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ABF Teacher’s Lesson
Sunday January 20th 2008
Starting Strong
Being a Witness
Being A Witness
How to Confront the Culture
Introduction
God has asked us all with being ready to witness. In Acts 5:20 we are charged with telling
people the full message of this new life. Yet most of us do not tell others! A Gallop poll
indicated that out of all evangelical, American believers, only two percent had introduced
another person to Christ..
Our culture is searching for answers to life and the next. Howard Hendricks says “in the midst
of a generation screaming for answers, Christians are stuttering.”
When we take the gospel to our city, it's amazing to watch God's Word transcend the culture—
and every false religion—to change lives. The message of salvation in Christ truly knows no
hindrance.
If you think evangelism is a somewhat arduous task in that environment, you're right. We face
a culture that has rejected absolute truth and now considers it stylish to openly embrace and
encourage degrading passions. The ecumenical spirit of the age recoils in horror at the
exclusive claims of Christ. And popular, evangelical seeker-sensitive churches only make the
task more difficult by refusing to confront sin in an effort to make the "unchurched" sinner
comfortable.
Evangelism is difficult, but that's nothing new. Paul faced worse challenges in his day. He
faced an increasingly anti-Christian culture—there was no spirit of tolerance to shield
believers from hostility. Still, he witnessed to others with the uncompromising message of
repentance. That is best illustrated in Acts 17:16-34 where Paul faced one of the most
intellectually erudite and morally corrupt audiences ever–the philosophers on Mars Hill.
The Situation: Acts 17:16-21
 Paul came to Athens after being forced to flee Thessalonica and Berea (Acts 17:1-15).
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ABF Teacher’s Lesson
Sunday January 20th 2008
Starting Strong
Being a Witness

Athens was the heart of Greek culture and thought, renowned for its art and philosophy
and some of the most famous philosophers.

The founders of two dominant philosophies, Epicurus (Epicureanismi) and Zeno
(Stoicismii), had taught in Athens.
 Athens was also the home of almost every man-made god in existence.

The pagan writer Petroniusiii once said it was easier to find a god in Athens than a man.

In fact it was Athenian idolatry that drove Paul to preach the gospel in Athens—such
idolatry offended him to the core (v. 16).
Acts 17:16 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.

In customary fashion, he marched directly to the local synagogue and was reasoning from
the Scriptures (cf. v. 2)
Acts 17:2 And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them
from the Scriptures
Acts 17:17 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.
 Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers heard Paul's message in the market place and brought
him to the Areopagusiv on Mars Hill before some of the most astute philosophers in Athens.

They had no interest in the gospel; Paul was simply a novelty to them.

They set him in their midst as a specimen that would amuse their interest in
Acts 17:21 Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other
than telling or hearing something new.

That's the setting for Paul's message and method for confronting a godless culture.
The Method: Acts 17:22-34
 Paul spoke his message to an indifferent and arrogant audience, like many to whom you and I
speak today.
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ABF Teacher’s Lesson
Sunday January 20th 2008
Starting Strong
Being a Witness

As we look at how Paul preached to the philosophers, you'll see three essential elements
of an effective message to confront our post-Christian culture with the truth.
Tell them that God is.
See Acts 17:22-23.
 Here's Paul's first point: "You are ignorant and I'm going to give you the truth."

Try recommending that opening line at an evangelism conference.
 Some people think Paul commended their religiosity when he mentioned their many objects of
worship.

He wasn't commending them at all–their idols infuriated him (v. 16).
 Rather, he started with a given: all men are innately religious.

All men are created to be worshipers–they either worship God or something else, but
everyone worships something.

The Athenians were no different.
 EXTERNALLY, God has given witness about Himself through what He created.
Psalm 19:1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

Their expanse is declaring the work of His hands" (Ps. 19:1).
 INTERNALLY, according to Romans 1:19.
Romans 1:19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

They have an innate sense of the true God of the Bible, His standards are written on their
hearts, and their consciences hold them accountable
Romans 2:14-15 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law,
these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in
their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending
them,

But because of sin, they "suppress the truth in unrighteousness".
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ABF Teacher’s Lesson
Sunday January 20th 2008
Starting Strong
Being a Witness
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

They willfully reject what they know to be true and choose instead to worship in
ignorance.
Tell them WHO God is.
Read Acts 17:24-29
 This is Paul's lesson to the ignorant about the unknown God.

This is Theology 101. It's ironic that Paul was teaching the ABCs of theology to those who
were known worldwide as supreme intellectuals.

It proves the truth of 1 Corinthians 1:25
1 Corinthians 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger
than men.

Here are five things ignorant, rebellious men need to know about the "Unknown God."
God is the CREATOR.
See verse 24a
Acts 17:24 a “The God who made the world and all things in it,
 In Paul's day and ours, the truth makes no room for men's opinions regarding origins.
God is the RULER.
See verse 24b
Acts 17:24 b Since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
 It logically follows that if God is the Creator, He is also the rightful Ruler of what He created. And if
He is Creator and Ruler, He doesn't live in what His creatures have made.
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ABF Teacher’s Lesson
Sunday January 20th 2008
Starting Strong
Being a Witness
God is the GIVER.
See verse 25
Acts 17:25 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;
 Far from needing anything from men, the Creator "causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matt. 5:45).
God is the CONTROLLER.
See verse 26
Acts 17:26 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,
 That statement was a blow to the national pride of the Greeks, who scornfully referred to nonGreeks as "barbarians."

Nonetheless, God controls the affairs and destinies of men and nations.
God is the REVEALER.
See verses 27-29
Acts 17:27-29 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; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we
also are His children.’ “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.
 Men should seek God.
 God, by creating, ruling, giving, and controlling all things, has clearly revealed Himself in what He
has made—men are truly without excuse (Rom. 1:20).
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ABF Teacher’s Lesson
Sunday January 20th 2008
Starting Strong
Being a Witness
Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
Third, tell them what God SAYS.
Read Acts 17:30-31
 Paul's evangelism method ends with a simple, powerful point: tell them to repent or be judged.

In the past, God was patient.

But a day is coming when He will judge the world through Jesus Christ.

God gave sufficient proof of the truth of His Word in the resurrection of His Son—
He holds all men accountable to that evidence.

His grace in the past and His wrath in the future require repentance in the present.

As Paul said elsewhere,
"Now is 'the acceptable time,' behold, now is 'the day of salvation'" (2 Cor. 6:2).
Conclusion
 That message isn't popular today, but then again, it has never been popular.
 See how unpopular the gospel has always been
Acts 17:32-33 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, “We
shall hear you again concerning this.” So Paul went out of their midst.
 I mentioned earlier that Paul's method was effective, and it is. Look at verse 34.
Acts 17:34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman
named Damaris and others with them.
 It was effective to save those whom God chose to save. Paul was faithful to proclaim the truth. He
left the results to God.
From Athens to Los Angeles, first century to twenty-first century and everywhere in between,
repentance may not be popular, but it's still the gospel. Teach this post-Christian culture about God
and then command repentance. That's the only message we have; without it, no one would be saved.
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ABF Teacher’s Lesson
Sunday January 20th 2008
Starting Strong
Being a Witness
i
Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of Epicurus (c. 340–c. 270 BC), founded around 307 BC. Epicurus was an atomic materialist,
following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Following Aristippus—about whom very little
is known—Epicurus believed that the greatest good was to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquility and freedom from fear (ataraxia) as well as
absence of bodily pain (aponia) through knowledge of the workings of the world and the limits of our desires. The combination of these two states is supposed to
constitute happiness in its highest form. Although Epicureanism is a form of hedonism, insofar as it declares pleasure as the sole intrinsic good, its conception of
absence of pain as the greatest pleasure and its advocacy of a simple life make it quite different from "hedonism" as it is commonly understood.
For Epicurus, the highest pleasure (tranquility and freedom from fear) was obtained by knowledge, friendship, and living a virtuous and temperate life. He lauded the
enjoyment of simple pleasures, by which he meant abstaining from bodily desires, such as sex and appetites, verging on asceticism. He argued that when eating, one
should not eat too richly, for it could lead to dissatisfaction later, such as the grim realization that one could not afford such delicacies in the future. Likewise, sex
could lead to increased lust and dissatisfaction with the sexual partner. Epicurus did not articulate a broad system of social ethics that has survived.
Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism, though later it became the main opponent of Stoicism. Epicurus and his followers shunned politics. After the
death of Epicurus, his school was headed by Hermarchus; later many Epicurean societies flourished in the Late Hellenistic era and during the Roman era (such as
those in Antiochia, Alexandria, Rhodes and Ercolano). The poet Lucretius is its most known Roman proponent. By the end of the Roman Empire it had all but died out,
and would be resurrected in the 17th century by the atomist Pierre Gassendi, who adapted it to the Christian doctrine.
Some writings by Epicurus have survived. Some scholars consider the epic poem On the Nature of Things by Lucretius to present in one unified work the core
arguments and theories of Epicureanism. Many of the papyrus scrolls unearthed at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum are Epicurean texts. At least some are
thought to have belonged to the Epicurean Philodemus.
ii
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy, founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early third century BC. It proved to be a popular and durable philosophy,
with a following throughout Greece and the Roman Empire from its founding until all the schools of philosophy were ordered closed in AD 529 by the Emperor
Justinian I, who perceived their pagan character to be at odds with his Christian faith.[1] The core doctrine of Stoicism concerns cosmic Determinism and human
freedom, and the belief that virtue is to maintain a Will that is in accord with nature.
In the life of the individual man, virtue is the sole good; such things as health, happiness, possessions, are of no account. Since virtue resides in the will, everything
really good or bad in a man's life depends only upon himself. He may become poor, but what of it? He can still be virtuous. A tyrant may put him in prison, but he can
still persevere in living in harmony with Nature. He may be sentenced to death, but he can die nobly, like Socrates. Therefore every man has perfect freedom,
provided he emancipates himself from mundane desires.
iii
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Petronius (ca. 27–66) was a Roman writer of the Neronian age; he was a noted satirist. He is identified with Gaius Petronius Arbiter, but the manuscript text of the
Satyricon calls him Titus Petronius.
Life and work
The historian Tacitus describes a Petronius who was the arbiter elegantiae, "judge of elegance" in the court of the emperor Nero. This Petronius is generally thought
to be the same Petronius who is named in manuscripts as author of the Satyricon, a fragmentary novel in Latin describing the adventures of a homosexual pair,
Encolpius and Giton. The work itself reveals nothing directly of Petronius' fortunes, position, or even century, so the identification of the author with Nero's courtier
must remain speculative. Some lines of Sidonius Apollinaris, from his Carmen XXIII, refer to him and are often taken to imply that he lived and wrote at Massilia. If,
however, one accepts the identification of this author with the Petronius of Tacitus, Nero's courtier, it follows either that he was born in Massilia, or that Sidonius
refers to the novel itself and that its scene was partly laid at Massilia.
The chief personages of the story are evidently strangers in the towns of Southern Italy. Their Greek-sounding names (Encolpius, Ascyltos, Giton, etc.) and literary
training accord with the characteristics of the old Greek colony in the 1st century. The high position among Latin writers ascribed by Sidonius to Petronius, and the
mention of him by Macrobius beside Menander among the humorists, when compared with the absolute silence of Quintilian, Juvenal and Martial, seem adverse to
the opinion that the Satyricon was a work of the age of Nero. But Quintilian was concerned with writers who could be turned to use in the education of an orator.
iv
Areopagus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article concerns the place where a classical judicial body met. For the 16th century literary movement, see Areopagus (poetry). For the regional government
during the Greek War of Independence, see Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece. For the modern Greek Supreme Court, see Court of Cassation (Greece).
The Areopagus as viewed from the AcropolisThe Areopagus or Areios Pagos (Greek Άρειος Πάγος) is the 'Hill of Ares', north-west of the Acropolis, which in classical
times functioned as the chief homicide court of Athens. Ares was supposed to have been tried here by the Gods for the murder of Poseidon's son Alirrothios (a typical
example of an aetiological myth). In The Eumenides of Aeschylus (458), the Areopagus is the site of the trial of Orestes for killing his mother (Clytemnestra) and her
lover (Aegisthus).
The origin of its name is not clear. In Greek pagos means big piece of rock. Areios could have come from Ares or from the Erinyes, as on its foot was erected a temple
dedicated to the Erinyes where murderers used to find shelter so as not to face the consequences of their actions.
Near the Areopagus was also constructed the basilica of Dionysius Areopagites.
In pre-classical times (before the 5th century BC), the Areopagus was the council of elders of the city, similar to the Roman Senate. Like the Senate, its membership
was restricted to those who had held high public office, in this case that of Archon. In 462 BC, Ephialtes put through reforms which deprived the Areopagus of almost
all its functions except that of a murder tribunal in favor of Heliaia.
In an unusual development, the Areopagus acquired a new function in the 4th century BC, investigating corruption, although conviction powers remained with the
Ecclesia.
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ABF Teacher’s Lesson
Sunday January 20th 2008
Starting Strong
Being a Witness
The Areopagus, like most city-state institutions, continued to function in Roman times, and it was from this location, drawing from the potential significance of the
Athenian temple to the Unknown God, that the Apostle Paul is said to have delivered the famous speech, 'Now what you worship as something unknown I am going
to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.'
The term "Areopagus" also refers to the judicial body of aristocratic origin, the power of which was enhanced by Solon, or the higher court of Greece.