11 November 25, 2012 Acts 17 Hit The Streets

HIT THE STREETS
ACTS 17

NOVEMBER 25, 2012
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI
USA

Class Christmas Party
Sunday, December 2nd
(following the
10:30 am service)
Penn’s Fish House
2085 Lakeland Dr.
Jackson, MS 39216

Next week’s SS lesson:

YAHWEH
the one faithful God
Who is able!

Exodus 6 & 15

Today we are in
Acts 17: 16-31

Reference material:
LifeWay
Christian Resources
of the SBC

Focal Passages:
*Go Where People Are
Acts 17:16-21
*Know What People
Believe Acts 17:22-23
*Point People to God
Acts 17:24-31

This Lesson Is About:
The need for believers
(and churches) to move
beyond their personal
contexts to find
appropriate ways to reach
people with the Gospel.

*The apostle Paul was
alone in Athens, a world-
class city with a day to
himself.
He hit the streets, walking
around the city and taking
in the attractions.

*He saw idols and statues
depicting various gods.

Paul took this opportunity
to communicate to the
Athenians about the One,
True God.

*Too many Christians see
the sights of a city but fail
to share the Savior with
its residents.
*The Gospel was never
intended to be kept to
ourselves.

*God desires for believers
to share the Gospel,
seeking ways to
contextualize the message
to the appropriate
audience so others can
hear and respond to Jesus.

For that to happen, we
must go where the people
are – we must hit the
streets!

Acts 17:16-21
16 “While Paul was
waiting for them in
Athens, his spirit was
troubled within him
when he saw that the city
was full of idols.

17 So he reasoned in the
synagogue with the Jews
and with those who
worshiped God and in
the marketplace every
day with those who
happened to be there.

18 Then also, some of the
Epicurean and Stoic
philosophers argued
with him. Some said,
“What is this pseudo-
intellectual trying to
say?”

Others replied, “He
seems to be a preacher of
foreign deities”—because
he was telling the good
news about Jesus and the
Resurrection.

19 They took him and
brought him to the
Areopagus, and said,
‘May we learn about this
new teaching you’re
speaking of?

20 For what you say
sounds strange to us, and
we want to know what
these ideas mean.’

21 Now all the Athenians
and the foreigners
residing there spent their
time on nothing else but
telling or hearing
something new. “
Acts 17:16-21

*Paul was in Athens, the
cradle of Western
civilization and home to
Greek mythology idols
and philosophies.

*It had been the home of
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle,
Zeno and Epicurus whose
words are still studied in
universities today.

*Paul didn’t see beauty or
fine art or brilliance;
rather he saw that the city
was full of idols.

*Athens was smothered
by idols and completely
given over to idol
worship.

*It was a junkyard of
idols.

*Over 30,000 statues were
erected to gods, leading
the Roman writer
Petronius to remark,
“It is easier to find a god
in Athens than a man.”

*Though idolatry was
nothing new to Paul, these
images troubled him.
*Troubled, a strong word
filled with fury and
sadness, described a deep
grief over the idolatry,

provoking him to anger
and a reaction of jealousy
for God’s Name.

*The pagan idol worship
offended his moral
conscience.

*It did not matter that the
Parthenon symbolized
classic Greek culture or
that Athens was the
hometown of Socrates,
Plato, and Aristotle.

*If Paul walked through
Jackson today, what
would trouble him?

*What should trouble us?

*Athens, named after the
Greek goddess Athena
who is credited with
inventing the olive tree,
was built around a flat-
topped hill (later called
Acropolis) about 3000 BC.

After the 6th century BC,
the people were
dissatisfied by periodic
tyranny and demanded
written laws.

They chose one of their
wisest men, Solon, to
write a constitution and
by the end of the century,
another leader,
Cleisthenes [KLIGHS-th-
nees], had taken Solon’s

principles and founded a
democracy.
*Athens eventually fell to
Sparta and lost its power
and wealth, yet managed
to remain the intellectual
center of Greece for

centuries, even to the time
of Paul.
*Paul went to Athens
during his second
missionary journey after
escaping with his life
from Berea.

*He was invited to the
Areopagus which means
“hill of Ares”.
*Ares was the Greek god
of war (the Roman name
for the god of war was
Mars) therefore, the area

*This is the only time Paul
preached to a pagan
audience.

*He did not quote the OT
as he would have done
with a Jewish audience.

*Paul used the Athenians’
own literature and
philosophy to establish
rapport and to move them
to decision.
*He began his sermon
with the phrase, “Ye men

of Athens” which had
been used by Athenian
orators for years.
*Paul’s message was cut
short when he mentioned
the resurrection (vv. 31-
32) because they refused

to listen to anyone
mentioning a bodily
resurrection.

*The Epicureans rejected
altogether the idea of
personal immortality.

*Paul’s message in Athens
was anything but a failure
because a number of
people were saved (v. 34)
and two of them were
mentioned by name:
Dionysius and Damaris.

*Dionysius was a member
of the council and became
quite influential for the
cause of Christ even in
this idolatrous city.
*Dionysius also became
the first bishop in Athens.

*By Paul’s time, gods had
lost the place of honor
therefore the ceremonies
and festivals that were
held were observed out of
tradition and habit.

*Serious doubts and an
intellectual restlessness
characterized the
populace, fueled by the
many philosophical
theories then in vogue.

*Among the popular
schools of thought were
Stoicism and
Epicureanism.
*Stoics believed that the
primary principle of the
universe was reason.

Epicurus – “to experience
modest pleasures will
allow fear and pain to
subside, in itself creating
the greatest pleasure of
all: a life of contentment
through equilibrium”.

*On the other hand,
Epicureans considered
earthly existence as
something to be enjoyed
to the fullest.

*Highly materialistic, they
considered pleasure as
humanity’s ultimate goal
with a concerted attempt
to live a happy life free
from fear and pain.

*Paul’s short sermon to
the philosophers in
Athens stands out as one
of the greatest messages
of all time.

*Paul reasoned or
challenged the Athenians
to think differently, to
ponder anew.
*Reasoned has the idea of
discussing issues of
importance with a view to

winning another person to
your own point of view.

*Paul proclaimed the
Gospel, intent on winning
Athenians to the living
God.

*First, Paul sought to
reach people nearest to
him.
*As was his custom, Paul
went to the synagogue on
the Sabbath, reasoning
with the Jews and

God-fearers, those who
worshiped God.

*These were Gentiles who
had turned from gods to
God.

*Second, Paul ventured to
the marketplace every
day.
*The marketplace, or
agora, was the center of
public life, the place
people gathered each day

to buy and sell their
goods.

*Many people frequented
the marketplace,
providing Paul an instant
audience.

*Statutes and temples
stood in and around the
agora.

*Third, Paul debated with
the Epicurean and Stoic
philosophers, the two
most popular
philosophical schools.

*The Epicureans, founded
by Epicurus, felt the gods
were distant and
uninvolved in human
affairs and believed no
afterlife existed.

*Life, therefore, was to be
enjoyed with the pursuit
of pleasure (avoidance of
pain) paramount.

*The Epicurean mantra
was, “Enjoy life!”

“Eat, drink, and be merry;
for tomorrow we die!”

*The Stoics, on the other
hand, founded by Zeno,
were pantheists, believing
in divine providence.
*The highest human
calling was to live by
reason, the divine

principle within them,
with a focus on self-
control, personal
discipline, and endurance.

*The Stoics mantra was,
“Endure life!”

*Paul showed equal
adeptness at speaking to
the religious people in the
synagogue, to common
people in the
marketplace, and to the
highly sophisticated

philosophers.
*Christians today need to
get to know people in
various contexts—
religious seekers, business
professionals, and
intellectuals—to engage

them and to communicate
the Gospel story.
*Understanding language,
culture, and needs is
paramount to
communicating the
Gospel effectively.

If Paul did come to
Jackson and followed his
pattern from Athens of
going where the people
were, perhaps he would
first come to First Baptist
Church, Jackson.

Where would he likely
go to find the
marketplace/center of
public life?

*Where would he go to
find the philosophers,
intellectuals, or new
thinkers?
*What does our class do
to go where the people
are?

*Paul’s hearers responded
in a variety of ways.

*Some called him a
pseudo-intellectual.

Word Study:
Pseudo-Intellectual
Acts 17:18; “babbler,” KJV
*The Greek word means
seed-picker, like a
sparrow picking up seeds
or a vagrant picking up

scraps of discarded food
or a worthless person.
*In this case, it refers to
teachers who collected
various ideas from
various sources and
taught them as though

they were their own.

*The information was not
original; it all was second-
hand information.

*They were plagiarizers.

Regardless, this name was
not a flattering
description of the
church’s greatest
spokesman.

*This critical comment
was a reference to one
who picked up pieces of
learning but had no real
understanding.

It was a term of disrespect
roughly equivalent to
“country bumpkin” or
“chatterbox.”
*Others called him a
preacher of foreign
deities.

Two applications are in
order: One, opposition is
always better than
indifference.
*If people argue with you,
it generally means they
actually care about what

you are saying.
*Two, the Gospel has
nothing to fear from an
open discussion.
*Paul wasn’t afraid to take
the Gospel to the streets to
meet opposing views

head-on.

*Paul was taken to the
Areopagus meaning
literally “the hill of Ares,”
the Greek equivalent of
Mars.

*The Parthenon atop the
Acropolis was a temple
dedicated to Athena, the
patron goddess of the city.

*On the lower slope stood
the Areopagus where the
council met to deal with
major governing
responsibilities.

*Thus, this word is often
translated Mars Hill.
*The Areopagus would be
similar to the Supreme
Court.
*It had authority over
Athens in civic and

religious matters.
*By Paul’s day the
council’s powers were
more limited and it no
longer met on the hill but
in a building in the agora,
the marketplace.

*The agora (marketplace)
was the hub of the city.
*It was the commercial
center of the city and the
major government
buildings were located
there also.

*It was still known as the
Areopagus for the hill
where it had originally
met.

*The council inquired
about Paul’s new
teaching.
*The Athenians pursued
the latest fad in
philosophy, art, or
religion.

*We are not much
different, always looking
for a new idea, a new
plan, a new strategy, or a
new formula.

*There is pressure on
universities to teach
“new” ideas and that is
one way institutes of
higher learning become
extremely liberal.

*The new teaching
sounded strange to them.
Paul was not on trial.
*The council members
wanted an explanation
about what he had taught
in the marketplace.

Paul would give an
account of his teaching,
telling the court what he
believed, but he could not
defend himself without
preaching Christ.

*He used every
opportunity to tell the
story.
*The Athenians’ longing
to always hear something
new opened the door for
Paul’s message.

Acts 17:22-23
22 “Then Paul stood in
the middle of the
Areopagus and said:
“Men of Athens! I see
that you are extremely
religious in every respect.

23 For as I was passing
through and observing
the objects of your
worship, I even found an
altar on which was
inscribed: ‘TO AN
UNKNOWN GOD’.

Therefore, what you
worship in ignorance,
this I proclaim to you.”

Acts 17:22-23

*Paul did not speak as a
man on trial, but rather as
a bold communicator of
the faith.
*Standing before the
people in the Areopagus,
Paul, like any great

communicator, got their
attention.
*He started where the
people were.
*He acknowledged that
they were extremely
religious people.

*Religious is translated
superstitious in the King
James.

*The word has both
negative and positive
connotations.

*Positively, it showed the
pious and devoted nature
of people.

*The Athenians had a
reputation as religious
people.

*Negatively, however, the
word communicated that
people were superstitious
in their religious
observances, meaning
they worshiped many
gods for fear of offending

any god.
*Ironically, the hearers
would have taken Paul’s
acknowledgment as a
compliment—being very
religious, while Paul
would have meant it has

an insult—denouncing
their idolatry.
*Interestingly, both
meanings were true.
*They were religious and
they were superstitious.

*Humankind is inherently
religious.

*Every society, no matter
how primitive, has some
conception of a higher
power.

*Even the most corrupt
religion demonstrates
humankind’s innate
longing to know God.
*Idolatry exists because
the human race has
suppressed God’s true

knowledge.
*We were made to know
God, but when we
suppress God’s truth that
is found in creation and
written in our hearts, we
always turn to idolatry.

*Paul provided a telling
and revealing example of
their piousness.
*As he had walked
around the city,
“observing the objects of
your worship”, Paul

witnessed an altar (the
only time an altar to a
false god is mentioned the
New Testament), that
arrested his attention,
calling to the forefront
their vain religious efforts.

*The altar … was
inscribed: TO AN
UNKNOWN GOD.
*Even though there were
30,000 idols in Athens,
still they weren’t sure
they had enough.

*The altar did provide
Paul a point of contact
with his polytheistic
audience and a perfect
launching pad for his
monotheistic discourse.

In other words, Paul used
this inscription to tell the
Greeks about the one true
God.
*Paul referred to what the
Athenians worshiped, but
he was about to introduce

them to the God Who was
personal.
*The Greeks valued
knowledge.
*Ignorance, or not
knowing, violated all they
held dear.

*He tactfully told them
they didn’t know what
they were talking about.
*In a way Paul said, “You
admit there is a God you
don’t know. I happen to
know that God and will

now proclaim Him to
you.”
*By admitting that God
was more than they knew,
the Athenians opened the
door for Paul to boldly
preach the Gospel.

*Their idolatry was the
most conspicuous
evidence of both their
spiritual piety (v. 22) and
spiritual poverty.
*The 2nd Commandment
condemns idolatry.

*Why have an altar to “the
unknown god”?
*Perhaps it was to
appease any god whom
the Greeks may have
failed to give his or her
proper due.

*Yes, there was a God
unknown to them, the
only One Who exists, the
Creator of all.
*The true God is
knowable and He has
intentionally revealed

Himself to us through His
Son!

*The Athenians had made
god in their own image.
*That’s the problem with
all idolatry.

*It reverses the order of
creation.
*It worships the creation
instead of the Creator and
ultimately makes god in
its own image (Rom 1:18-
23).

*The beautiful statues of
the gods in Athens were
mute testimony to the
wrongness of their
religion.

*Crafted by the finest
artists, they were
representations of the
human form, of gods
made in the image of
human beings (17:29).

*The reverse is true.
*Humans were crafted by
God in His own image.
*We reflect that image
only when we
acknowledge God as
Creator and submit

ourselves to His will and
rule over our lives
through Jesus Christ.

In knowing the people we
try to reach we are in a
better position to share
the Gospel.

*Establishing a point of
contact is crucial.

*For Paul the altar to the
unknown God provided
the contact with the
Athenians.

*This altar revealed the
hunger of the human
heart.
*If we study people and
talk with them, we will
discover the hungers of
their hearts.

*Effective evangelists
listen, read, watch,
observe, and pay
attention to what people
say and do.
*Sooner or later their
hearts will be exposed,

opening the door to share
Christ.
*Paul could have been
disrespectful or unkind.
*He could have jumped
right to confrontation,
telling them how wrong

and misguided they were.

*Instead, he chose to
speak the truth in love,
compassionately
persuading them to the
truth.

On a scale of 1 (very
little) to 10 (complete
comprehension), how
well do you know what
the lost people in your
community believe about
God, faith, and religion?

How can you become
more informed about
their beliefs?

Acts 17:24-31
24 “The God Who made
the world and everything
in it—He is Lord of
heaven and earth and
does not live in shrines
made by hands.

25 Neither is He served
by human hands, as
though He needed
anything, since He
Himself gives everyone
life and breath and all
things.

26 From one man He has
made every nationality to
live over the whole earth
and has determined their
appointed times and the
boundaries of where they
live.

27 He did this so they
might seek God, and
perhaps they might reach
out and find Him, though
He is not far from each
one of us.

28 For in Him we live
and move and exist, as
even some of your own
poets have said, ‘For we
are also His offspring.’

29 Being God’s offspring
then, we shouldn’t think
that the divine nature is
like gold or silver or
stone, an image
fashioned by human art
and imagination.

30 “Therefore, having
overlooked the times of
ignorance, God now
commands all people
everywhere to repent,

31 because He has set a
day when He is going to
judge the world in
righteousness by the
Man He has appointed.
He has provided proof of
this to everyone by

raising Him from the
dead.”

Acts 17:24-31

*Paul shared several truths
about God. Tactfully and
strategically, using images
and quotes from familiar
Greek culture, he
communicated the Gospel.

*He began with God’s
greatness;
He is the Creator of the
world (kosmos),
a familiar word in Greek
philosophy.

*God as absolute Creator
would have differed from
the Epicureans, who
emphasized chance, and
the Stoics, who said God
did not create anything.

*God was indeed the
UNKNOWN GOD to the
Greeks.
*Paul pointed out that
God is both the personal
Creator of all existence
and the personal Lord of

everything made.
*God is not distant, nor
divorced from human
affairs.
*He can’t be localized,
limited, imprisoned, or
confined in shrines made

by hands.

*How can the One Who
made everything live in
shrines made by humans?

*Next, Paul spoke of
God’s goodness; He is the
Sustainer.
*God is not contained in
shrines made by humans
nor is He served by
human hands.

*The One who sustains
life needs no one to
sustain Him.

*With this statement Paul
undermined Greek
religious thinking.

Instead, God gives people
what they need: life and
breath and all things.
*He is the Source of all we
need.
*We depend on Him; He
does not depend on us.

*Then, God’s government
is revealed.
*The God of Creation
rules history and
geography.
*From one man refers to
Adam and humankind’s

relationship to God.
*And though people have
scattered throughout the
whole earth, they can
trace their ancestry back
to one man created by
God.

*God determined their
appointed times and the
boundaries.
*Paul emphasized God’s
providence over history
and His care over His
creation.

*Paul stressed the active
and personal nature of
God in sharp contrast to
the views of the Stoics and
the Epicureans.

*God personally engages
in human affairs—we can
know and trust Him.

*God intended that people
might seek God.
*Paul stated,
“perhaps they might
reach out and find Him.”
Reach out pictures a blind
man stretching out his

hands to feel his way
along.
*Obviously the barrier to
finding God is sin,
resulting in our being
alienated and far from
Him.

*We stagger, blinded to
God’s reality though He
is not far from each one
of us.

*God is not a distant
deity.

*When we see God as He
truly is, our only response
is to worship Him.
*Paul implored the
worship of God; He is the
Creator in whom we live
and move and exist.

*This statement appeared
in a poem by Epimenides
(600 B.C.) from Crete.

*God, also, is Father.

*Paul quoted another
Greek poet, Aratus of Soli
(315-240 B.C.), “For we
are also His offspring.”

This citation is from
Aratus, a third-century
b. c. Greek poet.

*Paul did not infer a
pantheistic view of
humanity, but rather that
God is the life-giver and
life-sustainer.

*Redemptively, God is
Father only of believers,
yet from a creation
standpoint, He is also
Father of humanity.
*Paul exposed their
fallacy by quoting Greek

philosophers that God is
Creator and Father,
thereby higher, stronger,
and more powerful than
humankind.
*God can’t be controlled
or boxed in.

*He can’t be ruled.
*He rules us!

*Idolatry attempts to
create and to confine God
within limits of our own
making, thus to control
Him—such absurdity to
think God can be
fashioned of gold or

silver or stone.

*How foolish to make
gods in our own image.
*If God created humans,
how can humans create
God?

*Greek religion was
nothing more than the
manufacture and worship
of gods created by human
art (physical idols) and
imagination (idols of
ideas).

*If Paul’s hearers
recognized God as
Creator, they would have
had to acknowledge their
own self-idolatry, and,
therefore, repent.

*Next, Paul spoke of
God’s judgment; He will
judge the world.

*Bringing his message to a
close, Paul returned to his
original premise:

The Greeks were guilty of
ignorance.
*They did not know God,
as Paul demonstrated.
*But God overlooked it,
not that it went unnoticed
or excused, but that He

delayed judgment.
*But He has set a day for
judgment.
*Paul, then, called them to
repent.

*The word communicates
a complete turnaround,
here, from idolatry
to the living
and
true God.

*Paul confronted them
with the Gospel demands,
knowing the
consequences for those
who fail to repent and
turn to God.

*Paul had pointed them to
the One True God.
*If they did not recognize
Him on earth, they would
on
Judgment Day!

*On that day God would
judge the world
(humankind) in
righteousness.
*This judgment will be
universal, no one will
escape.

*No miscarriage of justice
will occur.
*All people will
acknowledge it as correct
and accurate: it will
condemn those who turn
from God and it will clear

those coming to God by
His revelation and grace.
*It will be definite, a day
has been set.
*Although no one knows
the exact day, the identity
of the Judge has been

revealed.
*Paul referred to the Man
—He is Christ, God’s Son.
The proof of His existence
and coming judgment is
the resurrection.

*Paul encountered a
religious and spiritual
culture that was far from
understanding the living
and true God.
*Likewise, we live in a
culture with a religious

heritage and spiritual
trappings.

*People have created idols
of their own choosing and
made gods of their own
devices.

*This generation is no
closer to understanding
and accepting the Gospel
truths than the Athenian
philosophers.
*As students of culture,
we seek to understand

what other people believe
so we can speak the
Gospel in a “language”
they will understand.
*Understanding as well as
engagement with people
is demanded.

*We are missionaries,
finding ourselves in a
“foreign” country.
*Though we speak the
same language and
frequent the same places,
we have to engage people

where they are to lead
them where they need to
be—and, urgency is
paramount.
*Judgment Day is coming
for everyone.
*Time is running out!

*If we don’t share Christ
with our friends and
neighbors, who will?
*If we don’t share the
Gospel now, then when?
*Paul’s message was
powerful and clear.

*While some took it to
heart, “joined him and
believed” (v. 34). and
some wanted to hear
more, still others “began
to ridicule him” (v. 32).

*This reminds us that not
all people will receive the
Gospel.

*We should not allow
negative responses to
deter our witness.

*Often, repeated
conversations, trial and
error, and faithful living
and proclamation are
required for people to
follow Christ.

*People are too precious,
Christ’s message too
valuable, to give up after
one hearing.
*Keep banging the
Gospel’s drum.
*Hearts will soften.

*The Word will take root.
*People will step over the
line in faith.

Paul picked up on
images, ideas, and
aspects of life in Athens
to help convey the
message of God to
people.

Knowing what you do of
your community, what
concepts or aspects of life
would help you point
people to God and
convey His message of
salvation?

*The study theme for this
four-lesson study is “The
Church: Transforming
Lives in a Changing
Culture.”
*A church transforming
society has to move

outside its “walls” and hit
the streets with the
Gospel.

*As Christ’s followers we
can’t insulate and isolate
ourselves.

*Let us take Christ’s
message to where people
are, developing a
missionary mind-set.

*Who do you know who
needs to hear about Jesus?

*Will you hit the street to
tell them about Jesus?

Biblical Truths:
• Move out of your
comfort zone to share the
Gospel.
• Don’t be intimidated;
keep on telling others
about Jesus.

• Seek to know your
audience through
observation, study,
reading, and listening.
• Keep the focus on Jesus
when witnessing to
others, avoiding the

rabbits of philosophy.

• Seize every opportunity
God gives you, thinking
of those occasions as
divine appointments.

Perhaps you are quite in
tune with your
community and had no
difficulty with the
previous activity.

But perhaps society
around you has changed
so fast and so drastically
that you struggle to
understand many of the
people in your
community.

Ask God to help you find
contextually appropriate
ways to share the Gospel.

11 November 25, 2012 Acts 17 Hit The Streets

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11 November 25, 2012 Acts 17 Hit The Streets