Background:
Acts 17 tells the story of some of what took place during Paul’s Second Missionary Journey, part of which was in
Paul had just finished ministry in the city of
Dates of Journey: Approx 49-51 AD
Key Scripture: Acts 17:22,23 (NIV)
…"Men of
23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
3 CITIES
A) 3 Cities in which Paul Preached the Gospel in Acts 17:
a. Thessalonica
b.
c.
3 REACTIONS
B) 3 Reactions:
a. Thessalonica – Opposing the Word
vs. 1-5 – (niv) …they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
2 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said.
4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.
5 But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city.
Background:
- a busy city on a main road
- for 3 weeks, as was Paul’s custom, he reasoned with the Jews in the synagogues
- Some Jews believed
- Many Greeks believed
- A LARGE MOB OPPOSED THEM
Application:
- Paul went to his “near culture” first – he tried to reach those most knowledgeable and close in understanding to the Old Testament
- Paul’s message & method was simple:
a. Opened & reasoned the Scriptures
b. Explained Jesus’ death & resurrection
c. Proclaimed Jesus was the Messiah
d. He endured persecution
e. The Church survived – Paul commended them later (1 Thess. 1:6-10)
f. Interesting that no later mention or epistle of
g. Paul was even able to explain deeper or more difficult truths the church – don’t think that new Christians can’t handle truth!
h. Church at
b.
vs. 10-13 - 10 ¶ As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to
11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
12 Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
13 When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at
Background:
- 40 miles on another road
- Here the Jews received the Word
- Paul left Silas and Timothy behind to help the young believers
- Sopater, one of Paul’s Missionary Team was from
Application:
- Keep telling people about Jesus even after you have faced opposition
- We should be like the Bereans:
a. Receive the Word
b. Be of a ready, eager mind to learn the Word
c. Examined the Sciptures Daily
C)
vs. 15-31 - 16 ¶ While Paul was waiting for them in
17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.
18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?
20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean."
21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
22 ¶ Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.
23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
29 "Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone— an image made by man’s design and skill.
30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."
2 Philosophies:
Stoics – Pantheists – All is God, God is all, Reason is all, Value Duty, Discipline, hard work, Fatalists
Epicureans – Pleasure seeking, cyclical view of life, “atomic materialists”, only matter, gods are simple representations of man’s aspirations
30000 GODS
Background in
- 10,000 people and 30000 gods!
- Center of religion, culture, superstition and philosophy
-
- Parallels to our modern culture
- A World Not aware of Judeo Christian Values
- A World Biblically Illiterate
- In many places in
- Cultural Themes are similar in
a. Skepticism
b. Relativisim
c. Hedonism
d. Subjectivism
- As D. A. Carson puts it:
a. All opinions in the matter of religion are equally valid
b. All religions equally lead to God
c. To say anything different is to be a “hateful” person, exhibiting “hate speech.”
- With no god, with god-in-all, You can do anything you desire…there is nothing to repent of
- Hard Work, discipline and pleasure can get you anything you want in this life and then you will die, but there is no eternity, no personal God, or because God is merciful, He receives everybody anyway.
- Postmoderns use “judge not let you be judged” to justify moral abandonment or indifference.
Application:
- This is why Paul’s Methods and Message are important and relevant to us today!
- God has given us a great KEY to evangelizing our generation!
- Paul’s Methods and Message answer the Basic philosophical questions of life…such as those echoed in the title of the painting by Paul Gauguin: “Where do we come from? What are we? Where am I going?
- Paul complements them first and then points to the problem and solution
5 TRUTHS
5 TRUTHES – of Paul’s Message in
1) The UNCHALLENGEABLE JUDGE - God is the Creator and Governor and yet He is near or immanent
2) The UNIVERSAL COMMAND - Man is ignorant of God and alienated from Him and is Called to Repentance
3) UNCOMPROMISING JUSTICE - God will Judge all men by Christ
4) IRREFUTABLE FACT - God raised Jesus from the dead – providing a Savior
5) INESCAPABLE DAY - God has appointed a Day of Judgment for all
1 ANSWER:
Jesus is the answer to your questions today:
Who am I?
- I am a creation of an Almighty God
- I am ignorant of God’s ways and separated from Him
Why am I here?
- I was created to love and serve God
- I was created to love and serve people
Where am I going?
- to an eternal future – either with Christ or without Him
- to an appointment for a judgment day
Hebrews 9.27 – It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment…
You can reach your generation with truth of Jesus.
40 MINUTES
