Dover Assembly of God
We are back to our study in the book of Acts. We left off a couple of weeks ago with Paul preaching to the people in Athens.
The town was full of idols and idolatry and they even had a marker for the “Unknown god”. Just in case they left out one of their many Gods.
Paul used that unknown god to present them the gospel with the One True God.
Acts 17:22-23 NIV
As we follow Paul’s ministry, we see that Paul uses every opportunity to bring up Jesus.
In fact we ended it 2 weeks ago with this verse . . .
Acts 17:28 NIV
That is a verse that most of us have known and maybe even repeated many times, but this is actually a quote from a poet that was familiar to them by a guy named Epimenides.
For Paul to know this, it had to be something Paul had studied or known.
Paul goes on to quote more secular writings.
Acts 17:28 NIV
Paul was a well-read person. Paul not only studied God’s word, but he also knew a considerable amount about the society in which he lived.
In order to be an effective Christian we need to understand and know the society in which we live.
We are called to be in the world, but not of it. That means we don’t live our lives according to what the world dictates. It doesn’t mean we don’t learn about and know the world in which we live.
How can we be effective if we have no idea of what is going on around us and how it affects us?
Paul said this while talking about ministering to people.
1 Corinthians 9:22 NIV
That means you have to be able to carry on a conversation with people about things in their life and in the world. He was up on current events.
When Israel was preparing for battle, David amassed a number of men to help him.
1 Chronicles 12:23, 32 NIV
They were up on current events and history and because they knew this stuff, they were better able to help David in battle.
One of the criticisms that Christians receive is that “we check our brain at the door of the church” -- that means that we think we don’t need to have any outside knowledge.
As long as I know the Bible, that’s all I need. That is partially true. The Bible tells us . . .
2 Peter 1:3 NIV
Everything we need to love and serve God is found in His word, but that verse does not mean that we shut ourselves off from things in the world.
We should have a working knowledge of how the world works, how economics work, simple math, etc.
What things in society are relevant for today?
Why should Christians know this stuff? Because when we hear news reports and stories and campaign ads, we need to understand the times and know what WE should do.
Edmund Burke gave us this quote:
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Socialism is antithetical to Christianity, and will wipe it out if allowed to progress.
Paul goes on using writings on the day.
Acts 17:28 NIV
Since Paul knew about the world in which he lived, he is able to use their own writings to introduce the gospel. He is able to tie it into their lives and real life.
Acts 17:29 NIV
According to things that you have read and acknowledged, if we are indeed God’s offspring (children) then why should we think God is a stone or mineral?
Shouldn’t his creation (offspring) look like their father? Since we aren’t stone or a mineral, why should we think God is?
The first part of the next verse says this . . .
Acts 17:30 NIV
This does not mean people weren’t guilty.
Acts 14:16 NIV
It only that means God held back His wrath and judgment. God is always more interested in repentance than judgment.
God throughout the Old Testament used Israel as his tool of judgment on other nations. Look at Ezekiel 25-32.
God also used wicked nations to judge Israel -- Assyria & Babylon.
It took many years but it did come, but now in this time period, Paul is saying . . .
Acts 17:30 NIV
Now they were without excuse. Jesus was a contemporary, they understood what happened so to continue to trust idols when God demonstrated his love through Christ was really heinous.
It is now a command. And if that command is not heeded, judgment was certain.
Acts 17:31 NIV
We know that man is Jesus.
How do we know it’s Jesus? How would they know who it was?
Because God showed them and proved it.
Acts 17:31 NIV
The resurrection is the cornerstone of our faith. It was God’s evidence that everything Jesus said was true. It validates all of His ministry.
Jesus said many times he would be raised. So he’s either a liar or crazy.
And God did it to show that what Jesus said was right.
The resurrection is so paramount in the Christian’s faith that Paul said this to the Corinthians . . .
1 Corinthians 15:17 NLT
The resurrection should be and IS sufficient evidence for our faith, but as we know not everyone is on board with that.
No matter how much we try to reason with them, show them what we have experienced, and explain what God has done for us and in us, there will always be some people who don’t get it.
Acts 17:32 NIV
Remember where he was, in the hotbed of idolatry, none of which ever thought about resurrection.
The god Apollo was credited by the Athenian council as saying “”there is no resurrection.”
So this response was probably expected. We also shouldn’t be surprised when we have the same reaction.
BUT: we can’t let that get us down or cause us to doubt, because there will also always be people that do get it.
Acts 17:32 NIV
The main point is that we do not know which camp our friends and family will fall into, so we keep pressing on, sharing the gospel and trust God to do the work.
Acts 17:33-34 NIV
The response to the gospel was slim but it seems that one official got saved along with a woman. So with the exception of these folks and few that wanted to talk more about it, the council rejected Paul’s witness and therefore did not allow him to preach anymore in Athens.
So Paul did what Jesus told the disciples to do, (shake the dust off and move on) he left.
He left the council meeting and not long after, left the town.
Acts 18:1 NIV
Just because Paul was basically rejected, he did not let that slow his ministry down. He moved to another area.
Notice he didn’t stay around trying to beat this dead horse. He understood that the gospel wasn’t working in that town so he went to an area that it might work.
If something isn’t working well, isn’t producing much if any fruit, we move to something that might. We’ll see that Paul had success in Corinth, (even if they were problem children).