ACTS  17

1 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 Jasons house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out into 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 denying Caesars 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 Thessalonicians for they recieved the message with great eagerness and examined the scripture every day to see if what Paul said was true.

12 Many of the Jews believed, as did 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 to, 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 philosphers 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 at the Areopagus where they said to him, May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting ? 

 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know  what they mean.

21 All the Anthenians 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.

23 Fos as i walked and looked around carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with the inscription To a unknown God. 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 adzact place 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 Gods offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone an image  made by mans design and skill.

30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent.

31 For He had 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 from the dead, some of them sneered, but some said, We want to hear again from you about 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.

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made with hands. Acts 17:24

Then I saw a great white throne and Him that was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. Revelation 20: 11

PAUL ALONE IN ATHENS

 Thomas J. Grace

1 Paul and Silas arrive in Thessalonica where they find a synagogue exist and they will have a place to begin to teach about Christ to people who already have a background and knowledge of God and the Old Testament scriptures and stories.  It is Pauls desire to reach all the Jews with the message of Christ salvation and will teach the Jews first in each city he goes to before he teaches the Gentiles. He is aware that the Jews will persecute him for teaching that Jesus Christ is the Savior but many of them will also believe and he must speak to them.

     2  Paul was welcomed in the synagoge  and on three sabbath days was allowed to speak and he reasoned with them out of the scriptures. As in Acts 13; 16-41 in Pisidia Paul would speak of Abraham, Moses, David and the prophets and the great works God had done for the people and the nation of Israel. 3 Paul would speak about the need for the Savior and tell of the life of Jesus Christ and how he was treated by the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. He would tell how he himself did not believe and even persecuted those who did believe that Christ was the Savior. He would prove to them with scriptures Isaiah 53 Psalm 22 and many others that Jesus was to suffer and be murdered on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins.  He would testify that Christ did in fact rise from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of God in heaven. Paul would tell how Jesus spoke to him on the road to Damascus where he first believed.

     4 Now a great multitude of the Greeks believed who both Timothy and Luke must have spoke to about Christ and help explain many of the scriptures that Paul had spoken about.  The chief women not a few and we see many new believers some Jews and many Gentiles who came to the synagogue when they heard Paul was speaking and desired to hear more of what he was teaching. The messsage of Pauls teaching already become a city wide revival and the teaching of Christ was the new main topic of conversation everywhere and each day new believers were added both Jews and Gentiles.  Paul would later write to them in the Thessalonica church 1 Thessalonica 2: 4 ,5 For we know brothers loved by God, for He has choosen you, because your gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Ghost and with conviction.

     5 But the Jews were jealous as they saw the people of their synagogue and many more Gentiles who came to their own synagogue to hear Paul speak. The crowds were forming throughout the city to hear Paul speak and hear the message of Christ that the synagogue rulers did not believe. They went to the marketplace and sort out some men who would cause a riot in the city. The Jews would not debate with Paul on the scriptures and choose a violent method to cause trouble in the city which they would blame Paul for inciteing a riot. They rushed to Jasons house to look for Paul and Silas they must have been living there or having regular meeting in his home. 6 They took Jason and some other brothers and dragged them to the city officials. Now Jason and the brothers would be new Christians and suddenly facing persecution and danger for the name of Christ while Paul and Silas were not around.

     These young Christians were being tried and tested about their faith before they would have learned the entire gospel of Christ. They would shout at the officials These men have caused trouble all over the world and Jason has welcomed them into his house.  Paul and Silas became well known as trouble makers to some and  as preachers of the gospel to many. The charge that they are claiming there is another king one called Jesus which would defy Caesars law. This charge could bring a charge of treason even for Roman citizens and would allow the death penalty for Paul and Silas. 8 The city officals were thrown into a turmoil when they heard about another king which could bring the Roman army against their city.  9 They made Jason and the others post a bond and let them go. They may have pledged their homes and businesses and been subject to arrest if they allowed Paul and Silas to remain in the city or made any future trips there. 1 Thessalonicans  2:17,18 But brothers when we were torn away from you for a short time in person not in thought, out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you- certainly I, Paul did, again and again- but satan stopped us. This might refer to the threat to Jason and the others if he did return. Paul did return to Lystra Derbe and Iconium cities where he was persecuted arrested and stoned but would not violate the law that would put others in danger.

     10 As soon as it was night the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. They left at night even though there was a agreement for them to leave the city they still felt the Jews and the mob were still looking to cause harm to Paul and Silas. Timothy may have stayed behind for several days in order to organize the new body of believers and continue their teaching. certainly a large job for a young  man  but he seemed to be trusted by Paul.

     He is soon in Berea but this will be his first time to minister to a group of believers alone it is doubtful that he would preach in public it would become dangerous for him to do so. In Berea Paul and Silas go to the synagogue which has proven to be a place of danger already many times. Paul who loves the Jewish people  as much as God does will continue to risk his own life to bring the gospel of their own Savior to them that will believe. 11 The Bereans welcomed them and were willing to search all the scriptures to learn if what Paul told them was true. They were eager to learn the truth about Jesus and would have heard many stories about Christ and those who were now teaching about Him. They were eager to hear about Christ and used the scriptures to identify what they believed about their Savior and what Paul had stated.  12 Many Jews and Greek men and women became believers and there was no problem in the synagogue or with their rulers and no complaint to the city government. The rulers of the synagogue and all the people both Jews and Gentiles were able to dicide and choose what they would believe. Paul had the audience he always wanted and he could teach from the scriptures and they would study and learn for themselves who Christ was. This is what he was trained to do as a Pharisee and he must have enjoyed being able to teach Jews properly and many of the Gentiles would believe and there was not a problem between the Jews and the Gentiles.

     13 The Jews of Thessalonica heard that Paul was in Berea and decided they did not cause enough harm and would go there to further harass Paul and Silas. There the Jews would cause trouble and agitate the crowd against Paul with words about the king they called Jesus and other slanders. 14 The brothers sent Paul away they must have seen a genuine danger and a threat to the life of Paul. Timothy and Silas remain in Berea where there was already a large church of both Jews and Greeks who would need training and to appoint church leaders and elders. It could be that Paul was still a target for the Jews because they still knew him as the man who persecuted Christians and was now thought of as a traitor to there cause by becomeing a Christian.

     15 The men who traveled with Paul went with him to Athens and returned to Berea with the message that Silas and Timothy should join him there.  Paul relerased these men and did not seem to believe they would minister with him in Athens. Paul was now alone for the first time in a city he may have never been to but of course had always heard of and must have spoken to many people who were from Athens and others who were visitors there. 16 While he waited in Athens for Silas and Timothy to arrive who would still have many things to do in Berea to prepare the church so it will maintain itself after they leave just as Paul would have done if he remained. Paul was distressed in the city while he became aware of all the idols he would see throughout the entire city.

     Paul went to the synagogue where he reasoned with the Jews and Greeks there. he went to the marketplace everyday and spoke with all who would listen.  He did not seem to be reaching many as he spoke in both the synagogue or the marketplace and was not being understood by many. As we know idol worship was a huge problem during the entire history of Israel and the Jews in a city of idol worshippers may have become at least in part both believers in God and idol worshippers also. From the time that man has lived in tribes to the Greek culture with there high degree of education and philosophy through the Roman empire to todays society with its technical advances and new knowledge and wisdom satan has still been able to decieve people with many of the same lies he told in the garden of Eden.

     The acts of idol worship exist today and mans desire for his own pleasure will allow himself to be decieved by satan. Today most people have the full and complete knowledge of God and His Son Jesus Christ and have rejected belief in the Savior with very little help from satan in order to satisfy their onw pleasure and the belief that they do not require God to complete their lives. 18 Epicureans and Stoics began to dispute with Paul and called him a babbler and claimed he was teaching about a foreign God. Paul was speaking about Jesus His death and resurrection. Of all the travelers who came to Greece has no one came or returned with some of the story of Christ.

     19 Paul was taken to the Areopagus where he would be questioned and have to explain the new teaching about Christ. 20 They spoke to Paul and said you are telling some strange ideas and we want to know what they mean. Well whatever the reason or cause this is Pauls  first opportunity to tell the gospel in a major world leading city to the people who govern and lead in most of the philosophy and education for the country that very often lead the world in teaching. A recognition of Christianity by these people could help spread the word of God in parts of society and in nations that Paul did not have direct access to. 21 Many of the people of Athens spent much of their time listening to and talking about new ideas Most of the teaching they would hear had the same basic theme which was to decieve them and keep the truth of the gospel from them.

     Jesus spoke of this situation when He faced people who could not believe in Him because they had their own view of who the Savior would be. They were trained and educated and although they believed in God their greater trust was in themselves. Matthew 11:25,26 At that time Jesus said, I praise you  Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to the little children. Yes Father for this was Your good pleasure. The Greeks  in Athens would seem to be of the same nature without the  teaching of God they seem to trust their own wisdom to guide and lead them in their beliefs. This pleasure of God not to be revealed to the wise would cause problems for Paul that he might not be aware of as he spoke to the Greek people.

     It may take more than good ministering and debate to win the souls of these people. They have a vail before their eyes that only God can lift away so they will be able to see God and know His Son Jesus Christ.  Paul was not charged and would not be punished but he was brought to this meeting and had to explain what  he was teaching in Athens. 22  Since Paul arrived in Athens a city full of idols we do not hear even at this important meeting any message that the Holy Spirit was leading or teaching Paul what he might say or do. The Holy Spirit would be troubled by all the idol worshippers as they must have upset Paul to be surrounded by so much false worship.  Paul would lack the fellowship and advice of the true brothers Silas and Timothy and would pray most of the time alone we do not even hear of him returning to the synagogue he first spoke to when he arrived.

      Paul speaks and says I see that you are very religious not like the Jews he would have spoken to in the synagogue who believed in God their religion was mans desire based with man not God as the central part of their life. 23 As I have spent some time here and have traveled throughout the city of Athens I have seen many object of your worship and one I recall now was a statue dedicated to the unknown God. I will proclaim this God to you ,You have a statue for something you do not know allow me to complete your desire expressed there for the true God that so far you are expecting but do not yet know.

     24 Paul proclaims that God is the creater of all heaven and earth and everything in it. This declares Gods power over all things and people and states that He is one God only for all events in the world which include life and natural events. He states here that God does not live in a temple but in heaven. Even as King Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem the most beautiful of all the temples or palaces ever built he stated 1 Kings 8:27 But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built. 25 God is not served by human hands as if we can provide for God or bring Him anything He couldnot have by His own service. It is God who has provided for you as he gives all men life , breath  and all we need to survive. Shall we take what God has given us and return it to Him after we have used or reproduced something with what He has provided. 26 From one man Adam  God planned and populated the entire earth He formed the nations  throughout the earth and filled them with the people even you who are in this room to hear today to learn His reason and plan for our lives.

     27 God did this so that you may seek Him reach out for Him and find Him. As Paul proclaims the message that God is able to be found by those who seek Him he is the messenger that will make you aware of Gods presence and the way to find Him. Jesus said John 14:6 I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Me.  Paul declares that God is not far from each one of us. They might wonder how can God be in heaven and still near us on earth in their temples they would believe their god was there and they could reach him with their service and sacrifices at the temple. Even though there was a synagogue in Athens they did not seem to have many Greek or Gentile Jews who understood who God was. In many other cities there was a strong Gentile knowledge of God as many Gentiles were also taught to believe in God through the synagogue. 28 In God we have our being we live and move which is why God is both in heaven to see the whole world and be near each one of us to provide our life and breath. We are His offspring.  John 1:12,13 Yet to all who  recieved Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right  to become the children of God children not born of natural descent  not of human decision or a husbands will, but born of God.Their view of God as a surpreme being is upset by Pauls claim that we are His child not the servers of a strange god that has no personal link to man.

     29 If we are the children of God and we are flesh and bone which God is not but He also is not silver, gold or stone but a living God who is present and not a image that was designed by man. No stone has created life nor will it speak to you. Your gold statues need to be cleaned and polished you cannot provide such services for the living God. You must learn who God is and His Son Jesus Christ and a new way to pray, communicate and worship Him. John 4:23,24 Yet a time is coming and now has come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is Spirit and His worshippers must worship in Spirit and truth. What better way to explain Gods presence than to speak of Him as a Spirit that can be near us as we worship Him in heaven.  God was near Adam in the garden, when Jesus was alive and when Paul spoke to the people in Athens and is near today will you seek Him and find Him today just as Paul had told them God is here and will be found.

     In the last days with all the trouble in the world that will be with us in this world God will be near it may be our last time to seek Him. 30 In the past God overlooked your ignorance of Him but now commands that you must repent and believe. Because the world had not recieved the messages of the old testament and was not yet aware of the sacrifice of Christ God allowed you to follow your own ways even though you could have seeked Him because of all the natural evidence that exist that is all around you that there is a single creator of the world. Even your own birth and life should have testified to you that you should seek the God that gave you life. 31 You must know now that God has appointed a day and a judge the world with justice by the judge he has appointed. He God has given us proof of the judge by raising Him from the dead. The resurrection of Christ guarantees His place of power in heaven and that your belief in Him as your Savior is the justice that God promises for those who believe. John 12:48 There is a judge for him who rejects me and does not accept My words; that very word I spoke will condemm him at the last day. Revelation 14:7 He said in a loud voice, Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgement has come. worship Him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and all the springs of water.

     32 Many there when they heard about the resurrection from the dead they sneared in unbelief certainly this was not a claim that any of them could make for any of their false gods. There was no other evidence of any response from their service and sacrifices to their false gods and to raise someone from the dead was a impossible claim for them to accept. They would claim the power of their gods for rain and sunshine when they pleased their god and for suffering when their god was angry with them. There were some who may have believed as some spoke to Paul and asked to speak to them again about the resurrection from the dead.  This was not a great response to his sermon no one claimed to believe. It is good the crowd did not become angry and respond with violence as Paul was released and free to go on with his ministry in Athens. It was unusual that while Paul spoke to this group he did refer to the judge at the end of the world he never spoke the name of Jesus to the people meeting with him.

     We learn that even while he was speaking to people who still were not Christians he warned them about the last days, not to threaten them with fear but as a warning that he already believed the last days could come at any time in his life and is much closer now in our life.  33 Paul leaves the council he is still waiting for Silas and Timothy to show up and they can continue the work that the Lord has for them. 34 In Athens a few men became believers Dionysius a member of the Areopagus, maybe he will become the Nicodemus of that group and a few women one named Damaris.

     Paul leaves without waiting for Silas and Timothy and goes to Corinth where they will be joined again. We are not told of the choice or decision of the Areopagus but we can assume Paul left Athens where he wanted to wait for Silas and Timothy because they did not rule in his favor. They may have ordered him to stop talking about the resurrectionn a issue that seemed to upset some of them and he may have been asked to leave Athens.

CHRIST LOVES YOU. AMEN. COME LORD JESUS