Acts 17:10-21

Well, good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions, where every day you and I, we get together, we get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2022, we'll make it all the way from Acts to Philemon.
So good to be back with you. I'd been out of town, went to Texas to go to a presbytery meeting, and so I'm sorry that I wasn't here with you, but I needed to go and do the work for the regional church. So anyways, I was out of town, and so that's why we weren't here.
Why don't we have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get in the Lord's Word this morning. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day and we thank you specifically for your spirit. We thank you how you move and care for us. We pray now that as we read your word that was breathed out by you, Father, we would believe and follow you in Jesus's name. Amen. Here we are. We're at Acts chapter 17 beginning at verse 10. Acts chapter 17 beginning at verse 10.
Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore, many of them believed. And also, not a few of them Greeks, prominent women as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica heard that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds. Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away to go to the sea. But both Silas and Timothy remained there. So those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens. and received a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed. They departed. Oh, we need to ask ourselves in this section, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to these words? So, A, first, what is this about?
Well, they were just in Thessalonica, and they had arrested Jason and those Christians who were meeting in his household. And here, Paul, he flees. He goes. He's sent away right away. They realize, oh, hold on, this isn't going to go well. Timothy and Silas day. It seems by this point, Paul has become the chief speaker. And so he's the one who's mainly persecuted here. He's the one that they really want.
And so they go and they go to Berea. And in Berea, there's people who hear, but they want to be careful. So they think, and they go and search the scriptures. They're more noble-minded. They're going to think things through and not just grab onto them at first. And this is a good blessing. This is a good thing to be. This is something I would encourage you. Even if you hear something I say and it's not in line with the scriptures, let me know. Hey, this isn't right. Hold on here. Something didn't go right.
But even after they do this, they find out it's true. Therefore, many of them believed. And also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. And so this is a fruitful time that Paul has there. People come to faith, people believe. They hear the preached word and they believe. But Jewish people from Thessalonica, they're not so happy about this and so what do they do? They come down, they start stirring the pot. They're going to, whoa, hold on, they're going to make trouble.
And so, immediately the brethren sent Paul away to go to the sea. So, they send him down to Athens. Now, like I said, Timothy and Silas, they stay there in Berea, but Paul goes on his own. This is not something Paul likes to do. If you go read through 1 Thessalonians, it's clear that Paul is not very fond of being by himself, but he wants to have His brother's with him.
His co-labor is in the gospel with him. But he goes, but he, when he's in Athens, he can't just sit around and do nothing. He's provoked in his spirit. So let's go ahead and read this next part, verses 16 through 21. Now, while Paul waited for them at Athens, a spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.
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. Then certain Epicureans and Stoic philosophers encountered him, and some said, What does this babbler want to say? Others said, He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods, because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new teaching 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 all the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear something new." Well, what is this section about?
Well, Paul goes into Athens and notice his spirit is provoked because the city is full of idols. He can't help it. His heart is burdened because he sees people following after false gods, following after idols, and so he goes to the synagogues. He goes to the synagogues to preach. And he reasons, he argues, he has these conversations back and forth with the Jewish and with the God-fearers. But he doesn't just stay there. This is one of the first times we read he actually goes into the Agora, into the marketplace. And there in the marketplace he's preaching and teaching. and learned people.
Athens is like the heart of ancient philosophy. This is where Socrates is from, where Plato is from, where Epicurus makes his home. This is where Aristotle adopts as his home. This is really the seat of philosophy and of learning in the ancient world. And certain Epicureans and Stoics, both of these are materialistic type philosophies.
And I need to be careful here, right? So what they're doing, we might miss it because of what's going on if we don't know the ancient literature. But what's going on here is, do you know why Socrates was made to drink hemlock? Because he brought strange deities or strange teachings. And so when they're doing this, when they lead Paul to the Areopagus, it's very likely that they're taking him because he's teaching some stranger false gods that's going to lead the people away.
And so we might get this picture here of them going up to like an academic setting and he's going up and they're just having a free interchange of ideas. That's most likely not what's going on here. It's most likely what's going on is that they've basically arrested him and are taking him to the council that's right next to the Agora. And right next to this marketplace, there's a chamber in which there's a council who meets to hear ideas. And if somebody was too far out of the norm, well, they could do what they did to Socrates. Actually, certain laws were kept in this place.
And it's very likely that this is following the same pattern that Paul has, that he's preaching and teaching into a town and now he's taken and he has to give account for it. And so this is one of these areas that Paul is having to defend his preaching and his teaching because they don't know what's going on here.
Hold on, who is this? He's speaking of Jesus and he's speaking of the resurrection. He's teaching to us foreign gods? So we know that the substance of Paul's preaching is the Father's work in Jesus and Jesus sending his spirit. And so in their minds, they're like, whoa, what is this? We don't know what's going on, this resurrection stuff, and we don't know what this guy's talking about.
He's a babbler. This word babbler is, again, a derogative term. It's kind of like a scavenger. We have these vultures that come around here and pick up and pick away at the carcasses of dead animals in the ditches and on the sides of the roads. And this is this idea that it's not just that he's speaking baby talk, but he's an unlearned man. He's a guy who just picks up information here and there. They're really pejorative towards him.
And so what we're going to find in verses 22 through the end of the chapter is Paul's speech to them, as he tells them about this strange teaching, this strange doctrine. So, what's the best verse to summarize these? Well, in my Bible I have underlined, therefore many of them believed.
And also verse 16, now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw the city was given over to idols. The content, the heart of Paul's preaching was Jesus Christ and him raised from the dead. His heart was burdened. Why would Paul go to Berea? Because he knew that people needed the good news of Jesus Christ. Why would Paul go to Athens? Because he knew that these people needed Jesus Christ. He was provoked in his spirit. This is the Holy Spirit pushing Paul. Let me ask. This is where we're going to go to calling. Let me ask.
Is the Holy Spirit burdening you? when you hear of someone who doesn't know of Jesus Christ? Does it hurt your heart, burden your soul, when you think of your family member who doesn't know Jesus? Do you do anything about it? I know it's scary. I know sometimes you might think, I don't know what to say. Should I even step into this conversation? It's just uncomfortable. I'd like to suggest to you that that is the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Push. Do the uncomfortable thing.
Go and tell them about Jesus Christ. Don't worry about having the perfect words. But tell them of the hope you have of Jesus. Tell them of the one who has saved your soul. Tell them of the one who was raised from the dead and has made all things right. Tell them of the King of Kings. Tell them of the one who robes us in his righteousness and washes us of our sin. Tell them of your Savior. Tell them of your Lord.
They might think it's a strange thing. Well, it is. There's no other message like it. That God himself came down from heaven, took on the form of a man, lived a perfect life that we could never live, died the death that we deserve, and rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and he sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead. The King of Kings reigns. Tell them about it. Let them drag you into the marketplaces. It's okay. Because then sometimes many of them will believe even the prominent.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for Jesus Christ. And Father, we pray that we would be sensitive towards your Holy Spirit, that we would be those who would not harden our hearts when you are provoking us to speak to others about Jesus Christ. We pray that we would do it in a way where we would show the love of Jesus Christ.
We would tell someone of what you have done. Lord, please watch over us. Please, Lord. Please don't have stopped the work that you did in the book of Acts. But Father, we pray that many might believe, both prominent people, women and men, Jews and Gentiles. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, may the Lord bless you today. May you walk in the joy and peace that's found only in Jesus Christ, and I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.