Paul at Athens (The Areopagus Sermon) Mars Hill

Paul’s Resurrection Message at Mars Hill

All right, turn, if you would, to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 17. And the title of this message is Mars Hill, Mars Hill. Now, the reason I'm doing this on Easter is because this is the story of the Apostle Paul visiting Athens, where it says, he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.

So the resurrection was the focal point of Paul's message. And for Christians today, belief in the resurrection of Christ. Obviously, this is what Easter is all about, or people who prefer Resurrection Sunday.

It's all about the resurrection of Christ, who rose after being crucified, he rose on the third day. So there's two things that I hope to accomplish with this message. Number one, if someone is unconvinced of the resurrection, I pray that this message would move them in the right direction.

And then number two, everyone who already believes, I pray they would have a deeper appreciation or a deeper understanding of the resurrection and its implications. Because really, if Jesus rose from the dead, and he did, but if Jesus rose from the dead, that changes everything.

Paul Preaches Jesus and the Resurrection in Athens

So let's look at Acts chapter 17, starting in verse 16. Luke writes 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. 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 Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him, and some said, what does this babbler want to say? And others said, well, 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 is this new doctrine 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 the foreigners who were there spent their time and nothing else, but either to tell or to hear of some new thing. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill, also called the Areopagus, and he said, men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious.

For as I was passing through and considered the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with the inscription to the unknown God. Therefore, the one whom you worship without knowing him, I proclaim to you.

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, nor is he worshiped with men's hands as though he needed anything, since he gives to all life, breath, and all things.

And he has made from one blood, every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings 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.

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. 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.

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.

And he has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked while others said, we will hear you again on this matter. So Paul departed from them.

However, some men joined him and believed. Among them Dionysus, the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris and others with him. And may God add a blessing to the reading of his word. So you notice here after Paul gives this message at Morris Hill, we'll explain what Morris Hill is in a moment, but upon hearing about the resurrection, there were basically three reactions from the people.

You saw one reaction is what?

They mocked.

You know, some heard about this and they thought that's ridiculous. So some people mocked. Number two, others were willing to listen and we'll hear you again. They didn't believe it necessarily, but they're willing to listen and hear more some later time.

But the third response, obviously, this is the desired response. It says some believed. So some mocked, some were willing to listen. We'll hear more later. And then some believed. And we'll come back to that at the end.

But the message from Paul was clear. He was telling them that there is this man who rose from the dead. Obviously, if that's true, that changes your thinking on everything. And he's calling them to change their thinking and to amend their ways and to believe on this one whom God anointed and raised from the dead.

The Areopagus, Greek Religion, and Common Ground

So just a little background information about this place. So Athens, some people know a little bit about Athens and Greece. But what about the Areopagus? What is this? So the Areopagus, we know Athens today as the capital of Greece.

Most of us are somewhat familiar with Greek mythology. You heard about that when you were in school. One of the Greek gods was Ares. So Ares was the Greek god. But when the Romans took over, they renamed all the Greek gods.

So Ares became Mars. So this place can either be called the Areopagus, named after Ares, or Mars, his Roman counterpart. Areopagus or Mars Hill. I found this article online. It says Mars Hill is the Roman name for a hill in Athens, Greece, called the Hill of Ares, or the Areopagus.

Ares was the Greek god of war. And according to Greek mythology, this hill was the place where Ares stood trial before the other gods for the murder of Poseidon's son. Now, we recognize this as mythology.

And even back then, many of them viewed it that way,.

As myth.

Rising some 377 feet above the land below, and not far from the Acropolis, Mars Hill served as the meeting place for the Areopagus Court, the highest court in Greece for civil, criminal, and religious matters.

So this was a very important place. It says, even under Roman rule in the time of the New Testament, Mars Hill remained an important meeting place where philosophy, religion, and law were discussed. The biblical significance of Mars Hill is that this is the location of one of Paul's most important gospel presentations at this time when he visited Athens during his second missionary journey.

It was where he addressed the religious idolatry of the Greeks who even had an altar designated for who? The unknown God. It was this altar and their religious idolatry that Paul used as a starting point in proclaiming to them the one true God and how they could be reconciled to him.

So Paul, I think, is trying to reach some common ground. Okay, you guys have this altar. Whatever you believe about that, he used that as sort of a way to kind of launch into his gospel presentation. And of course, that's a good approach to find some common ground with somebody, something that they're interested in or something they might even affirm and then go from there.

So that's what Paul did. Paul knew, here's what he knew. In order for them to be reconciled to God, in order for them to come into a covenant relationship with God, Paul knew whatever else he had to deal with them, whatever they had to work through, he knew it came down to believing that Jesus rose from the dead.

Don't you know that's what the Christian faith, if you were to boil it all down, the one thing you have to believe, the one thing a person must believe is that Jesus was raised from the dead. The resurrection is really the starting point of faith.

At a bare minimum, a believer must affirm the resurrection. So Paul knows that the resurrection is key. I mean, really, if somebody believes that, they shouldn't have a problem with all the other teachings, right?

Because obviously the resurrection is miraculous. But I think I said this and have said it in just about every message that I've given on Easter. The resurrection really serves as something like a litmus test.

There are a lot of things that are important, a lot of things the church teaches, a lot of things that Christians believe, but the gospel is our foundation. Of all the other things that do matter, the gospel is our foundation.

And the gospel deals with the person and work of Christ. What is the gospel? According to 1 Corinthians 15, one through four, the gospel is defined this way, that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, according to the scriptures, that he was buried, and that on the third day, he rose again according to the scriptures.

There are many reasons to believe in the resurrection. Why should a person believe in the resurrection? Well, there is the argument of the empty tomb. That's one argument. But also there are over 500 eyewitnesses, the Bible says.

So all of these people, they saw the risen Lord. Most convincing for me of why I believe the resurrection is really the transformation in the lives of the apostles. When you read about the disciples of Christ, they were constantly saying and doing the wrong thing.

They didn't really come across as the most spiritual men. When Jesus was arrested, what did they do? They ran and hid. They were terrified. You know, how is God gonna use these men to change the world?

And yet they turned into bold witnesses who are willing to give their lives for the cause of Christ. You saw a total transformation from before the cross to the day of Pentecost, really. A total transformation, why?

The only explanation is they saw the risen Lord. Wouldn't that be a life-changing event? They were willing to die because they knew. They knew the message was true. You see, men will die for what they believe in.

Some men will even die for a lie. People will die for a lie if they believe it to be true. But nobody will die for what they know is a lie. And the apostles were all beaten, arrested, and eventually killed for their faith.

Why?

Because they knew Christ rose from the dead. So the resurrection, really, it's everything hinges upon that. And just consider the man who's preaching at Morris Hill,.

Paul.

Paul was what? He was Saul of Tarsus, probably the greatest persecutor of the church. If there was a man who hated the Christian church, it was Saul of Tarsus. And yet he became the church's strongest advocate.

How?

What accounts for that? Paul saw the risen Lord. Okay, so Paul is in Athens. Look at Acts 17, verse 18. In Athens, he's encountering all sorts of different people. Says, then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him.

And some said, what does this babbler want to say? And others said, well, he seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. Now, who are the gods that the Athenians were accustomed to?

Well, they would have known about Zeus, right? Of course, Ares, Hermes, and Artemis. And there was a whole group of Greek gods. So hearing about Jesus, they saw this is a new deity. This is someone new.

But Jesus, really, he's not just another deity to add to the collection because I think this is what Paul was concerned about. He wanted to make sure that if they believed and received the teaching about Jesus, he wanted to make sure they didn't just add Jesus to the pantheon of gods, right?

That all will worship Zeus and Jesus and Artemis and all the rest. No, Paul goes on to tell them how God is, what, Lord of heaven and earth. He is the creator of all things. You see, the Greek gods and later the Roman gods, they were Lord typically over one thing, right?

There was Hades, who is the Lord of the underworld. There was Poseidon, who is the Lord of the sea. So they were used to gods that were in charge of one area. But Paul is coming to them with the true God who is in charge of everything.

He's the creator of everything. He is Lord of heaven and earth. On top of that, God, the true God, has appointed his son, Jesus Christ, as his heir so that now all men everywhere are called to repent and believe on him.

Paul talks about how in previous times, God overlooked certain things. It's not that God excused it, but in time past, people were worshiping all sorts of different things. And most of the people in the world, they didn't know any better.

They knew what they were told, but now the Christian gospel was going to go to the uttermost parts of the earth. And now some 1900 years later, what do we have? The knowledge of Christ is worldwide. Look at verse 31.

He says that God has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. And he has given assurance to this, given assurance of this to all by doing what?

Raising Jesus from the dead. So that is the proof. So however they responded, whether it be by mocking or were willing to listen or whatever it was, this was a new concept. So the Athenians had never heard this before.

Unlike Greek mythology, the Christian message brought hope. So you might assume that all religions bring hope and not necessarily. The Christian message though brought hope. The gospel was indeed life changing, which is why it eventually swept through the nation.

And it's really neat that even to this day, do you realize that the flag of Greece still on their flag has what? The cross, the cross of Christ. So if you think about it, look at it this way. Jesus has conquered the Greek gods.

Jesus has put Zeus underfoot. So the cross of Christ is still on their flag today. But what gave them hope? What was this revolutionary type of message? Well, it was the resurrection. What did it do? It promised life after death.

Life after death with a God who loved his people. See some of the pagan gods, they were like monsters. I don't wanna single out any religion, but if you go and look at some Eastern religions and the pictures of their deities, they're like grotesque.

They're like demons. Well, they probably are demons. But the Christian God is a God who loves his people. So this is a great message. Give you hope, life after death, life with God who loves his people.

Competing Philosophies: Epicureans, Stoics, and Pagan Idolatry

But not all received this message, obviously, because there are competing ideas, just as there are competing ideas today. If you tell someone about Jesus and the gospel, a lot of times people don't believe it because they have their own ideas.

They have their own religious beliefs. They have their own idea of how life works. But verse 18 mentions the Epicureans and the Stoics. So this is some of the ideology that prevented people from believing back then.

The Epicureans, what is an Epicurean? Well, these people were very materialistic. Basically, it's hedonism. This is the pursuit of pleasure, that life is all about pursuing pleasure. On the other hand, you have the Stoics.

They were sort of the opposite. The Stoics, their goal was to be indifferent towards pleasure and pain. The Stoics had a higher appreciation for moral living, but you realize even that, someone who prides themselves on moral living, even that, strange as it is, even that can be a hindrance to believing on Christ because they think, well, I'm such a good person.

I do all these good things. Even that can be a hindrance. So there's all these different ideologies that prevent people from believing in Jesus. So there were obstacles. So Paul is new in town. He has this new message, and it really contradicts what they believed.

So what did they say? In verse 18, what does this babbler want to say? So you can tell they didn't think too highly of Paul. So they're hurling a few insults, but at the same time, they realized that Paul was an intellectual.

The odds are Paul was far more scholarly, far more intelligent than 98 of the people there, if not 100%. So they realized that Paul wasn't crazy. These aren't the rantings of a madman. So they take him to the Areopagus.

So this is where all the wise men of Greek culture would gather together. Anyone who is anyone would be on Mars Hill. Look at verse 21. It says, for all the Athenians and the foreigners who are there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

So really they prided themselves on being in the know. Like, hey, we've heard, we've heard it all. So when Paul comes speaking something new, okay, we at least want to know about it. That was their approach.

In verse 22, Paul opens his address by either complimenting them or rebuking them. Notice, some of you have the King James version.

Of the Bible.

The King James version, see, I read the New King James and Paul says, I perceive that you are very religious, but the King James version says what? You're too superstitious. Now, I'm sorry, one of these sounds positive, the other sounds negative.

So you say, well, which is it? Well, here's the thing, the Greek word can go either way. It can either be used in a positive way or a negative way. So it's kind of hard to tell, but Paul does seem to be trying to find some common ground because he points out that they have this altar that is dedicated to the unknown God.

Now, is that true? Was there a God that they did not know of? Right, and his name's Jesus, by the way, right? That's what this is all about. There was a God they did not know. So Paul, here's the thing, God sent Paul to Athens for this very purpose, to tell them.

In the previous chapter, maybe this is something you've noticed, never really thought about, Paul was gonna go in the opposite direction. Paul was gonna go preach the gospel in Asia, but it says that the Holy Spirit prevented him.

I don't know how, I don't know how that all worked, but here's the thing, the Lord wanted Paul in Athens. And you know, when you're sharing the gospel with people, I think you should maybe have that mindset that God wants me here, God put me here so that I could share the gospel with this person.

Just something to think about. Either way, Paul says, either you're too superstitious or you're very religious. And then he says, the one whom you worship without knowing, verse 23, I proclaim to you.

I think that was a gracious way of putting it because in reality, the people were, there's no nice way to put it, they were pagan idolaters. That's what the men of Athens were. They were pagan idolaters.

They were worshiping graven images. Here's the thing, they really were superstitious. You realize that worshiping idols is really little more than superstition? What do you do? You have this statue, you bow in front of it, you pray to it, say a few words, incantations or whatever.

You offer the idol food or incense. And you think that by doing these certain things, that that's gonna turn your luck around, right? If I just do these rituals, then all these good things, this good fortune will come to me.

But is that really the way it works? But what is Paul preaching? He's preaching what? Blessings in this life. Hey, do this and it'll make your life here on earth so much better. That's not what Paul is preaching.

What is he preaching? The resurrection. What's Easter about? Resurrection Sunday about? It's the resurrection. You realize what it's pointing to? It's pointing to the life to come. It's pointing to heaven.

Here's the point. The foolish thing about trying to make Christianity into just another way of improving your life here on earth. When people, what they usually do is they take Jesus and they try to incorporate Jesus into what they already believe.

Incorporate Jesus into what they're already doing. But because I have Jesus in the mix now, things are gonna go better for me. They almost treat Jesus like, well, being superstitious, like it's a good luck charm.

Here's the thing. Christianity is not about fulfilling all of your dreams here on this earth. That's not what the gospel is. Tip your cap to Jesus and then all of your dreams will come true. That's really not what it is.

It's about the life to come. It's about the resurrection. But really that's what these idol worshipers were doing. They thought that the gods would cause their crops to grow better, that the God of the sea, the Lord of the sea would give them safe journeys or Eros or Cupid would bring love into their life.

That's what they thought religion was all about. Improving the here and now. But Paul was preaching what? The resurrection. Now does God bless his people? Has God blessed you here on earth in the here and now?

Yeah, we can't ignore that. Every good and perfect gift is from above, the scripture says. And following God's commandments here on this earth, it can make your life better. Just like going out and breaking God's commandments will make your life worse, I promise you that.

But we can't lose sight of what the Christian message is. Our hope is not in this life. Our hope is in the life to come. And he preached to them, the Bible says, Jesus and the resurrection. You know what the resurrection does?

It gives us hope that there's something more. See, even worst case scenario that we get sick and we die. Worst case scenario. Guess what? There's still hope. There's still hope of the life to come. It's about the resurrection.

And what does the resurrection prove? It proves that Jesus was who he said he was. He is Lord. He is God. The profession of faith that Jesus is the son of God, that's really a profession of faith that Jesus is equal to God.

Can God die? Can God die? So when Jesus, who claimed to be God, when he was crucified, the resurrection proves he is who he said he was. Number two, the resurrection proves that his sacrifice on the cross was accepted.

And number three, for us, it means that because Jesus lives, we shall live also. So Paul preached Jesus and the resurrection. If that's true, it demonstrates that death is not the final word, amen? Death is not the final word.

So the point is Christianity isn't so much about improving the here and now, although that can happen in the process. And it continues to happen for people, but our hope is in heaven. Think about the words that surround the gospel.

Two words, faith and hope. Think about those words. We trust in God by faith, meaning we can't see him, right? We can't see God. It's not yet. Faith, the Bible says, is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

So we're still waiting for it. Even salvation is spoken of in three different ways. Salvation is spoken of in past tense, present tense and future tense. So we've been saved in the past. We've been saved already from sin's penalty that we're going to heaven and not hell.

We're being saved currently from sin's power. This is sanctification. But one day we will be saved finally from sin's very presence. Salvation, sanctification and glorification would be the three words.

So because Jesus rose from the dead, we express faith in that, and that faith brings us what? The second word, hope. Faith gives us hope. Remove faith and hope from this world.

What do you have?

Remove faith and hope from a person's life. What do they have? You have doubt and despair is what you have. That's what's reigning in the world today, doubt and despair. Because people have turned away from God, when nations, civilizations, when they turn away from God, where do they resort back to?

They resort back to paganism. They resort back to pagan philosophies. Hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure, that's what's really driving our culture right now. Hedonism, Epicureanism, materialism. And then there are the Stoics who just try to, they wanna be numb to it all, just be indifferent to everything.

Oh, maybe that describes somebody listening right now, that, yeah, that's my life. I'm pursuing pleasure. My life is about me feeling good. If it feels good, do it, right? So that's the way some people look at life.

The meaning to life is have a good time, pursue pleasure. Other people, they're trying to numb themselves to it all. So they're just indifferent. But there's all these different philosophies, all these different ideas.

If that sounds familiar to anyone, yes, this is what I'm seeking right now. I would just encourage you, this Easter, take a step in the right direction. Take a step towards faith. So step in the direction of faith.

Three Responses to the Gospel: Mocking, Listening, and Believing

What did the people of Athens do? Starting to wrap this up, what did they choose? Three responses, right? Number one, there were mockers. And there might be someone who's a mocker today. Now, we're in church right now.

We all try to be polite. If there's somebody who is a mocker, you're probably just gonna mock in your heart. You're probably not gonna say anything about it. Although if I preach this sermon in public, if I went down on the street corner, I'm sure there'd be some mockers, wouldn't there?

But if you are a mocker, just keep in mind, God has turned some mockers into missionaries. God has turned some enemies into friends. The apostle Paul, he was the greatest mocker and indeed a persecutor of the church.

And here he is preaching to the men of Athens. So God can change the mocker. To the second group, maybe there's somebody listening right now. You're willing to listen. You don't necessarily believe it, but you're willing to consider it.

And you're willing to hear more. Well, I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're willing to listen. But I would just encourage you to take a step in the other direction and become part of this third category.

This is they who believe. Acts 17, 32 and 33 says, and when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked while others said, we will hear you again on this matter. So Paul departed from among them.

However, some men joined him and believed. And then it mentions a few of them by name. And I would say the symbolism of mentioning their name is that they are remembered by God. All the men of Athens who mocked, where are they today?

These couple of people are remembered by God. So it says they believed. What did they believe? They believed in the resurrection of the dead. They believe that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day.

How did they express that? Paul explains this in Romans 10, verse nine, where he said, if you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Saved from sin's penalty, saved from sin's power, and one day even saved from sin's very presence. So they believed the message of Easter that Jesus rose from the dead. So if you believe, let's just say there is somebody, I will take a step in the right direction.

What do you do? Confess with your mouth. Confess with your mouth, believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead. I'll just close with this. You know, the number three is very important for Christians.

You know, there's some numbers that are more important than others, right? Three, seven, right, 12. These are important numbers. So Easter, what do we have? Jesus rising from the dead on what? The third day.

We also have God, who is a trinity, three in one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You know, there's also a three that makes up the church's mission, what it's all about. The Great Commission, number one, make disciples.

People need to believe. Confess with your mouth. Number two, be baptized. And then number three, they who believe and are baptized are to be taught all that Christ commanded. So you believe, you get baptized, and then you join the church, which is the body of Christ.

So if you've never done this and this Easter season, you are willing to take a step in the right direction, you're willing to take a step in the direction of faith, that's what you need to do, believe.

In your heart, you can tell the Lord right now, Lord, I pray, I believe in you. I believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Next step, be baptized. Next step, join the church. Enter into covenant relationship with him through his church.

Acts 17, verses 30 and 31. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.

Why?

Because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. And he has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead.