STUDY THEME: TELLING THE LOST ABOUT JESUS. 11-25-01

“REASONS TO TELL THE GOOD NEWS.” ACTS 17:16-34.

ACTS 17:1-17, 18-21, 22-23, 24-29, 30-31, 32-34.

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO ACTS 17.

This is the fourth and last lesson in our series in this unit entitled, “Telling the Lost About Jesus.” In the three previous lessons we have looked at “What to Tell,” “Who to Tell,” and “Where to Tell.” In today’s lesson the question is “Why to Tell the Good News.”

In the opening verses of Ch. 17 we read of Paul’s ministry in the Macdeonian city of Thessalonica, during his second missionary journey. There, Paul was accused of “turning the world upside down” and saying there was a king other than Caesar, One Jesus. I wonder if Paul smiled when he heard that; because he knew the irony of that statement. He knew the world was already upside-down! And he was there to turn it right side up! And he knew there was no power on earth that could do that, except the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I can say this: That reminds me of the world today! Sin has distorted our view! Sin has smacked us in the face and disoriented us to the point that we think that right is wrong and wrong is right! To think that down is up and up is down!

A lot of things are backwards in this world today. We live in a time when homosexual marriages are becoming acceptable. And anyone who suggests that homosexuality might be a sin is labeled intolerant, homophobic and hopelessly behind the times. I wonder if that is what they said about Lot just before Sodom was destroyed?

The point is this: Jesus came to make things right. To set things straight, He came to an upside-down world…to show us how to live right-side up! In short, He came to orient us.

Jesus had commanded his disciples, “If they persecute you in one city, flee to another.” Acting on this advice, the believers of Thessalonica secretly sent Paul, Silas and Timothy on to the next city on the highway—Berea.

When the unbelieving Jews in Thessalonica heard of Paul’s successful ministry in Berea, they hurried to Berea, stirred up many people who had not yet been brought to know the Lord. Once more they had an uproar, and an effort to seize Paul. Again the believers had to take steps to safeguard the life of the Apostle. They took Paul but left Silas and Timothy to help the young believer and encourage them in their faith. And this brings us to today' lesson.

1. PLEASE READ ACTS 17: 15-17

The brethren who conducted Paul to Athens returned to Berea with a message to Silas and Timothy urging them to rejoin Paul as soon as possible. Meantime he waited for them at Athens. Evidently the Apostle did not intend to stay long in Athens. He was heading for Corinth, the political capital of that area.

When Larry Adams was pastor of Immanuel and our former pastor Dr. Joe Ingram was Executive Director-Treasurer of the B.G.C.O. they led us on a tour to Rome, Cairo, Athens and the Holy Land. I assure you I went as a tourist and not as a missionary. I did leave a Gideon Bible in each of the hotels where we stayed.

Athens is a beautiful place to visit. From the window in the Kings’ Hotel we watched the frequent changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. From the front of the hotel we could look up at the Acropolis, crowned by the Parthenon and other great temples. Now in a ruined state but nevertheless still one of the most beautiful buildings in all the world.

At the time Paul visited Athens, that city was no longer important as a political seat; Corinth was the commercial and political center of Greece under the Roman Caesars. But Athens was still the university center of the world. It was the heir of the great philosophers, the city of Pericles and Demosthenes; of Socrates , Plato and Aristotle—these men who established patterns of thought that have affected human learning for centuries. Almost all philosophies follow in some degree, the teachings of these men. But Athens was long past its zenith when Paul visited it. It was now 400 years after the golden age of Greece, and, though Athens was still a center of art, beauty, culture and knowledge, the city had lost all political importance.

This section of Acts 17 is a powerful revelation of why the gospel needs to be presented to every culture and every age of the world. While Paul was waiting at Athens, he did what any tourist does in Athens. He went sightseeing. Athens is a striking city.

As the Apostle walked around the city he saw the gods of Athens, the idols that were being worshipped. One of the ancient writers tells us that at this time there were 30,000 gods in Athens! Many of these statues have survived and you will find copies of them, everywhere as samples of ancient art. Paul recognized that these were not merely objects of art; but were actually gods being worshipped by the people of Athens. Petronius, one of the ancient historians, said that it was easier to find a God in Athens than a man! With 30,000 of them,, you can see why this would be true. Men were worshipping everything, and therefore were worshipping nothing.

Luke tells us that Paul’s spirit was moved when he saw this. He was provoked. Each idol revealed that these men and women of Athens had a great capacity for God. They knew there was something beyond man, and they were seeking for it. But each idol also revealed a twisting, a distorting, of that capacity, a sabotaging of it. So, as the Apostle went around the city, his spirit was greatly troubled to see men and women blasted by this prostitution of their human powers through the worship of false gods.

A commentator says, “The gods of Athens provided man no moral code, only a reason for the whims of his fate. The gods offered no reward for virtue, and shrugged at sin. But the gods reacted furiously to presumptuous pride, so the Greek sought to woo the gods’ favor toward oaths, marriage and business by ritual and sacrifice.” Paul saw behind the idolatry to the hunger of man for worship, but it was false and futile worship. In his letter to the Romans in Romans 1:21, the gospel later identified the error of man’s worship, in these words from Rom. 1:21.

“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”

Paul saw beyond the beauty, art and culture of Athens to a place where men and women were being held captive by their sin. So he began to preach. He could not help it. He knew that the only message that could help people in this state was the delivering word of Jesus. There wee three groups to whom he spoke:

First, he went into the synagogue, as his custom was, and there spoke to the religious people, the Jews and devout persons who were there. These Jews (and the Greeks who were following Judaism) were opposed to the idolatry of the city, but could do nothing to prevent it. There was nothing they said that could help the city. They themselves were delivered from idolatry, but they were powerless to deliver the city because they were focusing on their own religious experience. To these religious persons, Paul preached the gospel with seemingly little effect.

Then there were the common citizens of the city whom he met in the marketplace, the Agora of ancient Greece—tradesmen, people going about their business, commercial people coming in with their wares, to the city-square. There he met them and talked with them. Here were people who were unthinking victims of the idolatry that held the city in its grip. There were sunken in superstition, gripped by fear, uncertainty, dread of darkness, and inner tensions and turmoil. These are always the results of following false gods. Paul was deeply grieved over the City as he saw it given totally to pagan idolatry.

2. PLEASE READ ACTS 17: 18-21

The Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encounter Paul. Some of them were saying “what would this idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,” because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

The Epicureans were Atheists; they denied God’s existence. They denied a life after death. They were also materialists, and felt that this life was the only thing that really existed and that, therefore, men should get the most out of it. They felt that pleasure was the highest virtue, and that pain was the opposite. Today’s Epicureans would agree and say “If it feels good, do it.” Their motto, (and it still persists today) was “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”

The Stoics, followers of the philosopher Zeno, were pantheists. They covered every base. That is, they believed that everything is God, and that He does not exist as a separate entity, but is in the rocks and trees and every material thing. Their attitude toward life was one of ultimate resignation, and they prided themselves on their ability to take whatever came. Their motto, in modern terms, was “Grin and bear it.” They urged moderation. Apathy was regarded as the highest virtue of life. These Stoics were all proud fatalists, and there are many like them today.

Vs. 19 says the philosophers took Paul to the Areopagus or Mar’s Hill “to know what this new doctrine is of which you speak.” Here the Apostle would have opportunity to teach the city fathers, the supreme court of Athens, around whom the city revolved.

3. PLEASE READ ACTS 17: 22-23

In the previous verses we considered first the impressing which Athens made on Paul, and the first impression which Paul made on Athens. Let’s look now at the result of that contemptuous curiosity, which the Athenians manifested to Paul’s preaching. On Mar’s Hill Paul stood perhaps in the very place where Socrates stood as a prisoner. The Epicurians wanted to hear what this “seed picker” had to say. Then they smiled and dismissed him contemptuously.

But the Stoics were interested. Yet Luke is careful to tell us that their intent did not arise out of a genuine desire to know and understand what Paul said, but out of a shallow curiosity that was intrigued by the fact that he seemed to present two new gods—one named Jesus and the other named Resurrection. They pricked up their ears, as Luke said “for all they lived for was to hear something new.” This is modern too, is it not?

The introduction Paul used was most thoughtful. A good introduction always begins where people are, and this is what Paul did. He began right where these Athenians were. H did not denounce them, he did not attack their idolatry, in fact, he paid them a compliment as far as he could. He said to them “Men of Athens, as I’ve been walking about your city, I’ve noticed one thing about you: You are a very religious people.” That they were a very religious people was obvious from the thousands of statues all over their city.

The word he used was literally, “you are god-fearers.” But the word he used for “god” was rather unusual. Instead of the common word theos, which means God in his greatness, he chose he word "demon", by which he implied that the gods they worshipped were lesser concepts than the great idea of God. They understood that he meant to compliment them because they had a concept of, and a capacity for, God. They were very much involved with and interested in God. But their various religious philosophies only instilled fear; that is why they had created a sacrificial system to placate and woo their gods.

Then the Apostle goes on to observe that these religious Greeks even had an altar with the inscription, “To An Unknown God.” Six hundred years earlier, a plague had struck Athens, Epi-meni-des, the Cretan poet, suggested that a flock of black and white sheep be released on Mars Hill, and each time a sheep stopped in front of an idol, that sheep was to be slain and the god worshipped. But if there was no idol at the place where a sheep sat down, the people were to erect an altar to an unknown god, and then slay the sheep. Paul dramatically identifies who the “Unknown God” is by saying, “What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.” Their search for the “unknown God” was over.

How clearly this voices the agony of humanity, the cry for a God they know exists but cannot find. What a wonderful way the Apostle had of relating to these people whom he loved at first sight. He would identify for them the Lord Jesus Christ as the God who would deliver them from captivity and spiritual death and make them new creatures. How sensitively Paul starts out, basing his opening remarks on a religious theme, thereby moving them into a position where they would be open to hearing the gospel.

The Apostle then proceeds in Vs. 24 through 28, to identify for the assembled supreme court of Athens four attributes of this “Unknown God” whom he has preached.

In Vs. 18 the philosophers had said, “He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods.” In Vs. 23 Paul said, “No. I am not a setter forth of a foreign god. I am here to set forth the God to whom you have already erected an altar.”

4. PLEASE READ ACTS 17: 24-29

The main points of Paul’s sermon on Mars Hill to the philosophers are:

God is the creator of the universe. He made the world, He is Lord of heaven and earth. As such He does not dwell in temples made with hands.

God is the sustanier of life. He gives to all life their breath and all they need. He does not need anything from man. The Psalmist writes in Ps. 50: 9-12 “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on the thousand hills. I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and all that is in it is mine.” God is a giver, not a taker. He does not want to be appeased.

God is sovereign. He is the ruler of all nations. He has created every nation and determined their rise and fall. Everything is designed to prompt men to seek God, who is not far from any of us.

God is the father of mankind---From God we come; and despite the difference in pigment, stature and features that exist around the world there is only one race of men. They all came from one source. The one great reason for which human beings exist is that they might find God. Heb. 11:6 says, “For whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.”

The Greeks took pride in what they considered their natural superiority to all other races—and the Athenians considered themselves a cut above the rest of the Greek nation. But Paul demolishes that pride by saying that God began the human race with one man, Adam. From him came all the nations of earth—the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans—and each nation was given a boundary, by the sovereign God of the earth.

In Vs. 28 Paul quotes one of the Greek’s own poets, “For we also are His offspring.” Being the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Paul closes with “God is the Judge of the earth.”

5. Pease read Acts 17: 30-31

Paul concludes his sermon, as every sermon should be concluded, by giving an invitation. “There was a time of ignorance,” says Paul, “which God was willing to overlook.” That was when, as the apostle stated in Lystra, “God allowed all the nations to follow their own ways.” But that time had now ended because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. “I am here as God’s messenger,” says Paul, “to tell you that God wants you to repent of your sins. God loves you, but he is a righteous Judge. He has appointed a Man, his Son Jesus, not a god of silver or stone, but a Man who walked this earth, who died for your sins. And this same Man will one day, come and judge all who have not repented of their sin and come in faith to this God. You Athenians do not have to face Jesus as your Judge if you place your faith now in this Man who God raised from the dead. There is salvation in no other God.” This sound like Billy Graham may have borrowed from Paul’s preaching.

6. PLEASE READ ACTS 17: 32-34

Some sneered at Paul’s remarks, saying, “We’ll hear you again,” while others, a judge, a woman and some men, believed. Church history records that some of the great leaders of the faith during the next four hundred years came from the church, which was established that day in Athens. “The word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God—for since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believed.” The truth had been proclaimed in Athens, and the power of the Holy Spirit had broken through the idolatry and vain philosophies of that place and claimed some.

Why should we tell the good news of Jesus? There is a call from outside, based on the fact that those without Christ are lost. There is a call from inside, based on the debt we owe because we have heard the good news and everyone deserves to hear it. There is the call from above, because Christ is the only way of salvation. There is the call from the future, based on the shortness of the time to decide.

Today mission people speak of “The Last frontier.” Those are the people groups who have little or no access to the good news of Jesus. About 30% of the world’s people are in these people groups. The opportunity to witness still exists. All too soon that opportunity will pass for many of those who are lost.

Why should we witness? People everywhere need to repent now. Why should I hear of God’s love over and over again, while thousand still have not heard even once. Someone has said that, “if you can disprove the resurrection of Jesus, you can destroy Christianity with one blow.”

NEXT SUNDAY WE BEGIN A FIVE LESSON STUDY ABOUT “CELEBRATING JESUS’ BIRTH.” THESE LESSONS SHOULD PREPARE US FOR CHRISTMAS. (Gal 3: 26-4:7) A. V. DAUGHERTY 11-25-01.

1

Page 7

SS11-25-01