THE RESURRECTION AND A LOST WORLD
Acts 17:16-34
The passage that we are going to study today
is to me one of the most relevant passages to where we are in the world in all
of the Bible.
The setting was the city of Athens, but Paul
was not in Athens as a sightseer; he was there as a soul-winner.
- As we think about the resurrection and a lost world, we can
learn some very important lessons from the Apostle Paul.
I.
Because Of The Resurrection Our Passion
Should Be Stirred.
Vs. 16 “While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to
see that the city was full of idols.”
Athens was no ordinary city. It was the cultural and intellectual center
of the Roman Empire.
Athens was also an ignorant city.
Vs. 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.’”
Vs. 23 “For as I
walked around and observed 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.”
Now the fact that they worshipped an unknown
god, broke Paul’s heart, and he wanted to declare to them the God that could be
known.
They were also an idolatrous city.
Verse 16 tells us that the “city was full of idols.” Like the world we live in today, these people
were drinking from wells that would never slake their thirst; they were eating
bread that would never satisfy their hunger.
The temples were filled but the people were empty.
Idolatry is not a thing of the past. We worship the same gods they worshipped
2,000 years ago; we’ve just changed the names:
- Fame
- Fortune
- Fitness
- Fun
Same gods, just different names.
Paul’s response to this was “…his spirit was
provoked within him…” (vs. 16). (“…he
was greatly distressed…”- NIV) That word
“provoke” literally means “to be stirred.”
It’s a medical term that was used for a seizure or an epileptic fit.
Because Jesus, the Light of the World, is
alive, and there is a world who is living in darkness, we ought to have a
passion to share the power of the resurrected Lord with a world that is lost
and without Christ.
II.
Because of The
Resurrection Our Preaching Should Be Simple.
Vs. 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.”
Vs. 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.”
Now there two groups of people that are
specifically noted here: One is the
Epicureans. This group was the first
group in history to say, “Grab all the gusto you can.” Their motto was “Eat, drink, and be merry,
for tomorrow you might die.” They were
the first playboys.
The second group were the Stoics. The Stoics were the first people who said,
“Mind over matter.” they literally
believed that if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. The first group said, “Laugh and enjoy the
pleasures of Life.” The other group
said, “Live and endure the pain of life.”
Here is Paul surrounded by the ancient
equivalent of Ph.Ds, nuclear physicists, brain surgeons, college professors,
and brilliant attorneys. Is he
intimidated? Does he try to match wits
with them? Does he try to come up with
some complex, erudite, verbose philosophical argument? No, he goes right to the basics and starts at
Christianity 101.
He begins to tell them about the God they
can know.
Vs. 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.”
Vs.
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.”
He tells them God is a creating God;
but then Paul goes on to point out that God is also a controlling God.
Vs. 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.”
Vs. 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.”
Vs. 28 “For in Him
we live and move and have our being. As
some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’”
Paul said in verse 28, “In Him we live and
move and have our being.” Think about
that. In the history of philosophy and
science, there have been three mysteries that have baffled the greatest
minds—life, motion, and being.
Paul, in one statement, lets us know that it
is in God we live and move and have our being.
III. Because
Of the Resurrection Our Purpose Should Be Steadfast.
Go back to that phrase in verse 18 which I love so
much. “…Paul was preaching the good news
about Jesus and the resurrection.” I
love that. Nothing fancy, nothing
profound; just a message even a little child could understand--Jesus and the
resurrection.
If Jesus Christ is not alive, nothing
else really matters; but if Jesus Christ is alive, nothing but that really
matters.
That’s
why the message is for everyone. In verse
17 we are told that the Jews and the Gentile worshippers were there. That is, Paul was speaking to the spiritual
people who had RELIGION without REALITY!
To all of those people Paul presented the
same choice:
Vs. 30 “In the past God overlooked such ignorance,
but now He commands all people everywhere to repent.
Vs. 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.”
Let me tell you why our purpose should be
steadfast:
Many will reject but some will
believe!
Vs. 32 “When they heard about the resurrection of
the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, ‘We want to hear you again on
this subject.’”
Vs.
33 “At that, Paul left the Council.”
Vs.
34 “A few men became followers of
Paul and believed. Among them was
Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number
of others.”