Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copied and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
THE UNKNOWN GOD!
Acts 17:18-23, "Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing) Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you."
Epicureans - followers of Epicurus (who died at Athens B.C. 270), or adherents of the Epicurean philosophy (Acts 17:18). This philosophy was a system of atheism, and taught men to seek as their highest aim a pleasant and smooth life. They have been called the "Sadducees" of Greek paganism.
Stoics - a sect of Greek philosophers at Athens, so called from the Greek word stoa i.e., a "porch" or "portico," where they have been called "the Pharisees of Greek paganism." The founder of the Stoics was Zeno, who flourished about B.C. 300. He taught his disciples that a man’s happiness consisted in bringing himself into harmony with the course of the universe. They were trained to bear evils with indifference, and so to be independent of externals. Materialism, pantheism, fatalism, and pride were the leading features of this philosophy.
Areopagus - the Latin form of the Greek word rendered "Mars’ hill." But it denotes also the council or court of justice which met in the open air on the hill. It was a rocky height to the west of the Acropolis at Athens, on the south-east summit of which the council was held which was constituted by Solon, and consisted of nine archons or chief magistrates who were then in office, and the ex-archons of blameless life.
Paul’s message and preaching to the Athenians aroused their curiosity. That should give us some insight into how we can people to listen to the message that we have for them concerning Jesus.
Paul didn’t go screaming into their face that they were sinners bound for hell. He didn’t join in their idol worship to gain their trust. He didn’t water down his message to get them to listen.
Paul spoke with the wisdom that God had given him. I believe that God will give us the words to say and the way to say them when we are ministering for Him and trying to reach out the lost. It is God’s desire to see all men saved and it is grievous to the Holy Spirit to see how often we drive people further from God by “in your face” methods of witnessing.
Paul began by appealing to their nature that was ever searching for new things and curiosity.
The Athenians on Mar’s Hill were the religious judges and education elite of Athens who sat in judgment and ruled on matters that were discussed in their schools of learning. To these men, Paul seemed nothing more than a “babbler” who taught of things that were not acceptable in the Athenian school of thought. It was no legal for Athenians to worship demons or God’s that they knew nothing about.
Does that sound like our world too? The educated elite and hierarchy of government and of our court system cannot and will not accept the preaching of the Gospel as the most important thing on this earth! They consider Christians as “out of touch with reality” and “ignorant” and sometimes we are branded as troublemakers and radicals.
The problem is that many who attempt to witness for the Lord to these people are not from the main stream of Christianity buy from the ranks of the radical or misled who take it upon themselves to be God’s messenger of condemnation and judgment.
It’s no wonder that those who are lost look upon Christianity as a lot of babbling that is of no real consequence.
Besides that, the ones who are trying to witness with the wrong attitude or spirit often cause more damage to the Body of Christ and bring a reproach upon the message of Salvation by doing illegal or unacceptable things in the preaching of their “word from the Lord”.
You won’t win an Abortionist by killing them or bombing their clinics. You won’t persuade them to follow Christ by picketing their offices. You will win them by showing them love and compassion and leading them to the loving Savior who can change their heart.
You won’t win the owner of a nightclub, or a member of the heavy metal crowd, or a drug addict or anyone else by condemning, fighting and judging! You will win them the same way that Paul did and that Jesus did while He walked this earth.
How many more people could we reach if we followed their example? Love, concern and compassion will draw people to Christ far more than condemnation and judging!
Acts 17:24, "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;"
Acts 17:25, "Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;"
God is not like any other god that man worships. Our God is Creator of all things. He is not made with hands of men, fashioned from some rock, tree or any other thing of creation. Man has no power to form our God. Man cannot define God’s likeness or appearance. Man cannot limit our God for our God is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent.
Acts 17:26, "And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;"
Man looks for a god that he can create and therefore create his own method of salvation. Instead of a god that is made by man, Paul preaches the truth that it is God who creates man and the path to salvation is only through the method that God has provided and no other.
Acts 17:27-28, "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring."
Oh, people of Athens, and those here today, we may claim to be seek after God but the truth is that God isn’t the one who is lost. We are lost but God is everywhere and we can’t make a single move, say a single word or do anything without God. All of creation, the universe we live in, the earth upon which we walk, the air we breathe and the food we eat are all gifts and provisions of God.
It is only in His will, His grace, His love, His provision that we even exist. God created us in His own image and then, through His power, provides everything necessary for us to live.
Acts 17:29-31, "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead."
Since we are the offspring of God, created in His image, how can we think that anything we build can be God? Oh foolish man, to think that we can create our own god or that anything can take His place in our lives.
God did not excuse unbelief and rebellion before you came to hear the truth but He held back judgment and granted mercy and then sent messengers to teach and preach the truth unto you concerning Himself. Now that we have heard the Gospel, you are held accountable for your actions and God expects us to believe His Word and repent of our sin and accept His plan of Salvation through Jesus Christ.
Now we can see where the dividing factor is in the message of the gospel. As long as the message is about “another god” who can be included in the mix of man’s acceptable beliefs, we can speak of God all we want. As long as the discussion or the preaching is generic and contains no power to convict, people will flock to hear and have their ears tickled.
Too many preachers and too many Christians attend churches for the wrong reason. You will draw a big crowd if your message is so watered down that it never gives place for anyone to see a need for repentance of sin.
If our message is one of God’s love, faith in His provision for every thing we want, or we teach pleasantries of relationship building, financial management and social interaction, people will come from everywhere to hear us. It’s not hard to build a crowd who just want to go to a church where they feel good about themselves and “never is heard a discouraging word”. They love to be in the crowd where the message is meant to build their self-esteem or their desire for a better lifestyle.
But, let the preaching of the Word of God go forth in power and conviction, and you will see those same people begin to fade into the woodwork and soon you won’t see them at all. God will “speak to them “ and they will “feel” that God has led them to move on to another church because they aren’t being “fed” anymore and they can’t “feel” the Spirit moving anymore, or whatever excuse they want to come up with.
When the preaching of the Word begins to teach a real commitment to the work of the Lord, or a change in the things we like to do, or bring conviction when the Holy Spirit deals with the heart of man, you will suddenly see a drop in the attendance.
There aren’t many large churches where the Lord Jesus Christ is allowed to move in truth and righteousness and change the hearts of people.
Too many people want the “dessert” but you can’t get them to eat real spiritual food! They are Spiritual Junk food Junkies!
The dividing factor on whether we will really be Chistian or not is based upon the fact that Jesus is the living God. Every other god that man worships is dead but Jesus is the only one who is alive forever!
Acts 17:32-34, "And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Just as it happened in Mar’s Hill on that day when the great Apostle Paul preached the truth of the gospel to those who were steeped in idolatry, the message has gone out to you and I. Now we must make our decision concerning that message.
Will we mock God, shake our fists in His face and refuse to hear and repent, or will we, like some did on that day, put it off a little longer until a more convenient time.
The fact is that whether we reject the message right now or put it off until another time, we are still lost and are in rebellion against the truth of the Gospel.
Those who will not receive the Gospel are condemned already for there is no other hope.
Those who choose to wait are also rejecting the Gospel for the present but the problem is that they have no promise of tomorrow, nor a promise that the Holy Spirit will ever deal with them again to come to repentance.
We can choose whether to accept or reject the message but we cannot choose when and where the Spirit will draw us to the Cross.
The response that God is looking for is seen in the last verse of this portion of scripture. There were some who “clave to Paul and believed the Gospel”. That’s what we must do!
Don’t reject the message! Don’t put off getting right with God! Redeem the time and repent right now while the Spirit is moving!
Only a few people received the Gospel in that entire city of people who constantly searched for truth and new knowledge and new things. Only a few were willing to put aside their pride and accept Christ.
Those few are likely the only ones of that entire city who will spend eternity in heaven.
Every one of those who heard the gospel that day and rejected it’s message of salvation are burning in the flames of hell right now and will be there for eternity.
God help us to accept your salvation right now while we have the chance. Help us not to reject you by refusing to hear or putting it off until another time.
2 Corinthians 6:2, "(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation)"
Today is the day of Salvation – there is no promise of another!
You have heard the message of the Gospel of Salvation through the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have your chance right now to come to Him in repentance, reject that message, or put it off until another time!
What will you do with that message? Your eternal destination hangs in the balance!
