“Acts 17:16-21”

Saturday, January 30, 2016

“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. 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. And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, ‘What would this idle babbler wish to say?’ Others, ‘He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,’—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, ‘May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.’ (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)”

---End of Scripture verses---

When Paul arrived in Athens, his spirit was “stirred” or “provoked” within him. This is the Greek word “paroxuno”—the verb form of the noun “paroxusmos” where we get our English word paroxysm. Paul’s spirit was “agitated” or “provoked to anger” because of the rampant idolatry which he saw all around him. His spiritual alarm bells were blaring inside his head because of all the sin that he saw, and he was moved deeply within himself by concern for these deceived, misguided, lost people. Question: Shouldn’t sin do that to a godly, faithful follow of Jesus Christ? Does sin still agitate our spirits or have we become desensitized to it from overexposure?

We are in very serious danger if sin just becomes so commonplace and ordinary to us that it fails to register on our spiritual radar screens. First of all, God hates sin, and as His children we are to hate what He hates (Psalm 97:10; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-16). Secondly, if we are unable to sense the vileness of sin, we will also fail to see the seriousness of it and we will be more likely to be overtaken by it. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 tells us to “Abstain from every form of evil.” If we fail to recognize sin for what it is, we will be unable to keep from succumbing to its influence. And finally, if sin can’t rouse us from within, we will never find the initiative to talk to someone about their soul and what sin is doing to it.

Paul’s inner provocation and his love for mankind impelled him to teach these Athenian idolaters about the one, true God of heaven, and what He demanded of them. Paul didn’t go sightseeing when he visited the ancient city of Athens. He wasn’t awed by its grand edifices and impressive architecture. What impressed him the most was that the city was “wholly given to idolatry.” On each side of every street and walkway he saw temples, shrines, statues, images, inscriptions, altars and sacrifices. Contemporary writers said that it was easier to find a god than a man in the city of Athens. Paul alone, in a bustling city of thousands of people, knew the truth. Instead of feeling lonely and overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation, Paul’s spirit provoked him to try to help these overeducated, ignorant heathens. Paul loved people and wanted to save them because Jesus first loved him and had saved him from certain eternal death and destruction (Romans 1:14).

I pray that our hatred for sin and our love for humanity will constrain us to try to teach people the truth they so desperately need. And listen. Don’t worry about saving the whole world or even a whole city. Just look for one person that you can influence for Christ and help change the course of his/her eternal destiny. That will mean the whole world to them. If you are a Christian, someone likely did that for you.

Please read Acts 17:22-34 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

-Louie Taylor

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