Loving God by Loving the World the Way God Does – Pt. 2

*This is a continuation of the message delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on February 2nd.

Acts 17:16-21 – “Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸ Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preachingJesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹ And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰ For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” ²¹ Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.”

A Loving Heart is Moved to Action

Very often in movies about high school, they have a scene where a scrawny, smart nerd gets picked on by strong, bulky bully.  That bully walks up to the kid in the hallway in front of everybody, picks up the kid, takes his lunch money, and then proceeds to shove him in his locker.  Nobody around who is witnessing this act does anything, but you can clearly tell that the whole student body is disgusted by this act.  THEY JUST DON’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!  Personally, I believe that when you witness a crime that you can stop but instead do nothing about it, you are in a way responsible for that crime taking place.  It is said that all it takes for evil to win is for good men to do nothing.  That is what I am talking about.  It is one thing to be provoked and hate sin, but it is a complete other thing to do something about that hatred.

In our passage today, we find that Paul was not only disgusted at the idolatry in Athens, but he did something about it.  In Acts 17:17-21, Paul begins to speak out against this idolatry sharing the Word of God with the people of Athens, in hopes, that they might come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  He took action against the idolatry that he saw being committed in this place, because he did not want to see it continue.  Loving the world the way Christ does requires you to not just hate sin but to move against it by sharing with those in sin the solution to this sin problem – Jesus Christ.  We can learn a lot about how to take action against sin and how to share the Gospel by taking notice of Paul’s practices in this passage.

First, take notice of the action Paul took in vs. 17, “So he reasoned…”  Paul recognized that the Athenians were a people of knowledge and reasoning.  They loved to discuss topics of religion, philosophy, and politics.  Just think about all the famous philosophers from there – Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle.  Vs. 21 describes the Athenians for us – “Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.”  Paul realized that in order to speak to this group of people he needed to use not emotion, not fanciful words, not spiritual jargon but reason.  When one reasons he first listens to an argument, thinks about the argument, then responds.  Reasoning is not a one way street, where one is stuffing his opinion down another’s throat; it is listening and thinking through points on both sides and responding to them wisely.  Paul did exactly that, and we need to learn to do so when we share the Gospel.  As we share the Gospel with others, it becomes very unappealing when we just push people into boxes and judge them; instead, we need to listen and then respond being prepared to answer with grace seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:6).  We can never force Christianity, we can only share Jesus Christ.  So let us learn to take this same course of action.

Second, take notice of where and with who Paul took this action of sharing the Gospel with also in vs. 17-18, “So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace everyday with those who happened to be there.  Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him.  And some said, ‘What does this babbler wish to say?’  Others said, ‘He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities’…”  Paul spoke with everyone, everywhere.  It didn’t matter what the location was whether the synagogue or the marketplace.  It didn’t matter if he was talking to Jews, righteous people, devout men, unbelievers, common people, or philosophers.  It didn’t matter whether he was speaking to clear opponents of the Gospel like the Epicureans (philosophers who believed the greatest good in life is pleasure) or the Stoics (philosophers who believed that one must act with reason and not emotion so life will be lived virtuously and well).  He wasn’t afraid to share with anyone.  He never judged a group as less knowledgeable or less open but shared with every person that was available and willing to hear.  When we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we must not be picky and choosy with who gets it, for all need to hear the Word of God.  Imagine if there was a fire going on inside a building, would you pick and choose who to warn to get out?  No way!  You would tell everyone to head for the stairs and get out.  We are in the same predicament as Christians.  The world is a place that is heading towards the judgment of hell, and we need to warn everyone we can that they need to turn to Jesus Christ for mercy, grace, and escape.  If we fully grasp the seriousness of the situation, we wouldn’t in any way pick and choose who to share the Gospel with but would do so with everyone, everywhere, every chance we get.

Third, take notice of the message that Paul shared as described in vs. 8, “…because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.”  Paul’s message was simple and to the point – “Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who gave up His glory in heaven to die for sinners like you and me, so that we could have a renewed relationship with Him.  Not only did He die though but He proved He was God through His resurrection three days later, guaranteeing us new life in Him.”  Paul did not try to hide or change the message to sound more appealing and reasonable to the Greeks.  He didn’t try to avoid the topic of the Resurrection, because it might dissuade some people from turning to Christ.  He didn’t avoid sharing the truth of the one and only true God.  He shared the simple Gospel message, unabashed and unashamed.  We must share the Gospel, fully and completely and without fear.  We must not try to hide parts that may not be as appealing or may not be politically correct.  We must share the Gospel in its entirety, for Jesus Christ is the only Way, Truth, and Life.  In addition, take notice that Paul’s message focused on Jesus Christ, not on himself or anything about him.  He did not seek to convert people to his opinion on the resurrection or his opinion on righteous living or his opinion on idolatry.  He simply taught Jesus Christ and focused everything on Him.  All focus in sharing the Gospel should be brought to Jesus Christ.

Fourth, take notice of the opportunity that Paul’s boldness in sharing brought about in vs. 19-20, “And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, ‘May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?  For you bring some strange things to our ears.  We wish to know therefore what these things mean.’”  Because of Paul’s diligence in sharing the Gospel anywhere he could preach, he was given an even greater opportunity now.  He was invited to preach at the Areopagus, also known as Mars’ Hill.  The Areopagus was actually known before Paul’s time for having a famous council that would judge trials and make important political decisions (Smith, W. A Dictionary of the Bible.  Logos Bible Software 4).  Although by the time Paul arrived, it may have no longer been involved with politics, this place was still held in high esteem.  For Paul to be invited to share the Gospel in a place like that would probably be similar to a preacher today being given a platform to speak in the Capitol building.  As disciples of Jesus Christ, if we serve Him in the opportunities given to us, He will surely provide bigger and better opportunities for us to serve Him in greater things, but we must be faithful in little before we can be given the opportunity to be faithful in much.  In addition, we must take that opportunity when it is given us.  Paul could have easily said NO to this chance to speak at the Areopagus, knowing that he was heading into enemy territory to be heard and tested by knowledgeable philosophers that would surely oppose his views, yet he didn’t allow fear or doubt to shake his resolution to share the Gospel; instead, he saw this as a great opportunity for him to make his Christ known.  Let us not be afraid even when we must be witnesses in the lion’s den.