Are you finding ways to share the goodness of God with others?
October 9, 2025
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.
17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present.
18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, ``What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, ``He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,"--because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, ``May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming?
20 ``For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean."
21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)
22 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ``Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects.
23 ``For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, `TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.
24 ``The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;
26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,
27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, `For we also are His children.'
29 ``Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.
30 ``Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,
31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."
32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, ``We shall hear you again concerning this."
33 So Paul went out of their midst.
There are three questions
Let’s look at today’s passage. Imagine walking into church one Sunday and sitting in front of a giant statue made of bronze or gold. We might sing a few songs in honor of it, listen to a sermon, then take up an offering and lay it at the foot of the statue. After some additional music, church is over and we return to our houses. What would we gain from that worship? What assurance could we claim? There would be no joy, peace, or security in this life or for the one to come because we bowed down to something that is lifeless and unable to hear us.
When the apostle Paul was in Athens, he provided answers for the people there by preaching about the one true God. Today, as Christians, we should do the same because it is God’s will that every single person know Him (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
As believers, we have a relationship with God through Christ, but countless people in this world have never heard about the Savior. Do not be content just to live your Christian life quietly. Instead, find a way to share your peace and joy with someone else.
Bible in One Year: Matthew 19-21
For nearly 50 years, In Touch Ministries and Dr. Charles Stanley have been trusted sources for solid, biblical teaching. With the In Touch app, you get all the Christ-centered teaching from Dr. Stanley that you've come to know and love, right in the palm of your hand.
No comments:
Post a Comment