Scripture: Acts 17:22-34
THE ALTAR by Ray Boltz
The service is nearing an end, The choir is singing, 'Just
As I Am'
And now as the old song is played
People at the altar are kneeling down to pray
Some are finding mercy, Forgiveness for their sin
Some are fighting battles, And they're struggling to win
The time has come, To give them to the Lord, That's what the
altar is for
A father is praying with his son
A mother kneels beside them thanking God they've come
An old man is standing there in tears
Giving up a part of him that he's held back for years
Hearts are being broken, Lives are being changed
And those who call upon Him will never be the same
The time has come to give in to the Lord
That's what this altar is for (CHORUS LATER)
The Apostle Paul was once in Athens
Greece where there more altars to the gods then anywhere else in the world. An
old Greek philosopher wrote some time before Paul’s day, “In Athens it is easier to
find a god than a man.” Images were everywhere; not only
representations of all the gods of the various countries that made up what we
call Greece, but the gods adored by Asiatics, Egyptians, Romans, and peoples
from far-distant lands. Practically every false deity worshiped on earth could
be found in Athens, and yet this was the educational center of the world. There
were different schools of philosophy where great teachers lectured on the folly
of idolatry and taught their adherents to scorn the superstitions of the less
cultured strata of society. But these philosophers had nothing to offer in the
place of the idolatry they scorned. They were simply theorists philosophizing
as to the nature of the universe and man, but with no certainty of anything
because they were without any divine revelation.
So, in to
this atmosphere we find Paul who is waiting on Silas and Timothy to join him
there. He has spoken in the synogogues and in the streets and has been invited
to speak to the leaders of this religious melting pot. They are always
interested in hearing what is new. Some had heard him preach of Jesus and the
resurrection and thought that he spoke of two new gods of whom they had never
heard, for they took the expression “resurrection,” which in Greek is
Anastasis, to be the name of a god! Therefore, they invited him to go up to
Mars Hill, or the Areopagus, where the philosophers were accustomed to
presenting their teachings, and there tell them what the new doctrine was of
which he had been speaking.
Acts 17:22-34
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very
religious. (KJV incorrectly uses ‘superstitious’ – Paul would not have begun by
offending them) 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your
objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN
UNKNOWN GOD. (Obviously someone
did not want to offend any gods who might have been left out – covering all the
bases – this sounds very much like current day America – worship anything you
want and offend none. Paul was not deterred and used this to his advantage) Now what you
worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. 24
"The
God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and
does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if
he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and
everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they
should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and
the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him
and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one
of us. 28 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As
some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' 29 "Therefore
since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like
gold or silver or stone — an image made by man's design and skill. 30 In the past God
overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
31
For
he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has
appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the
dead."
32 When they heard
about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear
you again on this subject." 33 At that,
Paul left the Council. (At this point
it would seem that Paul faced defeat – however…) 34 A few men became followers
of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also
a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
Amazing Altar Stories
The transjordon tribes
Elijah and the prophets of Baal
Abraham and Isaac
My personal Altar Story: Nov 4, 1974 and other times.
The physical altar space gives our spirit a reference point
for coming to the altar of our heart. The symbol is not sacred – what takes
place in you – at the altar of your heart is sacred.
Ps 51:1-11
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to
your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and
cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always
before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your
sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you
judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived
me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost
place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I
will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and
gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a
steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy
Spirit from me.
That's what this altar
is for
You don't have to
carry those burdens anymore
There's a light in the
darkness, there's a love that's true
And Jesus is waiting, He
is waiting here for you
Go quickly now, before
they close the door
That's what the altar
is for
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