10/9/13

From Ben Fronczek... Acts 17 – The Apostle Paul in Athens

Acts 17 – The Apostle Paul in Athens


Read Acts 17:13-21

“When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.” (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)”

So here we go with Paul again fleeing from one place to another because he is being persecuted for doing something good. And here we find him now in the capitol of the Greek world, Athens. Athens had actually reached its prime 500 years before Paul visited it, in the time of Pericles (461-429 B.C.). However Athens was still the cultural and intellectual center of the Greek world. While there, Paul could not help but see the many temples and statues that still stand there today. Today these objects are of interest mainly for their archaeological and artistic value, but in Paul’s day they were idols and places of worship that the Greeks regarded as holy. It was said that there were more statues of the gods in Athens than in all the rest of Greece put together, and that in Athens it was easier to meet a statue of a god than a man. (30,000 statues) The Apostle Paul arrived there in Athens after visiting and starting churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. Unfortunately he was persecuted and had to flee each town. And so that’s what brought him to Athens. After being in Athens and observing all of these idols, he can’t help himself and had to speak up and talk about Jesus, first in the local synagogue and then in the marketplace which caught the attention of local Epicureans and Stoic philosophers. The Epicureans were disciples of Epicurus (341-270 B.C.) who believed that pleasure was the greatest good and the most worthy pursuit of man. Pleasure in the sense of tranquillity and freedom from pain, and fears, especially the fear of death. Epicurus taught that the gods took no interest in human affairs. Thus organized religion was viewed as irrelevant because  the gods would not punish evildoers in the afterlife. Epicurus’ followers also believed that everything happened by chance and that death was the end of all. This philosophy is still popular today.  Many people still believe that pleasure is the ultimate goal to seek out. And many people today don’t think God is involved in our life in a personal way. Some don’t believe in an after life or hell, and that everything happen only by chance. Stoics followed the teachings of Zeno the Cypriot (340-265 B.C.). The name “stoic” comes from “stoa,” a particular portico where he taught when he lived in Athens. His followers placed great importance on living in harmony with nature. (Sound familiar: Have you hugged your tree today?) They stressed individual self-sufficiency and rationalism, and they had a reputation for being quite arrogant. Stoics believed that God is in everything, and everything is God. They were also fatalistic or believed that all events are predetermined so that man is powerless to alter his destiny. Many of their teachings are also common today. And so these philosophers are curious about what Paul was teaching and invite him to speak before a council of men called the Areopagus. In his speech he has some amazing things to tell them, especially considering who they were and what they believed.

I want to share with you a couple of things that caught my attention and I feel is relevant for us today.

 #1. Read. 17:22-23  “Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 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 as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.”

Being religious, and surrounding yourself with all kinds of religious icons and people who think alike doesn’t necessarily meant that you have a relationship with our God, nor does it ensure salvation. As a matter of fact, these people even though they were steeped in their religious relics, they did not even know the one true God. They had had obviously been to busy making up new ones and then side-tracked themselves with others philosophies and false truths that were popular during that time.

Read  24:24-27  ““The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.  And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. “

As Paul begins to inform them about our God who they do not know. He lets them know that He is the God that:

- He made all things and is Lord of heaven and on earth (Not Zeus)

- He  doesn’t live in man-made temples, nor is He served by human hands

- He is God! He gives al men life and breath and everything else. He doesn’t need anything from us.

- He determines the time to be set for man and even where we should live.

 WHY?   
#2   V. 27 says, He does all this so that “men will seek Him and  reach out for Him and perhaps find Him!”

I love this thought here. God and Lord of the universe, the most awesome and powerful being in the universe, who created us, who sustains us, who determines a time and place for us to be born;    even though He is invisible, has a strong desire for me and you to personally seek Him out, with the hope of finding Him. Our God is not the kind of God who is throwing Himself on us or forcing Himself on us. He wants to be sought out and pursued. I can’t help but think that He wants to be pursued like a lover, like someone who is real important to you. That’s how intimate of a relationship our God and our Father want to have with us. I don’t believe He is interested in being some kind of religious icon, to have His image set in stone to put on your shelf or plant in your lawn. He wants us to hunger and thirst for Him, to search for Him, and seek Him out. HE want us to be driven to get to know Him. When asked, what did Jesus say was the greatest of all commandments? To love God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and being.   You don’t fall in love with anyone like that without  pursuing them. 

God told the Israelites in Deut. 4:29 
“if you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

The Psalmist wrote, “Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.” (105:4)

I believe it’s when you seek God out and pursue Him like this you move from being simply ‘religious’ to becoming a genuine disciple. We read that God wants sons and daughters who love and want to have a relationship with Him and not just treat Him like some kind of Greek god whose way up there who just threw things into motion, sits back and watches, and expect us to revere Him simply because HE is God.

Re-read 17:27-28  “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’

#3  God is not way up there some place, rather He is near, for in Him we exist, and move, and live.   God is as close to us as our breath and closer. We just  need to open our eyes of faith. David understood this.


God is right here with you and me, and you can’t hide from Him. We just need to learn to open up our eyes of faith, our spiritual eyes and then learn to practice the very presence of God everyday. God is closer than you may realize. As a Christian, He very Spirit is in us.Let me read one last section to you for the next point.  

Read Acts 17:28-34 “‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” At that, Paul left the Council. A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.”

#4  In this text Paul told them that in the past God overlooked their ignorance but now He commands all people to repent (that is to get on the right track, to return to Him, to turn from ignorance to truth). And that truth is found in Jesus;  not in the Greek Gods, not in Philosophies of that time, nor of this time, nor is it found in any other man made religion like, Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism, Islam or any other religion. God wants us to turn to Him and Him alone, and seek Him out. We are His offspring. He is our heavenly Father.  And Paul lets them, and us know that He has set a day when He will judge the world. What does that mean?

Listen to what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in his second letter.  He wrote this: “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power” (2 Thess. 1:7b-10)

Over and over we are told in Scripture that there is a great day coming when all mankind will be judged. Those who believe in, and have accepted God and His son Jesus who died for our sin will be saved and will enter His abode. But those who do not know God, and those who have not accepted Him and His Son Jesus, and those who have not accepted and obeyed the Gospel will for all eternity be sent away from His presence. And what a hell that will be! Paul goes on to tell them, You want proof that this is all true? Well God proved it by raising the man who will judge you from the dead. And of course we know who He is. His Son, and our Lord, Jesus.  At this some of the Athenians laughed, some sneered and walked a way, but just like today a few stayed around and wanted to hear more of what Paul had to say. And some of them became believers.  Jesus Himself prophesied that many would be called, many would here the Good New, but only a few would accept the offer, this gift… how sad.
Sometimes, some folks just don’t want to believe or accept the truth when they here it. 

But that day Paul taught a powerful message.

#1) Being religious and surrounding yourself by all kinds of religious relics and people doesn’t necessarily mean a whole lot to God

#2) He is more interested in us seeking Him out, and even finding Him.  He wants us to have a personal relationship with Him.

#3) He is a lot closer to us than most of realize. We need to practice the presence of God.

 #4) God will not put up with the excuse of ignorance any more. There is a great day coming when we will be judged.

The question is are you ready?