Mars Hill

Introduction

In the past two chapters we have focused primarily on Jewish groups of people and their response to the gospel. This final section of Acts 17, is going to deal with a Gentile audience. Paul has left Berea because the Thessalonican Jews stirred up trouble once again. He is all alone here now in Athens. Athens is a large, influential city. When we think of Greece even today, we think of Athens, but it was a city that celebrated the worship of a diversity of gods. Pauls see how completely or wholly they are given over to idolatry in vs 16 and his spirit is stirred within him. This word stirred literally means provoked or irritated. Paul was aggravated to see so many people living in rebellion against God.

I have struggled with this dynamic in my life because we see so many people who are living ignorant of God or in outright rejection of God. When I think of those involved in abortion and human trafficking, it makes me mad. This is how Paul feels, but Paul sets an example of being able to witness to them in love while being provoked by the sin that is destroying them. As usual , Paul begins preaching to the Jews, but he begins to travel around the city preaching the gospel as well.

According to vs 18, two groups of philosophers hear Paul’s message and are interested in hearing more. These two groups are the Epicureans and the Stoics. The Epicureans were known for this moto.

Acts Exegesis and Exposition

Nothing to fear in God; Nothing to feel in death; Good [pleasure] can be attained; Evil [pain] can be endured

And the Stoics were followers of Zeno who basically followed the opposite philosophy. I am not going to spend a whole lot of time on their beliefs because that isn’t the main point of the text here. What they both held in common was a belief that no one could rise from the dead. So as Paul comes preaching Jesus and the resurrection, this is a strange doctrine to them. The philosophers of Athens spent their entire days seeking to hear new things and debate ideas. Sometimes I think, American’s can be like this. They don’t really want to be convinced by the truth, they just want a good debate. So the epicureans and stoics drag Paul to the Aeropagus where he can have a public hearing on his views. This was not a trial but it gave all the great philosophers a chance to hear what Paul had to say.

Paul sets for us an example of preaching, soul-winning, witnessing to a culture that has no Judeo-Christian roots. Once upon a time, America had those roots; but our society has become what we call postmodern. Wikipedia (Yes I know not the greatest resource, but for a definition it should be fine) defines “Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourse[1][2] characterized by skepticism toward the "grand narratives" of modernism; rejection of epistemic (scientific) certainty or the stability of meaning; and sensitivity to the role of ideology in maintaining political power.”

skepticism about what was previously known

rejection of certainty (absolute truth)

a belief in the use of ideas as oppression

This is the society we live in today and because of it, witnessing to the current generation is much like witnessing to the secular Greeks of Paul’s day. So today, we are going to look at Paul’s message by asking three questions:

Who is God?

Why did He create you?

How should we respond to Him?

Who is God?

Paul begins his sermon with an object illustration vs 22-23 by pointing out that they had a altar to the unknown God. They were so religious and superstitious that they wanted to make sure no one was forgotten. Paul begins his presentation of the gospel by contextualizing the message. He finds a touch point in their culture that he can spring board off of. These Athenians were so consumed with worshipping all the gods. In vs 19, they had accused Paul of preaching some new doctrine. Paul uses that accusation to show them the God they were missing. So who is this God?

God is the Creator vs 24

Verse 24 declares that this God made the world and all things therein. Paul’s point is this God made you. You aren’t an accident, a chance thing. You aren’t here merely because of biological processes. God made you and if He made you He has a purpose for making you. As human beings we love to create and make new things; but everything that is created has a purpose.

You might make a tool to make work easier.

You might make a painting to admire its beauty.

You might make a clay pot to hold water in.

I think God must have made somethings just for their entertainment value because there are so many funny looking people. JK

So If God created you, that implies that He wanted you. God could have made anyone else, but He chose to make you. It also implies, He has a purpose for your life. You have meaning and value to God. Finally it implies that He owns you. We have certain obligations to Him because He created us. So the first thing we see is that God created us.

God does not need us. vs 25

Verse 25 directly attacks the idolatry of Athens. You see they made idols and statues and temples for their gods to live in and be served. Much of their worship was about sacrifices that their gods demanded from them. Verse 25 teaches that God cannot be contained in temples and does not need our worship. We call this the aseity of God. Idolatry at its root is an attempt to manipulate the gods into doing what I want them to do. We give them the things they need so that they might just do something for us. Paul is pointing out that God does not need us: We need Him. If God doesn’t need us, why does God do anything good for mankind? Because that God loves us. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

God gives us life. He didn’t have to bring us into the world. Life is a gift from God that we should not take forgranted. We do not know how long we will have this life. I believe my dad was in his 50’s or early 60’s when he passed away. Every day we have is a gift from God.

God gives breath- air is a necessary part of our existence. God has made a world that has plenty of air, water and food for us to survive on.

God gives us everything we have- ultimately, everything we have comes from God because He gives us the ability to get them and allows us to do so. James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

God is sovereign vs 26

Verse 26 teaches that God is sovereign over the whole world. This word sovereign means that He is the ruler or king over all the world. God made all nations of one blood. We are all one face: the human race. Racism becomes so wrong because it is a denial that all men are created in the image of God from one blood. We can all trace our ancestry to one man and one woman. But God created the nations and he

determined the times before appointed- I believe this speaks of the times in which certain kingdoms and empires have ruled on the earth. God allowed Rome to rule the known world for such a time that Jesus would be born and the gospel could be spread to the world.

determined the bounds of their habitation- God established the boundaries of the nations and allows those boundaries to change when they do. Deut 32:8 “When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, When he separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people According to the number of the children of Israel.”

Being a King implies authority and the right to make rules.

(Go over the 10 commandments. )

Anytime we break these rules or expectations of God, we call this sin. The important part to take away from this is that God has a right to make those rules.

God is imminent and omnipresent vs 27-28

Verses 27-28 teach that God is near because He is everywhere. We call this imminence and omnipresence. But why does this matter? God has not made it hard to find him. In our postmodern era, a lot of people are proud of being agnostic. They claim you cannot know if God exists or not, but God has put the evidence right there in front of all of us.

If we want to find Him, He will be found.

Why did He create you?

The next question Paul answers for us is why did God create you? If God does not need us, why did He create us? The passage gives us two reasons

1. To fill the earth- for to dwell on all the face of the earth vs 26. God wants to fill the earth. Have you ever seen someone who loves a certain type of knick nack so much that they want to fill their house with it? I know Rachel loves cows and so much of her decoration is cow themed. God loves mankind so much that he wants to fill the entire earth with them.

2. That they should seek the Lord- But God’s primary purpose for creating you wasn’t just so you would live on the earth. God’s primary purpose for you is found in vs 27 that they should seek the Lord. God wants you to seek a relationship with Him. Why because He knows that only true joy and satisfaction can come from Him. God desires a relationship with mankind.

This phrase if haply or by chance they might feel after him and find him speaks of groping in the dark. You know like when you need to shut off your alarm clock in the morning. You reach over and your search around for you phone until you eventually find it. God created us to long after Him. In fact Eccl 3:11 “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.”

The meaning of putting the world in their hearts is really an awe, wonder, mystery for the world around us. Man looks up at the stars and he is amazed at their vastness. That sense of wonder is supposed to cause us to ask how did this get here. The wonders of the universe that vast stars and the tiny detailed mitochondria: all leave us in wonder and should point to an amazing creator.

How should you respond to Him?

If this God is the true God and He is and He wants a relationship with Him, it is logical that we should respond to that God. Paul gives us three responses that logically flow from his argument:

Reject idolatry vs 29

God is not like these statues of stone, gold and silver that you see in other countries. But here in America, we have our own idolatry. We worship other gods. We worship entertainment, work, possessions, comfort, our own ideas and philosophies. If God is who we have just said He is, He deserves our love and worship. So reject everything that keeps you from pursuing a real relationship with that God. Anything that stands between you and God reject it.

Repent of sin vs 30

God was patient with mankind for a long time, but now, He demands we repent. Repentance means to change you mind. Change you mind about those things you want more than God. Change your mind about the sin that you have allowed to separate you from God. Whenever we choose to sin, we are saying I want this more than I want God.

Believe the gospel vs 31-34

Why should we reject idolatry and repent of our sin? Because their is coming a day when you will be judged for your sin. Jesus Christ Himself is that man who will judge you. And the standard of that judgment will be in righteousness. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Jesus dies on the cross for our sins, was buried and rose again. Paul says that the resurrection is proof that there will be a judgment. Jesus didn’t just die. Death did not conquer Him. He rose from the dead and that means that all those who have rejected Him, will be judged.

You might be thinking, but I haven’t rejected Him; I just haven’t accepted Him. With all the evidence that has been placed around you, with the work God has done to get you to seek after Him and with the fact that you are hearing this message now; anytime you choose not to accept, you are rejecting.

Because of the coming judgment, we have one hope and that hope is Jesus Christ. Jesus dies to make it possible for you to have a relationship with God and the only thing necessary to begin that relationship is to believe. Notice in vs 32-34, some mocked and rejected; but others believed. They heard the truth, they believed it and they trusted it to be true. They placed their trust in Jesus Christ to forgive their sins and restore them to a relationship with God.

Conclusion

Not everyone believed this message. You are left with two choices:

Will you mock, make fun of the idea and reject what Jesus has done for you or will you believe?

Among those who believed was a man named Dionysius the Areopagite. That word Areopagite means he was a part of the counsel, a well-known philosopher who listened to the gospel and got saved. Another believer was Damaris just a regular woman. It doesn’t matter who you are: Jesus died for you.

Every head bowed and every eye closed. In a minute the piano is going to play, if you don’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ; if you do not know that your sins are forgiven. You can know that today. If you say, Pastor Shirk, pray for me I do not know Jesus as my savior would you raise your hand. In a moment as the piano plays, I beg of you to come up front to see me. No one will be looking, but we will have someone take you out and show you how you can know Jesus christ as your savior.

Many of us today, already have a relationship with Jesus Christ; but heres our challenge. Knowing who God is, why don’t we long to love Him more to worship Him more. This text also teaches us how to share our faith with those who do not have a Christian background.