Acts 17

1. Relationship not a Ritual

I. Relationship not a Ritual

a. V. 22 – very religious

Acts 17:22 NKJV

Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious;

b. V. 23 – spin, pour, burn

Acts 17:23 NKJV

for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:

c. People know there is something more

Acts 17:23 NKJV

for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:

2. Reason for our being

a. Created by God

Acts 17:24 NKJV

God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.

i.

Genesis 2:7 NKJV

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

b. Created for God

Acts 17:27–28 NKJV

so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him 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 also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

acts 17

i.

Ephesians 2:22 NKJV

in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

ii.

1 Corinthians 6:19 NKJV

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

c. Created to Worship God

Acts 17:27 NKJV

so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

i. V. 27 – seek = worship

2. Responsibility

a. Call for ALL to Repent

Acts 17:30 NKJV

Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,

i.

Acts 20:20–21 NKJV

how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

b. First you need to Repent

Isaiah 59:1–2 NKJV

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

Isaiah 59:1-4 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.

ii.

Hebrews 12:14 NKJV

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:

i. - How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

ii. - But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

iii. - I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

IV. Responses

acts

Acts 17:32–34 NKJV

And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” So Paul departed from among them. However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

a. Mock

i. The Spirit is not dealing with them

John 6:44 NKJV

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

ii. They have sinned a sin unto death

- ….there is a sin unto death.

1 John 5:16 NKJV

If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.

b. Procrastinate

Matthew 12:30 NKJV

He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

Math 12:30

ii. They don’t realize the danger they are in!

iii. Love their sin too much

1.

John 3:19 NKJV

And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

c. Believe

Romans 10:9–10 NKJV

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

= Faith without works is dead!

ii. = Faith without works is dead!