Written by: Andrew Walker – Church Army

Acts 17 v 22-23
Then Paul stood before the meeting of the Areopagus and said, “People of Athens, I can see you are very religious in all things. As I was going through your city, I saw the objects you worship. I found an altar that had these words written on it: TO A GOD WHO IS NOT KNOWN. You worship a god that you don’t know, and this is the God I am telling you about!”

Notes
In today’s passage we see Paul coming before a meeting of the Areopagus (an ancient court of great prestige) while he was in Athens. 

Paul starts by saying to the people that he notes they are very religious. The Greek meaning of this could be used to congratulate or condemn the people depending on how the statement is followed up. In this case, he is congratulating and encouraging them in order that the people will then listen to what he has to say.

The people Paul is talking to loved to sit and discuss things, and this is why Paul begins to talk to them, first praising them, and then moving on to talk about things that they can relate to, in particular the altar, which Paul had seen as he had walked around.

These people worshipped many gods and in order not to offend any of them, they had dedicated this altar “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD”. This was Paul’s starting point for opening up the reality of Scripture and the one true God to the people.

So what can we learn from this?

Evangelism seems to be a word that strikes fear into the hearts of many Christians. Many seem to have the idea that evangelism is about standing on a street corner preaching at people, or knocking on the doors of strangers and telling them about Christ.

However, here we see Paul coming alongside and relating to the people, and then, starting where they are at, moving them on to explain more.

Evangelism is not about preaching at people, but finding the good in people, coming alongside them and then moving them on using things they can relate to and have experience of, allowing them to see more of Christ in everyday situations.

Acts 17 v 24-26
“The God who made the whole world and everything in it is the Lord of the land and the sky. He does not live in temples built by human hands. This God is the One who gives life, breath and everything else to people. He does not need any help from them; he has everything he needs. God began by making one person, and from him came all the different people who live everywhere in the world. God decided exactly when and where they must live.”

Notes
In today’s passage, Paul is still talking to the Areopagus (an ancient court of great prestige) while he is in Athens.

He talks of ‘The God who made the whole world…”. This implies that there is a personal creator, which goes against what the people he is talking to believe. The Areopagus were believers in many gods, with each having a different role in creation.

Many people at the time also thought that God lived within special parts of the temple. Paul here is saying that God is bigger than that, and that he doesn’t need help from mankind - God is the one who controls everything.

Paul also refers back to the opening chapters of Genesis. He is saying that the whole of mankind came from one person, implying that we are all ultimately of one family, no matter what label people might carry, such as Jew or Gentile, Athenian or Roman.

This passage finishes with Paul saying that God has a plan for all people and he knows where they will live and when.

It can be so difficult at times - when all around us don’t seem to have any faith in us, and we find everything we do so hard - to see where we are going and where our future lies.

However, we can take heart in the fact that God sees us as part of his family. We are precious to him and he has our future in his hands. We need to stay close to him and listen for his guidance, and let him lead us where he wants. It might not always be easy, but we will never be alone.

I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds my future.

Acts 17 v 27-29
“God wanted them to look for him and perhaps search all around for him and find him, though he is not far from any of us: ‘We live in him. We walk in him. We are in him.’ Some of your own poets have said: ‘For we are his children.’ Since we are God’s children, you must not think that God is like something that people imagine or make from gold, silver or rock.”

Notes
In today’s passage, Paul talks about God wanting people to look for him and find him. He also refers to the fact that God is never far away from us.

Paul then quotes from a poet, saying, “We live in him. We walk in him. We are in him.” Paul is saying that God is in us; indeed, he is an integral part of our being and all we do. 

He then goes on to say that we are all God’s children, and if this is so then people shouldn’t be making physical images of God. These are made by the skill and design of man, and God is bigger than that - we can never fully comprehend God.

So many times we can feel like we are being pressured to be someone we are not. Advertisers try to convince us to buy all sorts of things to make ourselves perfect. We do all sorts of things to try and fit in.

There are times when we need to step out of our comfort zones and do something different. We need to put our trust in God to help us with that, but we also need to be happy with who we are.

God has put within us inborn, natural abilities that make up who we are. He knew exactly what he wanted to do with us when he brought us into this world and so gave us the gifts and abilities to be able to achieve this.

We are who God wants us to be, and we need to accept that and live life to the full, not trying to be someone else all the time. Doing that will just make us miserable because we can never be someone else - we can only be who we are.

Acts 17 v 30-31
“In the past, people did not understand God, and he ignored this. But now, God tells all people in the world to change their hearts and lives. God has set a day that he will judge all the world with fairness, by the man he chose long ago. And God has proved this to everyone by raising that man from the dead!”

Notes
Today’s passage holds a bit of surprise. God had overlooked and not bothered with people in the past who had not been aware of him, who had worshipped idols and false gods.

Now, however, it is time to change. Paul says that God wants the people to turn from their old ways and turn to him. He goes on to say that all people will be judged and that Jesus will be part of this process of judgement - raising Jesus from the dead has proved this.

It’s a sobering thought that one day we are all going to be judged. We are going to stand before God and give an account for all we have done, and Jesus will be there to say whether we knew him or not.

We all mess up at times and we stray from God - I would be first to admit that. We need to keep short accounts with God. We need to come before him on a regular basis and say sorry for the wrong things we have done, and also ask for help so that we don’t stray from the right path again.

So often we feel bad that we have messed up again, and sometimes other Christians make us feel bad that we have messed up again. God forgives and forgets. He is not like us - he keeps no records of wrongs. So we might say, “Sorry, I’ve done this again”, and he turns round and says, “What do you mean again?”

We do need to strive not to do wrong things over and over again, but we also don’t need to kill ourselves with guilt if we do slip up a few times in a row, as long as we take it to God and seek his forgiveness.

Acts 17 v 32-33
When the people heard about Jesus being raised from the dead, some of them laughed. But others said, “We will hear more about this from you later.” So Paul went away from them.

Notes
When Paul talks to this meeting about the resurrection of Jesus, he is laughed at by some of those who are present. The Greeks (who Paul was talking to) did not believe the resurrection of a dead body could happen, although they did believe in the immortality of the soul. But some of those who were present were interested and wanted to meet with Paul again to talk about this.

When we talk to others about Jesus and tell them we go to church, we may get laughed at. This is not nice and it can be very hurtful, but we need to try and remember that God is with us. Even though some will laugh, there will be some who are interested in what we have to say.

As an evangelist, it is my job to tell people about Jesus and his love for us. Some may choose to ignore this or even laugh at me, but as far as I am concerned, I have done my part. It is up to God where things go from there. It is the other person’s choice whether they listen or not. 

I never lose sight of the fact that I am doing what God wants me to do and he is with me, supporting me all the time. Even though it might be hard to be laughed at, in the end it doesn’t matter.

Jesus never said it was easy to follow him, but he did promise us we would never be alone. At the end of the day, we can stand before God and say we did our part, and that is all we can do. If we do our part, we have to trust God to do his part.

Acts 18 v 1-4
Later Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. Here he met a Jew named Aquila who had been born in the country of Pontus. But Aquila and his wife, Priscilla, had recently moved to Corinth from Italy, because Claudius commanded that all Jews must leave Rome. Paul went to visit Aquila and Priscilla. Because they were tentmakers, just as he was, he stayed with them and worked with them. Every Sabbath day he talked with the Jews and Greeks in the synagogue, trying to persuade them to believe in Jesus.

Notes
In today’s passage we see Paul moving on from Athens to Corinth, which is located in southern Greece about fifty miles from Athens. This was a place known for its immorality.

Here Paul met up with some others and he worked alongside them, earning his keep as a tentmaker, but also going to the synagogue on the Sabbath to teach about Jesus.

Paul was an early church planter, going from place to place, spreading the word of God and seeking converts who would then form a church.

Paul could have claimed his support for his ministry from the congregations he served, but instead he chose to support himself, working as a tentmaker during the week and then doing the work of the church planter at the weekend.

Very often we go round saying, “God will provide. God will help me pass my exams. God will sort a job out for me.” What we need to realise is that we have to do our part too. Yes, God is always there for us and he does help us through, but we can’t just expect things to happen. 

God can help us to recall things we have learnt for an exam, but we need to have learnt them first.

Paul’s ministry was blessed because he didn’t just expect something for nothing.

We can trust in God to provide all our needs for us, but that doesn’t mean we can sit back and relax and wait for everything to fall into our laps.

There are times when God does bless us with things when we have done nothing to deserve them - he has given us the hope of salvation and we don’t deserve that! But it doesn’t always work that way.

Acts 18 v 5-6
Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia and joined Paul in Corinth. After this, Paul spent all his time telling people the Good News, showing the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But they would not accept Paul’s teaching and said some evil things. So he shook off the dust from his clothes and said to them, “If you are not saved, it will be your own fault! I have done all I can do! After this, I will go only to those who are not Jewish.”

Notes
In today’s reading we see friends of Paul coming from Macedonia to see him. It is quite likely that these friends only stayed a short while before being sent off to check how the other churches they had planted were doing.

The passage then goes on to tell of Paul receiving a similar response from the Jews at Corinth as the one he got from those in Athens (see Acts 17 v 32-33). The people didn’t believe what Paul was saying, they didn’t want to know, and some said evil things to him.

Paul’s response to them is interesting. He shakes his clothes and says to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles” (taken from the New International Version).

When we talk to others about our faith, we will often find that people don’t want to listen. There might even be people we think should know better, and we assume that they would want to listen and find out more.

Paul’s response to this is much the same as his response to those in Athens, although this time he is a little stronger. In Athens he just leaves, but this time he tells them off. 

When we encounter this sort of situation we need to have wisdom as to whether to say something or not. It could depend on the people you are with. At the end of the day, we need to ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do in this situation?”

In the end, we have to be happy with the fact that we have done our job in speaking to people, and they have to be responsible for their response to what we have said.


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes