Proclamation in the Marketplace

Introduction to Paul’s sermon at Athens

Explanation: Paul had been busy proclaiming the Gospel to the Jews in various cities, including Thessalonica and Berea. He was in the synagogues on the Sabbath, preaching about Jesus as Messiah in fulfillment of the OT prophecies. In each place, his message had upset the unbelieving Jews that were there, and he and his fellow travelers had been run out of town. When he left the town of Berea, he was taken to Athens where he was left by himself until the others could come and reunite with him.

While he was in Athens he did do some preaching in the synagogues to the Jews (), as was his custom, but the major focus of this section of Scripture is Paul’s preaching to the Gentiles. Athens was the birthplace of democracy, and it was home to some of the most famous philosophers who had lived, including Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

Paul was proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus in the Marketplace on a daily basis (). Paul was addressing his message to the unchurched, including some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. This audience was different in culture, religious outlook, and history. As Paul proclaimed the Gospel, he did it with a different, but specialized strategy.

We should be upset by those things that displease a Holy God ()

Explanation: Paul had been dropped off in Athens and was going to wait until Silas and Timothy and the rest were able to catch up with him. Instead of sleeping late and lounging by the pool of the Athen’s Travel Lodge, Paul was out and about mixing it up with the people of the city. While he was wandering about town with his fold-out guide to historic, down-town Athens, Paul stumbled across the map that showed the locations of all the major idols and temples. There were so many idols in Athens they couldn’t all be listed. As Paul’s toured the city and was experiencing the multitude of false idols, “his spirit was provoked within him.” In short, he was upset that the glory of the Living God was being dimmed by the existence of a multitude of abominations. Paul was agitated to the point of action, so he began proclaiming the Gospel of the True and Living God in response to the spiritual darkness.

Quote: Some people would rather curse the darkness, than light a candle

Argument: Abiding in Christ will keep us near to the heart of the Savior. As we spend time with the Master in prayer, seeking to know Him, not to “get something” from Him, we will become more aware of His ways and His purposes, and will have a greater desire to live for Him. Until and unless the fate and hopelessness of those living in spiritual darkness actually “provokes our spirit” to action, we will continue to ignore them

Application: Our Gospel witness begins in the area of prayer and surrender to the Master. Spend more time in His Word and His Presence, and ask Him to give you eyes to see lost people as He does. Pray that God might place a burden on you and disturb your spirit to the point of action.

Discover an area of Common Ground to use as a starting place ()

Explanation: Paul’s sermon to the philosophers on Mars Hill actually begins with verse 17. His preaching of the Gospel in the Marketplace gained the attention of the philosophers, so they invited Paul to the Aeropagus to further define His teaching of Jesus.

Paul began his message by addressing their religious beliefs. Even though Paul understood their idol worship to be false, and he knew it was an abomination to the LORD, he began with this common area of worship. Their worship was false, and needed to be corrected, but it served as an entry point into the conversation. Paul started with the shared concept of worship, and then he applied the corrective later in the message

Illustrate: Common ground of winter storm prepping. When a snow or ice storm is predicted, what do most people do? Go get bread and milk! Then using the common ground of preparing for something as short-lived as a 2-3 weather encounter, ask them what they are doing to prepare for Eternity

Argument: Developing a starting point is not that difficult. The reason is that we have a shared humanity. Humans are all created in the image of God, and we all share some basic thoughts concerning desires of identity, belonging, life goals, etc. There are some who think and reason completely different from we who operate from a biblical worldview, but at the base level we are all human, and we all need Jesus.

Application: In order to discover common ground, we must be with lost people and engaging them in conversation. This does involve moving out of our comfort zones, but Evangelism doesn’t take place without the first step

Proclaim the identity of God as He is revealed (Acts 17:23b-28)

Explanation: After establishing his common base of worship, Paul immediately moves to a corrective. He tells them that this “unkown god” they are simply throwing a bone to, is actually the Creator God of the Universe. Instead of being some “little god” who at least deserves a few monuments, Paul is telling them of the ONE TRUE and LIVING GOD, the Only God who is worthy of worship.

Paul proceeds to inform them of the biblical truth that the Almighty is “outside the box,” He is the Creator and nothing in this world can contain Him. This belief was definitely not in keeping with their philosophical reasonings about deity. The Stoics believed in some type of deity who was not even remotely interested in personal interaction with his creation while the Epicureans were pantheists.

Illustrate: Conversation with teacher at AC about Allah. Allah is not another name for Yahweh, the Living God. Allah is a false god, and those who worship him will end up in hell

Argument: Notice that Paul did not bring up the Bible; he did not give a reasoned argument for the belief in a divine being (cosmological argument, design argument, etc); and he didn’t share a personal experience. He simply proclaimed the Nature of God as it is revealed in the Scriptures, and told them that how they had been worshiping was wrong.

Paul did use material his audience would have been familiar with. He quotes from two Greek poets (v. 28) to show that the idea of a supreme God was not at odds with what they already knew.

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 10: Luke–Acts (Revised Edition) Commentary

In his search for a measure of common ground with his hearers, he is, so to speak, disinfecting and rebaptizing the words of two Greek poets for his own purposes. Quoting these Greek poets in support of his teaching sharpened his message for his particular audience. But despite its form, Paul’s address was thoroughly biblical and Christian in its content.

Holman New Testament Commentary: Acts E. The Persuasion on the Areopagus (vv. 22–31)

To be sure, both of these lines were directed at Zeus in Greek literature, but Paul applied them to the Creator of whom he spoke. So in five short verses Paul affirmed that God made the world; God gave all people life; God controlled the nations; and God revealed himself so people would seek him, a result quite possible for he is both transcendent and imminent.

Application: When we share the Gospel with those with no church background we need to be sensitive of their ignorance of the things of Christ. Notice Paul did not “bash” any of their “little gods” or berate the Athenians for their foolishness. So, like Paul, we should be straight forward with the identity of God, His role as Creator and Sustainer, and then move to His role as Redeemer

Share the Problem of sin along with the Solution of Jesus ()

Explanation: Having established the biblical position of God as creator of the entire human race (with included the Athenians), Paul moves to the problem of broken relationships. Paul informs the Athenians that it is God’s desire that His offspring (humans) be in right relationship with Him. Paul tells them that false worship of created things (wood, stone or metal) do not suffice for the Almighty. Instead, this Creator God has revealed Himself to the entire world through His Son Jesus, and all people are now to worship Him.

Paul also tells them that in the past, God overlooked their ignorance, but now that Jesus has been clearly revealed, it is very possible to find their way to God through Jesus. That Jesus is the One Way has been validated by His Resurrection from the dead. This Jesus is to be the Judge of the World, and each person needs to have the righteousness of Jesus to be able to withstand the judgment.

A well-written summary of vv. 29-31 is given below:

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 10: Luke–Acts (Revised Edition) Commentary

The climax of the address focuses on the progressive unfolding of divine redemption and the apex of that redemption in Jesus Christ. Being “God’s offspring”—not, of course, in a pantheistic sense, but in the biblical sense of being created by God in his image—we should not, Paul insists, think of deity in terms of gold, silver, or stone (v. 29). All that idolatrous ignorance was in the past overlooked by God (v. 30; cf. 14:16; Ro 3:25), for God has always been more interested in repentance than judgment (cf. Wis 11:23: “But you have mercy on all men, because you have power to do all things, and you overlook the sins of men to the end that they may repent”). Nevertheless, God has now acted in the person and work of Jesus in such a manner as to make idolatry particularly heinous. To reject Jesus, therefore, is to reject the personal and vicarious intervention of God on behalf of humanity and to open oneself up to divine judgment, which will be meted out in the future by the very one who is being rejected in the present (v. 31). For God himself has authenticated the person and redemptive work of Jesus by raising him from the dead