Dwell in the Word: Acts 17:16-34

Think on these questions as you dwell in Acts 17:16-34:

1. Paul addresses a diverse audience in Athens, including Epicurean and Stoic philosophers who are initially puzzled by his message. How does Paul's approach demonstrate the importance of tailoring the presentation of the gospel to different audiences? How can we apply this principle when sharing the gospel with people of various backgrounds and beliefs?

2. Paul boldly proclaims the resurrection of Jesus, even though it was a concept foreign and baffling to the philosophers in Athens. Why is the resurrection a pivotal aspect of the gospel message, and how does it set Christianity apart from other belief systems? How can we effectively communicate the significance of the resurrection in our own evangelism efforts?

3. Some in the audience respond to Paul's message with mockery, while others express interest and a willingness to hear more. How does this diversity of responses reflect the reality of sharing the gospel in today's world? How can we navigate and respond to different reactions when presenting the message of Christ to others?

Transcript:

 This passage is really interesting because we see Paul interacting more with a Greek audience, don't we? Now he goes, he is in Athens and he finds the synagogue where the Jews gather and he, he talks with them. But we see that he also goes into the marketplace every day and talks with those who happen to be there.

Now this was a place where people would go and they would share their thoughts, they would philosophize, etc. And we see in verse 18 that some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, two different schools of philosophy, they talked with him. And you gotta love what it says here. What does this babbler wish to say?

They thought that he was out of line because he wasn't speaking the normal conventional things that, that they would talk about. And notice, they think that he's a preacher of foreign divinities, which, really, he was a preacher of a Foreign God, but it was the true God and what caused him to be noticed in this way It was because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection That would have been an interesting thing for these people to hear they would not have had in their pagan minds Um, they were very religious, as we see Paul say, but in their pagan minds, they would have no category for the idea that Jesus humbled himself and took on human flesh and, and suffered and died and rose again.

They, the resurrection would have been baffling to them, and we see that it was. So, they take him to the Areopagus, which was where there was a council they would, they would question people. They wanted to know what he was saying. And so, Paul gives in a fantastic, fantastic, uh, speech or sermon here. He, you know, starts from the fact that they acknowledge that there's a God that they don't know.

And so, he uses that as an opportunity, as an opening to tell them about who that God is. This is not a God who dwells in buildings. This is a God who has created everything. He is not served by the hands of man. Instead, He gives everything to man. What an amazing way to bring about talking about the truth of the gospel that Paul uses here.

And so eventually he gets to this point and he, he talks about the resurrection, but he talks about This time where, uh, verse 30, this time of ignorance is, is what he says here. Now, the idea is, is that you, that the Gentiles were not receiving this message. There was a time where they were not receiving the message of who God was.

And so now, that time is over. And now, this message is going out to everybody. And Paul takes that message seriously, doesn't he? Because he's going into the marketplace to tell people to repent. He realizes the consequence. Of the truth of the gospel that if you do not repent and believe You will not be saved and what does he say here that it's time to repent because God has fixed a day where he will Judge the world in righteousness.

There is a time coming where people will be judged And so he is sharing the gospel And he says at the end of verse 31 and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead So the idea is that Jesus has risen from the dead and so he will be alive to judge The people that are being, are to, are to be judged, for lack of a better way of putting it.

He is alive. He was righteous, and he suffered and died, but he has resurrected.  That was the key. He wanted people to hear the truth of the gospel, even though it was absurd to them. He still keeps going back to the idea of the resurrection. Why? Because it's true. Because Christ really did rise from the dead.

Well, this sort of gets him in trouble, but a lot easier for him to soften the message, right? To just get them to follow along with his philosophy. He could have left the resurrection out. Talked about the idea that God was this all powerful being that they really know he's this unknown God He could have softened the message, right?

But he did not do that and when they heard of the resurrection of the dead what happened some mocked, they mocked him. They made fun of him. But what did others say? They'll hear you again about this, but we also read in verse 34 that some men joined him and believed What an amazing thing that Paul has done.

He has gone into a secular setting, a place where there's just a bunch of philosophers and pagans. And people who have no category for understanding what he's talking about and he's taken them and he has done  The proclamation of the gospel in such a way that they hear and believe despite their preconditions  What has happened the Spirit has been at work in those people because Paul was faithful to proclaim the true gospel of Christ  Crucified and resurrected right he died and he rose again And he will come to judge the living and the dead.

And so, Paul was faithful to do what he's been called to do, and he understood the gravity of it, because there is a judgment coming.  And so, for us, as we think about what this passage means for us today, we see a world, right, that we live in, that looks very similar to the world that Paul is addressing here.

There are a lot of people who have a category for the idea that there is, there is God out there somewhere, but maybe they don't know him. As Father, Son, Holy Spirit, maybe they don't understand that Christ has been crucified and resurrected. And if, if we were to share that to some people, it's, it's likely that you and I would be mocked.

But it doesn't matter whether or not we are mocked. We don't soften the edges of the gospel because someone will make fun of us. What matters is, is that it's true. Christ did die. He did rise again from the dead.  And because of that, He will come to judge the living and the dead. And so, we need to understand the gravity of that.

And so, instead of softening the gospel, hoping that people will come to faith on their own because it's appealing. May we faithfully trust that Christ is doing his work through his word and the Holy Spirit will be at work at people, in people. So may we proclaim this gospel of Jesus Christ regardless of what might happen to us if we proclaim it.

May we trust instead in the power of the word and the power of the spirit to do the work that the spirit and the word do.