Acts 17:16-34

· INTRODUCTION: Good morning and welcome! Today, we’ll be continuing on in Acts 17, looking specifically at verses 16-34. While you’re turning there, I want to highlight some announcements. (MEMBERSHIP CLASS, SECRET CHURCH, VBS! COME GIVE OUT INVITES WITH ME!)

o Would you stand with me for the reading of God’s word?

§ READ VERSES 18-23!

§ Pray, drink

· I love history. I do, I’m unashamed of it. I love learning about history! Like, history is literally the best. I love reading a good history book. But, one of the things about history books is that they are written to different audiences. Here’s a good example.

o When was the last time you ate a banana?

§ Stick with me, I promise, this is going somewhere. When I was in College, I had a class on Latin American history. We had an archival research paper to write and I chose the topic of “Bananas and the Guatemalan Civil War.”

· Now, as you research the banana companies, specifically the United Fruit Company, many different resources come up!

· Some have to do with the genetic farming that the UFC did to help us get the Banana that we have today.

o Some resources have to do with the history of Jacobo Arbenz and the proxy war that the CIA fought with the USSR through a BANANA COMPANY!

§ STILL OTHER RESOURCES ARE POEMS FROM ELEMENTARY STUDENTS ABOUT HOW MUCH THEY LIKE BANANAS!

· There’s a different level of depth in each of these resources. Even thinking about the CIA-USSR resources. Some of these are books written for regular reading.

o But then, if you go into the CIA archives, you can find documents that are mostly blacked out, but lay out some of the inner-workings of Operation PBFortune and Operation PBSuccess.

§ Those documents are honestly boring unless you have hours to figure out who everyone involved is and to READ THEM ALL!

o But my point is this, you have to know what you’re looking for! And as a writer, you have to know your audience! If you want to write a technically deep paper, GO GET THAT CIA SOURCE! If you want to write a children’s book on it, MAYBE AVOID THE CIA!

§ In the same way, as we speak to people, we need to understand our audience! For instance, how many of you have heard of Casa Bonita?

· Exactly! It’s not a thing! But at my high school, going to Casa Bonita and suffering through the after-effects was a rite of passage into adulthood!

o In the same way as these examples, WE HAVE TO KNOW OUR AUDIENCE IN EVANGELISM! Today, our main point is simple; “The Audience is different, but the message isn’t.”

§ What we’re going to see is Paul preaching the same message but in a different way BECAUSE HIS AUDIENCE IS DIFFERENT!

· BODY: This morning we get to see an extremely different example of evangelism! In almost every way, Berea and Athens are different. Before we dive into what Paul does in Athens, let’s just talk about the city for a second.

o When I taught World History, I always taught a unit on classical Greece. The state of Missouri had two real requirements with this unit. We had to discuss Athens and we had to talk about Sparta. These were arguably the two most powerful of the classical Greek city states, although, I don’t want to diminish the importance of a place like Corinth.

§ Of course, when Sparta comes up, we always think of what? The 300! We think of the attempted Persian invasion of Greece. Now, the part that is often left out of that story is that the Persians do advance through the pass and DO ACTUALLY reach Athens, burning it to the ground!

· But, when Sparta comes up, that’s what we think of. This intense military culture with a reputation of being brutal but also GREAT warriors.

o All the guys in my class loved the Spartan lessons! They didn’t love the Athenian lessons quite as much. For some reason, lessons on democracy and Aristotle didn’t quite capture their minds!

§ Athens was known for philosophy and thought, for being the birthplace of democracy, for being wealthy!

· Athens was considered a pinnacle of progress in the Ancient world and honestly, in Roman times, it continued to be a pinnacle of intellectual thought.

· The Athenian economy was built off of the marketplace and off of slave labor. The people of Athens found themselves with lots of free time, hence the consistent development of philosophy.

· That’s the setting that Paul finds himself in. It’s different from the farming community of Berea. But the gospel remains the same and the message that Paul brings is the same, even though his methodology is different.

o Luke begins his account by saying, “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. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.”- Acts 17:16-17

§ Remember, Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy to come from Berea to Athens. While he waits, he continues to minister.

§ As Paul walks through the city and stays there, we see that his SPIRIT IS PROVOKED! The verb for this is a passive verb, which as we’ve seen links it to something happening TO PAUL!

· HIS SPIRIT IS PROVOKED- BY GOD! GOD WORKS IN PAUL AND PROVOKES HIS SPIRIT! God moves in Paul and burdens his heart with the need of the Athenian people!

§ Paul sees the idolatry and the Athenian need for the gospel EVERYWHERE THAT HE LOOKS!

· Why? Because GOD IS WORKING IN HIM! GOD HAS A PLAN!

· Likewise, when something upsets us, or maybe we notice a sin or something seemingly everywhere, instead of writing it off, we should consider if God may be calling us to do something!

o For instance, maybe we see homeless people in our community and we feel burdened for them! Instead of ignoring that and trying to push it down, we should do something about it! Maybe we could carry some small toiletry sets in our car to give out! What we should do is SUBMIT THAT TO GOD!

o Paul feels this conviction in his spirit, so instead of resting, HE PROCLAIMS THE GOSPEL!

§ HE PROCLAIMS THE GOSPEL EVERY SINGLE DAY in the marketplace and even going to the synagogue often to preach!

· Every day, Paul is laboring to PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL!

· When Paul feels convicted of something by God, he submits himself to God and is faithful to do what God is calling him to do!

o Let that be a lesson to us! WE need to FOLLOW GOD and SUBMIT OUR PLANS TO HIM AND HIS LEADING!

· Picking back up at verses 18-21, we read, “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 and 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.” Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.”- Acts 17:18-21

o These epicurean and stoic philosophers are extremely important to Athens. They are the reason that Athens is important.

§ Epicureans were known for seeking pleasure instead of pain. They wanted to seek out a pleasurable life overall. A motto was created summarizing Epicurean philosophy and it says, “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die.”

· Honestly, we see this today in our society! Ever heard of YOLO? It means You Only Live Once. Basically, it stands for, “Do whatever sounds fun! After all, this may be your only chance!”

o It’s applied to lots of things. Want to go party? YOLO! Want to do some drugs tomorrow night? YOLO!

§ It can also be applied to much more calm things. For instance, “want to skip school or work to go to the cardinals game?”

· “Well, Yolo!”

· In many ways, it’s just a modernized version of this Epicurean philosophy!

§ Stoics on the other hand are known for “virtuous living.” Basically, the only good we can have is virtue, in fact, it could be summarized as Seneca said, “virtue is sufficient for happiness.”

· To boil this down, Stoics were known for living by a strict set of rules and of things they should and should not do.

o We’d think of their lives as more disciplined; advocating that everyone should live virtuously so that the common good is better.

o In many ways, these two groups of philosophers form the backbone of Athenian culture. They come together every day and they philosophize and argue back and forth, debating and considering.

§ As Luke says, “The Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.”

· What Paul is presenting is new! The Athenians have heard the arguments of the stoics and the epicureans over and over. But now there is something new and it intrigues the Athenians!

· In verse 22 we start to see Paul’s address to the crowd in the Areopagus. “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 as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”- Acts 17:22-23

o The Areopagus that Paul is at is a big rock outcropping by the Acropolis that functioned as a sort of amphitheater. It also served as the main political council of Athens in addition to being the place where philosophy was discussed!

o Paul is speaking right to the leaders of Athens when he shares the gospel.

o Paul talks about how he can tell that the people are religious. In fact, he says that as he walked through Athens he noticed many idols and temples, or as he eloquently says, “objects of your worship.”

§ But one object catches his attention.

§ Paul found an altar, “To the unknown god.”

· Paul says that he can tell the people of Athens WHO THE UNKNOWN GOD IS!

o IMAGINE WHAT THAT MUST BE LIKE TO HEAR!

o Greek worship was highly formulaic as we’ve discussed before and the unknown god is really designed as a placeholder to make sure that they don’t miss a god.

§ See, the Greeks were proudly polytheistic and had many gods. So, as Paul ministers to them, in some ways, it is similar to ministering to a group of Hindu’s who also believe in many gods.

o This idea of an “unknown god” isn’t something just in polytheistic cultures, it’s something that I believe we see in America today!

§ After all, that’s literally what agnosticism is! Agnosticism is a belief that there is some form of a god or a supreme being, but that we can’t understand it or know it personally!

· That sounds a lot like this idea of an unknown god. It should be worshipped, even though it isn’t known!

· But therein lies the problem! How can you worship something that you don’t know? How can you put your hope in something that you don’t understand?

o The answer is simple; you can’t! And it goes even further. All of the Greek gods let the people down at some point1. That’s where so much of mythology comes from!

§ Why did you lose that battle? Well, the gods were angry, or were busy doing something else!

o That same thing happens today! It isn’t about Zeus being distracted, but today, we still find things to blame for bad things instead of looking at what God tells us!

o What Paul is about to share is going to shake these people to their core. Honestly, the needs of this audience and the needs of our world today are the same1. BOTH NEED JESUS! JUST AS THE AREOPAGUS NEEDS JESUS, SO DOES OUR WORLD!

· Verse 24 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, 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, and perhaps 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.”- Acts 17:24-28

o Paul begins his message about the unknown god by establishing that it is GOD WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH AND WHO DOES NOT NEED TEMPLES TO LIVE IN!

§ Not only does God not need temples, God doesn’t need humans to keep him alive! God is totally self-sufficient! Another way to say it is ASEITY! If you’re taking notes, write that down! The aseity of God is the fact that God exists of and from Himself! As Paul said, God needs no temple and needs no human hands feeding him!

· GOD IS SUFFICIENT!

o Not only is God sufficient, God has MADE ALL OF MANKIND AND HAS GIVEN LIFE TO EVERYTHING!

§ If not for God, we wouldn’t be alive! Think of Psalm 139! God has knit each one of us together! Think of Genesis 1 as God creates everything!

· Not only does God not need to be fed or kept out of bad weather, GOD IS KEEPING US ALIVE!

o Paul continues on reminding the people over and over of God’s sovereignty! Why does he communicate this so heavily?

§ Well, it’s because of the people he’s preaching to! The Greek gods were not sovereign over much. They had one area of the world that they had some level of sovereignty over, but even then, it could be affected by others!

· So what Paul is doing is showing that OUR GOD IS SO DIFFERENT AND SO MUCH MORE!

· Paul wants to make this point clear! GOD IS SOVEREIGN!

o The next thing that Paul brings up is how man should seek God! But what Paul really hammers home is the way we should do that!

§ In verse 28, Paul says that we “live and move and have our being in God.” He then quotes Aratus, a philosopher of Greek background who says that people are the offspring of God, although aratus is writing about Zeus, in his poem Pheanomena.

· Why does Paul use these words? Well, he uses them to show that even the greeks acknowledge that they come from somewhere. Paul is taking the argument further. He’s saying, “Look, Zeus didn’t make you. You know that deep down. But I know who did! WORSHIP GOD, YAHWEH WHO MADE YOU!”

o What we see here is that Paul knows his audience! With the Bereans, they are studying scripture so he appeals to prophecy and scripture! With the Athenians, they know philosophy and they have a very religious society, so Paul preaches in a more philosophical and rhetorical style!

§ For us, we need to know OUR AUDIENCE! If I was to say, “The gospel is lit, talking about Jesus gets me turnt! Jesus got sendy on the cross, dying for my sins! Jesus gets me shook with what he did next! He resurrected. That’s pretty bussin!”

· How many of you know what I’m saying? On the other hand, if I was to go to a child and say, “Thou art saved because of thine Heavenly Father’s plan for the propitiation of your sins through the substitutionary atonement of Jesus.” I’d get blank stares! You have to know who you are speaking to! We serve a God who made each and everyone of us and KNOWS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US!

o The basic gospel is the same. GOD, MAN, CHRIST, SALVATION! (EXPLAIN IT), but the style we share it in, or our methodology should be different!

o We’ve talked about sharing the gospel like a GMC Sierra. God, Man, Christ, Salvation! That’s a great analogy where people see a GMC Sierra! But if I called my friends in Trinidad and said that, they’d stare at me because THEY DON’T SEE THOSE!

§ One of the beauties of ministry is that it is so individualized! Not only is the audience different, we all are! The way that Peter and Paul share the gospel is different! All 4 gospel writers for instance are different! They have different styles!

§ In the same way, as I share the gospel it may be stylistically different from you!

§ That’s true of Hope and I for instance. But ultimately, the message? THAT REMAINS THE SAME! PAUL GETS IT! HE GETS IT MAN!

§ PAUL SHARES THE GOSPEL CLEARLY AND DIRECTLY IN A WAY THAT THE ATHENIANS UNDERSTAND!

· Paul continues on in his message. He says, “Being then 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.”- Acts 17:29

o This is so crucial! The greeks had structured their gods to reflect them! Their gods could get angry, jealous, lustful, hungry, sad, or any other human experience! Just think about the entire reason for the Iliad and the Odyssey!

§ It’s because of goddesses who get jealous!

§ But the God that we proclaim is UNLIKE THAT! WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT BEING IN THE IMAGE OF GOD, GOD IS NOT LIKE AN IDOL! And God is not like us, WE ARE MADE TO BE LIKE GOD!

· We are a faint reflection of God! The imago dei, or being made in the image of God, is so important in our faith and our culture!

o Why does human life matter? IMAGO DEI! Why does every person have value and deserve to be loved and cared for? IMAGO DEI! Whether you like the person, or hate the person, they are made in the image of God!

o All of these people at the Areopagus are made in the image of God! Paul makes this point because it matters and is effective! THE GOD WE PROCLAIM IS UNLIKE ANY god that MAN MAKES!

o Our God is so much more! It’s why He is worthy of all our worship and of our everything!

· Paul has talked about Jesus and about God and now he’s going to talk about mankind and our rejection of God!

o “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.”- Acts 17:30-31

o Paul recounts how God is merciful but also how God has a standard! The standard is Jesus! Jesus lived a perfect life; one totally without sin; something that we absolutely cannot do!

§ So, God commands that ALL PEOPLE REPENT! ALL PEOPLE NEED TO REPENT! GOD HAS SET A DAY WHERE ALL MANKIND WILL BE JUDGED!

· I think there are a lot of thoughts on judgement day, but let’s boil it down to Paul’s simple explanation. EVERY HUMAN WILL BE FOUND GUILTY AND WILL FALL SHORT! BUT BECAUSE OF WHAT JESUS HAS DONE FOR US WE CAN BE SAVED!

· The Areopagus doesn’t quite know how to react. “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”- Acts 17:32

o The resurrection of the dead is very different for the greeks. They struggle to understand it. Some MOCK PAUL!

§ Some put their own pride ahead of the message of the gospel; something that we have seen consistently in Acts! This is not unique just to Athens. Pride keeps many from repenting and believing!

o Others though are fascinated and want to hear more!

· So we read that, “So Paul went out from their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.”- Acts 17:33-34

o Some men and women believe! Paul will remain in Athens, although it is unclear if he returns to the Areopagus.

§ On the surface, this seems like a situation that will lead to little fruit! The stereotype of these Athenians was that they would NEVER BELIEVE!

§ YET LOOK WHAT GOD DOES! GOD DOES SAVE!

· So before we wrap up, let me challenge you; is there someone in your life that you’ve written off? Someone that you look at and you think is, “Too far from God,” or someone that will, “never repent and believe?”

o HAVE FAITH! GOD CAN AND DOES WORK! We don’t see tons of fruit in Athens, but we do see Dionysius and Damaris and others!

§ EVERY TIME SOMEONE COMES TO KNOW THE LORD IT IS A TESTAMENT TO THE GRACE OF GOD AND IT MAKES EVERY SACRIFICE WORTH IT!

· Was it worth it for Paul to be alone in Athens? ABSOLUTELY! PEOPLE CAME TO SAVING FAITH! WHAT AN ENCOURAGEMENT THAT IS FOR US AND WAS FOR PAUL!

o Hear me, no matter how far that person seems from God, GOD CAN AND DOES WORK!

· CONCLUSION: As we wrap up today, let’s take a second to apply our main point which was, “The Audience is different, but the message isn’t.”

· There are three stages I think we could say to evangelism in the book of Acts that reflect the Great Commission:

o First, Reach the people like you who live by you!

o Secondly, reach the people like you who DO NOT live by you but have cultural similarities

o Thirdly, REACH CROSS CULTURAL!

§ Paul today was in step 3! It was cross cultural. The Athenians viewed him as this crazy barbarian essentially!

§ They view him as teaching some weird truth, but what he demonstrates is PATIENT AND CLEAR CROSS CULTURAL MINISTRY! PREACHING AND LEARNING AS HE GOES AND LOVES HIS COMMUNITY.

o So, what about us? Well, over the last year we’ve really focused on step 1. We’ve challenged ourselves over and over to proclaim the gospel to people around us!

§ I hope we are taking that seriously. And honestly, if you aren’t, consider this a gentle rebuke and encouragement to SHARE THE GOSPEL and to be PRAYING for those around you!

o But if you have, or even if you haven’t, what comes next? Well, first, keep sharing with those around you.

The second step is a place where our Church can help us!

§ So what do I mean by that? Well, as a Church, we can seek to reach outside of our individual neighborhood; this summer, for instance, we are going to do some Wednesday night evangelism in Nauvoo. Would you come join us? Come be a part of what the Lord is doing! JOIN US AND HELP US REACH OUR COMMUNITY!

· Help us share the gospel with those a little outside of our community.

· fDo you know what the key is in all of this? TO LOVE THE PEOPLE WE WANT TO REACH AND TO KNOW OUR AUDIENCE!

That’s part of why we spent so much time in Sunday School talking about Mormonism. We want to know that audience and their background so that we can love them and reach them!

o Now, maybe your heart is feeling provoked to love those around you. Let me offer just three thoughts; although there are many more ways to love someone!

§ First, listen to people around you! Just care about people! In many ways, this is the most effective evangelism! When someone says “I don’t have any hope” we can share the hope we have! Etc, this is literally what Paul does in Acts 17! He only preaches at the Areopagus because THEY INVITE HIM!

Secondly, stay posted, we’ve got some upcoming service opportunities; join in! For instance, twice in July we’re going to get some volunteers to go to CSC in Macomb to help with the building! Join us and help us love them!

§ Maybe your neighbor needs help; LOVE THEM AND HELP THEM if you can!

· Finally, and most importantly, let’s PRAY! PRAY FOR THOSE AROUND YOU! BRING THEM TO THE LORD AND ASK THAT HE WOULD OPEN DOORS FOR US!

· CALL TO SALVATION AND PRAYER FOR OUR COMMUNITY!