Pray for one week 6

Acts 17:16–34 ESV

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. 22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 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. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 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.’ 29 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. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 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.” 32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

Points to be made:

Some mocked Paul and didn't want to hear Him (verse:18, 32)

The altar to the unknown god is still alive and well in our time today. Our world wants to seem as though they are intellectually honest, open to new ideas, and they express they do not have all the answers. “There is still more we can learn,” they say. Until you contradict what they say. Their claims can have no basis in the natural world, no basis in science, no consistency in thought but to contradict them is to bring down their wrath. Ah, and here is where we see, that unknown god, is really them. It is a facade. The search for Truth and knowledge is not their desire it is to have control over their own lives and yours. They control their own lives, which allows them to make any choice they want without any kind of hindrance, like conviction of the soul. They want to control your life because they want you to applaud and agree with their choices. When we posses, we follow, and we do not compromise the Gospel they see that God does not applaud, and they hate Him for it and since we are His ambassadors they hate us.

Paul did not compromise the Gospel to make it relevant: He did not say, “I will tell you the name of the unknown god.” That would only have made them think there is just one more god. Paul acknowledged it so that He could open the door of their not knowing. They knew there is a possibility that there is a god they do not know. That’s what Paul ran with. (verse 23-29)

Compromise: Compromise is the drink of the coward. Compromise is the coat for the thin-skinned. Compromise is the mask for the one who cannot bear to see what he has become. It is one thing to learn and to grow, but when we know the truth of the Gospel there is no more movement left or right. One can always grow in knowledge but truth does not change. The truth of the Gospel, God wrapped Himself in our flesh. The very flesh which leads us to temptation again and again and again. God became flesh and was tempted in every way, but He did not sin. He was beaten and abused for sins He did not commit. He was put to death on a Roman cross, but not before the wrath of God toward sin was poured out upon Him. Jesus, being sinless by nature, bore the sins of mankind and bore the wrath of God for the sins He did not commit. He was killed, placed into a tomb, and 3 days later He rose from the dead. After appearing to countless bodily and alive He ascended to the right hand of the Father. This was done so that we could have fellowship with Him. That we could have eternal life, though we are sinful creatures. That upon our conversion, when a man or woman believes in who Jesus is, God the Son, and what He did, died on our behalf for our sins… That when we profess this belief. When we meet our Savior in a watery grave of baptism we too are raised to life again. He gives us God the Holy Spirit that we would begin to walk in His ways. But even more than that, we are given the righteousness of Christ. Because our sins have been attributed to Him on that cross His righteousness is attributed to us. This is the Gospel that should never be compromised because this is the only Gospel that saves! To compromise the Gospel is to damn people. This is why Paul did not name the unknown god Jesus, because they would have worshipped Jesus along with Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Juno, and Minerva. Isaiah 42:8 “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.”

Some mocked, but some believed (verse 19 they were interested, verse 32-34 they believed)

There are those who will mock. There are those who will refuse to give of their throne, their lordship of their lives. But then there are those we have been praying for. LORD give me someone that I can share your love with today! Can we address a difficult teaching? Romans 1 lays out the intrinsic nature within us which proclaims God’s existence. Paul writes Romans 1:20 “20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” But I do not believe it just the intrinsic that leaves us without excuse. We know according to 2 Peter 3:9 “9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” That being said, we also have testimony of people, the late Nabeel Quershi testifies to this not only in his own life but also in the Muslim world at large, God appears to people in dreams. This was the catalyst to Nabeel’s conversion from Islam to Christianity. The point I am making here is, God is going to pursue all people to come to Him, but not all will. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 “9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,” To those in Christ we are not destined to wrath, but to those who reject they are. If I can tie this altogether as neatly as possible, on the day of judgement I believe no man will have an excuse as to why they did not know God. Through the intrinsic and through His pursuit of people, no one will have an excuse. We as finite creatures have no idea who is who. We do not know all who will turn to Jesus and all who would reject. But God does. That is why we are praying for one. He knows and He will cross our path’s with those He knows. Not all will accept the gift of the Gospel, but not all will reject it either. These are the one’s that we are after.