Acts 17:16-34 -- Paul’s Ministry In Athens

so y'all at Acts chapter 17 okay cool well here is the deal speaking of being on a missionary journey and speaking about things being tough you know where Paul is right now he is in a tough City okay Acts chapter 17 and this is going to be beginning in verse 16 Paul is in the city of Athens Paul is in the city of Athens they were on their second missionary journey Paul and Silas and Timothy and Luke you might remember they are going all over the place they finally come over here to Greece bad stuff happens I mean Paul is in Thessalonica and he plants a church and things seem to be going so well but they boot him out of there well he was in Philip I before that and he plants a church and God uses him real big and he gets beaten and imprisoned let's see Berea remember he went from Thessalonica to Berea what happens he shares the Lord loves people planted church and the people go after him even there and this is where we find ourselves now so he gets chased out of cities on his missionary journey he's loving people for Jesus he's planting churches people are coming together and like you know hugging each other in Christ and he's the guy who gets run off now he's in Athens because he gets kind of what dropped off there because Athens isn't really his his gold city so to speak actually Corinth is he's in Athens because his guys dropped him off there and eventually they were gonna meet him there okay but you got to understand that Athens is not a fun town for a Christian at least the way maybe the world might think of it oh you're not gonna find anybody who's like you uh you're you know it's gonna be really tough you don't want to go there here's the thing Christian that's that's our field right that's our harvest field it doesn't matter how difficult the world thinks it will be for us because I'll tell you what when pastor Tim called me at like midnight the other night and said dude were we're in Houston right now in a line with 200 people trying to figure out what we're gonna do tonight you know what I my heart went out to him as I was cozying up in my bed I was like Tim hold on I gotta yawn oh no that's not but he and our team they had a great attitude they weren't good to go yeah they didn't get to their hotel until like 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning and they're still like hey ROG you know what this is where the Lord has us this is the way it's gonna be yeah Paul is in Athens of all towns he's probably like you know what this is where the Lord has me so house is where I'm gonna be this is what I'm gonna do for him so Athens is the place not very inviting for Christians but when you're a Christian with a purpose which all of us are it is the perfect place tell you well let's pray and we're gonna check it out let's see what happens all right let's pray and get into it God thank you so much Lord just for drawing us here together a beautiful day beautiful evening Lord where we now get to well first we got to worship you we praise you for that thank you that we are brothers and sisters were drawn into fellowship here together thank you for that Lord now to be able to study together your word or the inspired words these are the word of this is the Word of God that we have to study before us tonight and Lord in this privilege we pray for power Lord in this privilege we pray for preparation that you would prepare our hearts to receive what you have Lord that you would prepare us not just to receive it but but to be changed by it to be transformed by it and then Lord of course to go into this world this there's darkness Lord but you want the light there and you've you've given us that light though we want to be out there and we want to shine brightly for you Lord use us in those mighty ways we will ABB's we yield to your awesome power and your amazing will we love you Lord we pray Lord also we lift up our brothers and sisters on that missions trip God is they're boarding that plane Lord in New York we just pray it would go well for them it would go easy for them Lord give them just a relax time so that they can really prepare for disembarking into Brazil and getting on that portion of the trip we just lift up each one if there is any kind of an issue for one of them a physical emotional we pray right now please just supernaturally would you change that would you heal them would you give them sort of a a new shot of strength as they go we love you Lord and we pray that in Jesus name Amen so let's see Athens and its chapter 17 beginning in verse 16 let me just read it okay all the way through to the end of the chapter it says this now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols we're gonna like land on that for almost the entire study tonight let's see so he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons and in the marketplace every day with those who happen to be there some of the epicurean and stoic philosophers also conversed with him and some said what does this babbler wish to say others said he seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities because he was preaching Jesus in the resurrection and they took him and brought him to the Areopagus saying may we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting for you bring some strange things to our ears we wish to know therefore what these things mean verse 21 now when all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spent now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling of hearing some or hearing something new so Paul standing in the midst of the areopagus said men of Athens I perceive that in every way you are very religious for as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship I found also an altar with this inscription to the unknown God what therefore you worship is unknown this I proclaim to you the God who made the world and everything in it being lord of heaven and earth he does not live in temples made by man nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place that they should seek God in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him yet he is actually not far from each one of us for in him we live and move and have our being as even some of your own poets have said for we are indeed his offspring Paul quotes two Greek poets right there being men God's offspring we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone an image formed by the art and imagination of man 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 and then here comes a responses now when they heard of the resurrection of the Dead some mocked but others said we will hear you again about this so Paul went out from their midst but some men join him and believed among whom were dionysius the areopagite and a woman named amorous and others with them hmm what a story whoa like Paul has the most amazing things happen to when he goes on his little journeys doesn't he everything is so unexpected uh but expected he knows that God is gonna use him but here is the key Lord okay I am willing Lord I submit remember you guys perspective it matters we've talked about this in the past your perspective matters why are you how about this question why are you who you are why are you you and you aren't me by the way praise God for that but why why do you have the job that you have why do you why are you married to the spouse that you're married to why is it that you live in the house that you live in you know when we ask all of these questions here's what we always have to make sure of man first its perspective it's a can I say this simply it's a god thing it's a god thing that's that's what Paul is maybe he's staring at a city that hates the one true God and loves thirty thousand God's by the way that's what historians say these idols something like thirty thousand separate carved images have you heard that thirty thousand carved images Paul goes into a place where it's thirty thousand to one and he goes I'm taking it because this is a god thing this is the life of a Christian and every every you know every new circumstance every new place every new thing every new person every new interaction you guys we have to see it as a god thing we are on a mission our life is a missionary journey our life here it is but a twinkle man it goes that fast and then it's done and so God has you here where you are who you are as you are when you are because he it sees thing he has a purpose he wants to take you and use you in ways that you and I we would never really even think about who'd have thought that a dude like Paul would have faced the city as monumental I even mean that literally all the monuments and stuff but his money mental as Athens you're talking about the cultural capital of the world you're talking about the educational capital of the world they called Athens the University of the world the city was called the University of the world it was the religious capital of the world I just told you there were thirty thousand idols to whom some altar was built how do you even if not many in right if you heard the quote that says it was easier to find a God in Athens than it was a man that's why that's what people write of that City one Christian guy is there what could he have done could he said I'm done could he have just said you know what I'm waiting for my guys I'll be at the hotel check and hanging out he coulda but that's not what that's not what Paul did know what he did he realized this is a god thing Lord go ahead and use me Here I am or my heart is open to you how do you want to use it lord I know my commitment is first and foremost and last to the last that is to Christ my lord I know that you have a call in my life and that is to share the Gospel message because you see people here who are going to die and spend eternity in hell and you want me to see them with your eyes this is this is you guys this is the intro look at look at verse 16 again please not while while Paul was waiting for them at Athens I want you to see this his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols you gotta understand Luke is right or yeah Luke is writing this he's getting this story right he's getting the story at this point Luke is not there so this story is being told to him and you know what Paul doesn't do he doesn't go oh dude I saw the Parthenon up on the hill and it was the most amazing structure ever you should have seen all of the beautiful architecture and the artistry oh it was the you know what here's one thing to say about magnificent immaculate you know monumental Athens it's full of idols that was his commentary on an amazing city that was the cultural philosophical religious capital of planet Earth he saw and he just saw that it was full of idols and then I want you to see where it says his spirit was provoked within him that provoked its it sparks you know it's where we get the word paroxysm from that's often I think that's a medical term but paroxysm it's like it's like a quick jolt it's an agitation it doesn't feel good a paroxysm it's something that kind of hurts and what this what this tells you it says his spirit was provoked with him as he saw that the city was full of idols I want you to understand something that wasn't a singular statement what that meant was as he walked through Athens and every time he would like hit an altar he would see an idol a paroxysm he'd be like this oh and paroxysm means agitation to the point of pain and so what it says is every time I saw this is Paul speaking to Luke okay let's just say I'm giving the story to Luke as Paul listen this is what it was man Athens Areopagus okay okay the idols dude every time I walk past one it hoped like every time I saw one every time I saw a woman wearing a trinket on her on her neck I went like this like I it was so much for me man and the way Paul puts it here is individually so every time was an episode in my life every time you guys every person that God puts before you and we're gonna see that here it's literally going to say that every single person that came across the path of Paul was Paul's target for the gospel I mean I want to be like that I want to be like that guy but this is what stimulates him okay it hurts when we have the eyes of God to see as God sees you know what we see people who are destined for hell and every time we see that person we go like this oh I got some power I don't know a doctor knows how to treat this a doctor is gonna say here man let me help you when you're your issue and this is the kind of thing that Paul says I will do because I have the power I have the ability I have something that's beyond me and I want you to also notice please to there that it says he was provoked in his spirit which also tells us this very very I think it's an important thing not to overlook in fact I in my own Bible have spirit circled it's have you ever heard me say this you put on your Jesus glasses put on your Jesus guys you're walking around you know when you want to see life put on your Jesus classes that's what he was doing it says that he was provoked in the spirit he saw everything from the spiritual glass through the spiritual glasses first and then he analyzed it intellectually and then he decided he would make his little plan up here's what I'm gonna do or here's what I'm gonna say and then we know that God often got in the way of that right he was gonna go preach in Asia and gods like nope you're not going there still Paul was acting in the spirit he gets provoked he sees everything in the spirit he makes his little plan out and he goes and then it's up to God whether he's gonna put somebody in his path to speak the gospel to or flip a u-turn and go back but it's always the Lord's thing the deal was he submitted he yielded in the spirit responding to a provocation and it's weird to say this way of Payne it's you know you you know you guys when we say something like that when we say oh it hurts here's what we mean we mean it is the love of Christ manifest okay when I say that the loo that love hurts oh it hurts when I see that what I mean is that is the love of Christ manifest when he's dying on a on a cross and blood is dripping down onto the ground and his flesh is so ripped up you can't even you could look at him and go wait a minute is that Jesus because I don't really recognize the man that that Jesus he endured the pain right he endured the cross is that he bore it why because if his love for us because of his love for you and me so when we say something like oh it hurts you got to understand that's a god thing to say it that way you're not saying it to to draw any attention to yourself you know you're you don't want to be weird about it you don't say it hurts I want to love you like Jesus loved you I want to do what Jesus did for you whatever it takes because I understand spiritually what this means it's either your eternal destiny in hell or your eternal destiny with God it's really that black and white these are the kinds of things that go through my mind as I see one single man take on thirty thousand idols plus all the people that are there in the city one more question I do this one more question before I get into that specific text is it and that's this what about your city what about your city how do you see your city huh you maybe I'm speaking literally to you maybe you're like the kind of person who wants to walk downtown and you just want to walk up to people and say hi you know Jesus loves you and I do too can I tell you about Jesus maybe you're one of those people maybe your city is your workplace maybe your city is your school maybe your city is but there's a place God is taking to you that you cannot deny you know that God puts you there like almost like this in a state of your nests like why am I here right like Paul's in Athens it's kind of a state of weirdness but it wasn't I want to challenge you to to pray that before the Lord in your own time Lord what is my city is this my city and as soon as God reveals that you guys don't sit on it go for it that's what Paul's gonna do right now okay so this all chi told we were gonna hit verse 16 verse 16 again now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens his spirit there were paroxysms provoked ah pain every time because he looked through his Jesus glasses because he saw the darkness he saw all of these idols this is the way Christians do it it says so this here comes ready here comes the response now okay God you've shown it I love them like you do so it hurts send me and here comes verse 17 so he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons and in the marketplace every day with those here's the key who happened to be there in the Greek that literally means everyone who crossed his path that's like I said that's inspiring me it's a little scary but it's inspiring too so as he always does when he goes into a new city where did Paul go first he always went to the synagogue always went to the synagogue first he spoke to the Jews he spoke to the to the Greeks in this case who had attached themselves to Judaism and as Paul did he reasoned from the scriptures remember he used the scriptures he would go back to Abraham or whatever else and he would lead it right on up to show them that Jesus was the promised Messiah of the Scriptures he always used the scriptures and we've had a past teaching about that well here we don't get a lot of detail were just told that he reasoned in the synagogue's with the Jews and the devout persons and then it says this he did it in the marketplace and that he did that every day every day I'm simply impressed so Paul shares the Lord and he does it because what was it again he's looking through his spiritual glasses his Jesus glasses yeah he's feeling up the paroxysms he's feeling a little agitation the pain yeah and and he says anybody got who you bring across my path I will go ahead and share your message too in my own notes listen I put this we all need to have a marketplace ministry let me tell you what I mean by that I was reading statistics and studies and all that stuff but I learned that since 1991 the number of adults in our nation who haven't ever been to a church has doubled has doubled that's less than 30 years isn't it if my math is right that's twenty-seven twenty-eight years the number of adults in this nation who hasn't who haven't ever gone to a church has double that is a phenomenal increase in the number of adults who don't or have never gone to a church I mean even my parents have gone to a church wait I got another one here eighty-five million adult this is Pew Research by the way 85 million adults say that they have no future intention of ever visiting a church 85 million say they will not do it as much as I wish that we could draw people into the church so that I can proclaim the message of Jesus and we can share the love of Christ as the body of Christ as much as you and I want that you guys the hard numbers say the likelihood is very little the primary way people come to church is when another Christian draws them in and the primary way that happens is through the establishment of a relationship you know we can put we can do all that we can as a church to let this community know that we love them we care for them we have ministries and schools now remember we did the bike clinic we've done the VBS for kids all over this community we have the OP the the Bible Club oh my goodness Mary Ann's gonna kill me Mary yeah the good news club see she's right there we have the good news club and it's going on in two elementary schools in our community we are reaching out to people left and right right but you the individual so say the statistics are much more effective you individually even by God's design here can be much more effective we all need a marketplace ministry that means that you actually have to approach people you need to tell them about Jesus you need to tell them about church you need to encourage and entice and do all of those things because people will listen much more to you than the guy standing behind a podium on the stage they are more inclined to listen to you individually and I think Paul knew that that's why he said God any one person you put in my path I will walk up to that person and say hi did you know Jesus loves you or whatever Paul says this is what I would call our marketplace ministry so I want to challenge you as well okay first of all was what is your city and then secondly my marketplace ministry let's go on what else does what else happens here so he does that thing it says some of the epicurean and stoic philosophers will talk about them also conversed with him and some said what does this babbler wish to say others said he seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities because he was preaching Jesus and the rest perfection okay well hey at least some of the smart guys have a reaction to what Paul had to say because by the way the way this is written it's sorted like this the normal people and the smart guys and it wasn't condescending that's not it at all a distinction is made because back in happens there were distinctions like that you were a smart dude or you were just kind of one of the normals and so it's int I think it's cool that we actually get to see the distinction here because you're gonna notice in the very end you know who it's gonna say get saved or who follows you one of the guys on the council right I can't remember his name but I'll get to it and then a woman who has no title now typically when you just get a woman you don't recognize her by title you don't name that she is the wife of or blah blah blah that normally means she's just a normal girl so what's so cool here is in the very end what this is going to say is through the city God put before Paul through the marketplace ministry and just you know sharing the gospel from the lowest to the highest get saved from the most normal to the most educated get saved you guys see these little details matter because they're supposed to encourage you don't don't like get intimidated sometimes it can be intimidating to talk to like you know professor or so-and-so or somebody who has you know 10 degrees or or it has lots of knowledge or something cares you know you've got the gospel that you you're presenting right the gospel is the power and that's that's the power that say that's the power unto salvation and so hey if it worked on mr. high-and-mighty intellectual counsel guy and Miss normal citizen of Athens it'll for anybody all right so here's what it says these Stoics and these epicureans they finally respond now the I don't want to get real deep into it okay Epicureans more or less they were the ones who said live for the moment okay they weren't atheists but practically speaking because they didn't believe that there were gods that you have personal relationship with there were gods but they were off in their own thing never a connection between humanity and divinity so they'd like don't even think about the divine part of it so they would tell you okay if you have a soul it's attached to your body when your body dies your soul dies so what's the end result live for now you know make it feel good live in the moment the current pleasure that was sort of the epicurean thing in a nutshell yes it is much broader yes there are like six or seven segments to Epicureanism that's not what we're talking about right here just remember their same pleasure is the main purpose of life so that's one group Stoics what about the Stoics Zeno a guy from Athens II know the philosopher he teaches in essence pant you know pantheism everything is God God is everything in the rocks the trees the mountains you need the cosmos everything God that that's a that's a stoic position they were more about like just kind of take it you know just just grin and bear it you ever heard that one for grin and bear it whatever comes comes whatever happens happens don't overreact be real even-keeled and you're good to go like they would even be called humanitarians they would help other people you know they cared about you whereas the Epicureans were like dude leave me alone I'm taking care of me so again I think what God is showing us is that he the gospel goes to all corners to all perspectives to all philosophies so here they are listening to some of them call him a babbler do you know literally that means seed picker it's a it's a it's a reference to a marketplace sparrow they had these little birds that flew around in the marketplace and you'd see them and they just kind of pick up seeds here pieces of food there and they would try to feed themselves with whatever they could so they actually ascribed that term to Paul they called him a seed picker and what that meant philosophically was you don't really have a cogent coherent steady consistent argument to make you're taking a little piece of Epicureanism here a little piece of Stoicism here a little piece of blah blah blah bear you're trying to get them all together and tell us this is knowledge because remember they were all about knowledge you just a seed picker dude this is garbage all right fine some of them said that you know what some people will call you and me seed Pickers right so to speak so to speak we should always only get it out of here so don't be picking it out of anywhere else but some people are gonna make those kinds of ridiculous comments and you just whatever that's between you and the Lord so here he gets their attention they caught some of them ridicule him some on the other hand misunderstood now this is where it gets kind of interesting you see where it says they're thinking that Paul has some new thing for them right they're all into knowledge they're all intellectualism all education so they think they're about to learn something new particularly about these 30,000 idols maybe now it's thirty thousand plus more maybe that's what it is it's an interesting it's an interesting detail here but very intentional that they use plurally foreign divinities they use the word gods not God as if Paul were introducing a new God the way it struck in the original language it literally means more than one god so the best I agree I think this is the best response or the best reason why is because they thought that Paul was saying I have two gods to introduce to you one's name is Jesus one's name is resurrection the god Jesus and the god resurrection and so what they just heard was wow this man has two new gods to introduce to us or to tell us about today and by the way in Athens that wasn't uncommon like they had gods too like abstract concepts they had gods you know to to to mercy you know they have gods to virtue they have these kinds of things so if he said you know it's a god resurrection and okay we can we can see that come together but sir we would like to know more and this is where it gets really really interesting it says and they took him and brought him to the Areopagus saying may we know what this new teaching is that you were presenting for you bring some strange things to our ears we wish to know therefore what these things mean now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend and tuck their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new notice that the Holy Spirit told us to know verse 21 all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new can human beings get caught up oh let's see in really really irrelevant boy I could go off on this one irrelevant topic let me keep it clean irrelevant topics as far as their existence as far as their eternal state as far as all of those things go yes of course they can here's the deal Christian don't get caught up in it that's I think that's just the most important thing for a believer don't don't go off and get yourself too stuck in some topics that don't actually well that aren't part of like for example the Great Commission you know some people invest like their entire lives in endtime prophecy I think it's an awesome thing to know but nowhere in Scripture are you told to dedicate your time of ministry into end times prophecy we're not told to spend all that time there we're told to know of it but we know of it why to inspire us to react because I know the end times are coming and I know that the time is now it's supposed to make me go I shall follow the Great Commission and then off I go so Christians can even get lost in this stuff but then of course also what he's telling us is look they're gonna be people they're not believers they're gonna listen to you they're gonna kind of chastise you they'll ask those questions that almost don't matter you need to know Church and this has got to be a topic for another day but you need to know when enough is enough you need to be you need to know Jesus he didn't stay on one person or one group all the others they didn't stay on one person in one group they shared the gospel they answered questions when they felt that the answer to the question was fruitful but as soon as they as soon as they sensed or realized this is not going to become fruitful or this is one of those vain irrelevant babbling things they were able to say enough is enough this is a very important part of the Christian I think experience don't get caught up in it and recognize if somebody tries to catch you in it so that's verse that's verse 20 verse 21 here comes so paul standing in the midst of the areopagus now the you know i was supposed to show you a picture of the parthenon but that's okay so the Areopagus this little hill that's located right there there it is the little hill right this angle is you know that you guys put up the Parthenon would you if you can I'm putting a lot of pressure on oh there it is okay so that's the that's the big temple that everybody knows of Athens right it's called the Parthenon and so it's on this this little section above Athens and known as the Acropolis it's like a little little area of buildings of temples and other things and it's all up there so the Acropolis is up here just a little bit north and to the west is what is called this the Areopagus which is that little hill that you just saw yeah you guys put that picture of the hill back on so now you're looking at it from the Parthenon and that is what is called Mars Hill okay Mars it we call it Mars Hill Areopagus is just a translation because Mars is the God of War it meant war it meant let's see God of War Rock which meant Mars Hill that's why you'll get Mars Hill out of it okay but that's so that's where Paul went and before this this group now it was well known I mean people went to Mars Hill people went to the court and presented their cases and they talked philosophy and a lot of this vain stuff and all that and so they said hey Paul sounds like you got some stuff to tell us come on come with us and and tell us about it so here's Paul now on Mars Hill and he's about to do most of me who to thought remember you guys how we started this whole thing just one guy one Christian who would not want to be in Athens he made himself open and look where God's got him now verse 22 men of Athens I proceed that in every way you are very religious for as I passed along and observe the objects of your worship I found also an altar with this inscription to the unknown God what therefore you worship is unknown this I proclaim to you now let's look at it how about this how about Paul's presentation so Paul knew that he was called there by the Lord to share the gospel he knew because he saw through his Jesus glasses that these were unsaved men and women that he was looking at all around all over the place every time he's on idle oh he got a little pain in his spirit and so now what he has to do is present to this particular group the message of the gospel again this has to be a topic for another day but I want you to think about about this let's see how deep do I get when you present the gospel context matters and when I talk about context I'm talking about surroundings I'm talking about culture I'm talking about the little details of your audience all of those things context matters when you share the gospel with let's say you know 85 year old grandma Joan it's gonna be different than sharing the gospel with eight-year-old grandson Jeff it's just gonna be different it's the same message of the gospel but because the context is different your presentation has to be different so this we we would just call this contextualization so that's what you see Paul doing okay he is contextualizing the gospel now here's one point that I want you to understand when you contextualize you are shooting for two things and I'm sorry I don't have this written so we either write it down or remember it or something but you're shooting for two things one you are shooting for a point of contact also known as a point of commonality okay you're shooting for a point of contact or a point of commonality however what you want to do in that contact or commonality is create conflict so you go from contact or commonality to conflict so that's the that's the purpose of contextualization you get them in to get them out you connect your hearts to make them go wait a minute I want to stay connected to you man not to that so you have to connect but you have to create conflict otherwise there's no incentive for them to listen to what you have to say otherwise they're gonna say everybody so what if you got Jesus I got you know Muhammad that's where you have to bring that place of commonality or contact and then get to that place of conflict that's exactly the method that Paul is gonna use here so think about it now okay contextualization here's what he says he goes I perceive that in every way you are very religious there you go is that commonality yes it is okay for as I passed along and observe the objects of your worship I found also an altar with this inscription to the unknown God is that a point of contact yes he made them and their stuff important to himself you know all this work and stuff that you guys did Wow like I checked it out like it really mattered now here comes what therefore you worship is unknown this I proclaim to you not exactly conflict but it definitely sort of entices them as something is about to come here so so the introduction you guys just study this okay I would be able to give you an entire study just on that verse alone but we're gonna have to we're gonna have to continue through but I can tell you this I think Paul as a Christian looking at what he saw could you imagine walking through a city 30,000 idols and then seeing a place an altar that says to the own God how would that break your heart huh how oh I hope it does that's what we have to see all around us that's what we have to watch on TV that's that's what we have to listen through the news you know those those stories that you just want to punch the reporter you need to look at it like this you understand what's inspiring them the gospel isn't inspiring them it's it's the flesh it's this whole idea of stoicism and Epicureanism and everybody in between and everybody outside and so Paul just said okay okay let me let me get into your world and he walks past me and he says this he says I I can see what idolatry does I can see what you know agnosticism does I can see what atheism does I can see what everything does when it is not focused on the one true God and I am now going to tell you about it he says the God who made the world and everything in it being Lord of Heaven and Earth does not live in temples made by man okay here's a point of conflict because they got temples all over the place especially that Parthenon nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything like whoa like that is a mind-blower right there his first point I made this into three points first one is this okay how he stunned them he said God is the maker not the made God is the Creator not the created okay that was his first point right there blew him away when you have thirty thousand hand-carved idols and altars and stuff what do you think man's gonna think he's kind of all that ok well this might be the God to so-and-so but look whose knife carved it you know look who had to do the work in the metal shop and all that to make it look just so and man you'll notice whenever oh you guys outside of biblical Christianity man always has some kind of power over God man always can do something which will force the hand of that God it might be a particular prayer it might be a particular ritual a particular sacrifice it can be anything but what that means is to some degree one or another the man has some sort of power over the God and what Paul is saying here is I want to wipe that entire concept right off the table right now because the one true God he's not even in that and the remotest he's in his own dimension he's always been we haven't we came from his hand he didn't come from our hand and so what are they looking at thirty thousand idols of looking out into the city and stuff I don't know where they we're in little trinkets probably but this is this is pretty stellar Paul says God is greater but it doesn't just say greater he turns it into infinity greater God is God you are not there is a chasm that cannot be crossed so God is the maker not the made here's another one God is the giver he has no need to be given to okay God does the giver he doesn't need man to give him anything God is the God who gives all things that provide for life God is the God who provides all things that allows you to to live and breathe and move and everything else and this is not the way they had pictured at the time now they would think that a God could suddenly come down and strike you dead with lightning but they didn't think of God literally kept your heart being you know we we we believe God's in at all we believe God's in it man he's there he just took he just took that God and he put a man that's stellar that's something that they would never have thought of God is the giver he doesn't need you in fact he gives himself to you remember what the Epicureans thought they believed that there were quote gods but the gods had removed themselves they had absolutely no interest in humanity none and yet here's Paul saying WOW not only do you not have to do anything for him he's gonna do everything for you because you matter to him that much that was a mind-blower right there guys as far as idolatry goes let's see so giver let me let me read you a note that I've made to myself here okay um he identifies them as religious people that's the point of contact or commonality he says you're important to me like I walked around and I checked stuff out and you know I want to explain it then he gives them these sort of conflicting things with what they knew versus what was true here's where I would want to go next with Paul and I know he's clean on this he would have to make sure that he himself is not an idolaters okay you understand what an idolatry is an idolatry you are worshipping something that you call God and if that something is anything but the true God of the Bible that is your idol that is your God you are an idolaters okay that's what idolatry means so if if Paul had you know decided that he was gonna spend a lot of his time let's say making money when he didn't really need to he only needed to sell some tenths or do something then he would be demonstrating to these people actually there's a little idolatry in my life and money happens to be my idol idolatry you guys it's it's dangerous because it's sometimes it's inconspicuous sometimes it just get in there sometimes it's very overt but we don't think about it like that like kids kids can become idols because you see entire lives change where it's like you know everything now revolves around the child till the till they're 18 and the whole family's life seen that many times self can be an idol worship of self I mean come on how much do we see that nowadays right that's like the religion of the day who self worship but idolatry a husband a wife can be an idol a hobby can be an idol anything can be an idol if it demonstrates that it holds more what would you say priority in your life than God takes more of your attention then your God what else you you you dedicate more to it then your God you sort of your life evolves around it rather than your God sure and you can come up with all of these things in your own head but whatever you can come up with that answers yes to those questions is an idol to you so you have to be able to go before the Lord every morning and actually very humbly say Lord would you reveal my idol Lord would you cleanse me of this you know I'm sorry God that I have put somebody or something before you this idolatry it could be a job it could be a friend it could be some passion it could be anything you guys but oh you have to be that careful because this is precisely what Paul is speaking up against anything that competes with the God of truth is wrong thirty thousand plus whatever okay so this is what Paul had to make sure he was not a hypocrite but he himself demonstrated God is the God of truth okay so God is the maker God is the giver let's move on here verse twenty six seven and eight I have this God is the draw DRA W are and that means drawing others to himself and he made from one one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him you see how did he want he wanted always through history to draw people to himself yet he is actually not far from each one of us in other words why did men always have to make it so hard to get to God when God's history with mankind was open arms that's what he was hand right there and then he quotes a couple of Greek poets for in him we live and move and have our being as I'm sorry for in him we live and move and have our being as even some of your own poets have said for we are indeed his offspring Paul was trying to make this concept palpable they could not think of a God who's just there with his arms open and ready to receive you like a daddy his little child they would make these these poets they would speak this sort of stuff but that was just you know that was verbal artistry that's all it had no real truth attached to it and so Paul had to make the point that you guys every consider your history oh by the way happens they knew their history very well they the the Greece the Greeks the Romans all of that that entire system was very well documented they knew it all and so Paul would even be able to say look think back in your own records and all the stuff that you know everything that happened was because there is a God who has his arms open and has only wanted to draw you to himself you see these are again these are mind-blowing things you would call them conflicting in their minds I don't think they wanted to punch him but it would have just made them go white and we're actually gonna see the response at the end but but that's where he takes them here nothing is arbitrary that's craziness they thought so much was arbitrary in those days they were just like well if that happens it happens oh my own coincidence oh man whatever and Paul says no no no he's had his eye on you for so long in fact all of humanity that from the very beginning he set his plan in place to draw you into himself in Hebrews 11:6 whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and he is a rewarder to those who seek him and in Jeremiah 29:13 he goes you will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all of your heart it's been historical God he has always had his arms open he's always made the circumstances so that you can come to him now look you guys sometimes yes it meant war sometimes it did mean genocide sometimes it meant just really yucky things but what Paul was trying to say is don't stop there because if your perspective ever stops there you're dead in the water you've got to think bigger you've got to think heavenly you've got to think with those spiritual glasses he goes if you think about it that way then every one of your recorded wars and genocides and all that junk make sense it's because there's a God who loves you and he just wants you to be his child your offspring don't don't think about it in any other way yours awesome let's go on verse 29 being then God's offspring we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver stone an image formed by the art and imagination of man and that's kind of self-explanatory right got it absolutely not so here comes here's the biggie verse 30 the times of ignorance God overlooked in other words he didn't just zap you with lightning and kill all of man once and for all for all of their sin even though I think he wanted to do that a time or two he didn't he goes okay okay but now now he's commanding all people everywhere to repent because he has fixed the day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed we know him to be Jesus and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead Paul always ended his Gospel message with the reference to the resurrection if he be not raised then all of this is meaningless it was the resurrection every time Paul shares the gospel that's his formula this is think about it like this people of Athens let me know let me now trans let me let me now shift our focus let's go from philosophy to reality to responsibility so he takes their philosophy and he creates a commonality with reiha let me see if I got that right in common poor right a commonality yeah so he takes philosophy and he connects it to reality got it there's your common point right there your connector now here's the crazy part he was about I want to take this reality and I want to turn it into a responsibility that's the part that drives them see that's the conflict because now he puts it on you he goes okay I just taught you you guys are all intellectual you want to know stuff here's your stuff here you go I just clarified some things about this unknown God okay we got all right Paul that was a little tough we're trying to process it it goes but wait a minute that's not all now that you know it you got to respond to it and that's your point of conflict because he has fixed a day he says when he will judge you you better know that if you don't answer if you don't respond the way you're called to you will be judged that means verdict will be rendered consequence you shall pay or you can know about this man he's righteous that in effect would be them hearing this there is a perfect man who was appointed to this right so unlike you unlike me there was a special guy and if you respond to this special guy something special will happen to you so here's your point of responsibility right here are you gonna answer it or are you not and you can just picture the people I don't know you guys you can just kind of figure it out what are they thinking he goes from philosophy to reality to responsibility versus 30 to 33 and 34 this is it what happens now when they heard of the resurrection from the dead some mocked cuz he used that as a stamp but others said okay okay we will hear you again about this so Paul went out from their myths but some men joined him and believed among whom also were dionysius the areopagite see there's a title that means he was a man of great influence and the miss and a woman named amorous you don't know who her family is she has no title what that tells you and me is she was just a woman in the city who believed oh and others and others does you love how Jesus there how God does that when people get saved so hmm what do you think I was looking at that final part there you guys you know if I'm gonna be like Paul in Athens let's go back to the beginning of our study because I'm done here let's go back to the beginning of what we talked about so a Christian named Paul gets thrown before the city called Athens and they ain't a good fit if you only look at it from a fleshly point of view if you look at it from a spiritual point of view it was like dude all there is man harvest my field is field is ready that's you and I we got the city we got whatever else he's calling you by name and he's ain't there there's the field going harvest so Paul doesn't he goes through remember every time he sees something that violates his glorious God and demonstrates dying people remember he had that oh that paroxysm that thing in his heart that agitation as we look at people we look at them with the love of Jesus and that's why we can say it pains me to see that you don't know Jesus okay so that's number two you love them like Jesus does okay so what what happens next you make the effort you go he's okay Lord so Paul goes into the what does it say he goes into the synagogue he goes into the marketplace and he just presents it to anybody who will bump into him right says anybody who crossed his path you and I you guys we have to be bold we have to be yielded Lord okay if you're gonna bring this person into my path I'm going for it okay then what happened next something happens whether it's the person you're talking to directly or something else something spawns and you're gonna just say praise the Lord something spawns how am I gonna react to that in this case it was Paul going hey I get to go up there I get to go to Mars Hill and so off he goes so when you have that willingness and that submission to it God does the next thing and you react and then what you have a real presentation of the gospel here now you guys so what did I say you got to be thoughtful when I talked about this thing called contextualization which means you know your people you know the world around you you know what's going on and you pray and you seek after the Lord Lord how can i connect with them what's that point of commonality and you present that connection you present that point of commonality and you you you what did I say you go from philosophy to react you have to drive them towards the reality of of the God of the Bible and then once you have the commonality once you have that point there you have to drive them to the point of conflict take them from the reality to the responsibility and that's gonna be something again that's you the Holy Spirit will lead you to it you guys but you have to be willing to do it you have to be ready you have to know with full confidence if God got me to Mars Hill something more is gonna happen here and what happens after that is that your responsibility no some big high-flying guy in the town said yes to Jesus and some sweet will just say this some sweet little mommy in town also said yes to Jesus and others those weren't Paul's responsibility those were God's but you know what Paul got to do he got to look back in here you have to look back at at all Wow Lord what a plan you had for me Wow Lord how perfect is your will from my life man God if my flesh would have beat my spirit I would have been in a hotel room waiting for my guys you and I let's let's let's consider the life that God has given to you actually this is how I started at all why are you you consider the life God's given to you see how it is the Lord will use you as he used Paul there in Athens let's pray

Channel: Calvary Prescott

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Id: 5Kat7APKdNE

Length: 65min 36sec (3936 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 11 2019