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?
