05-17-2026 -IT'S ALL ABOUT JESUS - Acts 17:16-31

 MESSAGE BY PASTOR ROB INRIG

      FROM BETHANY BAPTIST IN RICHMOND, BC

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I invite you to pray together: O Father of mercies and God of all comfort, our only help in time of need: We humbly beseech thee to behold, visit, and relieve thy sick servants for whom our prayers are desired. Look upon them with the eyes of thy mercy ( Vicky O, Nancy R, Tere G, Liz N, Stevie A, Socrates D, Sara's mom H, Margarita G,   Rosy Ch, Patricia L. Lina J.  Magda- Laci M.  Gloria F, Miguel A H. Silvia H, Manuel D, Brianda M, Alejandro M, Natalia M, Oscar ND, Juan Carlos V.   Comfort them with a sense of thy goodness; preserve them from the temptations of the enemy; and give them patience under his affliction. In thy good time, restore them to health, and enable them to lead the residue of their life in thy fear, and to thy glory; and grant that finally they may dwell with thee in life everlasting; And for those who have departed and are in eternal sleep, waiting for you to come, and with joy they will live eternal life with you. 

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

You can add names from family and friends who need prayer

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The book of Acts takes us on a walk through the birth of the church, the beginnings of what Jesus commanded His disciples to, Go into all the world and preach the gospel - witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth  Mk 16:15, Acts 1:8.    The first half of Acts focuses on Peter’s revelation of Jesus to the Jews in Jerusalem and Judea, the second half of Acts, Paul taking up Christ’s commission to Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth.

Paul moving past exclusivity to the Jews, the message of Jesus opening up to the Gentiles.  Transformed, the persecutor became the persecuted coming under attack from Jews in Philippi, then in Thessalonica.  Now in the passage we’re looking at today, he is in Greece - opposition from the Jews forcing him to keep moving, resulting in the good news of Jesus to spread.  

Now while Paul was waiting for them (Silas and Timothy) at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection :16-18.

While waiting for Silas and Timothy, Paul meeting with people in the synagogue and in the marketplace - not to engage in debate and argument but to reason with those who are serious about their faith.  

In Athens, names like Plato, Pericles, Socrates, Aristotle, Demosthenes, Zeno and Epicurus come to mind.  In this culture of ideas, there are two main schools of thought, those worldviews still dominant in our world today.  The first are the Epicureans, the second, the Stoics.  The Epicureans were the secular humanists of that day; in some ways, they are close to being atheists in that they didn’t believe the gods had any influence over human affairs. 

To these, the world came into being through a chance collision of atoms. They also believed that at death the personality ceased to exist, which meant that only life in the here and now was important. What that meant was grab all the pleasure you can, Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die,’ this Epicurean philosophy the seedbed from which modern hedonism grew.

By contrast, the Stoics were fatalists who believed that impersonal forces controlled every circumstance of life. Since you can’t change your circumstances, the key to happiness is accepting whatever comes without emotion.  The Stoics are the original, ‘stiff upper lip, get through it’ people.  You can’t avoid pain, so just live with what you get.  This is where Paul came.  He was not concerned or intimidated by those who opposed him.

Actually, as Ray Pritchard observes, opposition is better than indifference. At least those who oppose care enough to engage with what we are saying.  What we need to keep in mind, is that our need isn’t to have an answer for every argument others make, our need is to be people who truly care for those who make those arguments.  How we respond is far more reflective of what we believe than any skilful rebuttal we make.  In what follows, notice Paul doesn’t obliterate the gods they believe in, rather he points to the God he knows.  In that way, he leaves it with them to consider their gods alongside the God he presents to them.  

Often, we get sidetracked by challenges people sometimes raise about Christianity that have nothing to do with Jesus.  It’s not that those questions are unimportant, but they are tangential to what is core - who is Jesus?  

It’s this uniqueness of Jesus that Paul puts before them, not a critique of the gods they now follow.  His intent is to win people by revelation not confrontation.  All too often, people don’t reject Jesus and who they think Him to be, they reject those who bear His name.  Turned away by a church in Calcutta, which thought him not worthy to come in, Mahatma Gandhi was reported to say, I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians.  They are so unlike your Christ.  Sadly, this is too often the case.

And then there are those who reject Jesus because they  struggle with what He says.  Their struggle to see themselves as sinners in need of Saviour.  Their struggle to be master of their own life.  Their struggle to let go of how they want to live.  Their struggle to believe they need to be different than who they are.  The refusal to bow.  As the Bible tells us, This is the judgment, the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened  Jn 3:19; Rom 1:21

Hearts darkened that argue against God, rather than bow to Him.  Arguments that focus on things like the beginning of the world, the Nephilim or the existence of evil.  Not unimportant but often distractors from the truly important about who is Jesus? This isn’t to say we shouldn’t have reasons why we believe as we do but there may be some things beyond our understanding.  Might there be value in a back and forth discussion about things like these - yes, and there are those called by God to speak into these. But winning an argument is very different than winning a heart. Victory in one may mean far greater loss in something much more important.  

What we are told isn’t that we are to be people who understand all things rather we are to be people, Always ready to give reason for the hope that is within us, 1 Pet 3:15.  What is important centers on Jesus - who He is, what He said, and what He did.  Chief among those things is His death and, of greatest importance, His resurrection.  The resurrection being everything.  As Paul says, if Christ has not been raised, our faith is futile; we are still in our sins  1 Cor 15:17.  

And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?” :19

The Areopagus is where the scholarly met - the hill of Ares, the Greek god of war.  It’s also referred to as Mars Hill - (Mars, the Roman equivalent of the god ).  This is also where the elders of the city met to debate and challenge various philosophies.  Their version of our forum of ideas, be it on the internet, on the university campus, or in the workplace lunchroom.  

Paul isn’t taken here to face the consequences; this isn’t a judicial meeting he has become so used to in previous cities. This is a meeting of interest.  Some of the philosophers might have questioned the credibility of who he was and the legitimacy of what he said - this babbler - but they didn’t question the importance of giving him an audience. This ONLY happens because Paul has presented himself in a way that earned him the right to be heard.  

For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know, therefore, what these things mean.”  Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new:20,21

It’s important to keep in mind these few words in :20, strange things to our ears.  It’s easy to forget how strange the miraculous we believe can sound.  The miracle that an all-powerful God would send His Son to die for our sins and then raise that Son, Jesus, to life with the promise that He will one day return and raise everyone who believes in Him to be with Him eternally.

A God like this, so different than any of the petulant and self-serving gods they had known. Their gods looked, acted, and felt like humans only on a grander, more powerful scale. These gods, who time and again are shown as being driven by jealousy, lust, and rage and were often portrayed as selfish, proud and vindictive. 

No wonder a loving God Paul spoke of, a God who was willing to suffer and die, a God who willingly took our abuse so that we might know Him, sounded strange to their ears.  What sort of God does something like that? 

But intrigued by the new, those in Athens were willing to listen to things like this.  And this was definitely new. Being open to the new had contributed to their knowledge, they were informed, but in their pride, thinking themselves superior, the human race categorized as the Greeks and Barbarians.  In other words, us and everyone else. 

Alongside their gods and idols, the idol was prominent in their worship of human intellect, they determining what was worthy, they determined what was true.  And if a new truth presented itself, they were open to receive. 

But when truth points in a direction we don’t want to go, what do we do?  We hold on tighter to what we want to believe.  Yet the truth God speaks isn’t subject to new discovery.  It’s this truth Paul presents, which for his listeners means a change of life, a change to the things to which they had given their lives.  It means turning their back on the gods they had served.  It means getting rid of their idols and, likely for some, closing the doors of the businesses in which they were involved.  It means risk.  And it is a risk many of them aren’t willing to take.  

And what does God say to those who want to remain in their lies?  In their refusal to see His truth, God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, so that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness  2 Thess 2:11,12.  

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, Rom 1:18.

Truth not believed is truth pushed away. 

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘ To the unknown god.’ What therefore, you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you :22-23

Paul began with what was held in common.  The Greeks and Romans had 300 mythical gods, and as we see, one god that went unnamed, just in case one was missed.  Some of the greatest sculptures carved by human hands were meant to offer some physical representation of the various Greek gods, such as Zeus, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Artemis. 

He begins where they are yet Paul understands that where they think they are is very different from the place they truly are. The ‘religious’ - faithful in giving alms to the poor, caring for the hurting, providing for the widows, doing the sacraments, and going to mass.  Rarely is a Sunday or Saturday missed.  Singing the songs, reciting the prayers, giving money to the church, but in the end, what can only be said of them is that they are religious but not redeemed.  Because as the Bible makes clear, ‘There is none righteous, no, not one’. Yet God’s story does not end there because in Jesus we are told, In Jesus we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.  We were not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold ... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot  Rom 3:30; Eph 1:7; 1 Pet 1:18,19. 

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him:24-27

So far so good.  Taking them to a place where God is elevated, taking them to a greatness far bigger than some idol.  

Paul begins by elevating God, then moving downward to man, which is something very different from Greek philosophy, which did the opposite, their worship of man, he is the center of all things.  Greek philosopher, Protagoras, sums it up well, Man is the measure of all things. 

That spirit is still very much with us, where even as believers, we have a tendency to view God as slightly larger than us.  That in our lives, He should respond in the ways we think He should act.  He should intervene as we need Him to and provide the answers we think we deserve.  

And yet the truth as well as the mystery - this God who is the God creator of all that we see, who spins galaxies out by a word that He speaks, who tells the oceans where they should stop - the Sustainer of all things, the declarer of all things - Having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place then He is the proclaimer of all things - they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him.

Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for, “In him we live and move and have our being; as even some of your own poets have said, For we are indeed his offspring”  :27,28.

Here Paul quotes 2 Greek poets - 1^st In Him we live and move and have our being   2^nd  For we are indeed his offspring. We, whom the Greeks believed were the measure of all things, subject to One far greater than themselves.

In Him we live and move.  Raise your arm above your head. Now wave it around. What made your arm move? Your muscles did. What told the muscles to move? The electrical impulses did.  Who laid out the electrical network to which your muscles respond?  Who arranged the blood and nutrient supply to feed their elasticity?  Who created the ongoing system of micro-tears and repair that enables muscles to grow to complete tasks at hand?  Our life given, its function enabled by Him.  Truly, In Him we live and move     and then:

In Him we have our being.  In Him we’ve been given our genetic blueprint. All assembled in our DNA double-helix, chemically rich code - blue eyes, brown hair, 5’11”, good at tennis, bad at math, a tendency to overeat, and a birthmark above our right knee (plus a few million other details). So much about us in our DNA code implanted in us, which is what the Psalmist observed we are, Knitted together in my mother’s womb, I am fearfully and wonderfully made  Ps 139.  

Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.  The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent,  because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead  :29-31

And what we are told, We are indeed God’s offspring.  We come from God, we answer to God, we depend on God, and we can do nothing without God. 

When an interviewer asked Billy Graham, We’re all God’s children, right? His response, By creation. Graham’s distinction, by creation, all humanity is God’s children, but for us to have a relationship with God, there must be re-creation, what Scripture calls a second birth. We need to be made new, reborn into God’s family by the blood of Jesus.  This is crucial in what Paul now addresses; he is not shying away from the judgment for sin God is one day going to bring. Now He commands all people everywhere to repent :30. 

And the only answer for that sin is repentance.  Repentance is not just admitting our sin, but seeing it for what it truly is, seeing it as God   sees it and then turning from our sin.

Repentance isn’t sorrow - though sorrow must be part of what true repentance looks like

Repentance isn’t regret - feeling badly for what we have done - though when we see our guilt for what it is, regret must be something that is felt

Repentance isn’t illumination - getting to see ourselves as we truly are, though revelation of our unworthiness should bring us to our knees

Repentance IS turning to the One whose love and power to forgive result in us turning from who we have been and in Jesus, turning to who He makes us to be.  When we come to Jesus, we go in a completely different direction than where we have been going.

But you know what else repentance is?  It is freedom.  It is joy.  It is security.  It is bowing before our resurrected Jesus; He is now the Lord of our life.   Repentance is embracing what we are told: 

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.  Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure  1 Jn 3:1-3.

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