Knowing the unknown God
Acts 17:16-33
Good morning, please turn to the book of Acts chapter 17-
I am excited to be home from a bucket list vacation to Greece and Turkey to experience the footprints of Apostle Paul as he journeyed on his second missionary trip to spread the gospel.
His supernatural transformation on the road to Damascus Acts chapter 9
Sermon title –knowing the unknown God-
Paul on his first missionary journey started several churches up and down the coast of Greece and Asia Minor.
On his second missionary journey he was going to see how they were doing.
Each one of them got a letter from him stating what was good and right they were doing and also what they needed to correct.
It has been said that if Paul visited the churches today that we would also be getting a letter
We went with a group of 45 people mostly from our friend church in Winchester Va. The guide (Tina) we had was like an encyclopedia of information.
I had information overload and also the fact that we had a very busy schedule to keep to be able to see everything.
It is not my intent to throw all this info at you this morning but to show you how important it was to the gospel being spread and the great plan of God that all were able to hear the gospel preached and taught that we might have a chance to decide for ourselves.
Paul’s first journey was starting churches and his second journey he wanted to go back to these established churches and see how they were doing- Paul writes to the Ephesians, Philippians, Corinthians, Thessalonians, Colossians church with pros and cons of their behavior and to Titus on how a church should function and operate under correct leadership and discipleship.
We see that each church had people problems that had to be addressed.
The book of Acts is the recorded history of how Christianity was founded and organized.
The community of believers began by faith in the risen Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, who enabled them to be witnesses, to love and to serve the Lord.
Churches grew from Jews, non-Jews spreading the word in 39 cities, 30 countries, and several islands.
We were able to see some of the islands, Patmos (Crete) where John was kept prisoner. The ancient cities of Philippi, Ephesus, Corinth, Thessaloniki, and the booming city of Athens- Which was my favorite place.
Our text this morning speaks of Paul on Mars Hill and talking to all the high ups and those who were intellectually superior to most of the people in town.
Picture a massive amount of people on a huge rock that overlooked the city of Athens and Paul describe the false gods and idols and then begin to tell them that they can now the unknown god they also worshiped. (don’t say you were on it)
Acts 17:16-33 Read from Bible slowly and clearly
Athens is a magnificent place with fabulous buildings and fine art. It is also a place with many gods that was the center of their culture. Philosophers and educators were always ready to hear something new. They invited Paul to speak to them at a meeting. Epicureans and Stoics were the dominate philosophers in Greek culture.
Epicureans believed that seeking happiness or pleasure was the primary goal of life. They were the fun ones to be around. They would try anything, believe anything.
Stoics believed that thinking was above feelings and tried to live in harmony with nature and reason, suppressing their desire for pleasure. They would be the downers, they would over think everything and do nothing new and not want or encourage change.
Two different approaches to life…They invited Paul to speak on knowing the one true God. Paul spoke on a low hill in Athens near the Acropolis. As Paul spoke the audience could look down on the city and see the many idols representing gods that Paul knew were worthless.
Paul was a rabbi, he was taught by the finest scholar of the day in Gamaliel. (Ga-may.lee.l) Paul had spent much of his time thinking and reasoning through the scriptures. That is what the philosophers did well.
Paul had to do more than preach with a conviction, he had to be prepared to prove what he said through scripture and experience.
(In verse 22) Paul showed us how to communicate the gospel. He did not begin by reciting Jewish history, as usually done. This would have been meaningless to the Greeks.
HE BEGAN BUILDING A CASE FOR THE ONE TRUE GOD THAT THEY WOULD UNDERSTAND.
“Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus (Airy-op-pa-gus) and said: Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious. (Some versions say superstitious)For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: To an unknown God. Now what you worship is something unknown. I am going to proclaim to you.”
Athenians had built an idol to the unknown gods for fear of missing blessings or receiving punishment. Paul was not endorsing this god but using the inscription as a point of entry for witnessing of the one true God.
One writer says
As Paul approached the great city of Athens, he came not as a sightseer, but as a soul-winner. He arrived with open eyes and a broken heart. Athens was in a period of decline in the early first-century. Though still recognized as a center of culture and education, the glory of its politics and commerce had long since faded. It had a famous university and numerous beautiful buildings, but it was not the influential city it once had been. The city was given over to a "cultured paganism" that was nourished by idolatry, novelty, and philosophy.
Paul saw that the city was "wholly given to idolatry," and it broke his heart. As was his custom, Paul spoke in the synagogue with the Jews, but he also witnessed in the marketplace (agora) to the Greeks. It didn’t take long for the philosophers to hear about this "new thing" Paul was preaching.
The Council of the Areopagus (Airy-op-pa-gus) was responsible to watch over both religion and education in the city, so it was natural for them to investigate the "new doctrine" Paul was teaching. They courteously invited Paul to present his teaching at what appears to have been an informal meeting of the council on Mars’ Hill. After all, life in Athens consisted of hearing and telling new things, and Paul had something new!
Paul’s message is a masterpiece in communication. He started where the people were by referring to their altar dedicated to an unknown god. Having aroused their interest, he then explained who that God is and what He is like.
He described the GREATNESS OF GOD:
Paul declared that this unknown God to you, "made the world an all things in it" (24). He is the Creator.
The Epicureans, who were atheists, said that everything was made of matter and matter always existed.
The Stoics said that everything was God, "The Spirit of the Universe," that God did not create anything; He only organized matter and impressed on it some law and order.
But Paul boldly affirmed, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth!"
God made the world and everything in it, and He is Lord of everything He has made.
He is not a distant God, divorced from His creation; nor is He an imprisoned God, locked in creation.
He is too great to be housed in manmade temples, but He is not too great to be concerned with man’s needs.
That’s good stuff right?
The universe and all things in it were created by a known God--including you and me!
King David, while meditating on God’s great care and concern for humanity, wrote, "I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well" Psalm 139:4.
He describes the GOODNESS OF GOD:
After introducing the Unknown God to the Athenians, Paul continues to tell them about Him: God "is [not] served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things" (25). He is our Provider.
It is God who gives to us what we need. God is not dependent on man’s offerings for His being, because He is the great giver. When Paul says, "He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things," our lives must be viewed as a gift from above, and every breath we breathe is courtesy of God. The time we have on Earth is a gift from God. The energy or mobility we have that enables us to get up and go to work in the morning or assemble with others of like faith on Sunday to worship is a gift from God. The talent or skill we have by which we earn an income is a gift from God.
None of us came into this world when we chose or because we chose, but because God had a purpose in mind for us. Our families, parents and grandparents, a good husband or wife, and lovely children and grandchildren are all God’s gifts.
He describes the GRACE OF GOD:
In due time, though, God sent a Savior, and now He commands all men to repent of their foolish ways. The grace of God was wholly manifested in Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. Let’s never forget the words of Isaiah: "But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed" (By His strips we are healed)(Isaiah 53:5).
Jesus our Savior was tortured and then he died. Jesus was then raised from the grave, and one day, He will return to judge the world. When God created man…male and female, He gave them the Garden of Eden as a beautiful place to live. He walked with them and talked with them and enjoyed their company. Then the tragedy of sin, and man was alienated from God. That wonderful association was broken. Man was driven out from the Garden and from the presence of God, who is the source of all life, and man spiritually died. Separation from God is spiritual death. But God, in His great love for us would not allow things to end that way.
God sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to reconcile the world to Him. He didn’t do that for the angels who sinned. They are cast down to Hell and held without hope in chains of darkness to await the day of God’s judgment.
But acceptance is essential. The invitation is "whosoever will." In acceptance of that gift we must believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, repent and turn from our sinful lifestyles and confess Jesus as Lord.
It should be clear that our culture has rejected Christianity as a part of what defines us as a nation. We no longer welcome it as the primary religious influence on the nation. And in its place there has come a confusing array of multi-culturalism, pluralism, and belief systems and religions from other parts of the world. Eastern mysticism, Islam, the Kabbala, are all seen as equal to, and as relevant as, Christianity. You can hear people say things like, “All religions are different paths to the top of the same mountain.” Worshiping the unknown god would apply and describe the culture of our day.
All of this is troubling to those of us who profess faith in the one Lord Jesus Christ who is Lord of heaven and earth. We come into direct conflict with the world when we say that Jesus is not one way among many, he is THE WAY. He is the only way that we can come to God. The Bible says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men” (1 Timothy 2:5-6). There are not many mediators, there is only one. Jesus himself said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:6-7). There is only one true path up the one true mountain, the rest are climbing a different mountain. Because of Jesus’ claims, we do not recognize other religions as equally valid. We believe that Jesus Christ is the exclusive and universal Savior of the world.
How do we exist in a pluralistic culture which often seems more open to any religion other than Christianity, at best, and appears hostile at worst?
This is what Paul did on Mars Hill-
I was able to stand on this rock! It is huge…probably 200 people stood on that rock with me. Mars Hill is the Roman name for a hill in Athens, Greece, called the Hill of Ares or the Areopagus (Acts 17:19, 22). 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.
It has on all sides huge temples of other gods around it. Aphrodite, Artemis, Zeus, Athena, Ares, Apollo, Hermes are only a few. Ares it was named after 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 Alirrothios. If they needed a god for something they had a god for it. If they were unsure which god to call out to they had the unnamed god. They did that so they would not miss a god when needed.
He made known the unknown God- He did it in a way that they would listen. He found common ground and then took them to where they needed to be,
It is also important to remember that there are many good and sincere people who follow these other religions.
Consider the example of the apostle Paul. When he arrived in Athens, the book of Acts says, “He was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols” (Acts 17:16). He was surrounded by statues of the Greek gods, some of which were grotesque or sensual, but instead of talking against all of these, he found a point of reference that could reach them and help him get his point across.
Closing,
Paul shows us that we are bringing new ideas to a foreign culture or we are bringing new light of God’s Word to a culture that has heard it but don’t understand it.
There are words and saying in one culture or area and the other area either does not know it or they have a different meaning. They must be told and they must understand. This is not just missionaries in other countries. People here who don’t know God and have not grown up knowing God must understand what it is to be a Christian and the importance of knowing God as savior of our lives
We know the message is true but we are the package that delivers it and it must be done right.
We must allow them to see the (1) the greatness of God (2) The goodness of God (3) Mercy of God.
Prayer-
