Pantheon In The Aeropagus

Pantheon In The Areopagus

The Book of Act was once entitled “The Acts of the Apostles”. However after reading the EGWhite’s book of the same name I have become convinced that the book could be more appropriately named “The Acts of God’s Holy Spirit, Through the Apostles”. This validates the point that Jesus said in . And we too understand that God’s Holy Spirit WILL work through each and every one of us when we have learned to humble and surrender ourselves to allow Him to do so.

While this historical book chronicles the birth and development of the branches of the church through what is undoubtedly WITNESSING. This is evangelism and the truth is we at Coop City SDA sometimes feel as if we are starting over. We are in a rebuilding mode. The book records Jesus’ last words on earth which supplements the Great Commission “You shall be witnesses to ME in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (1:8).

The Book of Acts, written by Luke, is the story of the men and women who took that commission seriously and began to spread the news of a risen Savior to the most remote corners if the known world. The Greatest sprinter in the history of athletics puts it like this to the world. We are therefore asked to share Jesus in our homes, at work, in Coop City, then the Bronx, New York State etc. etc.

Let us look at the context of the message which today will come directly from the written word with little obstruction from me.

Paul toured the Roman Empire which was then the known world three times having evangelistic meeting in many towns and planting churches in some of them. Our passage takes place in his second missionary journey from AD 49 to AD 52, four years. Are we in BC or AD? This journey Starts at Chapter 15 verse 36.

Paul and Silas separate from Barnabas and John after a dispute at Antioch and went through Syria and Cilicia confirming churches vs 41. Chapter 16 opens with Timothy joining them so Paul circumcised him for the work. This is a sign that we must all circumcise our hearts in preparation to work of the Lord.

They then went though some of the towns in Galatia where Paul got a vision of a man who asked him to come and help them peach the gospel in Macedonia. The baptism of Lydia’s household

The rest of chapter 16 witness of them praying for a young lady who had a spirit of divination who when she was delivered, TESTIFIED in vs 17, These men are servants of the most High God which show us the way of salvation. AMEN!

Her masters had them jailed and beaten in Philippi . When the prayed and praise God at midnight, God shook the foundation of the prison with an earthquake saved the jailer and his family and Paul baptized them after the jailer cleaned their cuts and bruises that he inflicted.

The then came to Thessalonica where he preached the death and resurrection and some Greek and many women were convicted but he had to run as some bounty hunting Jews started a riot to hold him. However, he slipped out of the city by night and went to Berea.

In Berea, mainly through bible studies, many many men and women believed in Jesus. But some of the same men from the last town Thessalonica come to Berea to make trouble with him so the left Berea and Arrived in Athens

So, Paul the apostle had arrived in the great city of Athens. The capital of Greece. The former world power which was now Rome. It was in the decline but most of the building were in usable condition. And upon his arrival he witness a depth of idolatry that he found to be despicable.

And in verse 17 the bible speaking of his response to this unacceptable idolatry. The breaking of the first and second commandments Thou shall have no other Gods before ME and Thou shall not make any carved image. Idolatry everywhere. In the stores, in the work places in the homes, the agora and in the Areopagus.

But what is idolatry. Idolatry is

1. Forbidden. , ; .

(1)Thou shall have no other God’s before ME: (2) Thou shall not make anycarved image or bow down to them: (3) You shall not take the name of the LORD in vain.

Breaking any of the God’s commandments is IDOLATRY, especially the first four.

2. Consists in

a. Bowing down to images. ; .

b. Worshipping images. ; , , .

c. Sacrificing to images. ; .

d. Worshipping other gods. ; .

e. Swearing by other gods. ; .

f. Walking after other gods. .

g. Speaking in the name of other gods. .

h. Looking to other gods. .

i. Serving other gods. ; .

j. Fearing other gods. .

k. Sacrificing to other gods. .

l. Worshipping the true God by an image, &c. ; , .

m. Worshipping angels. .

n. Worshipping the host of heaven. ; .

o. Worshipping demons. ; .

p. Worshipping dead men. .

q. Setting up idols in the heart. , .

r. Covetousness. ; .

s. Sensuality. .

3. Is changing the glory of God into an image. ; .

4. Is changing the truth of God into a lie. ; .

5. Is a work of the flesh. , . And not the Spirit

6. Incompatible with the service of God. , ; ; ; ; , .

7. Described as

a. An abomination to God. .

b. Hateful to God. ; .

c. Vain and foolish. ; ; .

f. Unprofitable. Jdj 10:14; .

This he taught from the bible in the synagogue and the agora, the Greek market daily and some powerful men were vex. The EPICUREAN AND THE STOIC. When you preach truth many will be offended, many will hate you. Sometime you lose your friends, your family and your jobs. It is not an easy road.

And so the Epicurean and the Stoics made a citizen arrest and took him to the supreme court – the Areopagus.

These are some unsual words and if we are going to understand the passage we must know mean. We cannot continue until we have defined these unsual terms such as Epicurean, Stoics, Aeropagus, babbler and areopagite.

LET US BEGIN

Mount Olympus was the dwelling of the Olympian Gods and it was created after the Titanomachy, the battle during which the Olympians C ffdefeated their predecessors, the Titans. The peak Mytikas was then called Pantheon and was the venue where all the fiery discussions among the deities took place. There was also a place where the Throne of Zeus was located. The twelve Olympians that resided at Mount Olympus were Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hestia, Demeter, Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares and Hephaestus.

Pantheon can also refer to a temple or sacred building explicitly dedicated to "all deities", avoiding the difficulty of giving an exhaustive list. The most well known of such structures is the Pantheon of Rome, first built between the years 27 BCE and 14 CE. The building standing today was constructed on the same site around 126 CE. It was dedicated to "all gods" as a gesture embracing the religious syncretism (note this word as we will be coming back to it later) in the increasingly multicultural Roman Empire, with subjects worshipping gods from many cultures and traditions. The building was later renovated for use as a Christian church in 609 under Pope Boniface IV.

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Twelve Olympians are the major deities of the Greek pantheon, commonly considered to be Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes, and either Hestia or Dionysus.[2]Hades and Persephone

A pantheon (from Greek pantheon, literally "(a temple) of all gods", "of or common to all gods" from pan- "all" and theos"god") is the particular set of all gods of any polytheistic religion, or tradition:

It is from this we get the religion of POLYTHEISM and the doctrine of PANTHEISM. Simply states that everything is god and god is everthing so many gods. It teaches of the doctrine of the REINCARNATION WHICH IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE NEW-AGE MOVEMENT. Also the greatest means of deception and spiritualism, tool of Satan.

Denying “But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof “You will surely die”. Instead they teach “You will not surely die”. The beginning of SPIRITUALISM

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Now from the Pantheon, one of the lesser gods Set up a military court called the Areopagus. The Areopagus is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.

Its English name is the composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated "Ares Rock" In classical times, it functioned as the court for trying deliberate homicide. As at the foot of the rock was erected a temple dedicated to the Erinyes where murderers used to find shelter so as not to face the consequences of their actions.

Ares, himself was supposed to have been tried here by the gods for the murder of Poseidon's son Halirrhothius. In 458 BC the Areopagus is the site of the trial of Orestes for killing his mother (Clytemnestra) and her lover (Aegisthus).

Phryne, the hetaera from 4th century BC Greece and famed for her beauty, appeared before the Areopagus accused of profaning the Eleusinian mysteries.

The Eleusinian Mysteries were initiations held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone. They are the “most famous of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece.”[1] Their basis was an old agrarian cult,[2] The mysteries represented the myth of the abduction of Persephone from her mother Demeter by the king of the underworld Hades, in a cycle with three phases, the descent (loss), the search, and the ascent, with the main theme being the ascent of Persephone and the reunion with her mother. It was a major festival during the Hellenic era, and later spread to Rome

One story has her letting her cloak drop, so impressing the judges with her almost divine form that she was summarily acquitted.[6]

Before the 5th century BC), the Areopagus was the council of military elders of the city because Athens was always at war with the city of Sparta (sword fights shows).

In 594 BC, the Areopagus agreed to hand over its functions to Solon for reform. He instituted democratic reforms similar to the Roman Senate. Like the Senate, its membership was restricted to those who had held high public office.

Then and AREOPAGITE was one of the twelve (12) senators or militargry judges in the Areopagus.

Later, the Romans referred to the rocky hill as "Mars Hill", after Mars, the Roman God of War. So It was set up by the Greek god of war ARES upon the Roman god of war Mars, hhhhhhmmmmmm.

So we understand that the Areopagus was a court of idolatrous men whose religion was polytheism and their doctrine was pantheism.*n

X

The EPICUREAN was a little different in that while they were polytheistic and they neither believed in reincarnation nor the resurrection. They believed when you’re dead you’re dead. So eat drink and be merry. Enjoy all the pleasures you can for soon you die and it all over.

The STOICS

Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished throughout the Roman and Greek world until the 3rd century AD. Stoicism is predominantly a philosophy of personal ethics which is informed logics. According to its teachings, as social beings, the path to happiness for humans is found in accepting this moment as it presents itself, by not alflowing ourselves to be controlled by our desire for pleasure or our fear of pain, by using our minds to understand the world around us and to do our part in nature's plan, and by working together and treating others in a fair and just manner.

To live a good life, one had to understand the rules of the natural order since they taught that everything was rooted in nature.[2]

Later Stoics—such as Seneca and Epictetus—emphasized that, because "virtue is sufficient for happiness", a sage was immune to misfortune.

Stoic views that only a sage can be considered truly free, and that all moral corruptions are equally vicious.

[3] Stoicism became the foremost popular philosophy among the educated elite in the Hellenistic world and the Roman Empire,[11] to the point where, "nearly all the successors of Alexander [...] professed themselves Stoics."[12]

THE STOICS.

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So Paul is accosted and arrested by these idolartrous Epicurean because of what he was angrily teaching in the church and in public places (the bible says the synagogue and the market). I have highlighted that some activities here in our church are idolatrous and I was taken to task and constanctly disrespected because of it so I know what Paul is feeling.

So they took him to the what I call the Areopagus the place of death to do to him what this same tribunal had done to the famous Socrates. Condemn him for the things he was teaching then gave him the poison HEMLOCK to drink and he had to drink it there and die. Can you imagine that the bartender was already at work mixing the drink, The poison, the hemlock.

I can say that because they heard what Paul was preaching. He spoke publicly. The bible said he disputed with them, daily. They say he was a proclaimer of foreign but it wasn’t the foreign god that was the problem. It was the doctrine of the RESURRECTION. In Verse 23 Paul declared, “While I was coming here I passed an altar with the plaque marked “To the UNKNOW GOD’. So there was a space for Him. But not any space for His doctrine. So the Holy Spirit through Paul starting to write the book of 1 Corithians We preach Christ crucified and resurrected. To the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness (). HIM I DECLARE UNTO YOU

You see, you can’t have the cross without the man, you can’t have the death and burial without the man, you can’t have the resurrection without the man. The man Christ Jesus.

He is the express image of the Father, humanity clothed with divinity, The self-existing one, in Him was life and it was the light of men. For by Him was all things created that are in heaven or on earth, visible or invisible, whether your thrones or your dominion or your principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things were consist

He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead that He might have PREEMINENCE.

For it please the Father that in Him all the fullness of the Godhead should dwell. He is GOD and He is LORD. Him I declare unto you KNOWN by me and many more even the members of the church. He is the Almighty God, He is the ONLY God.

So Paul continues, (vs 24-25) The God who made the world and everything in it. He is Lord of heaven and earth, He does not dwell in temple made by hands. We are His temple. In Him we dwell and move and have our being. Him I declare unto you. Hi name is Jesus. And at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God.

Therefore, we do not worship some cunningly devise fable. We were eyewitnesses to His majesty.

EVERYBODY MUST READ VERSE 30-31. Here is where the called the bartender to bring out the poison hemlock. Verse 32 said then the coupe de gras.

You see they called Paul a babbler. A little bird that didn’t fly far so knew very little. A man who picked up titbits of wisdom in the marketplace. He didn’t know much.

They never knew that Paul was a studied Jew, a Benjamite. A Pharisee, one who had a doctorate at law. Paul described himself as a Pharisee of a Pharisee therefore he was exceptional in the things of the law and doctrines. At the feet of his eminent and erudite professor, professor Gamaliel he was a most able student who mastered RETHORIC, DOCTRINES, PERSUATION among other disciplines. Now armed with God’s Holy Spirit he was ready to unveiled the teachings of Jesus who he had met on the road to Damacus, because the NT had not yet been written.

Now we see the fulfillment of scriptures, “for prophecy never came by the will of man but, holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit

So as Paul was moved by the Holy Spirit, he began to speak . All bibles open, everyone! When everyone leaves here today they too will have something biblically to say of the RESURRECTION

After the reading; a brief summary

I. The Proofs of the Believer’s Resurrection (15:1–34)

A. Historical proof (vv. 1–11).

B. Personal proof (vv. 12–19).

C. Doctrinal proof (vv. 20–28).

D. Practical proof (vv. 29–34).

II. The Process of the Believer’s Resurrection (15:35–49)

III. The Program of the Believer’s Resurrection (15:50–58)

I. The Proofs of the Believer’s Resurrection (15:1–34)

A. Historical proof (vv. 1–11).

The Corinthians did not doubt the resurrection of Christ, so Paul began there in his argument for the resurrection of the human body. The resurrection of Christ is an historic fact proved by the message of the Gospel, the testimony of witnesses and the conversion of Paul himself. If there were no resurrection, there would be no salvation, for a dead Savior can save nobody! “Now,” argues Paul, “I know that you Corinthians believe in the resurrection of Christ, otherwise your faith is empty (vain). Christ was a man, and now He has a resurrection body. If He has a glorified body in heaven, why should we believers not have one also?” This is another aspect of the believer’s union with Christ: because He has been glorified, we shall also be glorified one day.

B. Personal proof (vv. 12–19).

Paul points to the Corinthians’ own personal experience. He had preached the Gospel to them, they had believed, and their lives had been transformed (6:9–11). But if the dead rise not, then Christ is dead, and that Gospel was a lie! Their faith was vain, and they were still in their sins! The Christian faith is good only if a person lives; there is no hope after death.

C. Doctrinal proof (vv. 20–28).

Here Paul deals with the Bible doctrine of “the two Adams.” (He uses this argument also in .) It was through the first Adam’s sin that death came into the world; but through the Last Adam (Christ), death has been conquered. Christ is the firstfruits; that is, He is the first of a great harvest that is yet to come. Christ is God’s “Last Adam,” and He will reverse the wrong that the first Adam brought into this world. When Christ comes, the dead in Christ will be raised (v. 23 and ). Jesus will finally put all things under His feet, including death. In other words, to deny the resurrection of the dead is to deny the future kingdom of Christ. If believers are “dead and gone,” then God’s promise for the future is null and void.

D. Practical proof (vv. 29–34).

Paul mentions several practices in daily life that prove the resurrection of the body.

For one thing, the Corinthians were “baptizing for the dead.” There is some disagreement over what this means.

Baptism is a symbol of death, burial, and resurrection. (New Testament scholars generally agree that the early church baptized by immersion.) The ordinance has no meaning if there is no resurrection of the dead. In vv. 30–32, Paul cites the many dangers in his ministry, and says in effect, “Surely it is foolish for me to risk my life daily if there is no resurrection!” In v. 32 he argues, “If there is no resurrection, then we ought to eat, drink, and be merry! Enjoy life while we can!” It is easy to see that these practical points make sense. “Shame on you!” he concludes in v. 34. “You ought to have this knowledge!”

II. The Process of the Believer’s Resurrection (15:35–49)

“How are the dead raised?” is the key question here. Paul uses illustrations from nature to show that there is no life apart from death. The seed that is planted dies and bears fruit, and the fruit, while identified with the original seed, is different from it. The resurrection body, like the bodies in the heavens, will have its own kind of glory. It is not the same body that was planted (v. 37), but there is continuity between the buried body and the resurrection body. The physical body laid in the grave is liable to corruption; it is humble, a body of humiliation; it is weak; it is suited to a natural environment. The resurrection body will not decay; it will have power and glory; it will be suited to a spiritual environment. It will bear the image of the heavenly.

The resurrection body of Christ illustrates what Paul is teaching here. The believers recognized Him, so there was continuity between His crucified body and His glorified body. But He was also able to change His appearance. He passed through locked doors, yet He also ate fish and honey () and invited the disciples to feel Him. It was the same body, yet it was also a different body. The resurrection body retains the personal identity and individuality of the believer, but it will be suited to a new way of life.[1]

III. The Program of the Believer’s Resurrection (15:50–58)

Here Paul deals with the second coming of Christ and what it means to both the living and the dead. “We shall not all die (sleep),” because some saints will be alive when Christ returns; “but we shall all be changed.” This mystery concerns the rapture of the church. When Christ returns, the dead shall be raised first, the living caught up with them, and all will be changed to be like Christ. And all of this will happen in the twinkling of an eye.

Paul closes with a note of victory. There can be no sting in death when a person is a Christian, for Christ has taken out that sting. There can be no victory in the grave, for Christ will one day empty the graves and bring forth His own in resurrection power. How hopeless the Greeks were when they thought about death! Inscriptions on tombs in ancient Greece and Rome indicate that death was their greatest enemy, that they saw no hope beyond the grave. In Christ we have life and hope!

Verse 58 is often quoted out of its context. Christians can be steadfast and immovable, because they know that if their worst enemy (death) has been overcome, they need fear no other enemy. They can abound in Christian service, for that work will count for eternity. Their labor is not in vain.

Several times in this chapter Paul uses the phrase “in vain.” It means “empty, without content.” Because the tomb is empty, our faith is not empty! But if the tomb is not empty, then everything else is in vain: our preaching is empty (v. 14), our faith is empty (v. 14), and our works are empty (v. 58). The resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s answer to Solomon’s lament in : “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!” Thanks be to God for the victory we have in the resurrection of Christ![2]

Here now in verse 32 their mockery was in hiding their defeat. They were not able to match learning with God’s Holy Spirit. They threw the hemlock in the bushes and said “we will hear thee again on this matter”. The RESURRECTION WAS ON. THE RESURRECTION WAS GOOD.

That Jesus of Nazareth died for our sins according to Scriptures. And was buried and RESURRECTED on the third day according to Scriptures

The IDOLS in the Areopagus had lost another a battle to the God of creation who had come to save all men. To tell them “REPENT and be baptized for the remission of their sins and they would receive the HOLY GHOST.

To tell the them that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him would not perish but have everlasting live.

And thanks be to the witness of God’s Holy Spirit Paul’s preaching was not in vain. The passage ends at verse 34 saying one of the judge, an areopagite named Dionysius gave his live to the Lord Jesus along with at lady, Damaris and others.

The song echoed “The time has come to give it to the Lord. That what this altar is for. You don’t have to carry this burden any more. There is light in the darkness. There is a love that’s sure Jesus is waiting here for you.

The altar is open. Jesus is waiting here for you just like Dionysius and Damaris. You don’t have to carry your burden of unbelief anymore. Jesus is saying My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

-TDG - This Day With God 269:k

The Lord Jesus is looking upon every soul with intense interest. He has declared that the spiritual character of His church is to be carefully maintained. The church is in the world, and is to do a work for the world, but the doors of the church are not to be opened to worldliness. “Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up” (). The church must be strictly guarded. Its sacred character must be demonstrated to the world. “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building” (). “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (, ).… [3]

I am the light of the world, if you walk with me your will not walk in darkness. He is calling out to you, saying, “Today, today, today! If you hear My voice, harden not your heart. Come to Jesus. Come today.

The servant of the Lord penned these word.

The things that concern our eternal welfare are now to absorb our attention. We cannot afford to give heavenly things the second place.… The judgments of God are in the land. They speak in solemn warning, saying, “Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

There are many, many in our churches who know little of the real meaning of the truth for this time. I appeal to them not to disregard the fulfilling of the signs of the times, which say so plainly that the end is near. O how many who have not sought their soul’s salvation will soon make the bitter lamentation, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved”!

We are living in the closing scenes of this earth’s history. Prophecy is rapidly fulfilling. The hours of probation are fast passing. We have no time—not a moment—to lose. Let us not be found sleeping on guard. Let no one say in his heart or by his works, “My lord delayeth his coming.” Let the message of Christ’s soon return sound forth in earnest words of warning. Let us persuade men and women everywhere to repent, and flee from the wrath to come. Let us arouse them to immediate preparation; for we little know what is before us. Let ministers and lay members go forth into the ripening fields.…[4]

We along with the Personal Ministries Department and the rest of the church will be going to the ripening field this afternoon at two (2:00) pm.

We invite you to join us

Do you believe in the RESURRECTION? If you do your behavior will reflect it. If you do your action will show it. If you do your conversation will tell it.

If you believe in the RESURRECTION stand with be as we pray (Prayer of Faith)

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[3] White, E. G. (1979). This Day with God (p. 269). Review and Herald Publishing Association.

[4] White, E. G. (1976). Maranatha, The Lord is Coming (p. 106). Review and Herald Publishing Association.