Proof

Proof

Act 17:22-31

Intro: There was an old man who had witnessed a burglary and appeared in court to identify the guilty party.

. The prosecutor questioned him and he identified the defendant as the man who had committed the crime.

. Now it was the defense attorney’s turn. He asked the man, "Did you see my client commit this burglary?"

. "Yes," the man said. "I saw him plainly commit the crime."

The lawyer added, "This happened at night. Are you sure you saw my client commit this crime?"

"Yes, I saw him do it," the man said.

The lawyer then said, "You are 80 years old and your eyesight probably is not as good as it used to be. Just how far can you see at night?"

The man said, "I can see the moon. How far is that?"

. We all want proof don’t we?

. We won’t believe something unless someone proves it to us.

. That’s the science background that we get in school. You must have verifiable proof of something in order to believe it.

. That’s what Easter is all about. A verifiable fact.

. Proof that Jesus was and is who He claimed to be.

. We get caught up in egg hunts and call it outreach.

. It’s an opportunity to buy new clothes, I am sporting a new shirt myself this morning. You realize that not all men can pull off pink don’t you.

. We get and give Easter baskets but that is not what Easter is all about.

. Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ proving that he is from God and that He is one part of the triune God.

. This video will drive home just what Easter is all about.

. Play resurrection scene form the gospel of Matthew video series.

. Folks that is what Easter is all about.

. In our scripture this morning, Paul writes that this resurrection proves who Jesus was and is.

. The Apostle Paul was traveling throughout Asia and what we call the Middle East and he found himself in Athens.

. Paul was waiting for Timothy and Silas to join him and while he was waiting, he toured the city.

. At that time, Athens was one of the cultural giants in the known world. They were on the cutting edge of mathematics and science and the philosophical giants.

. As Paul walked around he saw all these statues that depicted the great gods of the Greeks.

. Scripture tells us that Paul was greatly distressed by what he saw.

. It seemed everybody believed in some kind of god but no one seemed to believe in the one true God of the Bible.

. On the highest point of the city sat the Acropolis, a massive structure that served as a citadel and temple to the goddess Athena.

. To the west sat Mars Hill and on that summit sat what was called the Aeropagus. A place where all the great philosophers would meet and debate the meaning of life.

. This is where our scripture picks up the narrative.

. 22So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way,

23for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.

24“He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples,

25and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.

26From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

27“His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.

28For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

29And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.

30“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.

31For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”

. As I read and studied this passage, the correlation between the Athenians and our society today is amazing.