The Seventh of Ten days

Acts 17:16-34

The God and Father of Jesus Christ is the One True God who desires to be known by all peoples (vv. 16-27).

Humanity is incurably religious and always has been. We see this very clearly in this passage. The city of Athens was filled with idols and had many altars. One altar had the inscription, “To an Unknown God.” It is as if they wanted to make sure they did not leave out any deities. When Paul saw this, the passage says that he was greatly distressed. Paul seized an opportunity to boldly proclaim that there was only one true God – the God and Father of Jesus Christ. He made the world and all that is in it. He is Lord of Heaven and earth. He is self-sufficient and has no needs. He is not some weak idol that needs to be carried by its craftsman. As the creed says, he is “God the Father, Almighty Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth.”

We know from other scriptures that God is jealous with a holy jealousy. Isaiah 42:8 says, “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.” He alone is God and He alone is worthy of the worship of all peoples. When someone in Japan burns incense to Buddha, or a Muslim in Turkey prays to Allah, or Hindu in India bows down to a statue that represents one of 300 million gods they worship, God’s jealousy is incited. Worship, passion, trust, sacrifice, creativity, artistry, dancing, hope, are all being wasted on false gods while the true God is unknown, unloved, and belittled. We need to taste the jealousy of God and like Paul be greatly distressed by the idolatry of the nations. We need to sense the longing of God to be known and worshiped worldwide. John Piper says, “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” In other words, the reason we do missions is because there are places on this planet where our God is not worshiped. Do you desire to see your God exalted by all peoples? Do you long to see God gain the worship of the nations -worship that is being wasted on false gods? Are you passionate for the salvation of those who have yet to hear of him, the One True God?

Idolatry is not a symptom of stupidity but ignorance (vv. 23, 30).

The first time you ever see idol worship you wonder, “How can anyone possible believe that this block of wood, or this golden statue has life and power?” It is easy to begin to view the people as ridiculous and stupid for their beliefs. Notice in our text that Paul is dealing with fairly intelligent people. They are educated philosophers. They were not stupid, but Paul says that they act out of ignorance. The word ignorance simply means, “without knowledge.” The people of Acts 17 had no knowledge of the true God. They were blind spiritually. Blind and ignorant their search for God brought them to their own conclusions about reality and about deity. So Paul took the opportunity to address their ignorance and tell them about the God that they were really searching for. He did not ridicule them for worshipping idols, but saw those idols as symptoms of their longing for God and ignorance of him. (In the OT we see the prophets ridiculing Israel and Judah for their idolatry, but Israel and Judah had a knowledge of the true God; they just rejected it). As we look around the world we see the idolatry of Hindus, Buddhist, adherents to the Shinto religion adherents to tribal religions, and numerous others. We must see their idolatry as a symptom of their longing for God and of their ignorance of Him. They are trapped in spiritual blindness left to make their own conclusions about God. What they need is light. What they need is knowledge of the true God.

God is sovereign over all the nations and one day will judge them through his appointed judge, Jesus Christ (26-31).

There is coming a day when Jesus Christ will return and judge the world. For those who did not embrace him as Lord and Savior and become his worshipers, they will be forever separated from God. The coming judgment is presented in Scripture as a motivation for the nations to believe. It is also presented as a motivation for us to go into all the world with a sense of urgency and proclaim the message of repentance unto God and faith in Jesus Christ (v. 30). When this day comes it will be a day of justice. Injustice, poverty, disease, famine, will all be wiped out and Jesus Christ will reign. But, the end will not come until the gospel penetrates every people group on planet earth. In Matthew 24:14, Jesus says, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to the nations, and then the end will come.” Jesus will not return until the gospel is preached among every people group. From a human perspective, we only delay his return as we delay our obedience.

God, you alone are the One and True God; there is no other. You are Maker of Heaven and earth and rule over your creation. Your desire is to be known and worshiped in all the earth. Let me taste your jealousy for your glory among all nations and let me taste your compassion for those who are trusting in idols and false gods. Let the reality of Your judgment on the nations give me a sense of urgency to go as your messenger and proclaim the truth that saves. Thank you for the confidence that many will believe. You have promised it, you have guaranteed it, and you will see to it. Then the end will come. I want my obedience to quicken your return. Here am I, send me Lord. Amen.