Paul was provoked by the large number of idols in Athens. He debated with philosophers who thought he was promoting foreign gods because he preached about Jesus and the resurrection. They brought Paul to the Areopagus to explain this new teaching. Paul told them about the one true God who created humanity and the world. He said there will be a judgment day and that God commands all people to repent. Some mocked the idea of resurrection while others wanted to hear more. A few people, including Dionysius and Damaris, believed Paul's message.

1. To
Know
the
Acts 17:16-34
by Jim Bradshaw
Maud
church of Christ
May 19, 2013
Sunday Evening

2. Wouldn’t You like to know the
Future?

3. The men of Athens considered themselves to be superior to
others due to their intelligence
Read 1 Corinthians
1:22-29

4. Exasperated!!!
Act 17:16-17 NKJV Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his
spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given
over to idols. (17) Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the
Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with
those who happened to be there.
Provoked: (paroxunō) to make sharp, sharpen; to stimulate, spur
on, urge; to irritate, provoke, arouse to anger; to scorn, despise;
provoke, make angry; to exasperate, to burn with anger
• Almost the whole town were Idol worshippers!!!
• Over 30,000 Idols were worshipped by on 10,000 residents

5. Strange New Leftovers
Act 17:18-21 NKJV Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers
encountered him. And some said, "What does this babbler want to say?"
Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods," because he
preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. (19) And they took him
and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new
doctrine is of which you speak? (20) For you are bringing some strange
things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean."
(21) For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their
time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
Babbler – (spermologos) a seed picker

6. Strange New Leftovers
Act 17:18-21 NKJV Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers
encountered him. And some said, "What does this babbler want to say?"
Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods," because he
preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. (19) And they took him
and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new
doctrine is of which you speak? (20) For you are bringing some strange
things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean."
(21) For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their
time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
Daimonion not theos – which means a demon. To the Greeks
demons were dead men who had been deified.

7. We Used to be
Unique
Simply “speak where the Bible speaks”
1Pe 2:9 NKJV But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises
of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

8. Read Acts 17:22-31
KJV says, “too superstitious” most others say “very religious”
• Was this a compliment or an insult?
Act 17:23 NKJV for as I was passing through and considering
the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this
inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One
whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:

9. Paul’s Lesson:
• We must believe in God; Hebrews 11:6
• We are God’s Offspring: Gen 1:26 NKJV Then God said, "Let Us
make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over
the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps
on the earth.“
• God is no man-made idol; John 4:24
• No longer times of ignorance; Salvation has been made to all.
• All must repent; Luke 13:3, 5
• There will be a judgment day; Eccl. 12:13-14; Heb. 9:27

10. There is a
ResurrectionRom 6:3-6 NKJV Or do you not know that as many of us as were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? (4)
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that
just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (5) For if we
have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we
also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, (6) knowing
this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin
might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

11. Act 17:32-34 NKJV And when they heard of the resurrection of the
dead, some mocked, while others said, "We will hear you again on
this matter." (33) So Paul departed from among them. (34)
However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius
the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Joined: kollaō - to glue together