About this sermon
Paul, provoked by the idols of Athens, reasons in the marketplace and the philosophers bring him to the Areopagus. He starts from their altar “to the unknown god” to proclaim the Creator who made the world and needs nothing from human hands. Then he announces that God, having overlooked the times of ignorance, now 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. The resurrection is God’s proof that Christ is that judge. Some mock, some want to hear more, and some believe.
Sermon transcript
Well friends, please remain standing as we turn our attention to the book of Acts. We again take a little detour from our consideration of the book of the prophet Isaiah to consider this passage from the book of Acts. My sermon today will focus on verses 30 to 34 of Acts chapter 17, but I’m going to begin reading at verse 15 to kind of fill out the context. The sermon text is found on page 1,102 in your pew Bibles. But again, I’ll read beginning at verse 15, Acts chapter 17, verse 15. Friends, this is the word of God, hear it with reverence and awe.
Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens. And after receiving command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed. Now while Paul was waiting for them 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.
And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus saying, may we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 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.
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.
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.
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. 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. Now, when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, but others said, we will hear you again about this. So Paul went out from their midst, but some men joined him and believed among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Let’s pray for the Lord to bless the preaching of his word. Oh, heavenly Father, open our minds and our hearts to behold wondrous things from your word. We ask that by your spirit, you would cause your word to find a lodging place in our hearts and cause the soil of our hearts to be good soil, that the seed of your word would germinate and would find a lodging place and bear much spiritual fruit in our lives. And Lord, we ask that you would Set a guard over my lips that I might speak only that which is faithful to your word and grant me the grace and assistance of your spirit to declare your word with power and for the glory of your name and the good of your people.
In Jesus name we pray and all of God’s people said, amen. You may be seated. The title of my sermon this morning is Resurrection, Repentance, and Righteousness. And young people, you can listen for four words in my sermon this morning. The words repentance, judgment, resurrection, and agent.
Well, dear friends, let me ask you, what makes Christianity unique among the religions of the world? And more specifically, what makes Jesus of Nazareth, the founder of the Christian faith, distinctive when he is compared to the founders of other world religions? What would you say?
Now, of course, many religions throughout the history of humanity have made exalted claims about the founders of their religion. And so, for example, some world religions claim that their founder had attained to a special level of enlightenment or spiritual insight, or that their founder was uniquely, superlatively holy. Some religions even claim that their founder was divinely inspired as a prophet or spokesman of Almighty God.
But of all the religions in the world, only the biblical religion, only biblical historical Christianity claims that its founder, Jesus of Nazareth, actually rose from the dead. Buddhism does not claim that the Buddha rose from the dead. Islam does not claim that Muhammad rose from the dead. But Christianity, biblical historic Christianity claims that Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, rose from the dead.
And that is a radical claim. Not just rose from the dead in some kind of mythological or symbolic or spiritual sense, but actually, historically, truly rose from the dead. Rose physically, bodily, supernaturally. And then, following his bodily resurrection from the dead, Christianity claims that Jesus actually appeared to multiple eyewitnesses in his resurrected body. Now again, these are radical claims, but they are claims that are grounded in the teaching of God’s infallible word and the truth of that word, and they are claims that are attested by overwhelming historical evidences. In fact, one very faith-strengthening study, if you’re looking to strengthen your faith, is to study the evidences for the resurrection of Christ.
Again, dear ones, our Lord’s physical bodily resurrection from the dead is indeed at the heart and center of our holy Christian faith. Jesus, our Lord, did indeed rise from the dead on the third day following his death by crucifixion. This is indeed a radical claim and a radical truth, but in addition to being a radical truth, It is a truth that has radical implications for our lives as the professed people of God, and it also has radical implications for the life of the world. And so what I want to do in this Lord’s Day morning is have us focus in today’s sermon on what our Lord’s resurrection means for the world of humanity and not just for the church. What does the historical fact of Christ’s physical bodily resurrection tell the world of humanity both within and outside of Christ’s church? Well, among other things, the resurrection of Jesus Christ confirms the Bible’s teaching on sinful humanity’s universal obligation to repent.
It also confirms the reality of the coming final day of judgment. And it confirms the fact that God the Father has appointed his eternal son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to judge the world in righteousness on that final judgment day. In other words, friends, The resurrection of Jesus is a confirmation of the Bible’s teaching on man’s need for repentance and on God’s judgment based on his standard of righteousness. And God’s standard of righteousness is his own infinitely holy character, his righteous character.
A relevant passage from God’s word that highlights these truths in connection with our Lord’s resurrection is, of course, our passage for this Lord’s Day morning, which records for us the Apostle Paul’s address to the sophisticated philosophers at the Areopagus in the famous ancient city of Athens.
And this is recorded, of course, by Luke in Acts chapter 17. Now, I wanna remind us about the context of our passage for today. Paul here in this passage, he is in the midst of what has been called his second missionary journey. And one of the things you need to know about Paul’s second missionary journey is that Athens had not been on Paul’s missionary itinerary at this particular time. But of course, God had different plans for Paul’s travels. In God’s good providence, Paul ends up taking an unexpected providential detour to the city of Athens in order to escape persecution that he was threatened with in the region of Macedonia. So our passage for today finds Paul waiting in Athens for Silas and Timothy, his missionary companions. Again, as it says in verse 15, those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed. So that’s why Paul has unexpectedly ended up in the city of Athens.
Now, as I’m sure many of you know, the city of Athens was famous in the ancient world as a renowned center of such things as high learning and education, high culture, philosophy, art, and architecture. It was a highbrow place if there ever was one. But at the same time, this very high-brow center of high culture was also, ironically, a city that was pathetically saturated with pagan idolatry, false religions, and gross superstitions. It’s funny how sometimes those things go together. Just because you have a great education and great learning does not necessarily mean that you are spiritually free from the grip of idols and superstitions.
But again, in God’s providence, this overwhelming presence of idolatry in Athens compelled Paul to proclaim the true God and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ into this spiritual cesspool of pagan darkness and human pride known as the city of Athens.
As we’re told in verses 16 and 17, it says, now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, he decided to take a vacation. He decided to kick up his feet and relax and just say, oh, well, I guess I get a little break in my missionary endeavors. No, what does it say? Well, Paul was waiting for them in Athens.
His spirit was provoked within him. The love of Christ compelled him. His spirit was provoked. Why was his spirit provoked within him? Well, it says, as he saw that the city was full of idols. So what’s he do? He does what he follows, his typical missionary procedure, and he goes first to the Jews. There was a synagogue there, so it says in verse 17, so he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, that would be Gentiles who adhered to the Jewish faith, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. The gospel was burned his soul and welled up within him and he proclaimed it into the midst of this pagan darkness.
And that brings us to consider our first point for today, and that is God’s universal demand for repentance. God’s universal demand for repentance. The first verse of my sermon text today, verse 30, it says, Paul is proclaiming this to the Areopagus. It says, the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. As we will see, the historical fact of Christ’s resurrection from the dead underscores the urgency of this universal demand for repentance.
And let me just very quickly define what repentance is. Repentance is not self-flagellation, it is not Punishing yourself because you feel really bad and guilty. Repentance, yes, in repentance you feel sorry for the bad that you’ve done. But repentance is fundamentally a change of mind, a paradigm shift in your thinking that turns you away from sin and toward Christ and Christ alone for your salvation from sin. It’s a change of mind that leads to a change of direction. And as we will see, the resurrection of Christ implies that this is a universal demand. Each and every human being on the face of planet Earth is required by Almighty God to repent of sin.
Now, before we actually get to the heart and center of the text for today, let’s briefly review Paul’s address to the Athenians. Let’s go on and see what happens here. Verse 18, it says, some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. This is as Paul was preaching the gospel in the marketplace, preaching Christ to a completely pagan, Gentile audience. And he gets the attention of some of the sophisticates, some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, what does this babbler wish to say? Consider what that means in a few moments.
But it’s interesting that Luke points out that Paul has dialogue with and conversation with the followers of Epicureanism and Stoicism. What did Epicureanism and Stoicism teach? Well, without going into too much depth, these were schools of Greek philosophy. Epicureanism was a philosophy that basically taught that pleasure was the ultimate purpose in life.
We Presbyterians, we love our shorter catechism. It asks, what is the chief end or ultimate purpose of life? You know the answer to that question. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. But according to the Epicureans, man’s chief end is his own pleasure.
And so Epicureanism as a philosophy was fundamentally man-centered in its worldview. And the same could be said of Stoicism. Stoicism taught its followers to live in harmony with the natural order and to depend on reason. A little more reasonable than Epicureanism in that sense, but still, Stoicism started with basically a humanistic, man-centered perspective. So here are these Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountering Paul in the marketplace and hearing Paul say some strange things, bringing some strange things to their ears.
And they describe him as a babbler. Now this term in the Greek, according to Richard Longnecker, this is a word that originally was used of birds picking up grain, then of scrap collectors searching for junk, then this word extended to those who snapped up ideas of others and peddled them as their own without understanding them. Kind of sounds like a lot of people on social media today. Pick up a little bit of knowledge here and there and spew it out even if you don’t understand it. And this word babbler also came to mean finally any ne’er do well.
So this was not a compliment that they were owing Paul. They were not complimenting him when they described him as a babbler. Well it goes on to say, in verse 18. What does this babbler say? Others said he seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. It’s quite possible that his listeners understood Paul to be preaching to new deities, Jesus and the resurrection. The term for resurrection could be understood by his pagan audience as referring to a god of some kind. But in any case, they’re confused, and Paul’s trying to communicate the gospel, but they’re not getting the message.
And so what did they say? What did they do? Verse 19, they took him and brought him to the Areopagus saying, may we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.
And then Luke makes this side comment about the Athenians. He says, now all the Athenians and the foreigners who live there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. Again, Luke’s not being very complimentary toward the Athenians when he says that, but they basically, they like to sit around and chew the fat all day about philosophy and new ideas and so forth.
But they asked Paul to come to the Areopagus. Now, what was the Areopagus? At that time, the Areopagus was the city council in Athens that had jurisdiction over matters of religion, matters of education, and public morals. The Areopagus appears, it appears that one of its functions at this particular time was to examine and license public lectures.
So Paul was basically told, the implication is Paul is being invited and basically told, we need to hear what you’re teaching and determine whether or not we’re going to allow you to continue your public lectures. And so this is likely why Paul was asked to come before this esteemed court. Approval by this court would mean that Paul would have the freedom and legal liberty to preach the gospel in Athens, but their disapproval would mean that he would be legally prohibited from preaching there. So it was important for Paul to preach the gospel there or preach the truth there. Well then, what do we learn? Verse 22, so Paul comes to the Areopagus, and what does he proclaim?
What does he say? Well, the first thing we notice that he does is that he addresses the council, and in doing so, he seeks to establish common ground with them. He seeks to establish a point of contact with them. Verse 22, so Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said, men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.
Now, to our ears, maybe that sounds like a compliment, right? I see that you’re all, I see that you’re very religious. Well, the term there, religious, could also be translated, as it is in some versions, as superstitious. I see that you’re very superstitious or very religious. Probably the way that Paul delivered this, it would be hard to tell whether he was complimenting or criticizing them, but he’s simply stating a fact. And then he gives an example of this fact.
Verse 23, 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.’” See, apparently the Athenians were worried about forgetting to worship certain gods. I mean, what if we forget to worship a god and that god or goddess gets mad at us and makes life difficult for us? So just in case we didn’t cover all of our bases, we’ll put an altar there to an unknown god, just in case we’ve forgotten one of the gods, right?
But Paul takes this altar that he has seen and masterfully uses it as a point of contact and says, hey, I know this unknown God. Let me proclaim this unknown God to you. And that’s what Paul proceeds to do. And then he begins his address to the Areopagus with truth that would have shaken their world. He says, the God who made the world and everything in it, now again, In their conceptions of the divine, they might have had belief, as some of them did, in a god that was pantheistic or impersonal or the world soul, sort of, I guess, the ground of reality, but in Greek thought, the divine was regarded as an impersonal thing. But he’s saying, no, there is a God that made the whole world.
He’s not like the God Ares. Areopagus was named after the God, the Greek God Ares, who was viewed as the God of thunder and war. The gods of the pagan pantheon were limited. They were powerful beings, sort of like Marvel superheroes, if you will, but they had limited powers and limited influence.
But the God that Paul proclaims is the true and living God, the God who made the world and everything in it. The implication is that this God is transcendent. This God is independent of the world, not dependent on any created thing. And by implication, this God is self-sufficient and self-existent. And he is the creator of the world. Paul proclaims in this very first verse of his address, God as the creator and as the providential Lord. This God is said to be Lord of heaven and earth.
This God does not live in temples made by man. Right out of the gate, Paul is politely but bluntly criticizing their pagan, unbelieving worldview, and he’s confronting them with the true and living God, the biblical God. Even though he’s not quoting from scripture, he proclaims the true God to them.
And then we notice also, he proclaims that this God is not served by human hands. Verse 25, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. Oftentimes in paganism, they’re gods required to be fed. The reason they offered sacrifices was to feed their deities, and if they didn’t feed their gods or goddesses, those gods and goddesses might get angry and make life miserable for them.
But the true God is not dependent upon man. The true God is self-sufficient, independent of man. Verse 29, 26 rather, goes on to say something that would be radical to these Athenians. He says, and he made from one man, that would be Adam, 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. The God, the true and living God, the God of the Bible is not some distant, uninvolved, deistic being who kind of wound up the clock of the universe and lets it run on its own. No, the true and living God is a sovereign God who is the providential Lord over all of humanity and over all of the nations. And by the way, verse 26, as an aside, verse 26 affirms the truth of the historicity of Adam. The historical Adam is clearly affirmed in this passage. And one of the implications of verse 26 is that racism is condemned because what does it say? He made from one man every nation of mankind. We all share the same ultimate ancestor. We’re all sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. So there’s no place for racism in the church of Jesus Christ.
And then he goes on to say, why has God done this? Verse 27, that 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. See, this God is omnipresent. He’s not inaccessible. God is more willing to be found than we are willing to seek him. He is a God. who, as Paul quotes from the pagan poets, 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.
You see, because Paul is addressing a pagan audience who is either unfamiliar with the Jewish scriptures or if they had any familiarity with the Jewish scriptures, they would not view those scriptures as authoritative. Because of that, Paul focuses on the truths of general revelation. God’s revelation in creation and in human conscience. He focuses on those truths in order to build a bridge to his audience, in order to make common ground with them. And he also criticizes their paganism by saying, God does not live in temples. He doesn’t require you to feed him or to house him, for he is the sovereign Lord over heaven and earth.
Paul focuses on the truths of general revelation and he quotes from some of their own poets, not only to make a point of contact with his listeners, but also to show them that even their pagan poets showed that they had some understanding of the divine nature. They had what the theologians call glimmers of natural light, because after all, All human beings, whether they be believers or not, whether they be pagans or Christians, all human beings have been created in God’s image. We all have what the theologians call that sense of the divine, the sensus divinitas, the sense of the divine. We know in our heart of hearts that God is and that we are accountable to him. And that is what Paul is doing.
He’s confronting them with these truths from general revelation. Well, what’s the conclusion of his address to them? Well, notice after explaining all of this to them, and there’s so much more we could talk about in terms of the details of Paul’s address, but he says in verse 30, the times of ignorance God overlooked.
He’s not saying that, well, before the gospel came along, you pagans were not accountable to God, but he’s saying that God took into account your limited knowledge, your ignorance. Verse 30, the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. Paul has been focusing on the doctrines of God’s independence and self-sufficiency and self-existence, on God’s works of creation and providence, on God’s provision for man’s needs and man’s responsibility to seek after God. But now Paul brings out the implications of these truths by pointing out how patient God has been toward the Gentile nations because of their ignorance of his word. As one commentator puts it, until the coming of Jesus Christ, God’s special redemptive revelation was addressed almost exclusively to Israel, leaving the pagan nations largely in ignorance, except for that general revelation throughout the cosmos that left them without excuse. God did not impose on Gentiles the judgment they deserved, and now he has sent Paul to proclaim his truth to all people everywhere, calling them to Repentance.
Beloved, what do we learn from this so far? We learn here that all people at all times of human history have been morally obligated to worship and serve the true and living Creator God who is revealed in the natural order. Elsewhere, Paul makes this clear, for example, in Romans 1. Romans 1, verses 18 to 21.
As Paul is talking about the Gentiles who did not have exposure to the scriptures, he says of the Gentile world, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
Why? Verse 19, for what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. There are no true atheists, by the way. Even the most hardened atheist knows in his or her heart of hearts that this true God is because God has made it plain. How? Verse 20, for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made, so they are without excuse.
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. Nevertheless, there was a sense in which God overlooked the ignorance that existed among the Gentile nations in Old Testament times. But with the coming of Christ and with the publication of the good news of his death and resurrection for the salvation of sinners, the gospel places upon all people everywhere and without exception, the obligation to repent of their false religions and philosophies and their idolatrous ways and to turn in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ as he’s offered to them in the gospel.
Dear listener, what does this mean for you? What does this mean for me? Well, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is divine proof that God requires me, you, everyone to turn from sin and turn in faith to Jesus Christ in Christ alone. Have you repented? God commands you and me to repent. Why?
Well, this leads me to my next point. That is that there is a day of judgment coming. We consider next the coming day of judgment. As Paul writes in verse, I’m sorry, as is recorded here in verse 31, Paul says, 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. Now, what would the sophisticated philosophers of the Areopagus, what would they have thought of this idea of a final judgment day, of ultimate accountability? Well, this would have been a totally foreign concept to the Athenian philosophers and leaders of the Areopagus, but it is a truth that they needed to hear as it is a truth that all of us need to hear. Again, my friends, the resurrection of Christ underscores this truth. that there is a Judgment Day coming. And because Christ was raised from the dead, we will be raised from the dead on Judgment Day.
Many other places in Scripture confirm this, but let me just take you to two places that confirm this truth. If you look at John chapter five, verses 25 to 30, the Lord Jesus says this in John 25, beginning at, John five rather, beginning at verse 25.
Jesus says, truly, truly I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the father has life in himself, so he has granted the son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man. And then listen to this, do not marvel at this for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
Judgment Day is coming. It has been fixed by the Lord, meaning fixed by His sovereign decree as Paul proclaims to the Athenians. Consider also 1 Corinthians 15 verses 20 through 28. Again, this chapter In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is a chapter whose main theme is the doctrine of the resurrection of the body. And Paul writes this, beginning at verse 20.
He says, but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. That means more resurrections are coming. For as by a man came death, that would be Adam, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead, that would be Christ. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
Then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God, the Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when it says all things are put in subjection, it is plain that he is accepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him that God may be all in all. The end is coming, the judgment day is coming.
Are you ready for the judgment day? Only if you are in Christ, in union with the crucified, resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, will you be ready for the judgment day. For it is only in Christ that our sins are atoned for and cleansed. It is only in Christ that we are clothed with that perfect, everlasting righteousness that we need to get us into heaven. Again, remember, heaven’s a perfect place. God is a perfect God. You need a perfect righteousness to get into God’s heaven, and you don’t have it in yourself. But what we lack, Christ provides for all who trust in Him.
And so what is the conclusion of all of this? Well, the conclusion is that the resurrection of Jesus is divine proof that Christ is God’s agent of final judgment. The resurrection of Jesus is divine proof that Christ is God’s agent of final judgment. As it says in verse 31, 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.” The resurrection of Jesus is God’s assurance, God’s attestation of the fact that one day Jesus is returning and each and every one of us will one day stand before King Jesus and look Jesus in the eyes and we’ll give an account of every thought, word and deed. If you’re outside of Christ, that’s a fearful prospect. If you’re in Christ, there’s nothing to fear because you are clothed in his righteousness. Our Lord’s resurrection from the dead attests him as the divine agent of God’s judgment on judgment day.
You see, as the son of God, Jesus Christ was the divine agent of creation. As we’re told in the prologue of John’s gospel in chapter one, through him all things were created. And Paul also mentions Christ as the agent of creation in Colossians chapter one and so forth.
And of course Christ is the mediator of our redemption. He mediates redemption and salvation to us. But he will also be the agent of divine judgment. Dr. F.F. Bruce says that Paul assures his audience God has furnished him proof that this is the man by whom he is going to judge the world because this is the man whom he has raised from the dead. Christ our Lord is risen today. And because He is resurrected, we will be raised in Him. And because He is resurrected, He will reign, He does reign, and He will reign and preside over that final judgment day. Now, it’s interesting if you read this passage carefully, and again, in the speeches that Luke records here in the Book of Acts, he’s giving us a summary.
He’s not necessarily giving us an exhaustive word-for-word recitation of what Paul preached here. Paul’s address to the Areopagus was probably much longer than what we have recorded here. But what’s interesting to notice is that Paul never gets to the death of Christ. He never gets to proclaiming Christ as the Messiah, the Son of God, his divinity.
And because after he mentions the resurrection, what happens? Verse 32, when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. They were scoffers, that was one reaction. And some said, we will hear you again about this. But some might say, well, wait a minute, Paul didn’t actually get to the gospel itself. Well, he didn’t get to all of the gospel, but he was laying the foundation. You see, when you’re trying to share the gospel with someone who has little to no biblical knowledge, then you need to start with the very basics, and that’s what Paul was doing. He was engaging in what we might call pre-evangelism. He was laying the groundwork so that later on, he could proclaim the death and resurrection of Christ as it’s revealed in the gospel.
But what’s interesting about this is the reactions. How did the folks react? It says that some mocked. That’s one common reaction to when the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed. One response is scoffing, mockery. It should not surprise us.
Some of you, before you came to Christ, you too were mockers, you too were scoffers. But God had mercy on you, God humbled you and gave you a spirit of repentance so that you would no longer mock. but you would embrace the Savior. So there was a response of mockery in verse 32.
But there was also curiosity, but curiosity without commitment. It says, some mocked, but others said, we will hear you again about this. They were intellectually interested in it. Now, some suggest that this statement was more pretended curiosity. These were just, some of the philosophers were trying to be polite, said, oh, we’ll hear you again about this, but they weren’t really that interested. Whatever the case may be, there is a response of mockery and rejection, outright rejection. There is a response of curiosity, but curiosity without commitment. But what’s amazing is that even in this highbrow, arrogant, sophisticated, worldly-minded environment, there were some conversions.
It says, so Paul went out from their midst, but some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. Now some commentators, They look at this passage in Acts 17 in Paul’s address to the Areopagus and they say, well, this wasn’t a high point of Paul’s missionary endeavors. It was kind of a flop. Paul didn’t really have a very successful mission here because there were so few converts.
Ah, but there were converts. There were, even from this sophisticated, worldly-wise crowd, God had his elect in their midst. And that’s what’s amazing. I think this was a tremendously successful missionary endeavor on Paul’s part. And even in the case of those who mocked and scoffed and were curious but not committed, the Word was sown. The seed of the Word was sown. And maybe God later on would germinate that seed and bring it to spiritual fruition.
Friends, The message of Christ’s resurrection calls for a response. How are you gonna respond? With mockery, with mere curiosity, but a curiosity that falls short of commitment, or by the grace of God, are you gonna repent and put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? May God in his grace grant that we may respond to the good news that Christ rose again from the dead with true conversion, true faith.
Amen, let’s pray. We thank you that Christ our Lord is indeed risen, that he reigns and that he is coming again to judge the living and the dead. We pray that we would take these truths to heart and by your spirit we pray that these truths would resonate throughout our lives. May we joyfully proclaim that Christ the Lord is risen today. In his name we pray and all of God’s people said amen. As we close our time today, let’s rise and we’ll sing as our closing hymn, that wonderful Easter hymn, 360, Christ the Lord is Risen Today, 360.
The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.
