Biblical Apologetics
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Hook: Raise a hand with me if you’ve ever asked any of the following questions: How do I defend the faith in both truth and love? How do I answer objections to Christianity with confidence? How do I show that Jesus really is the only way, the truth, and the life? How do I have certainty in my faith? How can I be bold against unbelief and folly? How do I engage those who don’t accept the Bible as their authority for life?
Well, if you raised your hand—and even if you didn’t—these are all crucial questions for Christians to consider as we seek to live out the Great Commission of our Lord. If you’re concerned with obedience to the mission—then you’ll be concerned with these kinds of questions. If you’re not concerned with these kinds of questions then you either aren’t evangelizing, or you’re not evangelizing rightly! True evangelism will inevitably lead to offense, objections, and conflict—even when it’s done in the most gentle, loving, and meek way. The clashing is inevitable—the Sword of the Spirit was made to clash with the swords of the flesh—so we better prepare for it.
Title: Biblical Apologetics: The Clashing of Worldviews
Apologetics means defending biblical faith.
Clashing is the combat of ideas as we do so.
And a worldview is ones beliefs about reality.
Need: We need to be ready for battle—if we go into battle without armour, without weapons, and without strategy—then we’re asking for defeat. In the spiritual battle of the culture wars and the Great Commission—we need to have fitted armour, sharp weapons, and wise strategy as we go forth to share and defend the Gospel and Kingdom of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Purpose: To instruct us in the biblical method of apologetics; to refute compromised methods of defending the faith; to exhort us to establish the truth of Christianity by God’s revelation & authority; to comfort those who repent and believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and to call us to a gracious conflict with the world for the sake of the kingdom of God.
Recap: Last Sunday we looked at Paul’s evangelistic ministry in Thessalonica, and we saw how he reasoned from the Scriptures, proclaimed the Kingship of Jesus Christ in love, and exemplified how to be bold and courageous in the Lord. This week Paul’s audience shifts from religious Jews—to pagan philosophers. Paul engages the intellectual elites of his day—with a public defence of the faith.
Text: Acts 17:22-34 ESV - Read from Verse 16 for Context.
Recap: Last Sunday we looked at Paul’s evangelistic ministry in Thessalonica, and we saw how he reasoned from the Scriptures, proclaimed the Kingship of Jesus Christ in love, and exemplified how to be bold and courageous in the Lord. This week Paul’s audience shifts from religious Jews—to pagan philosophers. Paul engages the intellectual elites of his day—with a public defence of the faith.
PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY
(1) Paul Exposed the Innate Knowledge of God in all Men - v. 22-23
(1) Paul Exposed the Innate Knowledge of God in all Men - v. 22-23
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.
(1) Paul Exposed the Innate Knowledge of God in all Men - v. 22-23
(1) Paul Exposed the Innate Knowledge of God in all Men - v. 22-23
In our passage, Paul had found his spirit provoked b/c of idolatry, so he continued to reason from the Scriptures in the synagogue and in the marketplace every day. Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers came to him, and wished to hear more about Jesus and the resurrection.
The Epicureans believed in many gods or higher powers, but thought they didn’t really care about us, so they lived as if pleasure was the highest purpose of life; eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.
The Stoics believed that all was god, that everything is god, and that there is a mysterious force of divine-reason guiding all things, so they lived as if submission to fate was the highest purpose of life; just go with the flow.
It was philosophers holding these idea that brought Paul to the Areopagus for a formal hearing of his message—giving Paul an incredible opportunity to proclaim Christ against the Chaos of Pagan Philosophy—and to proclaim Christ as the Lord and Saviour of sinners.
So, as Luke recounts for us, Paul stands up in the midst of the intellectual elites of his day, and begins his discourse by noting that the Athenians were very religious, in every way. They were a worshipping people. They were an idolatrous people. There were altars and idols everywhere, quite literally. And so what Paul seeks to do first, is to find a point-of-contact which exposes common-ground; not in pagan philosophy … but in God’s creation, in our being made in the image of God as worshipping creatures, and in the innate knowledge of God that is in all men. Calvin called this the sensus divinitas, the natural sense of God that is written on all of our hearts as God’s creatures. So do you see what Paul does?
He points at one of the idols in Athens, one of the objects of their worship, and he notes that it has an inscription: to the unknown god. Well, this gave Paul the point-of-contact that he needed, in order to show the common-ground of the sensus divinitas! Why? Not because this idol was a real god—but because it revealed that they knew the real God. The Athenians were being self-contradictory in naming this idol as they did.
The unknown god? What? If he’s unknown, then how do you know to make an altar to him? If he’s unknown, then how do you know he deserves worship? You see? You can’t say that someone is unknown, and on the other hand, claim to know something about him—that’s contradictory.
What did this show? For Paul, it showed that they did in fact know the one true and living God. Deep down they knew that the Creator-God was worthy of worship—it showed that knowledge of the true God is inescapable, even if its clouded b/c of our sinful hearts. But the most important point you need to understand—is that this knowledge of God breaks through. It continues to ring true. You can’t eradicate it. It will always reveal itself in the thoughts, words, and actions of pagans. It’s the air we breathe.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
You see? By nature we know that God exists. And even when we cloud that knowledge, or even try to forget that reality—we are suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. And we have to possess the truth in order to suppress the truth! By nature we know him—but we don’t acknowledge him. By nature we know that he is worthy of worship—but we make idols instead. By nature we know his eternal power and divine nature—but we pretend as though he didn’t exist.
Brothers and sisters, this is crucial for apologetics. When you go forth to defend the Gospel, you are not trying to prove the existence of God to someone who has no idea whether or not God exists—you are seeking to expose the fact that they do know God, but are trying to hide from him in their sin. Just like Adam and Eve so long ago—trying to hide from God with their pitiful fig-leaves.
That’s why Psalm 14:1 says that only the fool says in his heart that there is no God—why is that foolish? Because he knows better. Because deep down—he knows that there is a God. So did the Athenians. And their altar to the unknown god proved it. Their consciences had the law of God written on them—that law that commands them to worship the LORD-God-Alone. This law cannot be tossed aside—the instinct to worship is universal.
“The natural man accuses or else excuses himself only because his own depraved consciousness continues to point back to the original state of affairs [that he is God’s creature]. The prodigal son can never forget the father’s voice. It is the albatross forever around his neck.” - Van Til
So Paul, jumping on this sensus divinitas, this innate knowledge of God, declares: What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you! And he did so with authority, I might add!
Paul begins his discourse by finding a point-of-contact—in order to expose that his hearers already know God—and then he begins to proclaim the living God: who He is, and what He does. And notice that Paul doesn’t suggest that the Athenians consider these things, as one of the possibilities. No. He’s not speaking as a vendor, offering many options to mankind. He’s speaking as an ambassador, speaking the Word of God with authority, as the only option for mankind. The Epicuereans believed in many gods, and the Stoics believed that all was god—but Paul, in direct opposition to their philosophy—proclaimed the one, true and living God. This God, I proclaim to you!
(1) Paul Exposed the Innate Knowledge of God in all Men - v. 22-23
So let’s see what he said next:
(2) Paul Proclaimed the LORD our God with Authority - v. 24-27a.
(2) Paul Proclaimed the LORD our God with Authority - v. 24-27a.
Acts 17:24–27 (ESV) - We will read through it in a moment.
(2) Paul Proclaimed the LORD our God with Authority - v. 24-27a.
(2) Paul Proclaimed the LORD our God with Authority - v. 24-27a.
This is a remarkable portion of Paul’s sermon in Athens. Why? Because it’s a stunningly Hebrew sermon. Well why is that remarkable? Because he’s speaking to Greek philosophers! So what? Well, heres my point: Paul proclaimed one main message (the Gospel) with one main authority (God’s Word). He preached the God of the Bible, while alluding to the Bible, even though he never explicitly quoted the Bible. If you pricked Paul, he bled the Scriptures—so much so that it came oozing out of him as he preached the Gospel to a people that didn’t possess the Scriptures.
If you know your Old Testament, you’ll notice that almost everything Paul says is straight from the Scripture, and he’s applying it indirectly to these Greek Philosophers. Let’s look at each phrase he declares, and where it’s from in the OT.
Acts 17:24 (ESV)
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth,
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Acts 17:24 (ESV)
does not live in temples made by man
“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!
Acts 17:25 (ESV)
nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything.
If you are righteous, what do you give to him?
Or what does he receive from your hand?
Acts 17:25 (ESV)
since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
Acts 17:26 (ESV)
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth
Genesis 1:27–28 (ESV)
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.
Acts 17:26 (ESV)
having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he divided mankind,
he fixed the borders of the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God.
Acts 17:27 (ESV)
that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.
The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
I hope you can now see! Paul isn’t giving chapter and verse—but He is preaching God’s Word, God’s authority, God’s revelation—even to these pagan philosophers who don’t accept it. In Paul’s mind, you can never divorce general revelation (creation), from special revelation (Scripture)—they are a unified package in the Christian Worldview. Therefore, we don’t always need to give chapter and verse—but we do need to faithfully proclaim that which is contained therein—reasoning from the Scriptures—as we proclaim the Christian Worldview.
Paul did not say anything an an OT prophet could not have addressed to the Jews. Paul’s reasoning was steeped in God’s special revelation. - Bahnsen
So brothers and sisters, when you go to share the Gospel—you need to go with authority, with the Sword of the Spirit, with the power of God. Only as you proclaim God’s Word—and God’s World—will you ever be able to do so with confidence, humility, boldness, and conviction.
Why? Becuase “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple” (Ps. 19:7).
Our only Authority is: thus says the LORD our God. And only in so doing can we say with Paul: This God, I proclaim to you! If the first principle we learned is that all men know God by nature, the second is that we must stand on the Word of God in apologetics. As Calvin said, we must see everything through the corrective lens of Holy Scripture.
(2) Paul Proclaimed the LORD our God with Authority - v. 24-27a.
But he also interacted with pagan thought, clashing with its sinful claims—and yet showing how they can actually only make sense and proclaim truth in a Christian Worldview:
(3) Paul Clashed with Vain & Unbelieving Worldviews - v. 27b-29.
(3) Paul Clashed with Vain & Unbelieving Worldviews - v. 27b-29.
Acts 17:27–29 (ESV)
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.
(3) Paul Clashed with Vain & Unbelieving Worldviews - v. 27b-29.
(3) Paul Clashed with Vain & Unbelieving Worldviews - v. 27b-29.
The third principle we need to remember is that we need to do an internal critique of non-believing worldviews. We need to show them where they are wrong—and how only the Christian worldview can make sense of reality—that Christianity is the true true, as Schaeffer used to put it. So what did Paul do? He quoted Pagan poets. Why? To expose again that they know God deep down, and to show that what they say can only make sense with the God of the Bible, the Lord of Heaven and Earth.
Firstly, he quotes from a 7th Century BC poet named Epimenides, who in his original context was speaking about Zeus … yeah, Zeus, the pagan god—and he says ‘but thou art not dead; thou livest and abidest for ever, for in thee we live and move and have our being’. What! Why is Paul quoting a poem about Zeus? Because he’s showing that the instinct of recognizing that we are uphold by deity—shows that deep down we know the true God, of whom alone it can truly be said: ‘in thee we live and move and have our being’! He is the God who upholds all things by the Word of His Power.
Secondly, he quotes from a 3rd Century BC poet named Aratus, who in his original context was also speaking about Zeus … the same pagan god—and he says ‘It is with Zeus that every one of us in every way has to do, for we are also his offspring’. Same point as before. Paul is showing that deep down we all know that we are the creation of deity—showing that we know the true Creator God, even if we obscure him with false gods. For only of the living and true God can it be said: ‘for we are all his offspring’. There is only one Creator God, from whom we were all made in his image.
Paul essentially says to the men of Athens. You do not live and move and have your being in Zeus. You are not created by Zeus. He is a finite-figment-of-your-imagination. Although this poem does reveal that you know we were created by the true God—the Lord of heaven and earth. This God I proclaim unto you! The Great I AM WHO I AM. The infinite, eternal, unchangeable One—the holy, righteous, just, good, merciful, and loving Creator—the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the God in whom you live and move and have your being for: from from him and through him and to him are all things (Rom. 11:36). And this is the God from whom every good and perfect gift comes, the Father of lights, who has made us in his image and likeness (James 1:17; 3:9).
The unbeliever is like a child who must sit on his father’s lap, [in order] to slap him in the face - Van Til
And the only way to do that—is b/c the father is holding him up. The only way unbelievers can do anything, or say anything, is because God is holding them up. Paul is quoting these Poets to prove that these Pagan were sitting in God’s lap, and they knew it!
And because they knew the true and living God—Paul says they know that they ought not to make idols. They ought not to make a carved image of gold or silver or stone. They ought not to worship him according to you artistic genius. They ought not to serve him by the imagination of man. They ought to worship God alone—in spirit and in truth. Just as Jesus said to a Gentile so long ago:
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
All mankind knows this because the law of God is written on our hearts, that law which requires a holy worship of God, according to His revealed will. And there is no excuse as we try to excuse ourselves (Rom. 1-3).
So brothers and sisters, the third principle that you need to remember is that you need to do an internal critique of non-believing worldviews. You need to show them where they are wrong, and where their deepest longings can only be found in the truth of Jesus Christ—in the Christian Worldview.
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
You need to be prepared to clash in the battle for the Truth, with the Sword of the Spirit, and to show that the great I AM is the only One who can make sense of the great WHAT IS.
(3) Paul Clashed with Vain & Unbelieving Worldviews - v. 27b-29.
So Paul exposed the innate knowledge of God in unbelievers, and He proclaimed the Word of God to the unbelievers, then He showed that Christianity can alone account for what we know deep down—and all of this leads him to the high point of his sermon: to the Gospel call.
(4) Paul Exalted Jesus Christ and Exhorted All Men to Repent - v. 30-31.
(4) Paul Exalted Jesus Christ and Exhorted All Men to Repent - v. 30-31.
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.”
(4) Paul Exalted Jesus Christ and Exhorted All Men to Repent - v. 30-31.
(4) Paul Exalted Jesus Christ and Exhorted All Men to Repent - v. 30-31.
Finally, the Apostle Paul has laid the groundwork for the Gospel: he has established the Christian Worldview of God’s existence, known by God’s revelation, and our ethical dilemma of idolatry and sin against Him—which leads Paul to proclaim the hope of sinners, Jesus Christ—the Light of the world!
There once was a time when God let the Gentiles go, he gave them over to the darkness of their hearts, and let them sin themselves unto death to be judged later on—but now—God is coming to all nations, to all peoples, through the messengers of the Gospel, and he is calling and commanding all people, everywhere to repent! Including the Athenian Philosophers! All must repent, all must change their minds, all must turn from sin, all must return to the Lord, all must change worldviews…
Why Paul?—why must we repent? Because we are sinning against the God that we know exists, rebelling against his authority, despising His character, rejecting His presence, and spitting in His face. We are living in autonomy and self-worship. And because of this, a day of judgment is coming—and not just for Athens—a day of judgment is coming for all men, including the men and women of Calvary Bible Church, and the City of Kingston, and the Nation of Canada.
God the Father has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness, by the standard of the moral law, through a man, Jesus Christ, the Lord and Judge of the Earth. Jesus himself said that he Father has committed all judgment into his hands (Jn. 5). And so, Paul says … be warned of the wrath to come! Know with fear and trembling that the thrice holy God will bring all evil deeds into the light, and will bring eternal punishment against all wrongdoers—Jews and Gentiles alike, as Paul said elsewhere:
For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Hear me out—Calvary—hear me out—Visitors—so too do I proclaim unto you, that there is a day coming when Jesus will bring the full measure of God’s wrath against all evil doers. And Jesus will execute God’s righteous judgment, justly deserved—for God will by no means clear the guilty. All false worship, all idolatry, all hypocrisy, all sabbath-breaking, all dishonoring of authority, all murderous anger, all sexual lust & immorality, all stealing, all lies and false witness, and all coveting and greed will be exposed. Our hearts will be laid bare for what they truly are—totally depraved pits of selfish pride. And every mouth will be shut before the courtroom of the One who knows all things, and who will bring all things into judgment.
And of this day, of this day of judgment—Paul says that God has given assurance to all by raising Jesus from the dead. Jesus is Lord, Jesus is King, Jesus is Judge—He is reigning and ruling from heaven, and he is returning the recompense all men for their evil thoughts, words, and actions. And as Paul proclaims sin and judgment, as I proclaim sin and judgment, everyone stirs in their seats—because we know that these things are true. We need Jesus.
No one can be confronted with the fact of Christ and of His resurrection and fail to have his own conscience tell him that he is face to face with his judge - Van Til
And it’s quite fascinating. Contrary to many apologists today… Paul doesn’t give historical, archeological, or evidential arguments for the resurrection—he gives the resurrection as the evidence and ultimate argument from the authority of the living Christ Himself. He states it as a non-negotiable fact, by the authority of God’s Word.
The grave is empty. The tomb is barren. Christ has died, but he has risen indeed—and he is coming again. So—repent of your sins, abandon your pagan philosophy, change your worldview, flee from the wrath to come, trust in Jesus Christ who alone can save, cleanse, wash, redeem, deliver, and secure you from the coming judgment. For on the Cross Jesus bore the weight of God’s wrath, and he quenched it for all his people—for all who repent and believe. So repent—be convicted, confess your sin, and come to the Lord Jesus Christ who stands ready to save you to the uttermost! And know that He will not condemn you then, if you come to Him know him now—from the heart (Jn. 5). True assurance is found only through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, received in repentance and faith. This was Paul’s message. This was Paul’s hope. Is it yours? Is Jesus yours? Oh come to him, and find hope. Oh come to him, and find life. Oh come to him, and find redemption:
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Oh blessed hope, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone! Yes we need to repent, and find salvation from our sin—but we also need to find salvation from worldly wisdom; so let us come and find the wisdom of God Himself, Jesus Christ—the true philosophy and way of life. For in his light alone do we see the light as it really is (Ps. 36). The call to repent, is not simply a call to make a decision—it’s a call to change your entire world-and-life-view, to μετανοεῖν, to abandon your previous way of life, to find a new worldview that is found in Christ (Eph. 4 & Col. 3).
The Athenians had to be challenged, not simply to add a bit more information to their previous thinking, but to renounce their previous thoughts and undergo a thorough change of mind. They needed to be converted in their total outlook on life, man, the world, and God. - Bahnsen
They had to abandon their folly—and cling to Jesus Christ alone who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
(4) Paul Exalted Jesus Christ and Exhorted All Men to Repent - v. 30-31.
And so the Gospel call came to them—the call to repent and believe came to them—they heard the Christian worldview, they saw the vanity of Pagan Philosophy… so what happened?
(5) Paul Received both Mocking and Belief from his Listeners - v. 32-34.
(5) Paul Received both Mocking and Belief from his Listeners - v. 32-34.
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.
(5) Paul Received both Mocking and Belief from his Listeners - v. 32-34.
(5) Paul Received both Mocking and Belief from his Listeners - v. 32-34.
Very briefly, as we are running out of time—just notice that the same response occured here, that has ever occured anytime the Gospel has been preached—even with clarity, authority, and unction of the Word and Spirit of God… Some mocked—and some believed.
As you go forth to share the Gospel, with air tight biblical proofs, with air tight rational arguments, with air tight historical confirmations, with air tight persuasion and power—some will mock, and some will believe. Because men are dead in their sins, in the vanity and darkness of their evil minds—and salvation is of the Lord, only He can change the heart and change a mind.
And that’s what we’ll focus on next week. You can do everything right—you can be prayer-filled, Scripture-saturated, rationally-persuasive, and worldview-destroying—and we ought to be—but at the end of the day, the ultimate determiner of salvation is not you—but God’s sovereign salvation for those whom he has foreordained to be saved from before the foundation of the world, before they even existed, before they had done either good or evil—in order that God’s purpose of election might stand, to the praise of God’s glorious grace.
Romans 9 (on the doctrine of election) comes before Romans 10 (on the call to evangelize). And that’s not a coincidence. So next week we will look at Acts 18, where the Risen Jesus himself assures Paul that his elect people must be, and will be saved—and this alone is what gave Paul the biblical confidence that he needed to keep spreading the Gospel and fighting the good fight of the faith! Jesus will save his people from their sins!
(5) Paul Received both Mocking and Belief from his Listeners - v. 32-34.
And so as we go forth to evangelize, and defend the faith, we must be prepared to see both barren-fields and mocking—as well as fruitful-harvests of conversions: and we leave the results unto God, as we pray our hearts away for his blessing to rest upon our efforts. Hear now our conclusion for this AM:
(C) Biblical Apologetics Exposes Folly, Proclaims the Truth, Clashes with Vanity, Exalts Jesus Christ, Exhorts Mankind, and Seeks Conversions.
(C) Biblical Apologetics Exposes Folly, Proclaims the Truth, Clashes with Vanity, Exalts Jesus Christ, Exhorts Mankind, and Seeks Conversions.
Now what we’ve learned this morning are just some of the biblical principles that are crucial for a biblical understanding of apologetics. If you want to see, with greater detail, how to implement them into daily life and normal conversations—then you’re going to have to come to our 9AM Sunday School. If you commit to coming, then the church will provide you a book—and if you want to really grow in this area of Christian witness, then you have to do your homework! But I can guarantee this: you won’t regret it … you will be equipped and you will be prepared to defend the Christian Worldview against all opposition—for the glory of our God. And thus you will be able to demonstrate with Solomon & Paul:
Proverbs 1:7; 9:10 (ESV)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge & wisdom.
Colossians 2:2–3 (ESV)
[In] Christ … are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
(C) Biblical Apologetics Exposes Folly, Proclaims the Truth, Clashes with Vanity, Exalts Jesus Christ, Exhorts Mankind, and Seeks Conversions.
(C) Biblical Apologetics Exposes Folly, Proclaims the Truth, Clashes with Vanity, Exalts Jesus Christ, Exhorts Mankind, and Seeks Conversions.
Amen? Let’s pray.
Discussion Questions:
(1) Define the sensus divinitas (sense of God)—and why it’s incredibly important for biblical apologetics, and our chosen method of communication?
(2) How could Paul proclaim the living God before Pagan Philosophers with such authority? How can we be confident like Paul was?
(3) Why did Paul quote from Pagan Poets? Who were they originally about? And how does Paul use them to confirm the Christian Worldview?
(4) Read the conclusion of Paul’s sermon (v. 29-31). Notice how he spoke of God our Creator, man & our sin, Christ our Lord, and the needed response of repentance & faith. Why are each of these essential to biblical apologetics?
(5) Why must Christians prepare to be mocked as they share and defend the Gospel? And why ought we to have confidence that some will repent and believe?
