The Second Missionary Journey - Paul Preaching in Athens - Part 2

Well if you would take your Bible turn back to Acts chapter 17. I say turn back there because that's where we have been for a couple of messages and tonight will be in verses 16 to 34. We will start in verse 18 and yes we will cover all of those verses. Now last week we got started with Paul reaching the city of Athens. Paul was hustled out of Berea because of the persecution from the Jews but we know that Silas and Timothy who were with Paul on this missionary journey they stayed behind to minister to those new believers and really that newborn church in Berea.

And last week we learned that Athens was not like any of the other cities they had ministered in or visited or gone through on the second missionary journey. Athens was one of the most well-known influential imported cities of the ancient world. It was known as the intellectual cultural and educational capital of Greece even though its political power had declined. Of course that was because of Roman rule but when Paul arrived in Athens in many ways it was still the capital of the Greek world. Of all of the cities that held on to Greek culture values and thought and there were many, Athens was at the top of the list.

Again the only thing missing was their political power. So of all the cities that Paul ministered in on his second missionary journey Athens was unique much much different than the rest. Now last week we saw that Paul was hustled out of Berea because of persecution and the brothers from Berea escorted him to Athens. And as they left Paul there in Athens he gave them instructions to have Silas and Timothy meet him in Athens as soon as it was possible. And as Paul was waiting on his ministry partners to catch up with him he was not sitting idle. It did not take long before he got very busy doing ministry in the city while he was waiting.

I do want us to look back at verse 14 and 17. Then the brothers, that would have been the brothers in Berea, this would be new converts too if you think about it, immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea but Silas and Timothy remained there there in Berea. Those who conducted that that meant they took him, they escorted him, brought him as far as Athens and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come as soon as possible they departed. In other words they left him.

And then verse 16 now while Paul was waiting for them, that would be Timothy and Silas at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him and he saw that the city was full of idols. In other words while he was waiting he was busy. Now last week we covered verses 16 to 21 and we made three observations from the verses. This would be the main points in the outline. First we saw that Paul was spiritually provoked from the many idols in the city. He was actually very very angry and this was a holy anger not a sinful or selfish anger. Second we saw how he preached.

It really may be better to say that he ministered in the city because he did more than preach. Remember he reasoned in the marketplace. And then third we got started in verses 18 to 21 where Paul engaged was engaged by the philosophers of the city. He was engaged by the philosophers of the city. And tonight we will pick up where we left off in verse 18 to 21. So this is a part two. This is all about the second missionary journey Paul preaching in Athens. And like I kind of have a habit of doing I'll alter that title at the end of the message. Now I want us to read verses 18 to 34 and then I'll explain how we will approach the verses.

Verse 18 of course Paul's in the marketplace reasoning with the people. Then some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said what does this babbler wish to say? Other said he seems to be a preacher of a foreign of foreign divinities because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 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.

Now all of the Athenians and the foreigners who live there would spend their time and nothing except telling or hearing something new. So Paul standing in the midst of the areopagus said men of Athens I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship I found also an altar with this inscription to the unknown God. What therefore you worship is unknown this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it being Lord of heaven and earth does not live in temples made by man.

Nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all of the face of the earth having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each of us for in him we live and move and have our being. As even some of your own poets have said for we are indeed his offspring.

Being then God's offspring we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked but now he commands all people everywhere to repent because he is fixed today on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead some mocked but others said we will hear you again about this. So Paul went out from their midst but some men join him and believed.

All right let me explain how we will continue. We will simply pick up with our outline from last week. Third we will continue with how Paul was engaged by the philosophers and we will answer those questions I mentioned last week. We will look at who they were, what they thought of Paul, where they took Paul, what Paul did, and then fourth we will look at Paul preaching at the Areopagus which is the very important message in its content and its approach in this context. And then last we will see how the people reacted. Some mocked and rejected, some were curious and they wanted more and then some believed and were saved.

So we'll pick up where we left off last week. Number three, Paul was engaged. Verse 18, some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him and this is simple. They sought out Paul. They sought him out. They engaged with Paul to see and to hear what these new ideas were that he was bringing into the city. So there must have been a good deal of talk about Paul in the city. But here I want to ask those questions. First, who? Who were these philosophers? Luke mentions Epicureans and Stoic philosophers.

The Epicureans derived their beliefs from Epicureus who lived at the end of the second and the beginning of the third century BC. Epicureus taught that the ultimate goal in life was to gain the maximum amount of pleasure with the minimal amount of pain. Their motto was something like this. This life is all there is and you have one life to live. So if it feels good, do it. If it doesn't feel good, don't do it. And they basically created a lifestyle so as to achieve the maximum amount of good for themselves based on that way of viewing life.

And as far as God was concerned, they did not reject the existence of God but they believed that God did not bother with men and the ways of mankind. They did not believe in any kind of an afterlife and that at death the body and the soul just disintegrated. Now think about this for a moment. Do we not see that view of life and that way of living today? How many are governed by a philosophy of life and living that says if it feels good, go ahead and do it. If it doesn't feel good, reject it. You see folks, there's nothing new under the sun. These old ideas and pagan ways of thinking are just recycled. So think about it.

How many even believe that after death there's nothing? The Stoics. Now the Stoics derived their beliefs from a man named Zeno. Zeno was from Cyprus and thought that life was filled with good and bad and that one cannot avoid the bad in life so they just take what comes in life. Their view was that you just had to endure the bad because nothing could be done about it. Their motto and way of viewing life was simple. They said, "I cannot control life. There are many things that come at me in life that I cannot change or control but I am in control of myself so I'll stand tall.

I'll kind of take it on the chin and I'll take whatever comes my way standing tall." And as far as God was concerned, they really did not see God as being involved with man in man's daily living either. Now think about it here. Do we not see that view of life in living today? How many are governed by a philosophy of life in living that says, "Life is hard and I cannot change my difficult circumstances so I'll just stand tall. I'll take what comes my way and I'll make the best of my way of life in living." Lots of people have that view. Second, what were they accusing Paul of? Luke tells us.

Although the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers had a much different view of life, they were united in their opinion of Paul in his teaching. In verse 18 they said, "What does this babbler wish to say?" That's what the English Standard Version says. "What does this babbler wish to say?" And this word "babbler" means "idle babbler" and in the original it literally means "seed picker." The language scholar A.T. Robertson explains the contempt they were expressing towards Paul. Robertson says, and I'm quoting, "It is a contemptuous tone of supreme ridicule and doubtless Paul heard this comment.

Probably the Epicureans made this sneer that Paul was a charlatan and a quack." Robertson goes on to say that they were saying something like this. What would this picker up of seeds wish to say if he should even get off a good idea? So they were accusing Paul of being an ignorant babbler of a new idea, these new ideas, these quacky ideas, and that they did not believe that he was even able to make sense in a meaningful debate or a meaningful discourse. But notice what he was babbling about, Jesus and the resurrection. Jesus and the resurrection. And there is a hard lesson that we need here, folks.

This world will not accept the gospel when we preach it. This world will not accept the gospel when we preach it. The world will always reject Jesus and the gospel saying the very same thing, treating us the very same way. And if we want the world to accept the gospel, something has to change. Either we change the message of the gospel to make it acceptable to the world or God changes their hearts and they believe. But the point I'm trying to make is this, the world will always reject the gospel and they will reject us. So if they make fun of you, if they call you names from top to bottom, just remember you are a lot like Paul.

Third, where did they take Paul? Luke tells us that even though they saw him as an ignorant, babbling quack, they did take him to the Areopagus. Now the Areopagus was something like a Supreme Court of the Athenians which met on Mars Hill. There they decided not only civil and legal matters, even though they were under Roman control, they did have some form of self-governance. So they could decide certain legal and civic matters and they made those decisions on Mars Hill. But some of the most serious questions about religion and life were discussed there. But Paul was brought before the court, not on a civil matter, not in a legal context.

This was a religious and social matter. He was brought before the court to bring this message and this teaching to the court and to the people of the city. And this is nothing new. Luke tells us in verses 19 to 21 that it was common for the Athenians and even foreigners to discuss and debate new ideas and teachings before the people on Mars Hill. So it seems that there was a great amount of curiosity with Paul even though they called him a babbler and thought that he would be ignorant in any kind of their debate. Fourth what? What did Paul do?

Now starting in verse 22 we can see that Paul addressed the court, he addressed the people, and he gives what is famously known as his sermon on Mars Hill. If you do any reading you'll come across commentators and biblical scholars that say Paul's sermon is and was a classic in that his sermon consists of every necessary part of an acceptable sermon. He gives a proper and applicable much-needed introduction. He gives biblical points of teaching that were just what they needed and he finished up with a proper and a very applicable conclusion. Now this is how I want us to proceed. I want us to examine Paul's sermon, his message.

And there's quite a lot here and I reserve the right to come back here in days to come. So notice his introduction. Notice his introduction. It's very easy and clear to see. Verse 22 and 23. So Paul standing in their midst of the Areopagus said, "Men of Athens I perceive that in every way you are very religious." See he was drawing them in. "For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship I found also an altar with this inscription to the unknown God. What therefore you worship is unknown this I proclaim to you." Now that was classic. It drew them right into his lap.

Well we see that Paul introduced his message by pointing out how they were very religious. A compliment. They even had this altar to an unknown God and he uses that to say what you worship as unknown I can explain and I can tell you all about. I can declare it to you. No doubt they were on the edge of their seat. Now Jim Boyce points out something here that I think is good for us to see. He notes that Paul does not say why the true God was unknown to the Athenians but we know why the true God was unknown to the Athenians because chapter 1 of Romans tells us and this is what we must see and understand right here.

The reason the Athenians did not know the one true God was because they did not want to know the one true God. Let me repeat that. The reason the Athenians did not know the one true God is because they did not want to know him. Romans 1 tells us that God has made himself known in the creation but man has purposely rejected him because they rejected the revelation of God in creation. What can be known about God was and is plain yet they the Athenians rejected that revelation and they chose to exchange the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and the creation. Now what is my point here? What am I aiming at?

Where am I going? Even though Paul did not put them on the hook for rejecting God we must understand that all mankind that is not heard the message of the one true God they have rejected the one true God because they choose to exchange the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and the creation. Now let me explain that by giving you an example. Think about all of the American Indians who lived and died before a European came with the gospel. What do we see with those individuals?

They reject the God that's revealed in the creation and therefore they worship the creation and then they created all these pagan gods and deities. But there is a lesson here I want us to see and this lesson applies to our evangelism. When we meet people we must meet them where they are with the gospel. Again go back to Paul what does he do? He says I see your altar to the unknown God let me tell you about him. So we meet people where they are. I give you an example a few years ago I went on an anchor and truth mission trip to Scotland. It was a very good very successful very good missions trip.

We were working with a church there in Edinburgh and we were evangelizing in the city and we were going door to door door to door. Now if we engage people in the culture here we're going to engage people who believe in God probably accept the Bible and they understand church and things like that. But we're dealing with people in Edinburgh who reject God, don't believe in God, don't believe in the church, don't believe in the Bible. So where do you start? Where do you start? Well I'll tell you where I started. I started with three things. First of all I started with the testimony of creation. All men and men have the testimony of creation.

It's called general revelation. I use that. Also Romans chapter 2 says the law of God's written on a man's heart. Every person believes there are certain things that are right and wrong. If you were to break into their house and kill their wife they would say that's wrong. Well that's because the law of God's written on their heart. They know instinctively and intuitively that murder is wrong. And then I went to Ecclesiastes 3 that eternity is put into the heart of a man. Men and mankind are scared to die. Why? Because they know there's something out there that's that's pointing to the fact that eternity is out there.

Now what am I trying to show you? I have the ability to meet them where they were. Paul met them where they were. We have to meet our lost loved ones, our friends, our neighbors, our moms, our dads, our children where they are. But look at what he does. This is Paul. He starts off by meeting them where they were. He says you have an altar to this unknown God so let me tell you all about him. Now let's get into the message. His first point. God is Creator God. Look at verse 24. God is Creator God. The God who made this world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hands or human hands.

Here Paul was declaring that even though God is God he cannot be seen or touched by man. And even though he does not live in a temple made by human hands, he has not left himself himself without a witness to himself. What is he saying? The creation testifies to God's existence. He is explaining to them creation bears witness that God created and God exists. Simply no person or people can claim ignorance of God. Why? Because the creation all around testifies it bears witness that God is God and he exists. If I can put it another way, Paul is saying that the reality of a great work of art dictates that there is a great artist and he exists.

Now notice something that Paul does here which is to me brilliant. By declaring that God is the unknown God, he was declaring that God is actually infactually known by creation. So he was exposing the folly of their altar and he was exposing the error of their polytheism or their belief in many gods. And by declaring that God is the one true God who created the heavens and the earth, he was exposing their high yet false and erroneous ideas that God was some impersonal unknowable God. You see? So at every turn at every word he is eroding who they were, what they believed, and all that they held on to. Now there's a lesson here.

We do not go after error. We do not go after falsehood. We do not go after error because if we do we'll fall into the trap of going after error, after error, after error. We'll be like a dog chasing their tail. We'll just be going round and round. We expose and dispel error in the world in man. We dispose sin and false religions by simply declaring truth. If we stick to declaring truth God will take the truth and dispel the error. Now I know we meet people where they are and if they're engrossed in a certain type of error we take truth and we attack it. That's what Paul did. I think you understand what I'm aiming at.

His second point in his message. God is the sustainer God. He goes from God is the Creator God to God is the sustainer God. Look at verse 25. "Nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything and everything." Here Paul flips the script saying God is not served by man for he needs nothing from any man or anything. Actually it is God who gives life and all things to man and he sustains all of those things. And notice what Paul was saying here. God is God in his self-sustaining.

God is God the Creator God and the giver of life and all that man has and he sustains those things. So again Paul was debunking their notions that God was some kind of an impersonal being. He was declaring that God was and is very personal in that he gives and sustains life and all that is a part of life. And the reasons he is able to do this is because he is completely self-sustaining. He is God. Now here is where it would do us some good to go to a Colossians 1 15 to 17. Here Paul tells us that Christ was and is before all things. In other words Christ is the eternal God and that he created all things and that he holds all things together.

In other words he that's Christ sustains it all. That means that if God wants to unravel the socialist Democrats he can. That means that if God wants to take Iran off the scene as a nuclear threat he can. That means now I'm gonna get personal here. If God wants to change or remove out of your life your problematic mother or father he can. If God wants to change or remove out of your life a difficult hard to get along with mother-in-law or father-in-law he can. Oh and I'll get more personal here. That means that if God wants to end your life right now he can. He sustains it all. He is the sustainer of all things.

Acts 17 25 says he is the he is the sustainer of each breath. How many breaths have you taken today? He's the sustainer and the giver of them all. He's the sustainer and giver of them all. Third the third point of the message God is the ordainer God. God is the ordainer God. Verse 26 and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth having determined allotted periods that would be time frames and the boundaries of their dwelling place. We can see that Paul's sermon just kind of rolls and builds.

Notice he declares not only is God creator of all not only is God sustainer of it all but he also ordains it operates all the affairs all the actions of mankind all the affairs and all of the actions of mankind even nations saying that he made from one man all mankind and all nations even determining their time frames and boundaries which means where they lived when they lived how long they lived there. Listen to what Jim Boyce says of these things and I'm quoting him here. Theologians refer to this guidance as the hidden counsels of God. That's a very important phrase. The hidden counsels of God.

The word hidden means that God has not revealed these eternal counsels to us in Scripture as he has other things. So we do not know the future. We do not know what God has determined to do in national affairs. Nevertheless God is in control of what happens. He has made plans and thus determines whatever comes to pass. And look at Paul's masterful teaching here now. He was debunking the Epicurean and Stoic beliefs that things just happen by chance by some kind of impersonal fate. And look at how this relates to us in our day.

We reveal that we do not know these truths and facts when we worry about what's going to happen in our country in our world. You see that? We reveal that we do not know these truths and know these facts or we've forgotten them or we just don't want to trust in them and believe them when we worry about what goes on in our culture and country and world. Yes sin and lost humanity is running amok but the text says God sustains it all. Either he sustains it all or he sustains nothing. Look folks God sustains it all. I'm being redundant. Either God sustains it all or he sustains nothing. And if he does not sustain it all God's not God.

And if he's not God and he says he's God well then he's worse than man. Now an interesting question here. Does this absolve us of our responsibilities in the world? Do we just sit back and say well God sustains it all I ain't doing nothing. It's not proper English but it gets it across. Well of course not. We should try to do what's right in the world. I thought about it like this. If we're a schoolteacher we do what's right with children and our principal and our co-workers. If we work at the factory we do what's right when we punch the clock and when we punch out. When the boss man tells us to work over.

When the person we work beside doesn't quite work like they should. We do what's right with our neighbor. We do what's right when we are at the ball field and our children are playing ball. We do what's right when we're in traffic and someone cuts us off. We just do what's right. We should be soft and light into the world. Yes that means we're to be soft and light. We're to be an active witness by what we say and what we don't say. How we live how we don't let live. And then also we should try to evangelize the lost. We don't just sit back and let it go a month. We try to do what we can to make it better. Fourth point in the sermon.

I kind of call this the application. This is man should seek him. Man should seek him. Verse 27 to 28. I'm gonna go back and read verse 26. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all of the face of the earth having determined allotted periods that would be time frames in boundaries of their dwelling place that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each of us for in him we live and move and have our being as even some of your own poets have said for we indeed are his offspring. We indeed are his offspring.

Now Paul is starting to get into what I call the so what part of the sermon. So what? So what does this mean to me? That's what I try to answer every time I preach from time to time. I'm declaring truth so what does this mean to me and you? And this is what Paul was saying to them. If God has revealed himself in creation and he has. If God sustains and ordains all things all that demands that men and man have an obligation to God. Men and man have an obligation to seek after God. In verse 27 Paul says yet he thus God is actually not far from each one of us so that means that man is more than obligated than he knows to seek him.

As a matter of fact this tells us he is responsible to do so and take a look at how Paul was meeting them right where they were again. And this is masterful. He went on to quote more than one of their well-known Greek poets. We see that in verse 28. Some of you will see that in your own study. Some of it is footnoted in your Bible. Now what does that mean? First and foremost he was not saying that all people on earth are spiritual children of God because all are sinners and the only way a person becomes a child of God is if they're born again. But this was his point.

He was declaring and exalting to them now the fatherhood of God in a natural sense. He was declaring and exalting that all were and are created in the image of God. All mankind are sons of God and that all mankind are sons of Adam the first who was created. And get this he was again debunking their notion that God was somehow distant and not attentive to men and man. But let's circle back around to this application. Paul was revealing to them their responsibility to seek God and he was calling them to seek God because he was and is near. Now look at how this applies to us today. Look at how God is near to us in our day.

Look at how near God is to our children and the lost in our lives. Look at how near God is to you if you were not born again. Not only do we have the testimony of creation but we have the knowledge of God found in the Bible. We have the knowledge of Jesus and the gospel found in the Bible and look at all that is around us declaring these truths to us. I'm preaching and teaching the Word. Many people in the life in the church are preaching and teaching the Word. Your children are hearing the gospel everywhere they go in this church and in your home. Your family around you are hearing the gospel and think about it. This may sound trivial.

Sometimes we ride through town and we see these signs people put up. You do realize those are Bible truths that these people before Paul never saw. Think about it there are billboards with Christian messages on them. That's light. So not only do we have the testimony of creation but we have far more knowledge of what the Bible says about God and Jesus and the gospel. And look it will be infinitely worse in hell for all of eternity for the lost in our church and the lost in our family who die in their sins than all of those Aztecs who were pagans and sacrificed human beings to their pagan gods and never heard the gospel. You realize that?

It will be infinitely worse in hell for all of eternity for the lost in our church and our family who die in their sins rejecting the gospel than all of those Aztecs those pagan Indians who sacrificed human beings even their own children to their pagan gods and they never heard the gospel. The conclusion. The conclusion verses 29 to 30. Being then God's offspring we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone an image formed by the art and the imagination of man. The times of ignorance the times of ignorance God overlooked but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

Here we see not only the conclusion but more application and a call to savingly believe in Jesus and the gospel. Now notice what Paul did not do and what he did do. He did not point out their gross sin, their horrible immorality, and their unbelievable idolatry which provoked him the anger. He had not pointed out their prideful ignorance and their utter stupidity in all of their philosophies and philosophy that they live by which seemed so high and intelligent. But what he did say in verse 29 is this. In one way there is a sense in which the Greeks did not know any better.

In a way they did not know any better than do sin as they sin and as they were taught. But in another way they certainly did know better. Remember they had a true and real revelation of God in creation. Romans 1 says it. So in this sense they did know better than to live the way they were living and to live the way they were taught. As a result being guilty of such sins they needed to repent of their sins and Paul was calling them to do so. That's what he did in verse 30. He was calling them to repent and notice what Paul then proceeded to do.

He gave them what Jim Boyce calls three inducements to repent and I got these right from his material. First inducement. God had been patient overlooking ignorance for a time. What Paul was saying was this. God is patient with sinners. Paul was saying God has been patient with you and God had been patient with them. So seeing and understanding God's patience with them was meant to yes strike fear in them but motivate them to come to him in repentance and faith. Have we experienced God's patience? When we were lost did we experience God's patience?

Listen folks I never want to glamorize sin but I can tell you time after time after time when I was lost that I should have died and went straight to hell all the odds were stacked against me and all I can do is look back and say by God's grace by God's grace and that was the patience the loving patience of God and when I look back it it's it scares the ty-tilly out of me as my mother would say. The patience of God in my lostness but think about it if you're here and you're not saved God has been patient with you. Look at your children God's been patient with them.

Look at your parents who are lost they've heard the gospel seen the gospel been in church they've rejected all that. God is patient with them. Oh how good God is to demonstrate patience with the lost. The second inducement God commands repentance verse 30. Here Paul clearly called them to repent. He declared that God commanded repentance for all people everywhere but notice how they were to repent. Men were to repent through and because of the revelation of Jesus and the gospel which was being declared to them. Now notice the light they had received and they were receiving was changing.

They were held accountable by the light of creation general revelation now Paul is preaching the gospel so the light they were responsible for was changing. I don't want to sound arrogant here but some of you came from circumstances where you really didn't hear the gospel clearly and when you came here you began to hear it more clearly more clearly more clearly. Light changes and what I mean by that is this the more truth we hear the more light we have the more times we hear the gospel the more light we receive light changes and we're always held accountable by the light we received. But how does this apply to us in another way?

Does this influence how we should witness to our children and our parents and our family? Yes. The longer they go rejecting light we should show them they're rejecting more light. Yes we should be like Paul calling the lost to repent which means to turn from sin and to turn to Christ. Repentance is turning from sin himself and turning to Christ and the longer our family go without receiving Christ we should show them the light they're rejecting and show them the patience of God and that should motivate them towards what? Repentance.

Third the third inducement God has appointed a final day when Jesus will be the final judge we see that in verse 31 notice what Paul was explaining to the Athenians repent today repent today because God has set a day when he will judge the world in his righteousness by his son Jesus and he is given proof of these things through and by the resurrection. Now listen to verse 31 in the Amplified because he has set a day when he God will judge the inhabited world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed and destined for that task and he has provided credible proof to everyone by raising him from the dead.

So look at how and what Paul preached before the Athenians on Mars Hill he met them right where they were he drew them in he was preaching to them about this unknown God who was and can be known he declared to them that God was the God creator God the sustainer God of it all and he declared that God was and is the ordainer of all things and that they should seek him he is near and he called them to repent of their sin their immorality their gross idolatry and he called him to turn to Christ as Savior and Lord.

Again Paul's sermon on Mars Hill is considered a classic from beginning to end in the way that he met the Athenians where they were and how clearly he presented the gospel to them right where they were debunking who they were all that they believed in each step of the way. Honestly we should study it more and I think I should teach on it more in the future.

Now I want to conclude with the last point in the last observation number five the reaction of the people I'm not going to read the verses because of time verse 32 to 34 now I'm gonna be short here again because of time but this is really really simple this is easy to see some mocked him and rejected him as soon as he got to the resurrection because that didn't jive with the Epicureans and the Stoics oh they jumped up and they rejected him but some were curious they wanted more teaching the Spirit was drawing them and some believed and they were saved and look folks it's the same old thing in each city the same reaction the same reaction some rejected some received and I do want to conclude with a simple question you think Paul was upset and disappointed I mean it doesn't appear the philosophers really believed in great numbers verse 32 says that when he was declaring the resurrection they mocked and they rejected it's like they interrupted him that is because the Epicureans and Stoics believed that if there was any kind of an afterlife it was for the Spirit they believed that all matter even the body was bad so when Paul got to the resurrection of the body he lost them they lost Paul I do believe in one sense he was disappointed I believe that he wanted everybody who heard him to come to faith in Christ but another but in another sense I do not believe he was disappointed because he trusted God for the work and some did believe and the church was born now next week before we get into Corinth we will revisit this just a little now just a little but this sermon is all about the second missionary journey Paul preaching in Athens part two but really we could call this Paul preaching on Morris Hill Paul preaching on Mars Hill