INTRO: Three cities, three contexts, three different responses; one man, one gospel

A. Looking back: We saw in Acts 16 three different people and three different modes of sharing the gospel

·   Lydia… slave girl… Roman jailer

B. General overview: Time span of Acts 17… one common theme in Acts 17… Gospel using words

I. Thessalonica: Some Jews but mainly God-fearing Greeks

A.  Travel and Time: Egnatian Way… …length of his stay (v. 2)

B.  v2 “as was his custom”…The Synagogue Mission… suffering Messiah (Is. 52:13-53:12)

a.   Why was this Paul’s custom even though he was called to the Gentiles? (Eph 3:8).

i.Three groups: Jews, God-fearing Gentiles/Greeks, pagan Gentiles

1.   Jason…house church in Thessalonica begins here

ii.           God-fearing Gentiles are the most strategic…why?

1.   Receptive and Relationships

C.  The response: v. 4 “some believed…many God-fearing Greeks…some leading women”

D.  The accusation v. 7 “turning the world upside-down”; they proclaimed a new Caesar!

E.  Reflection questions

a.   What are your patterns for sharing Christ?

b.   What caesars do people in OC serve? How do people see that you serve a different Caesar?

c.   What would turning Orange County upside down look like?

II. Beroea: Mainly Jews and some God-fearing Greeks

F.Travel and Time: Beroea (also spelled “Berea”)… synagogue… unsure of length of time

G.v11: more Jews than God-fearing Gentiles this time (v. 12) Why?

1.   v. 12 “Many of them therefore believed”… examining of the Scriptures… sincerity in seeking

H.Resistance here as well: like in Thessalonica.. the same Jews of Thessalonica… weeks later?

1.   Paul is sent off to Athens by himself (v. 14)

I.Reflection question: What we can learn from the Bereans

1.   Examining the Scriptures for truth

2.   Believing that God’s word is real bread for real life

3.   God doesn’t follow our strategies… you must continue to rely on God

a.   Churches that rely on “gimmicks”… we are reformed and always reforming

III. Athens: Uncertain response from the synagogue; some scoffing, some pagan Greeks hunger and a few even respond

A.  Paul left in Athens, sending instructions to Silas and Timothy to join him ASAP

B.  Areopagus… “Mars Hill”…adjacent to Acropolis… Paul’s marketplace preaching… two gods?

C.  Stoics (seek virtue… god is in everything) and Epicureans (seek pleasure… god is impersonal)

D.  The sermon at Mars Hill

a.   His entry points

i.“I see you’re very religious” He pays a sincere compliment to build a bridge

ii.           “To unknown god”… What Paul wasn’t saying … What Paul was saying

b.   The body of the sermon

i.God is creator (v. 24)…God is transcendent (v. 25)…God is the Lord of history (v. 26)… God made us for fellowship with him (v. 27)… God cannot be worshiped by idols and images (v. 29)… God has made Jesus Christ Judge of the whole world (v. 30-31)

c.   Paul quotes their poets (v. 28)

i.“In him we live and move and have our being” from Epimenedes (600 BCE)

ii.           “For we too are his offspring.” From Aratus (Stoic, 315 – 240 BCE)

E.  Criticisms by modern Christians

a.   Criticism #1: Paul failed to make Christ central… Response: v18

i.Tim Keller quote

b.   Criticism #2: Paul was not faithful to use Scripture…see table from Zondervan Commentary

F.  The response: Was the sermon at Areopagus as a great “success”?… discouraging in reality! …

a.   Once he mentions the resurrection he lost them…was a church established in Athens?

G.  What we can learn

a.   Paul saw that they didn’t “get it”…he removed barriers without watering down the gospel

b.   Obedience to God doesn’t always mean tangible success… it may remain hidden…

H.  He moves on to Corinth… writing of Thessalonians

IV. Conclusion

A.  Paul’s burden (Eph. 3:8)…Paul’s pattern (synagogues)… Paul’s approach (use words for these intellectuals)… Paul’s technique (contextualize the gospel)… Paul’s perspective (God of the harvest)…

B.  Paul is flexible, different strategies… Acts 13… Acts 14… Acts 16… Acts 17…

a.   Same content, different context…But Paul uses flexibility

i.Someone who is not flexible… Acts 13:13… John Mark

C.  Paul’s message to the Athenians (Tim Keller)

a.   To the Epicureans “God is near and he is a Judge—you cannot do anything you want!”

i.“Do not make an idol out of pleasure!”

b.   To the Stoics “God is personal and Savior—you can know hope and freedom!”

i.“Do not make an idol out of duty!”

c.   Liberalism vs. Legalism: the gospel says both ways lead to death.

i.Liberalism/relativism/Epicureans believe = “I am not sinful, I don’t need God”

1.   Salvation through pleasure, salvation through my own idea of right/wrong/God, salvation through self!

2.   The relativist fails to see God’s holiness and the law

ii.           Legalism/moralism/Stoics believe = “I am sinful, I need to earn salvation”

1.   Salvation through works, through my own deeds; salvation through self!

2.   The legalists fails to see God’s love and mercy

D.  The Gospel for Relativists and Legalists today

a.   The gospel says both are forms of self-salvation.

b.   Tertullian: two thieves of the Gospel

c.   The gospel says, “You’re using the wrong diagram. Both are forms of self-salvation”