1. Following the Risen Christ God’s Man in Satan’s City (continued) Acts 17:16-34

2. I. Incredible Athens – a city of prominence

3. II. An Impassioned Apostle – a man of determination

4. “Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.” Acts 17:16

5. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth

6. “And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, ‘May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.’” Acts 17:19-20

7. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth “then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worhsip, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:” Acts 17:22-23

8. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth 1.A powerful claim

9. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth 1.A powerful claim “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.” Acts 17:24

10. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth 1.A powerful claim “God, who make the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.” Acts 17:24 a)God cannot be contained

11. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth 1.A powerful claim “God, who make the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.” Acts 17:24 a)God cannot be contained b) God has no needs… and is able to care for the world He has created!

12. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth 1.A powerful claim a)God cannot be contained b) God has no needs… and is able to care for the world He has created! “Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.” Acts 17:25

13. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth 1.A powerful claim a)God cannot be contained b) God has no needs… and is able to care for the world He has created! c) God is not only the Creator and Life- giver… He is also sovereign ruler, and He seeks us out!

14. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth 1.A powerful claim c) God is not only the Creator and Life- giver… He is also sovereign ruler, and He seeks us out! “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,

15. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth 1.A powerful claim c) God is not only the Creator and Life- giver… He is also sovereign ruler, and He seeks us out! “so that they should seek the Lord in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” Acts 17:26-27

16. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth 1.A powerful claim d) God is sustainer of all… something even their own writers agreed with.

17. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth 1.A powerful claim d) God is sustainer of all… something even their own writers agreed with. “for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’” Acts 17:28

18. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth 2.A practical conclusion

19. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth 2.A practical conclusion “Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.’” Acts 17:29

20. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth 2.A practical conclusion “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God’… Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed. Who would form a god or mold an image That profits him nothing?” Isaiah 44:6, 9-10

21. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth 3.A personal command

22. III. An Informative Address – a message of truth 3.A personal command “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.’” Acts 17:30-31

23. IV. Important Application – a measure of encouragement

24. 1.Reaction to the message

25. IV. Important Application – a measure of encouragement 1.Reaction to the Message a) Those who mocked

26. IV. Important Application – a measure of encouragement 1.Reaction to the message a) Those who mocked “And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked.” Acts 17:32a

27. IV. Important Application – a measure of encouragement 1.Reaction to the message a) Those who mocked “And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked.” Acts 17:32a b) Those who put off their decision

28. IV. Important Application – a measure of encouragement 1.Reaction to the message a) Those who mocked “And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked.” Acts 17:32a b) Those who put off their decision “while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” Acts17:32b

29. IV. Important Application – a measure of encouragement 1.Reaction to the message a)Those who mocked b) Those who put off their decision c) Those who believed

30. IV. Important Application – a measure of encouragement 1.Reaction to the message a)Those who mocked b) Those who put off their decision c) Those who believed “However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.” Acts17:34

31. IV. Important Application – a measure of encouragement 1.Reaction to the message 2.Repentance is still a part of God’s plan

32. IV. Important Application – a measure of encouragement 1.Reaction to the message 2.Repentance is still a part of God’s plan 3.Rejection of God’s message is always possible

33. IV. Important Application – a measure of encouragement 1.Reaction to the message 2.Repentance is still a part of God’s plan 3.Rejection of God’s message is always possible 4.Realizing who God really is, will transform our thinking, living and worship