 Let's begin reading together here in chapter 17 of the book of Acts. We're going to be looking at verses 16 and 17 as we continue our journey through Acts and so Verse 16 Luke writes now While Paul waited for them in Athens his spirit was provoked within him When he saw that the city was given over to idols therefore He reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers and in the marketplace Daily with those who had happened who happened to be there And so as I've been sharing with you again a brief introduction just to bring us up to Paul in Athens Paul has been traveling with what we would call today a ministry team And he's on what the theologians have referred to as his second missionary journey now He's already been on what we would have called his first missionary journey You see that in chapters 13 and 14 and in that that journey that we see in those chapters He had begun ministry in a place called Antioch in in Syria and he had traveled various places and then had returned to Antioch So after returning to Antioch he he for around a year Remained there and then once again we've seen he set out and began to plant churches We saw that he had gone into an area there in ancient Turkey called Galatia and had planted a work there He had been into Philippi a small area a small place called Barria And then he went to a city called Thessalonica So we've been seeing this as we viewed his his journey well by this time in his ministry the gospel has become consistently Hostile toward has become consistently received with hostility Paul had stirred up a near riot in the city of Philippi when he had delivered from demon possession a young fortune teller When he went into the city of Thessalonica once again his preaching had stirred up an uproar in Chapter 17 here in verse 5 the Jews who were not persuaded becoming envious took some of the evil men from the Marketplace and gathering a mob had set all the city in an uproar and Attacked the house of a man named Jason and sought to bring them out to the people and so these Resisters these opponents are stirred up by envy and they're pursuing Paul now and they're causing more problems They're stirring up the crowds against him and and this has taken place And so it was taking place and the brethren had sent Paul away Now Silas and Timothy were his traveling companions and they had remained behind But Paul had been sent south to the city of Athens. I think I might have a map of this If not a fire John for it. Okay, so you see I pointed this to you last time So you're in Thessalonica up there where it says Macedonia and he's going south now And you can see southeast a little bit and there's the city of Athens And so he left Berea and he's traveled on down and that's where he is right now He's in place called Athens. We'll look at that in just a moment and so They had left they had taken him there so that he would be protected from further danger Now once again, we remember that Paul had been readied for this kind of treatment You see when he had been saved God had told the disciple a man by the name of Ananias God had told Ananias to pray for Paul and you remember that when God said you need to pray for Paul Paul is it right now himself is praying Ananias had said Lord This is the one who's persecuting everybody and Ananias tried to to inform God of the things that were taking place as if God was not Aware of it and so God said no listen He's praying and and he's expecting prayer and all and then he said the Lord speaking to Ananias It's found in chapter 9 here in the book of Acts verses 15 and 16 The Lord said to him go for he's a chosen vessel of mind to bear my name before Gentiles kings and the children of Israel For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake So he told Ananias. This is a man whom I am Appointing and anointing but this is also a man is going to go through great suffering Now in Jesus's ministry He had made it very clear that persecution is part of the life of a Christian is part of the commission of a believer You if you're a believer in Christ if you're born again, then part of what God called you to is going to be suffering We don't want that we didn't ask for that, but that's part of the package and all of that You see in John 16 verse 2 Jesus said they will they will put you out of the synagogue In fact the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think that they're offering service to God So Jesus had prepared believers. He was saying opposition rejection persecution That's something to be prepared for that's something that Paul had been prepared for and he didn't forget it As a matter of fact he would use the incidents that he's going through to encourage other people to hold fast When he was writing to the Thessalonians that church that he had planted that church said he had had such a persecution in in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verse 10 He had referred to those kinds of things to Timothy who wanted to remind people of those things the things he went through it Thessalonica and the various other places and so he used that as an example when he wrote to Timothy and he has said to him You however know all about my teaching my way of life my purpose faith patience love endurance persecutions and sufferings He goes what kinds of things happen to me in Antioch Iconium enlistra the persecutions I endured yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted So he said you know these things as a matter of fact you're from the area that I'm referring to and you know these things happen and Timothy was aware of that in Acts 14 19 It says to us that the Jews from Antioch and Iconium came to Listra and having persuaded the multitudes They had stoned Paul dragged him out of the city supposing him to be dead So Timothy was aware of that because Timothy was from that area and so opposition persecution hostility is Something to be aware of that is something that we believers have As part of the package of following Christ And we're not to be Upset about it. It's the reality of it. There's an old movie. Some of you perhaps I might have heard of it Maybe some of you are old enough to have seen it. It's shown a thousand, you know Every thousand times a year in different channels on our TVs, you know It's saving private Ryan and In the movie saving prior private Ryan I'll say this very quickly but just to give you an idea of what I'm trying to say In the movie saving private Ryan at the very end the captain is shot. He's about to die He had been given the task of getting private Ryan home to his mother And so the captain is is is about to die And when the captain speaks to private Ryan the captain was Overseeing leading a ranger team of rangers And so as he's about to die some of you may remember this scene He looks at him and he says the private Ryan earned this earned this Well any military person who's aware of rangers in their training will know that that was That's that's not right Why is that because what happened with private Ryan is at the end of the movie you see him kneeling at the Headstone of this captain and then he turns to his wife and he says have I been a good man? And she goes what do you mean? He says have I been a good man? Tell me have I been a good man and she says you've been a very good man Why did he say that he said that because the captain said earn this? I lost my life for you you earn it now many of us were moved by that I remember when my father went to see the movie my dad had fought in World War two my dad's battleship the USS Pennsylvania had been torpedoed in in right off the coast of Japan and they exploited a lot of his Friends had died on that ship and my dad was very moved by that and and also there are a lot of World War two vets and other veterans who are moved by that except for one error And this is the point I want to make as I'm introducing this is When he said to him earn this and left him scarred for the rest of his life So that at the very end when he's visiting that the the grave of his his captain and turns to his wife and says was I Am I a good man? Tell me. I'm a good man. How you're a very good man problem is this the Ranger motto. I chose this I Chose this it wasn't thrust on you. I chose this and in ministry. I chose this I Chose to live a life That would be hard. I Chose it I Chose to serve the Lord to go through opposition to go through persecution to go through pain I chose this so who am I to complain about what I chose to do? You see and that's what's going on Paul chose this he was chosen, but he followed Don't be upset When people reject you when they say all kinds of evil against you for his name's sake when they physically may oppose you Because when you came to Christ you picked up a cross and you're following him and the world Isn't going to applaud you you're gonna see this in a minute, but the world will reject you Paul knew that There's a guy by the name a well-known minister by the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and He wrote a little pamphlet called the cost of discipleship and He was put to death during World War two for attempting to and desiring to assassinate Hitler and What Bonhoeffer said was when Jesus calls a man he bids him come and die And so every believer who's open about their faith will Experience opposition and for Paul it had become physically dangerous to remain in this area called Berea So to protect him from this onslaught He was sent to the city of Athens and he left and when he left Silas and Timothy had remained behind They had taken Paul they had brought him to this city called Athens and When he's there in Athens to the south He told these people go back. I want Timothy and I want Silas to come I want to know what's going on With the ministry there in Berea at Thessalonica. I want to know what's happening And so bring them back have them come to me And so now as we pick up our study in a moment He's he's in Athens awaiting Timothy and Silas to bring him word now he's there in the city of Athens and the city of Athens received its name from the Goddess Athena It was thought to be under the protection of Athena and and Athena was the goddess that is associated with wisdom and warfare as well as handicraft During the time of Christ Athens was still regarded as an intellectual center It was a seed of learning if you will amongst the Greeks It was not as great as it had once been Corinth had had become the seed of the Roman government and thus had had eclipsed it in that kind of Importance and all but even so it was still a city that was famed for intellectual prowess There were orators there were painters sculptors philosophers there were poets as well as warriors in Athens It had schools that had universities and it was still regarded even in his day as an intellectual Intellectual center the buildings the architecture of Athens amazing beautiful. It was filled with temples and and statues It was a beautiful city But it was a city that was known for in Famous for its idolatry And Paul is there and he sees this and his heart is beginning to be stirred within him Notice it says in verse 16 while Paul waited for them at Athens His spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there Notice his response His spirit was provoked Paul was into tourists Paul wasn't on vacation Paul was a man on a mission and he's waiting for Timothy He's waiting for Silas and his spirit is now being provoked within him that word provoked means to be motivated to action Speaks of being aroused even to anger. It's speaking of being stirred He's waiting And he sees that the city is given completely over to idolatry their idols everywhere their idols on corners on their statues on altars in courtyards and in in homes and The slavery to false gods had ignited this evangelist heart It incited him He saw the bondage that the Greeks were in It stirred his righteous Indignation when he saw that they had been blinded by Satan They were worshiping the creation And not the Creator Paul when he was writing to the Romans when he was speaking concerning this idolatry and the idolatry that saturated the pagan world Paul made it very clear that that these people were worshiping creation and not the Creator And he had said you know when he spoke to them in Romans chapter 1 He had written to them and he said that from the very beginning of the world that God's invisible attributes have been clearly seen But the result of this had been futility in their thoughts and and their hearts became darkened He said in Romans 1 22 and 23 speaking of the Gentile idolaters He said professing to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and and creeping things You see in rejecting God in his created order. They were filled with darkness uncleanness of heart He says the result of turning to the worship of creation rather than the Creator Had been that they they dishonored their bodies amongst themselves. He said in in Romans 1 26 and 27 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions for even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature Likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust for one another men with men Committing what is shameful receiving in themselves the penalty of their error, which was due When you are not worshiping the God who created all things you will worship the creation itself When you worship the creation itself you get pleasure from that creation And that means that that'll filter into every way that you look at life including your relationships with others Which will include your sexual desires Which will include the deviation of those and you'll begin to love women if you're a woman and you'll love men If you're a man and you'll bring shameful behavior as a result of not accepting the true God that's the point He's making to the Romans Some of us have seen the Statues and all that are still preserved in in museums I've been to Athens more than once and had the opportunity of being on Mars Hill. I've been in the Europa because I've been there and Many of us have seen the The very ancient statues two thousand year old plus that are in museums and when you look at them You'll see that they are they're white, you know, and that's the way we look at them But unless you unless you have been taught this before you probably wouldn't know that Originally those statues were not just marble. We're not just white They were painted The hair are the women and the men would have been In detail painted so it looked like hair human hair their bodies were painted flesh tones When you looked at the statue you weren't looking at a statue Necessarily you were looking at what looked like a human being in every detail and the statues were nude and Paul would see these idols throughout the area. It stirred him not to lust But to anger at how they were worshiping man and The things that that had led to in their society They were rejecting the concept of purity. They were celebrating Sensuality as a as a righteous man. It stirred his heart to preach that there's a greater way of life His heart was stirred and that's the heart of preaching What is the heart of preaching? Well, it's a spirit that is provoked that is motivated into action You see this is a world that Paul was familiar with it's not that he wasn't He wasn't enamored by it. He wasn't tempted by it, but he was angered by it not by the people themselves but by the spirit the enemy that was was Was keeping them in bondage I think we have to be very careful that When we look at the world that we live in today that we'd be very careful not to be mad at the people per se or the people themselves But if there's some kind of indignation that stirred up within us It should be that that the lost are simply that their eyes have been blinded. They don't see that They don't see Jesus. They they don't see the love of God They're gonna live a life that they're gonna that's natural to them a lot of people are getting mad today and angry and There's hardly anything as as Unappealing as a mad Christian It's almost an oxymoron. I mean angry Christian if we get stirred and we get Moved and motivated like this it should be At what the enemy has done to blind the eyes of those who don't see and and a desire for us to To keep at least within the love of God an attitude to to tell the truth and to love the person So that they might know that there's a God who loves them and can set them free and and so that's what's motivating the heart of a preacher That motivates Paul you tell the truth, but you say it in love and you find a way to present it so that they might hear those things You see he saw the emptiness of their philosophy He saw the emptiness of their pursuit of intellectualism The pursuit of knowledge he wasn't impressed by it because it's called worldly wisdom in Colossians a Gentile church in chapter 2 verses 8 through 10 He said see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy Which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world Rather than on Christ for in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form And you have been given fullness in Christ who's ahead over every power and authority And so don't be taken captive through human philosophy in 1st Timothy 6 20 and 21 He said to Timothy guard what has been entrusted to you speaking of the gospel and ministry guard that which has been entrusted to your care Turn away from godless chatter the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge Which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith Grace be with you So what does he do what is this provoking Cosm to do verse 16 says his his spirit was provoked within him verse 17 What did it do? Well, therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers and in the marketplace daily With those who had happened to be there So he began to reason he began to dispute in the synagogue first again You see he's got a pattern going he spoke with the Jews and the Gentile God fears The idolatry had stirred them to action So he went to the Jews and the proselytes of converts or the God fairers He wanted first to begin with them because he wanted to speak to them concerning Jesus But he also took his message to the marketplace to the Agora The Agora the marketplace is where the people would congregate it was a very busy place There would be a lot of people there and very often there'd be teachers who would come and speak and so he took The advantage to go there and speak openly in what is called the marketplace now in the United States There have been places that have been looked at as being marketplaces But the marketplace very often was regarded as letters to the editor in our newspapers at one time was considered to be the Marketplace now they have social social media where where that's supposed to be like a marketplace The problem is as you have sensors now we'll say that shouldn't be printed We think that it's the wrong thing and therefore you can't give your opinion And so there's been a clamping down and dissension here that many of us haven't even noticed like that frog in in the water And you turn on the heat in that pan and very slowly the temperature of the water has been turned up So the frog just sits there without jumping out because it doesn't notice that the heat is rising and eventually is boiled in it That's what's happened in the United States Where people say oh you you can have that idea keep it to yourself Or you can be a believer, but don't tell us about it Let me tell you about and they'll tell you all the things they believe but when you say something they don't like well The marketplace have been shut down. It's closed to business Paul went to the marketplace and Paul began to speak to reason to dispute and What he's doing is he's in encountering the intellectual elite You see certain epicurian and certain stoic Philosophers and these people have come they've encountered him Well, those are two basic schools of thought philosophy. I shared with you I'll give you a little idea about what they believed in also we can we can look at that and understand what's taking place between Paul and them You had the Epicurians and you had the Stoics now Epicurians followed a teacher Epicurus. He lived about 342 years before Christ and The Epicurians at that time Would be referred to as materialists and their their main their main teaching was the avoidance of pain Which led to what would be called a pursuit of pleasure? They would say well there are gods perhaps, but they're too distant to care about your sorrow And they certainly don't care about anything called sin And so the Epicurians would say well they need no sacrifice. They answer no prayers When you spoke to a an Epicurian he would say well true wisdom is being the master not the slave of your circumstances Don't seek what you can't control Just accept whatever comes your way being different to pain and being different to pleasure You need to become detached from those things, but if you enjoy something well pursue the pleasure Because that gives you most satisfaction life is short. There's no final judgment. Make the best of it And most Epicurians would settle into a life of self-indulgence as well as sensuality But there was another group called the Stoics. We use that phrase to this day. We'll say that guy was very stoic He was determined he he went through things and in whatever happened. He was able to accept it We call it stoic. Well, they were the followers of a man named Zeno he was from Cyprus and he taught around 334 before Christ and He taught that reason was the greatest good in life and living in Disciplined accordance with reason was your purpose. It's a purpose of human life You see if you live according to only your instincts then I would say you're no more than simply an animal Well, he had taught this and then later on somebody had picked it up. His name was Epictetus and and he lived 50 to 130 years 50 BC to a hundred rather 50 AD to 130 AD and he Popularized a stoicism and what happened is this way of thinking had become very impactful in the city See people were struggling with a desire for something they couldn't have and They also and this is so human. They they also feared losing the things that they that they loved So he was saying well, you'll never be satisfied chasing after something you desire You're never going to be satisfied in getting the thing you desired anyway because you can't hold on to it It's kind of like a similar kind of thought That we see in the book of Ecclesiastes with Solomon when he said it's all grasping for the wind Well, a stoic would have understood some of what Solomon was saying so for a stoic self mastery is the highest virtue indifference to pain or Indifference to pleasure is best So the answer if you're going to be indifferent is going to be apathy Develop complete apathy. Don't care. Don't worry about it. It's going to work yourself out And you'll have peace the result of that is a lack of compassion and They would reject anything that disturbed their tranquility And though they may have appeared to have peace and tranquility There were those during that day who said no, they're selfish and they're corrupt One writer wrote concerning the Stoics. They pose as heroes and as drunkards live so These intellectuals had the response to preaching of Paul that we find today They spoke of him with contempt Now notice in verse 18 when it said certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him and some said What does this babbler want to say others said what he seems to be a proclamer of foreign gods? Because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection and they took him and and brought him to the Oropacus saying May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak For you're bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore. We want to know what these things mean So they encounter him They hear him as he's speaking and they speak of him with contempt. They're scorning Because they think that he's shallow Notice how they they speak of him as a babbler the word babbler is a very derogatory word. It's literally What is the seed picker? Talking about a seed picker is someone who picks up thoughts from various sources and Passes them off as profound but has no personal insight or depth and so they're saying what is this guy? This guy's useless. He's a pseudo intellectual. What does he really know? What is he really saying? He's just grabbing ideas from different places I'm wondering what he means by this and he's a proclamer They said of foreign gods and so they're showing a dis disdain for the gospel right right from the beginning again in verse 18 He seems to be a proclamer of foreign gods Why because he was preaching to them Jesus and the resurrection? So when Jesus when Paul rather was preaching he was repeatedly proclaiming Jesus and he was speaking of resurrection They thought he was speaking of two new two different gods They said he's speaking of Jesus and the resurrection Jesus they saw as a God But remember they would have been thinking in Greek they're Greeks and so when they heard resurrection That's the Greek word is Anastasis He's speaking of Jesus and Anastasis Jesus is one God Anastasis they thought was a second so he's bringing two different gods into Athens. What is he speaking about? What is he talking about he's speaking of Jesus and a goddess and we want to know what's going on And that's why in verses 19 and 20 they took him to the Eropagus and they wanted to have him seek to them Now the Eropagus. I think I have I think I asked for a picture. We might have it There's the general area that's called Mars Hill and that's where Paul would have been and I'll describe some things about that in a moment That's where the wisest of the population would make various judgments They actually had kind of like court there where the intellectuals would be there to judge the new things that were coming in Because in verse 20 it says you're bringing some strange things to our ears Therefore we want to know what what these things are and he goes on in verse 21 to say for all the Athenians and foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing So they're hearing him speak and they want to know what's going on. It's kind of like a court They go up there. He said they said you're bringing strange things to our ear You're saying things that are unusual even remarkable This isn't something that we normally hear from our philosophers So what do you mean when you say Jesus and when you speak of anastasis? Verse 21 says what they spent their time in nothing else, but either to hear or to tell something new So the Athenians and the foreigners or the non Greeks who would would go there enjoyed hearing new ideas Verse 21 says they like to hear or tell something new something novel and what that result was is they were always current with the latest Thought but they they may have had broad knowledge, but shallow understanding because they never went deep into anything that was being said You see this kind of quest for the novel keeps you from having a strong foundation There's a reason that I as a pastor chose to teach this church line upon line It's because if you have a strong foundation that you can build your life on then the things that you see in scripture Can be built on that foundation? But if I as a Christian am always going to some new things some new doctrine some new teaching some new experience Oh, this guy here hovers as he's teaching there There've been people who have presented themselves as actually hovering from the platform Most of you wouldn't know that but there was a guy named Kenneth Hagan years ago before he died And he proclaimed and it was written and I read of it How that he said it was said of him that he stepped off the off the platform and stayed hovering in and then came back And he didn't fall gravity had no power over him and people will go to hear these kinds of things and see these things They're always looking for something new something novel instead of building on the things. I already know and That's how the Athenians were. They're always wanting to hear something new And a lot of Christians are like that You're never grounded You're floating from thought the thought from place to place from church to church from teacher to teacher and Never grounded in Proverbs 14 six a scoffer seeks wisdom and doesn't find it Knowledge is easy to him who understands And that's what I was saying many today say if it's novel, it's true Well verse 22 Paul stood in the midst of the Eropagus and said men of Athens. I perceive that in all things You're very religious 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 Now he's standing in the open in Front of him are it's like a plateau are these intellectuals like judges and They're seated around him so you can see Paul standing and they're above him and that could be very intimidating and As the looking down on him wanting to hear what he has to say it could cause him to be very Intimidated but what he's doing is he's looking for what we today would refer to as a hook and notice in verse 22 He says I perceive that you are very religious. That's a very gracious introduction. He's not intimidated by them He's speaking openly to them, but he's polite. I See that you have a great interest in knowing and worshiping your gods now I Was passing by verse 23 and I was considering the objects of your worship See as a Jewish Christian, he wouldn't credit them with true worship true worship is Reserve for those who worship in spirit and truth It's your worship that I'm going to address and he right away begins to point out that there are difference between What they worship and what true worship is I? Recognize that you are devoted to your own system of gods When you are and I'll say this very quickly here, but it's practical There are those in this room. I'm sure watching online You like to give away your faith and so this is one thing you've probably learned and something Let me encourage you in is when you're speaking to somebody who doesn't share your faith or your belief It's always a good thing to be polite and Kind in your conversation It isn't a good idea to get into somebody's face It's a good thing to know what they're talking about to know what they believe and If there are points of difference to point it out in a respectful way When Marie asked me to marry her I mean when I asked Marie to I played hard to get when she When we determined we were going to get married her mama is very devout Catholic and We Leaved at that time that she wouldn't come to our wedding If it wasn't in the Catholic Church, she's very devout I mean her mama used to come in throw holy water on Marie when she was sleepy. She's very devout I Love my mother-in-law very deeply That was her way And so Marie and I were talking about getting married and so We knew that she wouldn't come to a quote-unquote Protestant Church we knew that Because there was a time when when even I was raised Catholic So there was a time when we were told you shouldn't go but if you go don't listen to what's being said That's how I was raised in my catechism classes as a little boy If you go in don't believe them we were taught that in catechism Well, you're not really supposed to go into Protestant churches at least in the 50s and 60s and so My mother-in-law to be would not have come to our wedding So we went to something called the pre cana classes in the Catholic Church at st. George's in Ontario and for four weeks we were lectured about Marriage now I being raised a Catholic I had received baptism pinnets first communion and Confirmation I was familiar with Catholic tradition and teaching because I was raised in it. I understood it Marie also So to please mama, I said let's just go to the pre cana. I wanted to come to the wedding and so We went but I was Kind of direct so in the classes When the priest his name was John came up and started sharing I asked questions of him and Afterwards he wanted us to wait around Once again, I get in trouble with the priest so He wanted us to wait around and he walked with us to our car And he said you he said to me. I'll never forget this. You're not Catholic. Are you? Because I had shared about Christ and how you're safe. I shared that in the class and he said you're not Catholic. Are you I? Smiled I was raised Catholic. I understand Catholic doctrine But you're not Catholic. Are you I? Said no, I'm not John. I said I've been set free by Christ. I Followed Jesus And he goes yeah, I could tell why are you in this class? I Said why are you in a dress? No, he said why are you? I'm sorry Why are you in? Why are you in this class? I said my my mother-in-law to be will probably not come to our wedding He said you really shouldn't I said I know I Know so we talked and I said you don't mind if I call you John, right? I said cuz I don't see you as my father He says no, I'm cool with that. I said good. He was a young priest And he says he says well, I want to tell you something Dave he goes I Have I have never had a date in my life I've never gone out with a woman He said I Just know I'm called to celibacy and I came into the priesthood and he's sharing his story with me He says but you know what happened recently. I said what now you got to understand. I'm in my early 20s And I'm talking to a priest any any ex-catholics in here Perhaps you're practicing to this day anyone knows that those people are above you That's the way we were raised and so I'm talking to him as just a guy Because that's what he is and he says He goes you know, but I Want to tell you cuz you'll understand he goes I have been baptized in the Holy Spirit He says it I've gotten away And he was sharing with me he goes I've gotten away with from from the things I was taught traditionally He says and I and I'm just following Christ in his word And I'm walking on the power of his spirit and like like the arrogance of my youth and ignorance of my Who I was I said you're not far from the kingdom John You know who am I to tell this guy that but I just you're not far from the kingdom John Get in the word walk in the spirit and watch what God will do in your life Couple of years later somebody said you remember John from St. George's I said yeah He got married They said he left the priesthoods following Jesus and married. He's married. See so in my case Why did I tell you that sorry cuz I'm still blessed by it all these years later But also because you look for an introduction Not in a rude way not in a I know more than you but you look for in introduction in in preaching It's called you look for a hook You want you want to Draw them into something you mutually understand. That's what you're seeing here. Look at how Paul addresses them Men of Athens I perceive that it all things you are very religious. He's not being impolite He's just saying you are very superstitious King James used the word superstitious They're extremely religious people as a as a group of people he says in verse 23 I found an altar with the inscription to the unknown God There's this hook. I noticed your monument of stone upon which an idol is normally placed You see altars for worship were erected everywhere but this was in case you forgot somebody in In case one of the gods was omitted that's what this altars for and so now he's Introducing the gospel to intellectuals the one you worship without knowing he says is the one I've come to proclaim to you You don't know his name. Let me tell you who he is This God is none other than the God of Israel and the God of the world And this is the one that I'm now proclaiming to you He begins by speaking first of God the father Because he's going to introduce the ability to speak of the son After he begins to reveal to them the God of the universe and he shows them That he was bringing neither a new God Nor a new worship if you will among them He's explaining that the worship of one already acknowledged Exists you just don't know who he is. I've come to tell you who he is and so he says in verse 24 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 Nor is he worshiped with men's hands as though he needed anything since he gives to all life breath all things So God can be known as what he's saying God made the world He's the Creator but not contained by creation. He's above it not part of it Immediately the Epicureans and Stoics were there become angry upset Because Epicureans believed that matter was eternal It had no beginning and it had no end but Stoics believed that God was part of everything And all things were part of him and he's saying God has made all things and is separate from all Created things he says in verse 24. He's the ruler. He's the Lord of all things Why because he created all things like the psalmist Psalm 24 one says the earth is the Lord's all it contains the world And those who dwell in it he says in verse 24. He doesn't dwell in temples made with the hands God in the book of Isaiah in chapter 66 verses 1 and into the first part of verse 2 says it like this That says the Lord Heaven is my throne earth is my footstool Where is the house that you will build me? Where's the place of my rest For all these things my hands have made and all those things exist sayeth the Lord God doesn't dwell in a temple made by human hands because nothing you've ever made can contain him Don't you understand that? Because we cannot build a temple suitable for him what did God do He built his own In first Corinthians 3 16 the question is asked do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you See some people say well, I'm going to church and they forget that they are the church Some people will go to a building like this on a Wednesday or on a Sunday and they'll come whenever But the rest of the day when they're not in buildings like this They forget who they are the Bible says no God God can't be contained with with the structures made by human hands So he created his own temple he created you and you are the temple of the spirit of God and the spirit of God dwells in you So wherever you go God is From within that means amen and that means What you choose to do you're taking along God with you She'll want to go to a certain show or a certain thing That is gonna use his name in vain or do things that are improper You're inviting him along When you're sitting at a bar or sitting at your home, you're inviting him along It isn't the building. You're the building and The church is simply when we all gathered together for services, but you're always the church once you leave this place and so It's not this building. It's us And he said God doesn't dwell in temples made with human hands And he says in verse 25. He's not worshiped with men's hands as if he needed anything He's the one who gives he needs nothing from us. We didn't create him. He created us and he sustains us by the word of his power He in the book of Job chapter 41 verse 11 who has preceded me that I should pay him everything under heaven is mine God says in verse 26 He says he made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth has determined their Pre-appointed times and boundaries of the dwellings He's made from one blood every nation There is no superior nation including you Greeks who think that you are superior Because the Greeks thought they were superior and everybody else was simply a barbarian It says in verse 26 he determined their pre-appointed times and boundaries It speaks of the migration of various nations and their futures. He also established the borders of the lands that they inhabit So in doing this Paul is opposing Stoic's fate and the Epicureans concept of chance He's describing the periods and places in which nations flourish to the will and pre-arrangement of the living God And notice in verse 27 so that they should seek the Lord in the hope that they might grope for him And find him though. He's not far from each one of us That they might seek and grope for him grope is an expressing expression of Walking in the dark groping in the dark. It speaks of sin nature Creation in other words should cause people to seek the Creator and Conscience and nature should make people accountable to him. God gives to us a Conscience and you know when your conscience is violated even if you're not saved because there are standards and ethics and morals that you know You violate you're not keeping them That's why they say your conscience is stricken and and creation by itself speaks about a creator Every house is built by some man. He who built all things is God So these are things that our witnesses and that's why in verse 28 he says in him we live move and have our being It's my God that we have life. It's by God. We have strength to move It's by God that we even can continue to live it's a God who made us who preserves us And it's the God who directs us in our life and he says your own poets verse 28 Recognize that there's a God revealed in nature They're aware of what I'm saying is true instead of being idolaters. You ought to seek to know the living God and Then he goes on and says after saying we are his offspring In verse 29 since we are the offspring of God We ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone Something shaped by art and man's devising God created us. Why would we lower ourselves to be even less than animals? God isn't an idol. He's not made with human hands. It demeans him and it lowers us and Then he went on to conclude truly these times of ignorance God overlooked But now commands all men everywhere to repent because he's appointed a day on Which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained He has given assurance of this to all By raising him from the dead and when they heard a resurrection of the dead some mocked while others said We'll hear you again on this matter. So Paul departed from among them However, some men joined him and believed among them dynasty is the arapagite a woman named Damaris And others with them And so we'll close with this When he says in verse 29 where the offspring of God God has created us, but he goes on in verse 30 to say these times of ignorance in other words You're now being held accountable because I'm revealing to you purpose and I'm revealing to you Jesus You have already revealed your ignorance by your altar to this unknown God But you have now been informed of the one who is God and you now have information and accountability You've heard And now you have to respond through repenting Repenting well for the greek to think of new aims or purposes the rejecting of the past that's unheard of To think of judgment to come by one person. I can't believe that But he's saying Jesus is the judge. He's the one who was appointed in John 5 22. Jesus said the father judges no one He's assigned all judgment to the son And so that's what we're to emphasize is the reality of christ the savior who saves us from coming judgment In 1st Corinthians 1 22 through 24 the jews request the sign greeks seek after wisdom But we preach christ crucified to the jews a stumbling block to the greeks foolishness But to those who are called both jews and greeks christ the power of god and the wisdom of god And so they hear of the resurrection some of them mock And others say will listen to you Some think that resurrection is absurd But others listen And they begin to question And so you have a small response in verse 34 you have dynissius Dynissius is a member of the court. He's a man of high standing Damaris is not a member of the court What was an ethanian? Who heard and was saved Paul is about to leave and we'll close with this He's going to leave athens with very few people responding And he's going directly to to Corinth. We'll see this Next time we gather And in chapter 2 of 1st creatinians he says this verses 1 and 2 Brethren when I came to you I didn't come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of god I determined Not to know anything among you Except jesus christ and him crucified He came on quicker To them now, of course. He knew his audience. He was speaking to intellectuals. He was laying a foundation But when he went to Corinth, which had become an even greater city in terms of his political power He said I made a determination. I'm going to go to the heart of the matter I'm going to tell you about jesus christ and him crucified. I didn't come being wise I didn't come to flatter you. I didn't come in any way to be regarded by you I came to give you the one who can save you jesus christ When he spoke to you the athenians as is so typical with the intellectuals. They're they're looking for things To to argue about instead of taking the substance and the point to consider That's still true to this day When you speak to intellectuals very often they deflect They don't want to hear that Well, you said this how come you instead of going to the heart The heart of the matter according to paul Was that jesus christ Was resurrected You are called to repent He is the judge of the whole earth athenian You will be judged I don't want to hear that I wanted to hear what the seed picker had to say I don't buy into it But others were listening and they were saying there was an emptiness in my heart that he seemed to be addressing I want to hear more of this But there are very few wise according to the standards of this world who were saved Because the lord has a way of reaching into those who have just a an honest desire And are not confused by so many things And know themselves enough to know that i'm lost And i need help And that's what jesus does He finds you And he helps you And that's the heart of salvation through christ and that's what paul wanted them to know