Unknown God

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Introduction:
What this is all about:
What I want you to know:
What I want you to do:
How I want you to do it:
Series: Acts of Harvest
Text:
Date: April 15, 2018
Pastor Mike Ellis
Introduction:
Today we are going to finish up our walk-through Acts
- While there is much more to this wonderful book, it is time for us to move on.
We are going to close our time in Acts in chapter 17:16-34
Read
Acts 17:16–21 CSB
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed when he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?” Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities”—because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. They took him and brought him to the Areopagus, and said, “May we learn about this new teaching you are presenting? Because what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these things mean.” Now all the Athenians and the foreigners residing there spent their time on nothing else but telling or hearing something new.
In our world today, we find this overwhelming need to find a hero
Last year during a press release Ben Affleck, spoke into his role as the dark knight in his latest movie.
This is what USA Today said in their report,
While he ponders his own future as the Dark Knight, the actor does see a timeliness in Justice League’s arrival now. “We certainly are in need of heroes in 2017,” Affleck says. “There’s a lot of stuff going on in the world, from natural to man-made disasters, and it’s really scary. Part of the appeal of this genre is wish fulfillment: Wouldn’t it be nice if there was somebody who can save us from all this, save us from ourselves, save us from the consequences of our actions and save us from people who are evil?”
USA Today
In the days of Paul this was the search as well
The whole world looking for a hero that would save them.
- Athens
o The capitol of Greece
o In its glory, it was the center of everything Greek
o This city was also home to philosophy
§ Philosophers such as Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Epicurus, Zeno
o However, this was 400 years before Paul arrived on the scene
-
Acts 17:16 CSB
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed when he saw that the city was full of idols.
o When Paul shows up, Athens has a population of 10-20 thousand
o But the spirit of old had not left
o We find Paul deeply distressed
§ Filled with a combination of anger and grief over their ignorance
§ Do you grieve over ignorance?
§ What do you do with that grief?
-
Acts 17:17 CSB
So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.
o A positive response
o Notice how Paul debated without berating, and belittling
§ Luke wrote that Paul went to the synagogue to “debate” with those who were there.
§ He was discussing, listening carefully, and yet gently and firmly stating his convictions.
§ Effective witnessing doesn’t include yelling, belittling, or attempting to ram beliefs down someone’s throat.
§ This distortion of evangelism probably explains why so many believers are so reluctant to engage their unbelieving friends and neighbors in spiritual conversations.
§ The good news about the Good News is that we can share it in an inoffensive manner!
§ We need to ask God to provide these opportunities
o We can learn something hear
§ This is not about being wrong or right
§ This is about seeking the truth
-
Acts 17:18 CSB
Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?” Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities”—because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
o Epicureans
§ Followers of Epicurus
§ Believed that the main purpose of life was pleasure and happiness.
§ If they did believe in God they believed He did not interfere in the lives of humans
§ This is like our modern-day materialists and hedonists which is a pleasure seeker
o Stoics
§ Followers of Zeno
§ They were pantheistic
· Which means that they believe God is creation it self
§ They believed that a great purpose was the driving force of humanity
§ They believed responsibility was found in the alignment to the purpose through duty and self-discipline
§ These are our modern-day New agers
-
Acts 17:19–20 CSB
They took him and brought him to the Areopagus, and said, “May we learn about this new teaching you are presenting? Because what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these things mean.”
o We once again find people intrigued by the truth
o This has not changed
o People today are still interested in the truth
-
Acts 17:21 CSB
Now all the Athenians and the foreigners residing there spent their time on nothing else but telling or hearing something new.
o Here we have a side note of what the Athenians were like
o They liked to hear new things
o I am reminded of
2 Timothy 4:3 CSB
For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear.
An opportunity to speak
o Something that we all should seek
o Are you prepared
o Do you even know what you would say?
-
Acts 17:22 CSB
Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect.
o Being aware of your audience
o Connecting to your audience
o Speak in love
“Before you can convince a man of anything, you must first convince him that you are his true friend.” Abraham Lincoln
-
Acts 17:23 CSB
For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed: ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.
o Unknown God
§ A hero the whole world is looking for
§ For the Athenians, they were making sure they were dotting all their I’s and crossing all their T’s
§ They did not want to miss out on any blessings
o God unknown
§ Spirituality today
§ A world full of people crossing their T’s and dotting their I’s
§ Religions full of check lists
§ Do’s and don’ts
§ Traditions that they don’t even understand
§ Lip service to the Lord
§ Only doing what they like
-
Acts 17:24–29 CSB
The God who made the world and everything in it—he is Lord of heaven and earth—does not live in shrines made by hands. Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things. From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is 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 also his offspring.’ Since we are God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.
o A simple explanation
o A simple gospel
o A message that forces a change of mind of how they are living
-
Acts 17:30–31 CSB
“Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
o Ignorance is not bliss
o We are without excuses
o You will be judged by Him who is able to judge correctly
§ What will you say to Him
§ Are you going to tell Him that your good enough?
§ That you did everything right
§ You dotted the I’s and crossed the T’s
§ You completed you weekly checklists
-
Acts 17:32–34 CSB
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to ridicule him, but others said, “We’d like to hear from you again about this.” So Paul left their presence. However, some people joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
o Some will choose Christ
o Some will not
§ And this is not for you to decide
§ It is for you to speak
o We cannot live with a “kill them all and let God sort them out” attitude
o Instead we must live with a “love them all and let God sort them out” attitude
Conclusion:
- We need to show the world the real hero
- We need to tell His story
- The story of salvation
- It must be you
- We cannot live our lives complaining that world is falling apart if we refuse to do something about it
- We cannot just come into church and jot a pray request down on a paper and expect something to be done
- It is you that needs to be the one who is working
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