We'll continue our meditation
this evening in the Acts of the Apostles and chapter 17 and this
evening we'll meditate on those verses from 16 down to 21. Verse 16 to 21 in the 17th chapter
of the Acts of the Apostles. Most of you will remember that
we left the Apostle Paul and the last time we meditated he'd
just come into Athens. And so we pick this up where
we read, now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit
was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. The apostle Paul was a man of
God and the apostle Paul was concerned that the gospel might
be spread. And therefore, as he comes into
a place like Athens and he sees there so much idolatry, so much
idol worship, And obviously it was a great concern to him and
we're told his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly
given to idolatry. Well surely we're not in a dissimilar
situation today in our nation, indeed in many parts of the world.
And idols need not necessarily be just something which people
bow down to and worship in a physical way. There are many things which
people bow down to in idolatry today, those things which are
contrary to the word of God and how many people we find following
idolatrous things. Well, the apostle was stirred
in his spirit. What a wonderful thing if we
should be stirred in our spirits in the day and age in which we
live. when we are made aware of the true situation which exists. So what did the Apostle Paul
do? Did he just sit down in a comfortable
place and say, well, let's hope things get better, and let's
hope something happens, let's hope the Lord will work mightily
and things will improve? We don't read that as what the
Apostle did. apostle was a man who blessed
by God to do those things which he was able to do and therefore
we're told he disputed. Therefore disputed he in the
synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons. What he did
obviously he sought out the The synagogue, which was, of course,
the official place for the Jews to go and worship in. And although
this was in Athens, it wasn't in Jerusalem or in Israel, it
was in Athens, but there were clearly sufficient Jews in this
place to erect a synagogue and to gather there for worship.
But, as we've already meditated on in this Acts of the Apostles,
the Apostle Paul was concerned about his own nation, greatly
concerned because of their wonderful privileges that they had enjoyed
in the Old Testament, had they been blessed with those wonderful
revelations, that ceremonial law in all its wonder, and how
it pointed to Christ in so many, many ways. And the Apostle's
eyes had been spiritually opened, so he was able to observe the
great truth in these things, whereas most of his fellow countrymen
were stood in darkness. And so when he was able to go
into the synagogues and to preach the gospel, it was the great
privilege and joy which he loved to do. Therefore disputed he
in the synagogues with the Jews and with the devout persons.
It would seem not only with the Jews, but with the Gentiles there
as well, who were devout. You see the Jews naturally were
devout in their religion. But of course they were deluded
because they had not accepted that the Lord Jesus Christ was
the Messiah. They could not believe that that
person, that person who was despised, who they thought would come as
a great earthly king was indeed the Messiah. So we see the great
need there was for Paul to go into the synagogues, but not
only in the synagogues, but also in the market. Now it would seem
that the synagogues would normally be the place of worship on the
Sabbath, But there was obviously every other opportunity for the
Apostle Paul to proclaim the truth in the Lasting Gospel.
And so we're told, and in the market daily with them, that
met with him. Yet every day he used his strength
to proclaim the truth of the Gospel. He wasn't a lazy man,
was he? He wasn't an indolent man. He
desired the salvation of souls. And therefore he was not concerned
about his own strength. He was not concerned about whether
he would upset people, whether he would be arrested for the
things that he spoke. We know, as we already thought
upon, those occasions when he was arrested, when he was beaten.
And you can read in the second epistle to the Corinthians, it
gives that long list of all the many times he was assaulted.
cast into prison, beaten, shipwrecked so many times of great difficulty,
but it didn't deter him. And here we see him not deterred. He didn't know what result would
be. He wasn't deterred. You find him there in the market
daily with them that met with him. As he walked up and down
the street, no doubt, gathering people together, speaking to
them, It's a wonderful example, isn't it, that we have. We shouldn't
think these days are past. We shouldn't think there's no
need for that today. And so then we read, then certain philosophers
of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him. Now you may say, well, what were
Epicureans? Well, interestingly enough, We
might think that we live in a day when many people follow Darwin,
Charles Darwin, and his theory. Well, in fact, the Epicureans,
which began some 300 years before Christ, 300 years BC, they also
really followed a very similar concept. They believed that the
world just happened. It just somehow came into being. And then not only that, but they
also considered that they were placed in this world and they
should enjoy all the pleasures in the most sensual way that
they could. So really it's not much different
to the day and age in which we live. We think, well, Darwinism
is a fairly new thing. Well, clearly it wasn't. It has
been on the earth for, well, perhaps almost since the world
was created. People haven't believed. We know
here then that Paul was faced with these Epicureans and no
doubt they were very vehement in their thoughts and then of
the Stoics. Well, the Stoics, they believed
the world was governed by fate. They didn't believe in a God,
a God that controlled the world. They may have believed in a God,
but they just believed in fate, that things would just come and
happen. And therefore, they were only
concerned really with that form of worship. And they thought
that everything, every man should be good and do that, which was
in accordance with his own passions. and such would give him ease
of mind. So the apostle here was faced
with these kind of people and they came to him and they encountered
him so we shouldn't be surprised today should we? We find these
kind of things we think well things are very tough today they
were very tough in Paul's day and the apostle he was very bold
in these things And some said, what will this babbler say? Other some, they were really
referring to, they were the religions which they were aware of. And
now this babbler, they termed him, they got something else
to say. Some new religion, which they hadn't come across, which
they hadn't heard. And they say, he seemeth to be
a set of forth of strange gods. gods that they hadn't really
heard of or come across because he preached unto them Jesus and
the resurrection. Well, the clear thing was they'd
heard it, hadn't they? It had sunk into their minds.
It hadn't just passed by them so they'd forgotten it. They
knew what the apostle was saying. He was speaking of Jesus and
he was speaking of the resurrection and of course how relevant that
was. Because if there was no resurrection, there would be
no glory. There would be no risen Christ.
He would be a dead Christ. But the apostle proclaimed the
whole counsel of God. He proclaimed the great truth
of the gospel. And we see how needful it is. He didn't waste
his time, did he? Speaking about all the things
of time. He didn't pass the time discussing the weather or discussing
the various things which had occurred, now he homed in. We
are quite clear, directly, whenever the opportunity presented itself
to speak about Jesus, a crucified saviour and a risen saviour,
and this had obviously entered into the minds, not the hearts,
we hope it may have done, but it was clearly in their minds,
and because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. There's no greater blessing today
than have Christ preached. Unless Christ is preached, the
gospel fails. The preaching fails. It must
be founded upon the Lord Jesus Christ. The doctrine of Christ
must be preached. And we know that the Word of
God tells us it is through the foolishness of preaching that
men and women may be drawn to him and converted by him in a
general way. And so here we have this statement
here. These people, these Epicureans
and these Stoics, were willing to declare this strange doctrine,
but yet it was a true doctrine. And what was the result? Well
they took him and brought him unto Areopagus saying may we
know what this new doctrine whereof thou speakest is. Now apparently
Areopagus was likely to be a place of justice. It may have been
a street in which people met, but it would have been a place
where people were examined and cross-examined to see what they
were saying, whether it was true or false. And so here was Paul
taken to this place. You see, Paul was never left
alone. They always took hold of him,
didn't they? It put him in prison, or beat
him, or stoned him. But on this occasion, he was
taken and brought unto Areopagus, that they might know what this
new doctrine, whereof thou speakest is. For thou bringest certain
strange things to our ears. We would know, therefore, what
these things mean. Well, isn't it good if people
inquire like that? Wouldn't it be good today if,
even on a market stall, many people come up and ask these
questions, ask that they might be taught, might be shown the
truth of the Word of God. You know, we should earnestly
pray for that in this day and age in which we live. We bless
God, we come before the same great God. Our God hasn't grown
old and the gospel is nonetheless effective. What we need today
is the great work of the Holy Spirit. So may we earnestly pray
for it. And so he then tells us what
it was like in Athens. for all the Athenians and strangers
which were there spent their time in nothing else but either
to tell or to hear some new thing." Yes, they were always on the
stretch after something new. They weren't really on the stretch
after the condition of their soul. But here they were and
the apostle clearly had come to this knowledge as he was here
in Athens and he'd observe what the people were saying and doing.
But you see, his concern was to turn them from these things,
to hear the great and glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we've gone through this
act so far, we've seen, have we not, again and again, the
apostle's determination by the grace of God to proclaim the
glorious gospel to those who were blinded, those who were
not converted, those who were Pharisees, those who were content
with their own life, satisfied with their profession in what
they believed in idolaters, those who were happy in just speaking
one to another of anything that might tickle their fancy, which
they thought was new and needed to be spoken about by the Apostle
Paul. His great concern was to preach
the unsearchable riches of Christ. Well, my friends today, may that
be our great concern, to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ,
that by so doing, Men and women, boys and girls, may be drawn
to the Saviour, and there may be an outpouring of the Holy
Spirit. There may be a time of great
blessing. We know God is able. May we continue
to seek for His blessing, to pray earnestly to Him. Don't
forget, the Lord has said, I will be inquired of by the house of
Israel, that means the Church of God, to do these things for
them. We are not to just carry on in
a in a lukewarm way. It's very easy today in the material
world in which we live to become very lukewarm and taken up with
the trivial things of this life. We must always remember that
we have, each one of us, has a never-dying soul. And so does
everyone we meet with, all our neighbours, all our friends,
What a blessing it would be if we were so moved by the Spirit
to speak very clearly about the great things of God that there
may be that drawing influence and many may come to the true
knowledge of the Saviour, their knowledge as a sinner and their
need of a Saviour and directed to a despised and crucified man,
a man, the God-man who died upon Calvary's cross to redeem his
church. shed his precious blood that
they might be redeemed. Well we have the example of the
Apostle Paul and God willing we'll continue next time as he
comes and stands on Mars Hill in the middle of Athens.