Bold Witness in a Blind World
Notes
Transcript
Intro: Theme/Topic (What’s the problem, the question, etc.)
In the movie The Matrix, the main character Neo lives in a world that looks real to him—but it’s actually an illusion. And he and everyone around him are blind to what’s really going on. They live their lives, go to work, chase their dreams, all the while immersed in a false virtual reality. But then Neo meets Morpheus, who tells him: “You’ve been living in a dream world. I’m offering you the truth.”
That’s not just science fiction—it’s a parable of our world today. People live in spiritual blindness. They search for truth, meaning, and hope, but it’s like groping in the dark. They chase idols—money, pleasure, power, even religion—but they don’t know the God who made them.
And that leads us to this big question: How can we make known the unknown God in a world of blindness?
That’s the question Paul faced when he arrived in Athens—a city full of idols, philosophies, and people groping for truth. Let’s take a look at what he saw, what he felt, what he did, and what he said, and see how the spiritually blind people of Athens responded.
Scripture
Open with me to Acts 17:16–34. If you need to use a pew Bible, you’ll find today’s text on page 1101. Once you’re there, please stand with me if you are able and follow along with me as I read...
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.
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.
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.
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.’
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.
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.”
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 joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
This God’s Word!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, — God of all wisdom, truth, and beauty… Open our eyes and hearts to see the truth you have for us this morning in Your word. May we be changed by it and not leave here the same as when we first walk through these doors this morning. We ask this in Christ’s name — Amen!
Intro: Formal (give context to passage, setting the scene, big idea)
The book of Acts tells the story of how the risen Jesus advanced His kingdom through His faithful people who proclaim a powerful gospel. And we see Christ’s kingdom move from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.
The Apostle Paul is on his 2nd missionary journey accompanied by Silas, Timothy, and Luke. This team is the first to bring the gospel to European soil when they crossed the Aegean Sea and arrived at Philippi. While there we saw converts, a church planted, and fierce persecution. Then they traveled to Thessalonica and Berea with similar results. After facing more persecution, Paul escapes Berea heading to Athens by sea in the dark of night.
Today our text picks up the narrative with Paul in Athens all alone and waiting for Silas and Timothy to arrive. Athens was the intellectual capital of the ancient world. It was a city overflowing with idols and philosophies, yet very spiritually blind.
And the big question this passage presses on us is: How can we make known the unknown God in a world of blindness?
The answer is this: God makes Himself known through His people who are stirred deeply, engage wisely, and speak boldly.
That’s what we see in Paul’s example here. And these are my three main points:
His motive was a stirred heart.
His method was to engage with people
And his message was to proclaim the greatness of the one true God and the risen Christ who calls all people everywhere to repent.
So let’s walk through this passage together—Paul’s motive, method, and message—and then we’ll consider how we, too, are called to make the unknown God known in our own present world of blindness.
The Motive
The Motive
In Athens, Paul likely saw the architectural splendor of the Parthenon and the Acropolis towering over the city. But as dazzling as those sights were, verse 16 tells us something deeper was happening in Paul’s soul—he was provoked as he saw that the city was full of idols.
Historians say that in Athens you were more likely to meet an idol than a person. In a city of 10,000 there were an estimated 30,000 idols. Statues and shrines filled every street corner, every marketplace, every home. It was not the art that grieved Paul —it was the idolatry.
That word provoked is the same word used in the Greek Old Testament to describe how God Himself feels about idolatry.
You provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness.
This is very much related to the idea of God’s jealousy.
(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
When we hear the word jealous, we usually think of insecurity or envy. We feel jealous when someone else threatens our status or our reputations. That kind of jealousy is sinful.
But there’s another kind of jealousy that is righteous. It’s the jealousy of love—the burning passion to protect what rightfully belongs to you.
Husbands, if another man started pursuing your wife, I hope you will feel a righteous burning jealousy. That’s not insecurity; that’s covenant love!
And that’s how God feels about our worship. We were made by Him and for Him and He alone is worthy of our worship. When we give our hearts to false gods, His holy jealousy is stirred.
You see, everyone worships something. You don’t have to be religious to be a worshiper. Whatever captures your devotion—your career, your image, your comfort, your success, your relationships—that’s what you worship. The problem with humanity isn’t that we don’t worship; it’s that we worship the wrong things.
Underneath every sin problem, every relationship problem, every addiction problem, there’s a worship problem. Martin Luther taught that if a person keeps the first commandment—“You shall have no other gods before me”—then all the rest will follow. Because every other sin flows from this one: misplaced worship.
So idols aren’t just a first-century pagan problem. They’re a twenty-first-century American problem. They’re the things that take the place of God in our hearts—they’re substitute gods, and functional saviors.
And what we see here in Paul is that it’s right for God’s people to share God’s holy jealousy—to long for Him to receive the glory He alone deserves. Elijah felt that way when Israel was steeped in apostasy and he cried out, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts.”
Paul wrote the Corinthians that he felt a divine jealousy for them, that they might not turn from Christ.
So let me ask you:
When you walk through the Hudson Valley—when you see people giving their devotion to everything but God—does it stir you?
Do you feel that same holy jealousy for the Lord’s name?
Or have we grown numb, indifferent, or apathetic?
John Stott once said…
We will never act like Paul if we do not feel what Paul felt.
And we will never feel as Paul felt unless we first see as Paul saw.”
Oh church, may we see our world through Paul’s eyes—through God’s eyes! And may our hearts burn like Jeremiah’s, who said,
If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
May that same fire burn in us—a holy jealousy for God’s glory and a broken heart for people still walking in blindness.
This was Paul’s motive—a deep stirring that moved him to action. And it’s where faithful witness begins.
But how do we stoke that fire? How do we keep our hearts tender and our zeal burning for people to worship their Creator?
There’s one sure and powerful way: meditate on the cross of Christ.
Because there, at the cross, we see God’s unwavering commitment to His holiness and His unfathomable compassion for sinners.
The more we think about what happened on that cross,
the more we become people of truth and tears—
boldness and gentleness—holiness and love.
If the cross is not the lens through which we see the world, we will lose our balance…
Either we’ll become too accepting of the way things are—content to let idols stand unchallenged—
Or we’ll become too demanding and cold and condemning without compassion.
It’s only the cross that sends us out with eyes open to see and hearts aflame with love.
Now let’s see what Paul did next,
as we look at the method his burning heart moved him to.
The Method
The Method
The first thing we see is Paul following his usual pattern—he begins in the synagogue with Jews and God-fearing Greeks. But Luke tells us something more: Paul also brought the gospel to the streets—to everyday pagans in the marketplace, day by day!
The marketplace—or the Agora—was not just a place of commerce. It was the beating heart of Athenian life.
It was where news was spread by heralds,
where business deals were struck,
where art was performed,
and where politics and philosophy were debated.
And Athens was the cultural capital of the ancient world—what happened here would ripple out to shape the culture everywhere else.
And don’t miss this: Paul believed the gospel belonged there—not hidden behind synagogue walls, but spoken of in the public square.
Into the workplace, into education, into art and culture.
Yes, our faith is personal, but it was never meant to be private.
As Proverbs 1:20 says,
Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice;
And Paul wasn’t there to pick a fight.
He didn’t stand on a soapbox with a sledgehammer smashing idols.
Luke says he reasoned with them. — We saw this last week…
It’s the same word Luke used when he described Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica—Paul reasoned, meaning he dialogued, he listened, he asked questions.
In other words, Paul practiced a kind of Christian Socratic method—engaging the culture not with arrogance, but with curiosity and conviction.
He asked questions that opened doors for the gospel.
And we can do the same.
When you’re at school, at work, at a ball game, or even walking your neighborhood—ask questions that invite conversation about ultimate things. — Remember, Jesus Himself was a master at asking questions.
Paul didn’t aim to start riots—he sought to engage people conversations.
And so should we.
Next, Luke tells us some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers engaged with Paul. Now these two groups represented the dominant worldviews of the day.
The Epicureans were the ancient equivalent of functional atheists.
They believed in distant gods but who took no interest in human life. And they didn’t believe in any kind of afterlife. So they lived for pleasure and comfort. Their motto would fit right into our world today: YOLO - “You only live once—so if it feels good, do it!”
The Stoics, on the other hand, were pantheists—they believed god was in everything. And they were fatalists who thought everything was predetermined, so they prided themselves on self-control and emotional detachment. Their motto? “What will be, will be.”
And what we see is Paul stepping into this world of competing philosophies with confidence that the gospel could stand up to the brightest minds of his day.
And church, the same is true today.
Christians shouldn’t retreat from culture—we should engage it!
It speaks to the university and the workplace, to the arts and the sciences, to social media and politics.
We need believers who will bring gospel wisdom into every arena—education, government, journalism, medicine, business, and art.
Because truth belongs everywhere people live and think and create.
Of course, not everyone will applaud.
When Paul spoke, some philosophers insulted him by calling him a “babbler.” The word literally means “seed-picker”—a bird pecking scraps from the gutter. They were mocking him as unoriginal, as someone parroting bits of borrowed ideas.
But notice—while some mocked, others were curious.
Some leaned in and said, “Tell us more.”
And that curiosity opened the door for Paul to proclaim Christ before the Areopagus—the intellectual court of Athens.
So don’t be discouraged when the world dismisses you.
If they mocked Paul, don’t be surprised if they may mock you too.
But don’t forget—some are still listening.
Paul’s method was simple but profound: from the synagogue to the streets, from the marketplace to the academy—he reasoned, engaged, and conversed.
And he shows us that Christians are not meant to retreat from the world, but to enter it with truth, grace, and wisdom.
Now that we’ve seen Paul’s motive and method, let’s examine his message—the truth he proclaimed to those who listened.
The Message
The Message
Paul begins by finding a point of connection. He acknowledges their spiritual hunger by saying, “I see that you are very religious.”
But then he exposes the problem — their gods were not worthy of worship.
Read their myths, and you’ll find gods who were petty, jealous, and vindictive — essentially magnified versions of ourselves, but with more power and less restraint.
No one admired these gods. They feared them. They didn’t love them; they only tried to appease them.
So Paul introduces a God far greater than anything they had ever imagined — the God they admitted they didn’t know.
He points to their altar “To the Unknown God” and says, “What you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”
In other words, you know you’re blind — let me show you the light.
First, Paul proclaims that this God is the Creator of the world and everything in it.
Because He made all things, and rules all things — therefore we are accountable to Him.
This truth confronted both the Epicureans and the Stoics:
Declaring that God is neither distant nor diffused into creation. He is both separate from His world and involved in it.
Next, Paul declares that this great God cannot be contained by temples made with hands.
He cannot be managed, manipulated, or domesticated.
He doesn’t need our sacrifices — It’s we who need Him.
It’s He who gives us life, and breath, and everything else.
Every heartbeat, every breath you take, is a gift from the God who sustains you.
Next, Paul proclaims that God made all nations and determined their times and boundaries — When and where every person would live.
And why? So that they should seek God.
Understand what this means your life — your time, where you live, and your story — isn’t random.
You are where you are and for this time for a purpose: so that you might seek God and find Him.
Could it be that you live in Dutchess County, in the year 2025, and are sitting in this very room today on October 5th, because God wants you to seek Him?
And here’s the good news: He’s not far from you.
The problem is not that God is hiding — the problem is that we are blind.
Paul says we “feel our way toward God,” like someone groping in the dark.
In fact, he uses the same Greek word as Homer when he described the blinded Cyclops stumbling around trying to find Odysseus.
That’s the picture of humanity apart from Christ — groping for God but unable to see Him.
And yet, even in our blindness, the truth peeks through. Paul shows them this by quoting from their own poets to show that:
We are His offspring — created in His image — and deep down, we know we were made for more.
But now Paul brings the truth home:
If God is our Creator and Sustainer, it is insulting to reduce Him to gold, silver, or stone — things we’ve crafted with our own hands.
The time for ignorance is over. God now commands all people everywhere to repent — to turn from your misdirected worship and turn to the living God.
Why?
Because He has fixed a day when He will judge the world in righteousness by the man He has appointed — Jesus Christ.
And how do we know this is true? What’s the proof?
Because God raised Him from the dead.
This isn’t myth. It’s history!
Did you know there is more historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus than for the fact that Caesar crossed the Rubicon!?
The resurrection is God’s proof — His public declaration that Jesus is Lord, Judge, and Redeemer.
So what will you do with this information?
You cannot appease God through your own effort. This God is too great!
You can’t be good enough
You can’t come to church enough
You can’t give enough
You could never do enough community service
If we could do anything to appease the just wrath of God, then He would be no different than any of the 30,000 idols in Athens!
The price of sin is death. And God has paid it for you with the blood of His perfect Son!
So, you have a choice: Either you can bear that cost yourself with your life, or you can trust the One who bore it for you on the cross.
That’s how much God loves you.
That’s how jealous He is for your worship — that He would purchase it with the blood of His Son.
And this gift is guaranteed because Christ rose from the dead!
So the question right now is: How will you respond?
Will you, like the people of Athens: mock, delay, or believe?
David tells us in Psalm 145:18
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
And Paul tells us in Romans 10:13
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
The invitation still stands — the unknown God has made Himself known in Jesus Christ.
Conclusion/Response (Gospel & Repent/Believe)
Remember that scene from The Matrix we talked about earlier — when Neo wakes up to reality? He thought he was living in the real world, but in truth, he’d been immersed into a false virtual reality. Only when his eyes were opened did he see what was real.
That’s what’s happening here in Acts 17.
Athens was full of people who were spiritual, intelligent, and creative — but also blind.
And Paul stepped into that blindness with a message that still pierces the darkness today:
The Unknown God has made Himself known.
He is Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer — and He calls us to turn from counterfeit gods to worship the risen Christ.
So let me ask you again our big question:
How can we make known the unknown God in a world of blindness?
Here’s the answer from Paul’s example:
God makes Himself known through His people who are stirred deeply, engage wisely, and speak boldly.
If your heart burns for God’s glory, if you live with compassion and courage, and if you open your mouth to proclaim the gospel —
then you are the means God uses to open the eyes of the blind to see and know the previously unknown God.
So open your eyes to the idols around you.
Let the cross stir your heart.
Step into your world — your Agora — and speak of the risen Christ.
Because the world doesn’t need more clever arguments or cultural trends — it needs people whose eyes have been opened and who will say with Paul,
“What you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”
Prayer
Closing Song: Before the Throne of God Above
Benediction
Take your next step [Orange Card]
Baptism, Membership, Discipleship, Learn more about Jesus…
If you’re here this morning and you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, I want you to know this — the God you have been searching for all your life is not far from you. He is near to all who call on Him in truth.
After we dismiss, there will be people right here at the front who would love to pray with you and help you take that step of faith. Don’t leave today still wondering. Come and call upon the name of the Lord — and you will be saved.
Church, as we leave this place, remember that the same gospel that opened your eyes is the gospel that others need to see. You are sent into a world full of lifeless idols but you go bearing the message of the living Christ — the One who made all things, gives life and breath to all, and calls all people everywhere to repent and believe.
Go with confidence and compassion, knowing that God Himself has placed you where you are so that others might seek Him and find Him.
Now receive this benediction from Psalm 67:1-2
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us, that His way may be known on earth, His saving power among all nations. Amen.
