Scripture Acts 17
& Luke 12:35-40
Acts 17
When they had
passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there
was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As his custom was, Paul went into the
synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise
from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to
you is the Christ," he said. 4 Some of the Jews were
persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing
Greeks and not a few prominent women.
5 But the Jews were jealous; so they
rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a
riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas
in order to bring them out to the crowd.
6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and
some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: "These men who
have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has
welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying
that there is another king, one called Jesus." 8 When
they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9
Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.
10 As soon as it was night, the brothers sent
Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish
synagogue. 11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than
the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and
examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12
Many of the Jews
believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
13 When the Jews in Thessalonica learned
that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too,
agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The brothers
immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15
The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions
for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly
distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he
reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as
in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18
A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of
them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be
advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching
the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took
him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him,
"May
we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing
some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean."
21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent
their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
22 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. 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. Now what you worship as something
unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
"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. 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. 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. 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. 'For in him we live and
move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his
offspring.'
"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. In the past God overlooked
such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 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. 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.
We are waiting for the return of
Christ – what are we doing till then? Like Paul, share the message in a way
that makes sense to those who are in the waiting room with you.
Paul used the SOCRATIC method –
discussion. I gave his proclamation but see vs 16ff
While Paul was waiting he reasoned in the
synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the
marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A
group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of
them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be
advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching
the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took
him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus,
The Socratic method comes
directly from the philosopher Socrates who lived in Athens some 400 before
Paul. He taught people how to reason and come to an informed conclusion. That
philosophical atmosphere was still present when Paul ended up in Athens.
Paul
used ‘dialegomai’ dialogue which occurs 10 times in Acts 17-24. It means to
reason. The method Paul used is exactly the method that is needed today. He
faced people in opposition to the message and people open to the message as we
do also. There are 6 significant Greek words in this passage that clearly spell
out Paul’s sharing of the good news. I am seriously condensing it for you now.
1
Reasoned – dialogue
2
Explained – “were not our hearts burning” – Eumaeus
3
Proved – demonstrated the validity of his claims.
(1 Peter 3:15-16
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to
give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and
respect.)
4
Proclaimed – made a clear presentation of the
gospel
(Heb 9:27-28
Just
as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was
sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a
second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting
for him.)
5
Persuaded – Discussion for its own sake has
little value (me selling rainbows – couldn’t close)
6
Conversion – attaching themselves to the
community and God’s word.
The danger of
discussion is only discussing without ever trying to persuade someone to
Christianity – people would complain that we are intolerable. We can show
respect, listen and respond to a felt need but must not remain there or the
person never has their true need met – salvation through Christ alone.
“Not: What are you
waiting for? Rather: what are you doing while waiting?”
Is the wrong title – What you are
waiting for in this case is important because it determines what you do while
waiting. If you are waiting for Christ to return, you will be letting others
know what they have to look forward to when our waiting is over and Christ
welcomes us to our heavenly home – forever!
Luke 12:35-40
"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps
burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding
banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door
for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching
when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have
them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for
those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or
third watch of the night. But understand this: If the owner of the house had
known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be
broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an
hour when you do not expect him."
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