The Road to Love Pt 1
Devotion in Motion
Acts 17:12-19
“Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds.” The Jews back up the road in Thessalonica were a militant bunch. It wasn’t enough for them to kick Paul out of town, they hunted him down.
“Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away, to go to the sea; but both Silas and Timothy remained there.” Evidently, Paul was the flash point. Get Paul out of town, and Silas and Timothy could quietly continue the work of teaching and discipling the new believers. “So those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed, they departed.” It seems the plan had been for Paul to lay low a few days until his pals caught up. But there was no such thing as “lying low” for Paul. “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.”
Athens, Greece was perhaps the most famous city of the ancient world. It was spectacular – culturally, intellectually, architecturally. Athens was home to the Olympic Games, the Acropolis, the colossal Parthenon. Athens was the birthplace of democracy, and Greek philosophy. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle – as well as a host of other wise guys – originated theories in Athens. At the time of Paul’s visit, Athens was starting to be eclipsed by other prominent cities. Rome had become the military capital of the world. Alexandria in Egypt was the scientific and literary capitol. Corinth, also in Greece, was the commercial hub. But Athens remained the intellectual and academic capital of the world.
“How can people so smart, be so dumb?” For as he looked around such a beautiful city – renown for its brilliance – he noticed Athens was littered with countless temples, and altars, and idols. Greek archeologists estimate there were over 3000 shrines in Athens – dedicated to various gods of the Greek pantheon. There were more idols in Athens than in all of Greece. There was a saying in the ancient world, “In Athens, it’s easier to find a god than a man.” Verse 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.” Paul wasn’t content to share the Gospel in the synagogue – in a house of worship – the apostle went into the “Agora” or the local and secular marketplace. This is what we should be doing in our world today.
Let’s take God’s Word to the marketplace of ideas, and invade education, business, entertainment, politics. Paul certainly didn’t sit on his hands while people were dying and going to Hell… It reminds me of DL Moody… One day he was walking the street. A man was moving in the opposite direction when Moody asked him, “Are you a Christian?” The ole grump snarled, “Mind your own business!” Moody answered, “Sir, this is my business.” And it’s our business too! We should never get used to hearing the sound of footsteps marching off to hell.
Though Paul’s plan was to take a few days R&R, he was exposed to the paganism around him, and had to say something to confront it… Verse 18, “Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” The Greek word translated “babbler” means “seed picker.” It was derogatory. It referred to a bum who picked his food out of the trash. The Athenian philosophers mocked Paul. They were referring to the Gospel as garbage. Yet, “Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.” Notice, Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection was the core message Paul preached. American politics is a two-party system:
Republicans and Democrats… Likewise, Judaism was a two-party religion: Pharisees were the conservatives and the Sadducees were the liberals… But Greek philosophy also had two parties: “Epicureans and Stoics.” The Epicureans were materialists and humanists. Their leader, Epicurus, lived 341-270 BC. He taught that the universe was shaped by chance, and that man did not have an eternal soul. Death was our end. To the Epicurean all that mattered was matter. His goal was to enjoy the here and now. Epicureans lived to maximize pleasure and minimize pain.
They could’ve borrowed from Jesus’ parable, when the rich man stated his philosophy, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” That’s how the Epicureans lived. The Stoics on the other hand were New Agers. They were pantheists. Their leader was a man named “Zeno.” He lived around the same time as Epicurus. Zeno believed God is in everything and that everything is part of God.
He taught that life itself was the spark of God in the spirit of man. The Stoics felt that nature and circumstances were controlled by fate. They believed, “what will be will be.” Rather than shape life – the Stoic’s goal was to live in harmony with his surroundings and accept the hand he was dealt. The Stoics were disciplined, austere, and solemn. Emotion was their enemy. Obviously, they lived a futile, unhappy life. They were victims of circumstance. It’s no surprise their first two leaders committed suicide. Warren Wiersbe sums up Paul’s task in Athens, “The Epicureans said, ‘Enjoy life!’ The Stoics said, ‘Endure life!,’ but it remained for Paul to explain how all men can enter into life through faith in God’s risen Son.” Verse 19, “And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus…”
The word can be translated “Ares Rock.” The Romans called the place, “Mars Hill.” It was an outcropping of rock west of the Acropolis where the supreme council of Athens – the leading philosophers – met to examine religious and philosophical matters. And Paul was questioned. “Saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” “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.”
To Paul the road to heaven was a road that was available to all who choose Jesus as Lord and savior and to him—Well he could not bear that any should perish and go to hell.
He had to tell them where in the marketplace. The everyday places where everyday people go to meet, to do business and to hang out.
How about us, Does our road to love cause us to tell others of the love and freedom in Jesus. think about it and go tell it on the mountain or hill, huh.
Amen
Victor Tafoya
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