Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles
10 - The Unknown God
We come this time to the seventeenth chapter of the book of Acts. The Apostle Paul is continuing his missionary journey into Europe. After leaving Philippi he and Silas his companion travelled westward along the Egration road through the two beautiful Greek cities of Amphipolis and Apollonia. Their destination was Thessalonica which was some one hundred and seventeen kilometres from Philippi. In Paul’s time it was a great commercial centre, the inhabitants being a mixture of Greeks, Romans and Jews.
As his custom was Paul went into the Jewish synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with the assembled congregation from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that their longed for Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. Paul declared to them that Jesus, whose servant he was, was the promised Messiah and that He had suffered and died upon the cross and had been raised from the dead. We have recorded the same results here which followed similar preaching elsewhere. By the grace of God, some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. So there emerges a new Christian church in Thessalonica.
This church grew and had both a great testimony and influence on many others. Much later Paul would write two letters to this church to encourage and to teach them. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, he wrote concerning them:
“We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul went on to write concerning the believers at Thessalonica that in spite of severe suffering for their Christian faith, they had become a model for all the believers in the area of Macedonian and Archaia. In fact their faith in God had become known everywhere. In light of that commendation from Paul, we can only exclaim, “What a testimony!” And what a challenge to us that we too as Christians are known where we are for our faithful witness and our faith in God.
Sadly, because of great opposition, Paul and Silas had to leave Thessalonica, so the believers sent them during the night to Berea which was about sixty-five kilometres away to the west. Here was a secluded inland city where the missionaries found godly Jews who are described as being “of more noble character than the Thessalonians.” One Bible commentator says that their nobility lies in the fact that they, as Luke records in verse 11, “received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” There is a lesson for us in the response of the Bereans to the preaching of the Apostle. They tested what he was telling them by the Scriptures so as to be sure that what he was teaching was the truth. This is something that we should to do today, for there are many whose teachings do not stand up to the scrutiny of God’s Word. Always test what is being taught by comparing it with what the Bible teaches to be sure that you are not being led astray.
Verse 12 goes on to tell us that “Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.” Once again it was the faithful preaching of the gospel, and the work of the Holy Spirit, that brought the response of faith in those who heard it, just as it does today.
News of what had taken place in Berea reached the Jews in Thessalonica and in Acts 17 verses 13 and 14 Doctor Luke tells us that these people “went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.”
So Paul finds himself in Athens which was the most cultured city of the old world. On every corner was a statue and in every street an altar. In the golden age of its history it is said that Athens possessed more men of the very highest genius than any other city. Yet even in Paul’s time those days had long gone and Athens was a city living on its past reputation. Acts chapter 17 verses 16 to 34 give us Luke’s account of the Apostle’s time in what is still a notable city today.
According to his custom, Paul went first to the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks. He went also into the market place each day and got into conversation with the people there. We see that in addition to being a great preacher to large audiences, the Apostle was also a fine personal worker willing to share the gospel with all with whom he came into contact. This is a reminder to all of us of our responsibility as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to share the good news whenever and wherever we have the opportunity.
Among those listening in the market place were some of the philosophers of the day, Epicureans and Stoics, who began to dispute with Paul and mocked him, calling him a babbler. They considered that he was talking nonsense. Nevertheless, always wanting to hear of something new, they took Paul to a meeting of the Areopagus on Mars Hill next to the famous Acropolis. Paul’s address to this audience has a striking beginning and it is recorded for us in Acts chapter 17 starting at verse 22 where we read: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: ‘To an unknown god’. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.” With that opening statement Paul would have gained the full attention of his hearers!
No doubt that Paul was both saddened and angry at what he had seen as he moved around the city with all its altars and idols. Now he is going to witness about the only true and living God to those who did not know this God. He tells them that this, to them’ unknown god’, is the one who is the creator of all things. This God does not live in the magnificent temples for which the city was famous. No man-made temple could contain Him. He does not need anything from man. We do not give to Him, he gives to us! He is the sovereign Lord who determined the times set for the nations and the exact places where they should live. He is the God who is not far away, but is near and wants us to reach out to Him. Again Paul holds the attention of his audience by quoting from two of their own poets - Epimenides of Crete and Aratus of Cilicia, applying their words to the living God: “For in him we live and move and have our being”, and, “We are his offspring.” “Therefore since we are God’s offspring”, Paul continues, “We should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone - an image made by man’s design and skill.” He challenges them with the words of their own philosophers to see that the true God is the living God and is the very source of all human life.
I finish our talk by simply quoting the final words of Paul’s great speech. You will find them in Acts chapter 17 verses 30 and 31. They are a clear statement of the Gospel, may they come as a challenge to you if God is the “unknown god” to you: “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent (of their sins). For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed (that is the Lord Jesus Christ). He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
When they heard this some just laughed; some were interested in hearing more; and some believed.
To which group do you belong?