They couldn’t figure out who God was - so they kept creating new ones hoping they’d get it right eventually. Their religious life was filled with uncertainty. If you’d asked them if their gods loved them… they’d probably say no. Their gods offered them no love, no mercy, no hope.
ILLUS: Someone once noted that the Assyrians, Babylonians, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans had their many gods—gods of war, gods of industry, gods of agriculture, gods of cities, gods of towns, and various others. But in all of their galaxy of gods, there never was one called “god of hope” or the “god of mercy” or the god of love” (Evie Megginson).
They didn’t have gods who cared for them. They had gods who had to be appeased and bribed not to harm them.
By contrast, one ancient scholar said “I have read from Plato and Cicero sayings that are very wise and beautiful; but I never read in either of them: ‘Come unto me all you that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.’” Augustine of Hippo
But, that was the God that Paul KNEW… and loved! Paul knew God cared for him - that God had shown mercy to him. Paul knew that Jesus had given him REST for his soul and forgiveness of his sins.
And now he’s in Athens – a great city filled with people who don’t have that. And you can tell they want it, because they have so many gods they worship. They’re obviously seeking for something! And I can picture Paul saying to himself: “If somebody hadn’t talked to me I’d never have known who God was!”
And so Paul speaks to this crowd.
We’re having a Revival at the end of next week. In the bulletin you’ll find a “Most Wanted” list. We want you to write down 10 names of people you think NEED God. They need His forgiveness; They need His mercy; They need His love. And then we’re asking you to pray for these people. Pray that you get a chance to talk them!
But the question is - how DO we talk to others about our faith? Well, what Paul did at Athens was something you can do, and I can do. As I said earlier: what Paul did wasn’t not that hard.
And WHAT did Paul do? (you might want to write this down)
Well… first, he listened to that inner voice. He was provoked in his spirit and something inside him said NOW! Now’s the time FOR YOU to say something. God will set you up with a chance to talk about Him if you let Him!
So Paul was PROVOKED in his spirit… and he said something! But what did Paul SAY? Well, he started out by getting their attention. Paul said – “Do you see this idol? It’s an idol to an unknown god. It’s been here all the time. It’s known by everybody but somehow it’s gotten lost in shuffle.
And so Paul STARTS with this idol to the unknown god and he uses it as a conversation starter. I did something like that last week when you folks sent me to a Christian gathering at Pigeon Forge. I took my grandson Benjamin with me and we spent a lot of time in the pool.
ILLUS: Benjamin loves to play in the pool, and two different times (while he and I were in the pool) I started a conversation with a couple guys with these words: “My grandson’s name is Benjamin. He’s left handed just like the tribe of Benjamin in the Bible.” And each time the guys responded by starting to talk about the Bible and God. One guy talked about how he was just starting to go to Church. And the other guy talked about wanting to get back in church - all because I said – “I want you to talk about my grandson” (I know, I NEVER talk about my grandson)
So you could start a conversation by pointing out something obvious and use it to introduce God to the conversation. Subtly put God out as part of your comments… but don’t be too obvious. If the folks you’re talking with are ready, they’ll start talking to you about their faith – or their lack of it. And you can take it from there.
OR you could talk about something else Paul mentioned at Athens: “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to REPENT, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:30-31
You know what Paul was telling the Athenians? You Need Jesus! You need to have a change in your life! Repent means – turn around and go back towards God!
There will be times when the people around you will talk to you about how miserable their lives are. They’ll complain about how bad their job is. Or how they’re having problems in their relationships/marriage; Or that they feel empty and worthless; Or even bored with their lives.
All you have to say is “You sound like you need to turn your life around. You need to have something change in your life. God can fix that for you! And then you can say: “Hey, BTW… we have a Revival coming up. Why don’t you go with me?
ILLUS: A man told of being in the Bahamas when a man walked up to me and said, “Would you like to buy some cocaine? You can tell everyone how much you really enjoyed the Bahamas.” After he said “No!” and got over the shock of that man’s boldness, he began to wonder how Jesus would have responded if someone came up to him selling drugs. Later that day, someone else did that they came up to him trying to sell him drugs and it occurred to him how he could share Jesus with them. After the guy told him that he had the “good-stuff,” the man asked the drug dealer “What have you got?” Once the dealer said “Cocaine!” the Christian responded: “Is that all you have? I’m disappointed! I was hoping you would have something better than that. You see, I’ve got the real thing! What I have is all natural, pure and very powerful. And it makes me feel great all day and all night. And get this, it may be illegal in some countries, but not in this one… so you can’t get arrested for having it!”
By this time the man was very curious and asked what this incredible “stuff” was, and the Christian replied, “I’m talking about having Jesus in your heart! It’s awesome what he will do for you when you get him inside of you! No drug in all the world is as good as having Jesus in you.”
The man stopped smiling and got this real serious look on his face and said, “I want what you have. How do I get it?”
CLOSE: Now here’s the deal – you can only say something like that… if you believe it! If you tell them that Jesus can fix what’s wrong in their life you NEED to believe it. Otherwise you’re going to come off as “faking it”. They’ll know you’re putting them on. Don’t fake it – Know it! Believe it!
Remember, when Paul spoke up in Athens he spoke because: Paul Knew Who His God Was! He knew his God loved him and had shown mercy to him and had changed his life. Paul knew who his God was.
DO YOU?
INVITATION
