THE UNKNOWN GOD

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon of the Week #200710 - March 4, 2007

When Paul came to Athens he arrived at the intelligentsia capitol of the ancient world, and beheld a city full of idols, given entirely to idolatry. It is said that it was easier to find a god in Athens than a man, and it may seem strange to modern ears to note that the city that was best known for wisdom in the ancient world was the city that had the most idolatry. Athens was the best example of Paul’s statement in Romans one, “…professing themselves to be wise they became fools.” And that is still true today. All of the rocket scientists of this modern world, working overtime day and night for a lifetime, would never be able to figure out the combination on the locks of the pearly gates. It also appears that Athens is the prototype of America today. We also live in a country full of idols. Contests are held on television to see who is the next American idol. When they find the idol, after a short while, they try to find another idol. We make idols out of entertainment stars and idols out of sports heroes. Like Athens, America is full of idols. Now the worship of idols is expensive. The golden calf Aaron made was made from all the gold of the people melted down in Exodus 32. In Acts 7, the worship of that golden calf was called a sacrifice. Our gods are expensive also. At a championship game, some are willing to pay a ticket scalper hundreds of dollars for a ticket, and a lowly hot dog will cost many times over the cost on the outside. Worship of our idols is expensive, but many are willing to pay.

Paul’s spirit was provoked, and preached in the synagogues, and in the market places. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers heard him and were curious as to what this babbler was talking about. Epicureans believed the sum total of life is pleasure, “Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” Actually if there is no resurrection, why not eat, drink and be merry and die? Paul said in First Corinthians 15:32, “What doth it profit? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” The American version of that saying is, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we diet.” The Stoics were resigned to everything whether pain or pleasure, and man had no soul.

We remember that Paul spoke of vain philosophy in Colossians 2:8, when he said, “Take heed that there shall be anyone that maketh spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit.” Philosophy is good, but it becomes vain philosophy and deceit if it denies the God who has an only begotten Son who died on the cross and arose from the dead. It becomes vain philosophy and deceit if it denies the divinely inspired Word of God. It becomes vain philosophy and deceit if it denies the truth of the plan of salvation given by Peter on the Day of Pentecost when he told those who believed to repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter said this plan was for them, their children, and all that were afar off as many as the Lord our God should call unto Him.

When the Devil sees that a person has received the Word of God, he always finds a way to corrupt the truth by convincing some scholar that it does not apply to people today. That is vain philosophy and deceit. If I should ever change the message given that day the church began, I believe that philosophy would send me to Hell with great velocity.

So they took him to speak on Mars Hill before the Supreme Court of Athens.  The speech he made is the outline of the message.

THE CREATION OF THE WORLD

One of the major points that Paul made in his sermon on Mars Hill was when he gave them his view of creation. He spoke of the God who made the world and everything in it. In that statement he must have told them about the first chapter of Genesis. He told them that Moses said, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Just in case they did not believe Moses, he gave them an argument that should convince them if he told them what he would tell the Romans later on, “The invisible things since the creation are clearly seen, being perceived by the things that are made, even His everlasting power and divinity; that they should be without excuse.”

I have heard it said that the universe came into existence with a BIG BANG! I was not there and don’t know. But I do know that when the Lord Jesus returns, there is going to be a BIG BANG, because Peter said, “The day of the Lord will come as a thief; in which the heavens and the earth will pass away with a great noise.” Ladies and Gentlemen, the saints on that day, as they are caught up to meet the Lord in the air are going to get a real BANG out of that one!

As to what happened when God created the heavens and the earth, the statement of God to Job is interesting. God said, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth and the morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy?” What was the song the morning stars sang together when they saw the universe come into existence? I was not there, but surely it must have been, “How Great Thou Art.” And what word was it, the sons of God shouted for joy when they saw planets, worlds, stars, constellations, and milky ways tumble from His fingertips in endless profusion? What word was it? Without a doubt, they shouted, “YAHOO! WAY TO GO LORD!”

THE CREATION OF MAN

Another point in Paul’s outline for the sermon on Mars Hill was the creation of man when he said, “God made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth.” In Genesis 2:7, Moses tells us how he did it, “And the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” In Genesis 1:24, “And God said, let the earth bring forth fruit after its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beast of the earth after his kind.” Five times in verses 24 and 25, God repeated it, “After his kind-after his kind-after his kind-after his kind-after his kind.” There is no room here for anything producing life after another kind. To say that man evolved makes the Genesis story a myth. How can a Christian say any part of the Word of God is a myth when Paul said, “All scripture is inspired of God.”

Many tell us today that evolution is the way God made man, and formulate their belief as to how mankind arrived on the earth by using such terms as the Cenozoic Age, the Mesozoic Age, the Paleozoic Age, the Proterozoic Age, and the Archeozoic Age. People who reject the teaching of the Word of God today are living in the Dumbazoic Age.

The worst tragedy in American history was not the bombing of Pearl Harbor; it is the teaching of evolution in the school system in two different areas. The first is in morals. Evolution teaches that men are animals. Animals are not bound by a moral code. A racehorse finishes his racing days and is turned out to stud. No one considers him to be a fornicator no matter how many mares he may be bred to, because he is an animal. Since humans are taught they are animals, there is no right or wrong. Another result of evolution is violence. Since we are animals, the law of the jungle takes over. It is the survival of the fittest. If someone has something you want and if you are strong enough, take it. There is no regard for law and order. Success will come to those who are strong enough to stomp on others.

JESUS AND THE RESURRECTION

Another point in the sermon of Paul on Mars Hill was the main reason they brought him to this summit meeting, “And some said, what would this babbler say? He seems to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.”

Actually, the resurrection was the theme of the preaching of the Apostles. Matthias was chosen to take the place of Judas in Acts 1. Peter said, “The one chosen must be a witness with us of His resurrection.” All of the Apostles were eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ. Every one could testify, “Jesus is alive!”

In Acts 4 after the miracle of the healing of a lame man, the Apostles, Peter and John, were arrested because the priests and the captain of the temple were sore troubles because they taught the people and proclaimed that, “Jesus is alive!” The Devil is still sore troubled, and it grates on his ears to hear us say on this broadcast, “Jesus is alive!”

Then again in Acts 4 after the trial, Peter and John reported to the Church, they prayed, the place was shaken, and then it says, “And with great power gave the Apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” In spite of threats and warnings, the Apostles continued to preach, “Jesus is alive!” Here it is again in Acts 5. All of the Apostles had been jailed, and an angel led them out of prison; they told them to go and stand in the temple, and teach the people. They were arrested again, and it was Peter again speaking for the rest when he said, “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew hanging Him on a tree.” This time they were beaten with many stripes and warned not to speak again in the name of Jesus. They rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name, and continued to proclaim, “Jesus is alive!”

On Paul’s first missionary tour, he was invited to preach in the synagogue of another city called Antioch. He told them, “At the trial of Jesus the people asked that Jesus be slain. When it was done they took Him down from the tree, and laid Him in a tomb, but God raised Him from the dead.” And he said, “We bring you good tidings,  Jesus is alive!” At the conversion of the first gentiles in Acts 10, it is written, “Whom also they slew hanging Him on a tree. Him God raised up the third day, and gave Him to be manifest, not to all people, but unto witnesses that were chosen before of God, even to us, who ate and drank with Him after He was risen from the dead.” The Apostles could say that not only did they see Him; they actually ate and drank with Him. In Luke 24, it is said that Jesus ate broiled fish and honeycomb in their presence. The Apostles were confident when they preached, “Jesus is alive!”

On Paul’s second missionary tour, he went to Thessalonica and for three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the scriptures, opening and alleging that it behooved the Christ to suffer, and rise again from the dead; and that this Jesus whom he said I proclaim unto you is the Christ.

This is the place, after Paul fled, some of the disciples were taken to court, and the charge was made that these who have turned the world upside down have come hither also. That message about the resurrection, not only turns the world upside down, it turns Hell upside down, and the Devil hates to hear, “Jesus is alive!”

There were three great trials of the Apostle Paul before the Roman courts that ended in the decision to send him to Rome to appear before Nero. The first was before Governor Felix, the second before Governor Festus, and the third before King Agrippa.

At the trial before Felix, Paul gave a summation of the trial when he said, “Touching the resurrection from the dead, I am called in question this day.” At the trial of Festus he quoted the chief priests saying, “Jesus was dead, and Paul affirmed Him to be alive.” At the trial before Agrippa, Paul asked the King, “Why is it judged incredible with you, if God doth raise the dead?” At three trials Paul said, “Jesus is alive!”

Another great lesson on the preaching of the resurrection is in the conclusion of this sermon on Mars Hill when he told them that God hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all the nations in that He hath raised Him from the dead.

Actually, Jesus is the only person who is qualified in Heaven, or on earth to preside on the Judgment Day, by virtue of the fact that He is the only one who ever lived in mortal flesh that could say as He said to John in the first chapter of Revelation, “Fear not, I Am the first and the last, and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I Am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Jesus is alive.”

For the concluding thought on the resurrection of Jesus, we leave Acts and listen to Paul in First Corinthians fifteen, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then they that are Christ’s at His coming.” Jesus was the first fruits from the dead and we shall be the next fruits raised from the dead because Jesus is alive!

Then Paul said, “Behold I show you a mystery; we all shall not sleep, but we all shall be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Many years ago in preparation for a message on this scripture entitled, “When the Trumpet Shall Sound”, I had a trumpet player make several blasts on his trumpet, and I recorded that sound. I put the recorder in the sound room and told the man operating the sound system to turn on the recorder at a certain point in the sermon. During the preaching of the message, I told about the second coming of Jesus, and how at that time in the twinkling of an eye we shall all be changed, as we are caught up into the air to be forever with the Lord. At that point I loudly asked the audience, “Would you be ready at this moment if the trumpet should sound?” At that moment on cue, the sound of the trumpet came through loud and clear. I will not tell of the reaction of the audience at that time, but the question is still appropriate, “Are you ready at this moment if the trumpet should sound?”

CONCLUSION

The conclusion of the whole matter is when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: but others said, “We will hear thee concerning this yet again.” Mockery is one of the favorite tools of the Devil. Salvation to the mocker is a big joke. It always has been, we need to remember that the soldiers of Pilate put a crown of thorns on His head, a reed in His right hand, and they kneeled down, and mocked Him saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

When the church was about to begin on the Day of Pentecost, they mocked in Acts 2:13, “But others mocking said, they are filled with new wine.” Then remember how Jude said, “In the last time there shall be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts.” They mocked at the beginning of the gospel age, and they will still be mocking at the end. They will not mock on the Judgment Day.

If they mock at the Christian today they will also mock at the cross. And like Pilate’s soldiers said, “Hail, King Jesus!” If they mock today they will also mock at marriage. If they mock today they will mock at the moral code of the Bible. Their mockery reveals a rotten life style. It is well to remember the words of Paul in Galatians 6, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” But there were some that believed, among whom was one of the judges, Dionysius, the Areopgite, and a woman named Damaris. Thus Paul went out from among them.