Acts 17:16-17: Paul's spirit was provoked within him

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1) Intro

A)   Paul is currently in a layover in Athens by himself. He and his companions were run out of Thessalonica, and then the Jews chased him to Berea and now he’s in Athens by himself (vv. 14-15).

B)    So, he just starts walking through the city.  

1) Athens was way past their golden age, but they were still the undisputed cultural and intellectual heavyweight of the world. This is the city of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

2) Even though the Romans conquered Greece politically, Greece conquered Rome culturally.

3) Wealthy Romans sent their sons to Athens to be educated.

C)    This seems like one of the most applicable sections of Acts I’ve read so far.

2) v. 16

A)   Walking around Athens was like walking through a museum, but Paul did not see beautiful marble statues. He saw a city that was drowning in wrong thinking.

1) Roman writer, Petronius, said it was easier to find a god than a man in Athens.

2) Greek author, Pausanias, said there were more idols in Athens than all the rest of Greece combined.

B)    “his spirit was provoked within him”

1) L/N – to be upset at someone or something involving severe emotional concern

2) LXX – Deut. 9:18 (after the golden calf when Moses broke the tablets)

3) When Paul looked around at Athens it literally made him sick. He was not mildly annoyed thinking, man, I respectfully disagree with most of this.

3) Compare 2 OT examples

A)   Lot in Sodom

1) I’m pretty hard on Lot.

(a)   Gen. 13:10-13 – Moved towards Sodom

(b)   Gen. 14:11-12 – He got caught up in their mess

(c)   Gen. 19:1 – Sitting in the gate of Sodom

(d)   Gen. 19:12-14 – Was Lot going to give his daughters to two men from Sodom?

(e)   Gen. 19:15-17 – He lingered when the angels told him it was over

(f) Gen. 19:23-26 – His wife looked back

(g)   His daughters made some terrible choices, but remember, they were raised in a moral sewer.

2) Even so – 2 Pet. 2:7-8. I would like this to describe me.

B)    cf. Rev. 7:1-3. Quotes from Ezek. 9:1-5

1) Note Ezek. 9:4 – “the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it”

2) God doesn’t just mark those who don’t participate in the sin. He marks those who are disgusted by it.

C)    I think we should think about why we often don’t feel upset and sick about the culture we live in.

1) The porn industry

2) Politics and politicians. Don’t even think about only talking about one side of the political aisle when it comes to morality.

3) Rap culture

4) The state of homes in our country (marriages and kids)

5) Rom. 1:21-25, 26-27 (commercials), 28-32

D)   Jer. 6:13-15 – Is this us?

E)    POINT: When Paul walked through Athens, it made him sick, which drove him to do something about it.

4) v. 17 – Paul’s response: “So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace very day wit those who happened to be there.”

A)   In the synagogue, he shares a baseline worldview about God and the Scriptures, and he’s able to speak with a shared vocabulary.

1) These are our religious friends who already believe in God and have some sense of morality.

2) Don’t write this group off.

B)    In the marketplace (agora) – Paul took the Gospel to the broken people whose sin made him sick

1) This was outside of his circle, and a completely different set of people.

2) He took the Gospel directly to the town square and starts up deep religious debates with random strangers on their own turf.

3) His message is that the entire foundation of their civilization is fundamentally, catastrophically wrong.

4) This is Paul going to the University campus.

C)    In the next lesson, we’ll see what Paul’s message was to these people.