← Back to sermon library

Okay, Acts 17, I'll begin reading 
in verse 16, and I'll read to the end of the chapter. Our focus 
will be the Apostle Paul at Athens. Familiar passage we have looked 
at before, but I think one that's very encouraging, not in this 
first point that I'm gonna mention, but in the others, there is that 
constant persistency of idolatry. And you see that here in Athens, 
but we also see the power of the gospel And then we see various 
responses to Paul's preaching. We might be inclined to think 
that wherever he went and wherever he preached, everybody got saved. 
But that's simply not the case. So I want to read this section, 
and then we'll focus in on this particular sermon. So beginning 
in verse 16, now, 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. Then 
certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him, and some said, 
what does this babbler want to say? Others said, he seems to 
be a proclaimer of foreign gods, because he preached to them Jesus 
and the resurrection. And they took him and brought 
him to the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine 
is of which you speak? For you are bringing some strange 
things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what 
these things mean. For all the Athenians and the 
foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but 
either to tell or to hear some new thing. Then Paul stood in 
the midst of the Areopagus and said, Men of Athens, I perceive 
that in all things you are 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. 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 worshipped with men's hands 
as though he needed anything, since he gives to all life, breath, 
and all things. And he has made from one blood 
every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, 
and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their 
dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that 
they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far 
from each one of us, for in him we live and move and have our 
being, as also some of your own poets have said, for we are also 
his offspring. Therefore, 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. Truly, these times of ignorance 
God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 
because he has 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 of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while 
others said, we will hear you again on this matter. So Paul 
departed from among them. However, some men joined him 
and believed. Among them Dionysius the Areopagite, 
a woman named Damaris, and others with them. Amen. Well, if you 
go back to chapter 13 for just a moment by way of introduction 
to the broader section, we'll notice that the Apostle Paul 
was sent out as a missionary. The Lord God, the Spirit of God, 
comes to the church in Antioch, separates Paul and Barnabas for 
the work of mission. So in chapter 13 and 14, you 
have the first missionary journey. And it's good to associate that 
first missionary journey with the churches of Southern Galatia. 
So the book of Galatians was written to those churches in 
Southern Galatia. So that was the first missionary 
journey. But then we also have the second 
missionary journey, and that's the section we're in tonight. 
So Acts 1536 to Acts 1822. And you can associate that with Corinth. 
He spent time in other places as well, but he spent about a 
year and a half in Corinth, and so it's a good association to 
know that second missionary journey, Corinth, and that's about AD 
49 to 52. And then the third missionary journey is in chapter 
18, verse 23, and goes to chapter 21, verse 16. And the one that we can associate 
with this missionary journey is Ephesus, because he spent 
a great deal of time there. So then he ends in prison, and 
then after his release, some speculate he engaged in something 
like a fourth missionary journey as he continued to minister, 
as he continued to instruct, and as he continued to teach 
and help the people of God. Well, here specifically he's 
in Athens, Athens, Greece. And I want to look first at the 
ministry in Athens in verses 16 to 21, and then specifically 
the sermon at Mars Hill in verses 22 to 34. But notice first that 
the apostle was provoked according to verse 16. It says, now, while 
Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within 
him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. Now, 
idolatry is something God condemns in the first and second commandments. 
Remember the first commandment is about the object of our worship. You shall have no other gods 
before me, no other gods besides me. And then the second deals 
with the manner in which we worship that God. So it's good to have 
the right God, but we need to worship him in the right way. 
Well, ever since the law was given or revealed by God to man, 
there has been idolatry, departures from the living and true God. 
So Paul sees this when he's in this particular city. It's a 
very religious place. He even says so when he addresses 
them later on in the chapter. But this language of provocation 
is the word paroxysm, and it It means to cause a state of 
inward arousal, to urge on, to stimulate, especially to provoke 
to wrath or irritate. I think it's used of God in the 
Old Testament with reference to the idolatry of man. So the 
Apostle Paul is thinking biblically. He is thinking in terms of God's 
holiness and righteousness and how man has defected from that 
true and living God, so it serves as a provocation in his heart. 
Notice, as well, with that provocation, he doesn't just write nasty letters 
to the city officials. He doesn't just picket or boycott 
the idolatry that was rampant there in Athens, but rather it 
serves as an impetus for him to preach the word. Notice he 
does that according to verses 17 and 18. It says, therefore 
he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile 
worshipers. You see that pattern often when 
Paul goes on these missionary journeys. He goes to a particular 
city, he finds the synagogue, and there he goes and preaches 
Jesus. a very wonderful message to the Jews who needed to hear 
that Jesus was, in fact, the promised Messiah, but also these 
Gentiles that were interested in Israel's God would be found 
in the synagogues on the day of worship. And so the apostle 
would have an audience there. So he does that, but then also 
he goes into the marketplace daily with those who happen to 
be there. So this would be a place where 
there would be sellers of wares, there would be sellers of services, 
there would be the sorts of things that we'd expect in a bustling 
city, and he would go downtown and he would speak the truth 
to them. He would speak concerning Jesus Christ. He would testify 
about the gospel of salvation. Then notice as well, he's challenged 
by certain philosophers. Specifically in verse 18, then 
certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. I think it's 
good for us to have some idea of what these men held to, or 
what these men taught, because as Paul preaches, I think he's 
addressing, at least indirectly, the sorts of errors that these 
men held to. So the Epicureans were followers 
of Epicurus. He lived from 341 to 270 BC. They did not believe gods created 
the earth. They believed in gods, but they 
didn't believe that gods created the earth. They did not believe 
in providence. While they didn't deny the existence 
of gods, they taught that the gods took no interest in the 
lives of men and women. They stressed lives of pleasure, 
though not the kind of pleasure we might think. It wasn't about 
gambling and crack and prostitution and that sort of a thing. They 
stressed lives of pleasure, though higher forms of pleasure, not 
that those things sound pleasurable to me, but I'm just saying, when 
we think of people that are abandoned and given over to their lusts, 
it's not typically higher forms of pleasure, i.e., a life of 
tranquility, freedom from pain, disturbing passions, and superstitious 
fears. Daniel Bach describes them as 
agnostic secularists. So that's the Epicureans, and 
then you have the Stoics. And the Stoics were followers 
of Zeno who lived from 340 to 265 BC. The name Stoic came from 
a painted colonnade in the Agora where Zeno taught. They were 
essentially pantheists. So basically a pantheist means 
that God is in everything. Now, we believe that God is immense. 
He fills everything. We believe that God is omnipresent. 
But we don't believe God is this table. We don't believe that 
God is the various things around us, like the pantheist does. 
They were essentially pantheists. They emphasized harmony with 
nature and freedom from emotion, thus enabling one to endure the 
fluctuations of life. Sometimes you refer to people 
as a stoic. Persons that don't show a lot 
of emotion, they don't show a lot of fluctuations. Well, this is 
where we get it from, these Stoics. So that's the actual men that 
challenge the Apostle, but note their challenge specifically 
in verse 18. What does this babbler want to 
say? Now this was an insult. If you look in the New King James 
margin, it says seed picker. an idler who makes a living picking 
up scraps. And that's essentially what it 
means. It's pejorative imagery of persons whose communication 
lacks sophistication and seems to pick up scraps of information 
here and there, a scrap monger and scavenger. If you turn to 
1 Corinthians for just a moment, you see that Paul confirms his 
inability to speak well. I think this is important for 
us, especially when we sort of, and well we should, make a hero 
out of the Apostle Paul, but he was a regular man and he had 
the same sorts of challenges that other men have. And in 1 
Corinthians chapter 2, specifically at verse 2, he says, I determined 
not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and 
fear and in much trembling. and my speech and my preaching 
were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration 
of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the 
wisdom of men, but in the power of God." So it's not the case 
that he's eight foot tall and bulletproof and ready to take 
on all Epicureans and Stoics. If you turn to Ephesians chapter 
6, Ephesians chapter 6, I think we get an indicator of how it 
was he was able to go into places like Mars Hill and to stand up 
and proclaim the glory of the gospel. Notice in Ephesians 6, 
specifically at verse 18. praying always with all prayer 
and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with 
all perseverance and supplication for all the saints and for me, 
that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth 
boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am 
an ambassador in chains, that in it I may speak boldly as I 
ought to speak. So the people of God were praying 
for the apostle. And so when Paul here is in Athens 
and his spirit is provoked, he meets up with these Epicurean 
and Stoic philosophers and they start to pick on him. They start 
to needle him. They say it as much. What does 
this babbler, what does this idle babbler want to say? And 
then about the end, or about the middle of verse 18, it says, 
others said, he seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods because he preached 
to them Jesus and the resurrection. Interestingly, I think this is 
the same sort of a charge laid at Socrates' feet, that he was 
an idle babbler, that he was a seed picker. So when it comes 
to this particular encounter, when it comes to this particular 
audience, we notice that these persons are pressing him. And 
then in verse 19, it says, they took him and brought him to the 
Areopagus, 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, for all the Athenians and the foreigners 
who were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to 
tell or to hear some new thing. Now, the Areopagus, or the Hill 
of Ares, was northwest of the Acropolis in Athens. It's to 
be understood here less as a place where speakers were permitted 
to hold forth freely and listeners were always at hand than as the 
council which met on that hill. In other words, he's being called 
up and he is being asked now to proclaim the truth. I mean, 
talk about a perfect pitch right over the plate. As we know the 
Apostle Paul, he lives for such opportunities. Again, he's not 
eight foot tall and bulletproof. He is a prayerful man. He's committed 
to the truth as it is in Jesus. So when you give him an invitation 
to come and speak, you better rest assured he's going to come 
and speak. And that brings us then to the 
sermon at Mars Hill. First, note the introduction 
to his sermon in verses 22 and 23. He acknowledges their religiosity. He acknowledges the fact that 
they have a religious spirit. The word specifically means, 
notice in verse 22, then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus 
and said, men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very 
religious. It can be used in a denigrating 
sense, like superstitious, as in the King James. But in the 
laudatory introduction of Paul's speech, it must mean devout or 
religious. So what we have here in the New 
King James is a good rendering. I perceive that in all things 
you are very religious. And then he gives a particular 
emphasis of that. Notice in verse 23, for as I 
was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, 
Plurality. They're a religious people. Gill 
says they had more gods, and more altars, and more festivals, 
and were more diligent and studious in the worship of their gods 
than others. Now at this point in history, Athens didn't have 
the prestige that it previously had, but it was still a citadel 
for learning, for philosophy, and for all manner of intellectualism. And so when he comes to acknowledge 
this, he then goes on to say at the end of verse, or about 
the middle of verse 23, Now, I think that this is an attempt 
on their part to cover one's bases. They were polytheistic. They 
believed in a lot of gods. But they didn't know of all the 
gods, so they'd put up these unknown altars just to make sure 
that they were covering their bases. If there was a god out 
there that they hadn't offered up sacrifice to, then this altar 
to the unknown god would suffice for that purpose. and it would 
make sure that this unknown God would be appeased and that they 
would get the benefits that they wanted. As Calvin said, whoever 
does worship God without any certainty, he worships his own 
inventions instead of God. I think he's right, but again, 
I think that's what they're trying to do, just cover their bases. 
Sproul makes the observation here. He says, according to Paul, 
false religion is not the fruit of a zealous pursuit of God, 
but the result of a passionate flight from God. The glory of 
God is exchanged for an idol. The idol stands as a monument, 
not to religious fervor, but to humanity's flight from an 
initial encounter with the glory of God. Again, the practice of 
idolatrous religion is not viewed as an approximate form of authentic 
religion, but as a negation of it. It is one thing to deny the 
existence of God. It is another thing to add insult 
to the denial by worshiping as God something that is clearly 
of the created order. Paul's not condemning, commending 
it. He's simply noting it, and it's 
from this vantage point that he's going to launch into this 
proclamation concerning the living and the true God. If you turn 
over to the book of Romans, in Romans chapter 1, it seems to 
be the case that Paul, when he's writing Romans, has scenes like 
what he has here in Athens in his mind. Notice in Romans 1.18, 
for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness 
and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 
because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for 
God has shown it to them. The reality is that the light 
of nature teaches us that there is a God. And the light of nature 
teaches us that there is a God who is to be worshipped, who 
is to be feared, who is to be glorified. The prophet Jeremiah 
asks the question in Jeremiah chapter 10, "...who would not 
fear thee, O king of the nations? For indeed it is thy due." It's 
the same statement that's made in Revelation chapter 15. Notice, 
Paul says, "...because what may be known of God is manifest in 
them, for God has shown it to them." General Revelation reveals 
God. Notice in verse 20, for since 
the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly 
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even as 
eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. 
Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, 
nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and 
their foolish hearts were darkened. 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 creeping things. Therefore, God also gave them 
up to uncleanness and the lusts of their hearts to dishonor their 
bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for 
the lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the 
Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. So going back to Acts 17, 
he's not commending them for this altar to the unknown God. 
He's appealing to this so that he can then launch into his proclamation 
of the living and true God. And that's precisely what he 
says at the end of verse 23. Therefore, the one whom you worship 
without knowing, him I proclaim to you. And then, from there, 
he declares that true and living God in verses 24 to 28, and then 
he draws out some practical implications from verses 29 and following. 
And so notice, specifically, when he declares the true God, 
he speaks first of God as Creator. Remember, the Epicureans believed 
in the existence of gods, but those gods didn't have a hand 
in creation. And as far as the Stoics were 
concerned, Pantheism was the order of the day. God was in 
everything. God was everything. So they both have a defective 
understanding of creation. And as is often the case, we 
don't read of Paul going into synagogues and preaching a sermon 
on God's creation. or preaching that God is Creator. When he goes into the synagogues, 
he proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah. Well, here you've got 
pagans, here you've got Epicureans and Stoics that have no sort 
of connection with the God of Israel, and so what he declares 
to them is the truth concerning the fact that God has created. 
So he does that in verses 24 to 26a. So the audience here 
is pagan, so Paul highlights the truth that God is the creator 
of all things. Turn back to chapter 14, where 
you see Paul at Lystra, again with a pagan or heathen audience, 
and so the apostle Paul underscores the reality that God, the living 
and true God, is the one who made all things. Notice in 14.15. 
Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with 
the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from 
these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the 
earth, the sea, and all things that are in them. See, the heathen 
with a multiplicity of gods didn't typically give that much authority 
to one in particular. It's the living and true God 
that made the earth, that made the sea, that made the heavens. 
Everything there is, this God made. And in this, the apostle 
is rehearsing, reflecting, reminiscing on the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 
42, 5. Thus says God the Lord, who created 
the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth 
and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people 
on it and spirit to those who walk on it. It's essentially 
what he says, verse 24, So what's he addressing? What's provoked 
his spirit when he's sitting there in Athens? It's idolatry. And so he comes to preach the 
supremacy and the glory of God Most High as Creator, and then 
he goes on to make this distinction between the Creator and the creature. And he says specifically, God 
does not dwell in temples made with ants. Again, this is reminiscent. of Solomon in 1 Kings chapter 
8, Isaiah the prophet chapter 66, Stephen in his proclamation 
in Acts chapter 7 says essentially the same thing. In other words, 
God is distinct from the creation and that's what he is holding 
out to these pagans. As well, God is not worshipped 
with men's hands, and God does not depend upon man. Notice what 
he goes on to say in verse 25. Nor is he worshipped with men's 
hands, as though he needed anything, since he gives to all life, breath, 
and all things. It's a good doctrine for us to 
be reminded of. God doesn't need us. We don't 
complete God. We don't make Him something better 
than He was prior to creation. We don't add to His glory, we 
don't diminish from His glory, we do not change Him. And so, 
as the Apostle is setting forth the true and the living God, 
he finds it essential to stress the fact that He is the Creator, 
that therefore He is then distinct from the creation, and that God 
Himself is not dependent upon the creation. It's man who's 
dependent upon God, not vice versa. It's not as if you've 
built these wonderful temples with all of your idols, so now 
God is happy and felicitous to come and visit with you. You 
are not doing God any favors. Webster says, the triune God 
could be without the world. No perfection of God would be 
lost. No triune bliss would be compromised were the world not 
to exist. No enhancement of God is achieved 
by the world's existence. And some would say, well, that 
seems a bit bleak. No, it doesn't. The supremacy 
and glory of God. We don't want God dependent upon 
us. Remember the prophet Isaiah chides 
the people of his day who engaged in idolatry. And one of the specific 
things that he launches into is that they had to pick up their 
idols and put them back on the cart when they had fallen off 
the cart. That is a horrible thing, brethren. 
We don't want to have to pick up our God. We want our God to 
be able to pick us up and Him not dependent upon us. Christopher 
Wright says, the primal problem with idolatry is that it blurs 
the distinction between the Creator God and the creation. This both 
damages creation, including ourselves, and diminishes the glory of the 
Creator. See, the essence of idolatry and a rejection of the 
true and living God, defection from the truth of the living 
God, a denial of creation, a denial of providence, a denial obviously 
of redemption. So the apostle is hitting these 
things. The apostle is setting these 
forth before the Epicureans and the Stoics who wanted to hear 
what these strange things were. And then he says, the doctrine 
of creation extends to man the image of God. Notice what he 
says, verse 26, and he has made from one blood every nation of 
men to dwell on all the face of the earth and has determined 
their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwelling. 
So he made the sea, he made the earth, he made the heaven, and 
he made man. And with reference to man, he 
providentially governs man. Man is not a law unto himself. Man is not just bumping into 
each other until some final cosmic end. No, rather God has set those 
boundaries. God has determined their pre-appointed 
times and the boundaries of their dwellings. You see what Paul 
is doing? When you come to preach to people 
that have domesticated whatever concept of God they may have, 
you preach the undomesticated God. You preach the glory and 
the majesty of the Most High. You preach the fact that he is 
sovereign, the fact that he is the creator, and the fact that 
he is the governor over all things, over all his creatures and over 
all their actions. So He is the Living and the True 
God, as well He is the One who is the Sovereign Ruler. We see 
that in verse 26, but then moving on to verse 27. He says, "...so 
that..." This is the purpose of verse 26. "...is made from 
one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the 
earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries 
of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord." Brethren, 
that's what man should be doing. I think at times when we witness 
to people, we're a bit defensive, or a bit sheepish, or almost 
a bit apologetic, or a bit weak, and I know it's hard talking 
to people, I know it's not always the most natural thing, but people 
we talk to should be seeking the Lord. We are image bearers 
of the living and true God. God made us for his own glory. This is what all men everywhere 
ought to be doing at all times. And so the purpose for the creation 
of man in Acts 17, as Paul is bringing it to these Epicureans 
and Stoics, so that they should seek the Lord in the hope that 
they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far 
from each one of us. Pantheism's wrong, but imminence 
and immensity and omnipresence is true. God is there. God is accessible. God does here. God is present. And then notice 
he says in verse 28, for in him we live and move and have our 
own being. And look at what he does here. 
As also some of your own poets have said, for we are also his 
offspring. So the apostle was a trained 
rabbi, trained by Gamaliel, or under Gamaliel. We learned that 
in the earlier part of the Book of Acts. But he's also conversant 
with pagan literature. He's also conversant with the 
poets of the heathen. He's able to appeal to them at 
that particular level And particularly, he does that here, and also in 
Titus chapter 1 at verse 12. The particular man is Aretas, 
and another one is Epimenides, the Cretan. And he said, for 
in thee we live and move and have our being. Aretas says, 
in every way we have to do with Zeus, for we are truly his offspring. Now, Paul is not equating the 
living and true God with Zeus. But he is highlighting the fact 
that even degenerate, heathen poets have stumbled in unwittingly 
to truth about God. Why is that? Because, as the 
Bible testifies, the heavens declare the glory of God. As 
chapter 22 in our confession declares, that the light of nature 
reveals that there is a God, and that God is to be worshipped, 
that God is to be feared, that God is to be loved and adored. 
So Paul is acknowledging that these pagans were able to stumble 
onto some truth. Bonson says, Paul quotes the 
pagan writers to manifest their guilt. Since God is near at hand 
to all men, since his revelation impinges on them continually, 
they cannot escape a knowledge of their creator and sustainer. They are without excuse for their 
perversion of the truth. Remember what he says there in 
Romans chapter 1. The effects that we see all around us lead 
us to the conclusion that there is a cause for these effects. In other words, this world didn't 
just magically spring into being. The world declares and testifies 
that there is a God who built it. And so that creature should 
take us back to the Creator, and thus we should worship and 
glorify Him. So the Apostle, as he's writing 
Romans 1, again, I can't say he had Acts 17 completely in 
his mind, or even that the dates would jive, though I think it 
would. But the bottom line is, is that this mindset was in the 
apostle. When he goes into these pagan 
cities, and he sees them given over to idols, he knows that 
they have a sense of deity, he knows that they have a sense 
of religiosity, he knows that because they're created in God's 
image, and God has made manifest to them through the created order, 
that he exists. And so while they suppress that 
truth and unrighteousness, there is nevertheless that remainder 
on their hearts, and that's what the apostle is appealing to in 
this particular instance. And then that brings us to the 
implications for the Athenians in verses 29 to 31. Look at the 
beginning of verse 29, therefore. Therefore, what did the Epicureans 
and Stoics want? Notice in verse 19, they took 
him and brought him to the Areopagus saying, may we know what this 
new doctrine is of which you speak? For you are bringing some 
strange things to our ears. Therefore, we want to know what 
these things mean. For, here's the explanatory note, 
all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time 
in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. 
Now, Paul is going to tell them the new thing, God made you, 
God sustained you, God is going to damn you unless you repent 
and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but Paul doesn't just 
do it to give them more information. That verse 29 begins with, therefore, 
indicates that for the apostle, it's the problem of idolatry 
that he's going after. These are sinners who are standing 
under the judgment and wrath and fury of God. He's not just 
trying to demonstrate the superiority of the Christian religion, that 
our God is the living and true God, our God is the creator, 
and our God is the governor over all things. Now, let's go home 
and just sort of let that wash over us. No! He brings it to 
bear upon their consciences. Notice again, in verse 29, he 
highlights that distinction between the Creator and the creature. 
Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, and I think that Paul, 
using offspring in this particular passage, and quoting the pagan 
in verse 28, is not suggesting the universal fatherhood of God 
in a redemptive sense. That's 20th century liberalism. That's the kind of reality or 
the kind of thing that was in vogue at the time of the theologian 
J. Gressom Machen, who wrote a book 
called Christianity and Liberalism. And he said, it's not the case 
that liberalism is a subset of Christianity. It is an altogether 
different religion. It is not the same species. So 
what those liberals taught was that God is universally father 
over all men. But all men are on this upward 
trajectory, and all we gotta do is recognize it and realize 
it. That's not how Paul is using 
it. I think he's using it in creational categories. We are 
God's offspring in terms of being the creature who has come from 
the hand of the Creator. I don't think we should press 
it to that place of universal fatherhood of God in a redemptive 
sense for sure. So notice, therefore 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." What's he telling them? Your idols are 
in vain. Your idols are not only in vain, 
but they're wicked. It's an expression of evil. It's an expression of vileness. 
What you guys are doing With your alters to the unknown God, 
and you're trying to hedge the bets, and your religiosity or 
superstition, it is really an offense to the living and true 
God. So therefore, 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. With 
the apostolic preaching on the distinction between God and the 
creature, it is an amazing thing that we try so hard, and I speak 
of the church in general, to make God just like us. When the 
Bible takes pains to show that He's not just like us, that that's 
the blessedness of our God. That's his, you know, upbraiding 
of the children of Israel in the 50th Psalm. You thought that 
I was all together just like you, and I'm not. There is a 
distinction, and the Apostle highlights that distinction. 
We ought to embrace that distinction instead of trying to obliterate 
it and make God just like we are. So God is not like gold 
or silver or stone. God is not shaped by art and 
man�s devising. Again, there�s so much Old Testament 
behind the scenes in the apostles� address here, and it�s just coming 
out to these pagans. And then notice, he speaks of 
the fact that God is a judge. So verse 30, truly these times 
of ignorance God overlooked. I don't think it means that it 
was okay for them to sin. I think it refers to the divine 
long-suffering. You see a similar statement in 
Acts 14, 16, and then as well in Romans 3, 25, that He passed 
over. Again, the passing over isn't an obliteration of it, 
it isn't a reckoning with it, but in the Romans 3 context, 
it's in light of the coming event with reference to Jesus. So it 
was never excusable to sin, but God demonstrated forbearance. 
Now that Christ has come, repentance is preached to all nations, according 
to Luke 24, 27. As Johnson says, not forgiving 
guilt, but postponing judgment. That's the emphasis I think we 
should take there in verse 30. Truly these times of ignorance 
God overlooked. In other words, He did an exact 
punishment every moment, every instant, but now commands all 
men everywhere to repent. And so when you read through 
the Book of Acts, you see emphases on repentance, and you see emphases 
on faith. They're two sides of the same 
coin. You can't have true faith without 
repentance, and you don't have true repentance without true 
faith. And oftentimes they're used synonymously. It's an interesting study to 
look at faith and repentance in the Book of Acts. Sometimes 
they say repent, Sometimes they say, believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Functionally, it's equivalent. Functionally, it's the same. 
Repentance being a change of mind, no longer continue with 
this sort of faux worship of these unknown gods or all of 
these idols that you have. He says, but now God commands 
all men everywhere to repent, and then he gives this particular 
reason, judgment. So whatever weakness and trembling 
and fear the apostle may have possessed, which he specifies 
there in 1 Corinthians 2, having the prayers of God's people, 
having the presence of God's Spirit, he's able to stand before 
Epicureans and Stoics and speak of the judgment of God. He doesn't 
back down. At times, if you've ever evangelized 
or you've spoken to somebody and you realize, they're not 
going to like what I have to say in the next statement or 
two. They're just not going to like 
it. The temptation arises to back it off a little bit. I don't 
want to needlessly offend them. I want to be asked back to the 
Areopagus. I sure like these Epicureans 
and stuff. He didn't think that way. He 
pressed it. Truly, these times of ignorance 
God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 
because He has 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. Isn't that 
an interesting turn of events? Because look back at verse 18. Then certain Epicurean and Stoic 
philosophers encountered him. And some said, what does this 
babbler want to say? Others said, he seems to be a 
proclaimer of foreign gods because he preached to them Jesus and 
the resurrection. So he deals with Jesus and the 
resurrection, but not in the way that they perhaps would have 
expected. They perhaps would have liked 
a bit of biography on this Jesus. Well, who was he? What kind of 
a fellow? What was his life like? Paul 
the Apostle basically just summarizes the entirety with a reference 
to the resurrection from the dead, which obviously implies 
that he had died. So in this, he does set forth 
life, death, and resurrection of our Savior, because he has 
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. So notice he doesn't take 
pains to demonstrate or to prove that Jesus was raised from the 
dead by God. Rather, he uses the fact of the 
resurrection to prove the reality that there's a judgment day coming. 
and that Epicureans and Stoics are going to stand before the 
living and true God. The light of nature, which they've 
had, the sense of divinity, which they've had, is nevertheless 
not enough. They need the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Remember, in Romans 1, well, we did read the section, they're 
without excuse. The light of nature renders a 
man without excuse, but it's the special revelation concerning 
Jesus that man desperately needs to hear such that he can be saved. So the apostle was called to 
the Areopagus because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 
He doesn't try to prove it, he rather assumes it to prove the 
coming judgment of God Most High. And then note the response to 
the sermon. As I mentioned at the outset, 
wouldn't you think that Paul preaching, everybody would get 
saved? I mean, you'd think so. There 
was that instance where Ben Franklin went to a Whitefield preaching 
session, and Ben was intent not to cough up. Because when Whitefield 
would preach and call centers to repentance, then they'd take 
up a collection for the orphanage in Georgia. And so Ben Franklin 
said, he's not getting my money. Well, of course, he got all his 
money. But never got conversion. As far as I know, Ben Franklin 
died on the wrong side of Jesus and sat under the preaching of 
George Whitefield. So just because it's a Spurgeon, 
or just because it's a Whitefield, or just because it's a Paul, 
we need the spirit of the living and true God, or else men perish 
in their sin. So notice in verses 32 and following, 
and when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. They 
mocked, as Alexander says, because the possibility of resurrection 
after death was not only no part of the Greek creed, either philosophical 
or popular, but was positively repudiated as a gross absurdity. So of course there would be those 
who mocked. We don't care what you have to 
say. This sounds foolish, the idea of resurrection. But notice 
there were those who were curious. Again, this is very similar to 
what happens today when we preach the gospel or we evangelize or 
we talk to people about the Lord. Some said, or others said, we 
will hear you again on this matter. Whether they ever did or not, 
we don't know. But at least for the moment, 
they weren't mocking. They had a bit of a curiosity. 
And so they said, we'll hear you again on this matter, which 
You know, brethren, that's the bad way to go. I mean, that's 
always a damning delusion, because you shouldn't put off hearing 
the glories of Christ, you know, for another time. But then notice, 
verse 33 says, So Paul departed from among them. However, some 
men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, 
a woman named Emerus, and others with them. So while it may have 
seemed to be the case, that there were mockers and curious, there 
were those who were actually saved. There were those who, 
by the grace of God, were convicted of their sin and brought to the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Well, just a couple of thoughts. 
First, the sin of idolatry. I think that this passage illustrates 
the abiding validity of the Decalogue. What standard is violated when 
Paul is sitting in Athens if there's no second commandment? Why the big deal about idolatry? 
Why the concern about idolatry? Well, we want God's glory, yeah, 
but if there's no commandment, if there's no demand, then what 
these guys are doing, they're basically acting upon what's 
in them. As well, we've got the prevalence of it. Notice in verse 
16. Now, while Paul waited for them 
at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the 
city was given over to idols. It wasn't just little sections 
here or there. And how many of our cities could 
be described in like manner? I mean, we may not have the the 
architecture to our gods, we may not have the same sort of 
statues to our gods, we may not have all the visible representations, 
but in a sense we do. We have all manner of idolatry 
rampant around us, and at times are our spirits provoked within 
us when we see these particular things. And then the wickedness 
of idolatry. Paul sets forth judgment before 
Jesus Christ as the ultimate corrective to man in sin. And it's usually in this sermon, 
I quote John Stott. I think he's got a great statement 
here. I'm not vouching for all of his 
theology. I don't think he ended well, at least in a couple of 
doctrines. But he says, all idolatry, whether ancient or modern, primitive 
or sophisticated, is inexcusable, whether the images are metal 
or mental, material objects of worship or unworthy concepts 
in the mind. For idolatry is the attempt either 
to localize God, confining Him within the limits which we impose, 
whereas He is the creator of the universe, or to domesticate 
God, making Him dependent on us, taming Him, whereas He is 
the sustainer of human life. or to alienate God, blaming Him 
for His distance and silence, whereas He is the ruler of nations 
and not far from any of us, or to dethrone God, demoting Him 
to some image of our own contrivance or craft, whereas He is our Father 
from whom we derive our being. In brief, all idolatry tries 
to minimize the gulf between the Creator and His creatures 
in order to bring Him under our control. More than that, it actually 
reverses the respective positions of God and us so that instead 
of our humbly acknowledging that God has created and rules us, 
we presume to imagine that we can create and rule God. There 
is no logic in idolatry. It is a perverse, topsy-turvy 
expression of our human rebellion against God. If that doesn't 
describe North America in the 21st century, and probably every 
other century in every other part of the world, that has defected 
from the living and true God, I don't know what does. That 
is the case. The apostle underscores distinction. Let us not try to bring God down 
and make him like us in our attempts to win sinners. The blessedness 
of God is that he is not like us, that he is far removed, that 
he is the creator, that he is the sustainer. As well, the corrective 
to idolatry is the gospel. It's not just a bit more education, 
a bit more information, and just sort of push them over the edge. 
No, it is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is to repent 
from sin. It is to come to the living and 
true God. To believe on Him for forgiveness. The gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. The biblical understanding of 
who God is. This is what's absolutely crucial 
in the Romans 1 situation. Paul speaks of all kinds of sins 
there. If you can turn there, we'll 
just end on this particular note. Notice that he speaks of all 
kinds of just vile, wicked, evil things. as he continues on in 
the narrative. So we stopped at verse 25. Let's 
continue in verse 26. 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, and receiving 
in themselves the penalty of their error, which was due. And 
even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, 
God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which 
are not fitting, being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual 
immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, 
murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness. They are whisperers, backbiters, 
haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, 
disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, 
unmerciful. who knowing the righteous judgment 
of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of 
death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who 
practice them. What is often the response to a culture that 
looks like that? Well, let's fix the problems. 
Let's fix the homosexual. Let's fix the other deviant. Let's fix the drug addicts. Let's 
preach the gospel to them. Okay? These are symptoms of what 
their real problem is. Look at verse 21. Because although 
they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, 
but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were 
darkened. Notice in verse 18, for the wrath of God is revealed 
from heaven against, notice what comes first, all ungodliness 
and unrighteousness of men. The ungodliness is first. They 
knew God, but they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, 
but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were 
darkened. In other words, ungodliness at the level of the heart and 
soul and the mind, issues forth in unrighteousness. Now, I'm 
not suggesting that if you see somebody, you know, injecting 
heroin into their veins, you can't tell them stop. But the 
problem that we have in society is one of idolatry. We have God-hating 
rebels that need the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the emphasis in 
every pulpit in Canada and in the U.S. and throughout the earth 
is on what Paul emphasizes in all of his epistles and in all 
of his ministry, Christ and Him crucified. That's the answer 
to a society that has given over to idols. Well, let us pray. 
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you 
for this account in Acts 17 and for what we see exemplified in 
the life and the ministry of the Apostle Paul. I pray that 
you would give us that provocation of spirit when we look around 
at our culture, when we see our society given over to idols. 
May we be a prayerful people, may we be a bold people as we 
have opportunity to speak the truth in love. to declare the 
reality of a gracious and a glorious God who has sent his son into 
the world, sinners to save. We pray for your blessing in 
our community here. We know there's much in terms 
of homelessness and drug abuse and just all manner of lawlessness 
and unrighteousness, but we know it's ultimately an ungodliness 
problem. So we pray that more and more 
sinners would be saved by your grace through faith in Jesus 
Christ our Lord. And we pray in his most wonderful 
name. Amen. Any questions or comments on 
any of that? In Cuba, people don't get any 
money. So that's going to affect all the churches in the central 
area of Havana. So today, I have no idea why, 
for how long, you know, forever. Is it just the days or the weeks? 
So I'm pretty, you know, I'm not certain.