Sermon

Acts 17:16-34

May 24, 2025 IPC Ealing Sermon Podcast

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And turn, if you will, to Acts chapter 17. I get up early on a Sunday morning and do the children's sheets.

Acts 17 chapter mention
! Thankfully what rarely happens, happened this morning, that you begin to look at your sermon and your sermon kind of falls apart before your very eyes.
And so this is half of what you should be getting, but otherwise you'd be here until about one o'clock.
And so I don't know whether we'll get to the other half, but we'll see.
And because of that I've done an outline, which I don't normally do, but you'll be able to follow the outline.
And many people consider Christianity to be a primitive idea.
Churches like ours are often pigeonholed as those Christians who are intolerant, closed-minded.
And we're told, aren't we, sometimes that we have unevolved views of human sexuality.
And back in AD 50, the Apostle Paul's missionary journey that we've been tracing led him to a Greco-Roman city that was the ancient equivalent, really, of a city like London.
And that city was called Athens in Greece.
Athens has been the foremost city in the world since the 5th century BC.
And even after the Roman Empire swept through it, Athens is granted kind of special status in the Roman Empire.
Athens is a free city.
It boasted a rich philosophical tradition.
Wonderful literature.
Wonderful art.
Notable achievements in human freedom.
F.F. Bruce has summarised the intellectual significance of Athens saying this.
The sculpture, the literature, the oratory of Athens in the 4th and 5th century remain and surpassed.
In Philosophy 2, she took the leading place.
Athens is the native city of Socrates and Plato.
And it was still, in Paul's age, a leading centre of learning.
We describe it as a great university city.
Just before we walk through Paul's time in Athens, we see in the first half of the chapter, in verses 1 to 9, he's been in Thessalonica.
His mission team have gone to this city of Thessalonica.
They've seen great fruit as they preach among the Jews and God-fearing Greeks.
But that fruitfulness, people responding to the good news, is met with jealousy by other Jews.
They eventually end up driving him out of town.
And so there's fruitfulness and opposition.
Those same two things that go hand in hand.
His team have driven out.
Verses 10 to 15, they spend their time in Berea.
And they meet there, people who are eager to search the Bible.
They want to see, is what Paul's saying true?
But then Jews come from Thessalonica and they stir up trouble once again.
So Paul's got to move on.
We read in verse 15, they escort him to the coast of Athens.
But Silas and Timothy stay in Berea.
As he waits in Athens, Paul decides to go for a walk around the city.
He's heard of Athens.
Everyone's heard of Athens.
And now Paul has got the chance to encounter this great city for himself.
How did he respond?
That's the question I want us to ask.
How did Paul respond to this great city of learning?
And seeing how he responds, we've got to ask ourselves, how do we respond to our great city?
The first thing we see is in verse 16.
Can you see, Paul is distressed.
That's the key word there.
Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked.
And distressed within him.
As he saw that the city was full of culture, literature, art.
Now what does Paul see?
He sees full of idols.
And there's so much that Paul could have seen, isn't it?
So much beauty in the culture.
He could have visited stunning buildings like the Parthion,
the Agorah, the cultural centre, the marketplace, the gathering place of ideas.
Where great works of art was painted.
There was in little porches gatherings of people discussing philosophy.
Teachers gathered their group of disciples to teach and exchange the latest ideas.
It would have been of great interest to an intellect like Paul.
He could have visited the various schools of philosophy.
He could have stopped off at the galleries, admired the art, looked at the buildings, loved the literature.
But they're not the primary things that struck the Apostle Paul.
As he walked around the city, more than anything else, he was struck by the idolatry.
And he saw it everywhere.
The city was buried under idols.
Roman satirists of the time quipped,
It's easier to find a god than a man in Athens.
The Greeks had gods for absolutely everything.
Go home, Google Greek gods and see the list that comes up.
And Paul, as he walked around Athens, saw these little shrines, little temples, little monuments,
built to honour and attribute glory.
Imagine, a monotheistic Jew,
believing in one god who made the heavens and the earth,
who's now at an encounter with Jesus Christ.
And he's come to realise that this god, the Lord of heaven and earth,
exists in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
And this god has sent Jesus into the world
to provide a way that you and I can worship him.
And to enjoy him.
And no one in Athens seems to know about it,
or care about it.
And Paul is majorly distressed by it.
There's this compound going on in Paul's heart.
He's got a passion for the name of the one true God,
and he's got a burden for the blindness of these people.
And as that combination works,
there's passion for the glory of God in the person of the Lord Jesus,
and this profound sadness about the people of Athens.
It causes him to be deeply moved.
And there's a great challenge, isn't there?
Paul's faith shaped how he viewed this world.
Paul's faith shaped how he viewed this city.
He would have seen the beautiful buildings,
the art, the literature.
But the problem was that the people of Athens
were using all those God-given gifts
to give glory to idols.
They were using their God-given gifts
to serve everything
apart from the one who gave them those gifts.
All that intellectual ability.
All those giftings given to them by God,
but they refused to give that God glory.
Does that remind you of anywhere?
How do you see the city that we live in?
What do you see through the architecture?
And through the intellect?
And through all the culture that's here?
Through everything that's so impressive
and sometimes so intimidating in London?
There are idols everywhere in London.
When we define an idol as anything
which takes the place of God,
an idol is anything
which takes the central place
in every human's life
that only God should have,
we suddenly see there are idols everywhere.
When we define an idol
as anything that takes up God's place,
we see, don't we,
that there are many people in London.
There are many people on our streets
who we work with in our schools
and God is not at the center
of their affections and their love.
In fact, there are many, many things
at the center of their affections.
And as I've cycled around Ealing this week,
the question I've been asked
as I've studied Act 17 is this,
is there any part of me
that's distressed about it?
And my own answer is this,
nowhere nearly enough.
That actually I've become accustomed
and I sit way too easily
with all the idolatry
that's all around me.
And that shouldn't be the case,
should it?
That I should be more burdened
for this borough,
for this city.
And so one of the applications
of Act 17 is this,
we must pray,
Lord, give me eyes
to see this city
as you see this city.
And give me a burden
for the idolatry
that is all around me.
So how does Paul respond
to the impressive city of Athens?
First, he's distressed,
but the second key word
is it moves him,
that distress,
to action.
And so we go to
verses 17 to 21.
Because of this distress,
he goes to the local synagogue
and he reasons with the Jews
and the God-fearing Greeks.
But as well as that,
he goes not only to the synagogue,
but he goes to the marketplace.
And day by day,
distressed and motivated
to action,
he goes out
and he speaks
a simple message
that is summarised
for us in verse 18.
Can you see it?
It's a beautiful summary.
He preaches the good news
about Jesus,
and the resurrection.
Isn't that a lovely summary?
We keep getting them,
don't we,
in the book of Acts.
The good news
about Jesus
and the resurrection.
You cannot speak
of the resurrection of Jesus
unless you speak
of the death of Jesus,
can you?
And the coming of Jesus.
He speaks of all it accomplished
and all it meant
and we're told
that he's doing this
to a group of Epicurean
and Stoic philosophers.
They begin to debate
with him
with mixed reactions.
They're the two great
schools of thought
of the day,
each with their own answers
to the big questions
of life.
The Epicureans
believed in gods,
but those gods
are so remote
that they would take
no interest in you.
And those gods
had no influence
on human affairs.
The world was
random chance,
no survival
of death
or judgment.
So even though
they believed in God,
their God was so remote
you could just
get on and enjoy your life.
Do you remember
on the buses
years ago,
isn't it?
There is probably
no God
so just enjoy your life
the atheists put up.
In many ways
it's Epicurean.
They criticised
Athens
they mocked
these little temples
that were there
and people seeking
to bring the needs
of gods
by bringing food to them.
And we'll see
how Paul picks up
on that in a little while.
The Stoics,
we still use that word
today, don't we?
They believed
that the human race
came from one origin
and through
kind of logic
and discipline
they believed
you could live in harmony
with this natural order.
But the world
was governed
by an impersonal force.
they believed
that God
was like the soul
of the world
he pervaded
everything to some degree
and in a fatalistic way
they believed
humanity's job
was basically
to suck it up.
To roll with the punches
To be stoical
in how
the slings
and arrows
of outrageous fortune
affected you.
It led to this kind of
prized attribute
of being self-sufficient.
You're self-sufficient
as fate plays its way
out in your life
so you get the stoic
mentality of today.
I can do it myself.
And Paul gets
into debate with them
about the good news
of Jesus
and the resurrection.
They invite him
to the Areopagus
a kind of official
city council
that meets
a court
that sought
the welfare
of the city
and in verse 20
they say
you're bringing
some strange ideas
to our ears
and we would like
to know
what they mean.
Verse 21
tells us
that the people
of Athens
they love
this kind of thing
they love new ideas
they love
sitting around
listening to
the latest fad
or philosophical
proposition.
So they hear Paul
and they say
we want to hear
more of this.
They bring him
to the council meeting
it's an amazing
opportunity
for a guy
who's just
walking around
the city
originally
as he waited
for his friends
to arrive.
Paul distressed
by what he saw
was motivated
to simply share
the good news
of Jesus
and his resurrection
and look at the door
that's opened
before him.
And so even though
the people of this city
they scorn
and they ridicule us
for holding to the Bible
as God's word
even though some
may misrepresent us
we are called
simply to share
that message
the good news
of Jesus
and the resurrection
with anyone
who will listen.
What will be the results
but we don't know
what the results will be
we leave the results
to God
don't we?
But our job
as a church
is to simply
and clearly
tell the good news
of Jesus
and the resurrection.
And Paul has now
this amazing opportunity
to deliver a sermon
before some of the most
influential people
in Athens
and so I want to move
us to see
what does he do
with this speech?
He is distressed
by Athens
he is moved
to action
but thirdly
he is wise
in how he speaks.
He's wise
in how he speaks.
Let's look at his context
and let's look
at his content
and then we'll look
at the response
really briefly.
Paul is really aware
as he stands
in this council
in Athens
of who he's speaking to.
When Paul is in
a Jewish synagogue
he argues
from the Old Testament
and they knew
he would have read
passages like
Isaiah 53
and unpacked them.
That he was led
like a lamb
to the slaughter
like a sheep
before his shearers
is silent
so he did not
open his mouth
he was marred
beyond all human likeness
and he would have
done that with
the Jewish people
because the Jewish
people knew
their scriptures.
He would start
with the Bible
and he would
unpack it to them
but here in Athens
he's dealing
with people
who don't know
their Bibles.
They don't know
the Old Testament
scriptures.
They wouldn't know
Isaiah 53
and so he starts
verse 22
can you look with me?
Men of Athens
I perceive in every way
that you are very religious
for as I passed along
and observed the objects
of your worship
I found also an altar
with inscription
to the unknown God
what therefore you worship
as unknown
I proclaim to you.
Paul is in one of those
souvenir knick-knack shops
you know like there are
in central London
in Athens
he goes in
there's little statues
there's little kind of
snow globes
like there are
and as he walks around
he finds this little souvenir
these little idols
that are for sale
and he picks it up
and he sees there's
an inscription on the bottom
that says
to the unknown God
these Greeks
in Athens
so fearful
of the gods
there are so many gods
they're paying homage to
there might be one
that they've missed out
there might be one
that they don't know about
they haven't heard of
and just in case
they get on the wrong side
of this god
they've missed out
through ignorance
they've offered
an altar
saying
this is to the unknown God
just to cover their bases
and Paul sees this
and he starts to engage
with it
these people
FF Bruce again says this
this shows the value
of finding a point of contact
with your hearers
insights from the world
around us
from general revelation
Paul meets these people
with language
that is familiar to them
he turns to their own poets
for their own idolatry
and he uses it
so he can engage
in a way that is relevant
and appropriate
with the good news
of Jesus
and the resurrection
and so we must think
we must think carefully
about our context
about our friends
about our neighbours
about our colleagues
and something that's
really helpful
is to look for
gospel
analogies
in our culture
yesterday morning
I went to Park Run
it was
it was a pretty depressing
morning on that front
but why do people
who go to Park Run
love Park Run
why do people
who go to Park Run
talk about it
in a boring way
what is it
that they're looking for
what is it
about this culture
that there is
of a group of people
who religiously go
the same time
every week
who are desperate
for community
who share this joy
with one another
what are they looking for
what is behind that
in the films
that you watch
what is the story
that is behind
the films
what are
what is the why
behind the TV programme
that you and your
colleagues talk about
yesterday morning
I was
I had to do some work
on the kind of
hedge at the front
of our house
and my neighbour
came across the road
he'd been in Japan
he was kind of
mocking my work
in the garden
and he said
Japan is
you know the amazing
thing about Japan
he says there's temples
everywhere
I couldn't believe it
I absolutely fluffed
the message
I said why do you think
what's behind that
he said I don't know
I said well people
I thought I'd be
Paul in Athens
but what's the why
behind that
and we have to work
hard at that
don't we
with our friends
in our culture
with the people
what is the why
behind what are they doing
why do you do that
we're so reluctant
to ask that
there are illustrations
everywhere aren't there
in our city
in what we watch
in what we read
in the architecture
and Paul says
think carefully
about it
how can we engage
where our friends
and family are at
notice not only
the context
but the content
of the sermon
there's five things
number one
he tells them
God is your
creator
verse 24
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
to which the Epicureans
would be saying
our man
the Epicureans
they would say
God doesn't live
in a little temple
he's far off
he would say
this God
is not interested
in interacting
with humans
this one God
who created everything
but the idea
that God
didn't dwell
in temples
made by human hands
would have led
this group of Epicureans
to prick up their ears
it's so encouraging
to you and I
Herman Bavinck
says this
there is nothing
in this universe
that is atheistic
that is a brilliant line
there is nothing
in this universe
that is atheistic
you get that
if you get that
that transforms
how you speak
to others
God is your
created
and you cannot
move
you cannot move
without being
suffocated
by the revelation
of God
you can deny it
but that doesn't
deny the reality
of it
the people
who we live
amongst
the people
who we work
amongst
they are surrounded
by God's revelation
it is inescapable
I think this is so
encouraging
because it
it is saying
that we know
something
about the
unbeliever
that the
unbeliever
spends all
his time
denying
upon himself
God
is a creator
Paul doesn't
just establish
that God
is the creator
he presents him
as the sustainer
of all life
look at verse 25
he's not served
by human hands
as though he
needed anything
since he himself
gives to all mankind
life and breath
and everything
Paul starts by saying
the God I'm speaking
about is the Lord
of heaven and earth
the one who made
the world
and everything in it
and he is the one
that gives you life
and breath
and he upholds
this whole world
in him you live
and move
and have our being
as one of your own
poets have said
thirdly he says
and God has got a purpose
for creation
verse 26
from one man
and every nation
of mankind
to live on all
the face of the earth
having determined
allotted periods
and the boundaries
of their dwelling places
that's an amazing verse
isn't it
the reason you are here
this morning
is why
because God
has allotted periods
and the boundaries
of your dwelling place
the people that you live with
the people that you live amongst
he's put them where they are
wide
so that they should seek God
and perhaps feel their way
toward him
and find him
yet he's not far
from each one of us
for in him we live
and move
and have our being
even as some of your own
poets have said
it's a stoic poet
that he's quoting
we are his offspring
and so the epicureans
they would have had
their ears perked up
before
but suddenly the stoics
are interested
can you notice with me
the point
that the apostle
is making
he is saying
that God
the creator
and sustainer
his purpose
is to bring
his created people
into some sort
of right relationship
with him
he set up our lives
in such a way
that this life
will cause us
to be reaching out
to something
beyond ourselves
look at how
this is worded
God did this
so that they would
seek him
and perhaps
reach out for him
and find him
to find God
the language
is boiled down
isn't it
to some extent
but just that thought
that our God
is creating
and sustaining
and ordaining
all things
that people might
reach out for him
and find him
that is extraordinarily
encouraging
in the things
that your friends
and your family
and your neighbours
devote themselves
to
what are they doing
look behind
the why
what are they doing
they are
seeking
Ecclesiastes tells us
that God
has set
eternity
on the hearts
of every human being
there's a homing
device
there's a calling
device
to God
Paul then moves on
from this purpose
and creation
to humanity
that humanity
has got a problem
verse 28 and 29
what we've done
is domesticated
God
hasn't it
we've sought
we've not sought
to take our lead
from God
but we've shaped
and fashioned
this God
into something
less than he is
we've tried
to make God
in our image
we've shaped
and we've fashioned
little idols
that are such
a poor echo
of what deep
down
we know better
than
that we've not
related rightly
to this God
and God is calling
all humanity
to repent
the God
who made
everyone
the God
who is upholding
everyone's life
who is worthy
of worship
of everyone
and yet
everyone is not
worshipping him
and those who are
not worshipping him
and relating to him
rightly
that God
is calling them
to repentance
to repent of that
to turn away
from that
to take the idols
down
for Paul says
God has fixed
a day
to judge
the world
with justice
and that's
Paul's gentle
and yet
faithful way
of introducing
the problem
of sin
and then the fifth
point
of the content
of this sermon
is the solution
to humanity's
problem
the man
that God
has appointed
and around
whom judgment
will revolve
the one
who is
authenticated
by God
by means
of his resurrection
from the dead
and Paul probably
said a lot more
here didn't he
think about it
we can read this
sermon in a minute
or two
but he probably
said a lot more
and what Luke
has done
is he summarised
this account
he summarised
this account
to the point
where a reaction
is provoked
and so we know
that if he's been
speaking of resurrection
he's obviously
been speaking
about the death
of Christ too
but what Luke
does is he shows
us the reaction
that comes
and when Paul
comes to
the work
of Jesus
Christ
there's a great
reaction
that's often
the case
isn't it
I find
when I speak
with people
who aren't
Christians
they're very
very happy
for me to
talk about
church
I think
it's a bit
quirky
but they
quite like
it
they're
willing
for me
to talk
about
God
but until
we stand
fast on
the uniqueness
and the work
of Jesus
Christ
that's where
the reaction
comes
isn't it
and so Paul
has an awareness
of his context
and he covers
the main points
of the gospel
in his content
and then in verses
32 to 34
as we wrap up
he gives us
the response
what should we
expect
verse 32
some sneered
and they mocked
Paul
saying
what a load
of rubbish
people who
think we're
crazy
others show
an interest
we read in
verse 32
we want to
hear you again
on this subject
nearly always
people who
become Christians
it is a
slow process
it is
very unusual
in my experience
that people
become Christians
suddenly
some sneer
some mock
some are
interested
but in verse
34
can you see
it wonderfully
some believe
against all
the odds
they believe
one of them
is actually
a member
of the
Areopagus
another is
this woman
Demaris
and so
all through
this initial
eyes open
walk through
the city
the distress
that Paul
feels
motivates him
into gospel
action
he goes
to the synagogue
and he tells
them about
Jesus
he goes
to the
marketplace
and he
tells them
about Jesus
and people
laugh
and some
are interested
but some
believe
how do we
make disciples
of the Lord
Jesus
in healing
we see
our culture
through God's
eyes
that it is
not honouring
God
the God
who has
made them
the God
who sustains
them
the God
who has
given such
gifts to
people
is not
receiving
the honour
that he
deserves
and we
ponder
that
and we
pray
about that
until it
moves us
to distress
and we
trust that
God still
works
powerfully
through this
message of
Jesus
and the
resurrection
because this
little message
is the power
of God
unto salvation
and God
still uses
that simple
gospel message
to change
lives
to transform
eternities
as we've seen
already this
morning
let's pray