Acts 17:16-34 preached by Pastor Rusten Harris
Big Ideas
1. Provoked by idols
G.K. Chesteron is believed to have said, “When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing, they believe in everything.” When we reject the Creator, we end up believing in myths. This was certainly the case in Athens. Paul observed the overwhelming religious devotion of the people. They were, however, devoted to idols: false, empty, and powerless gods. It was their vain hope in these false gods that provoked Paul to preach the Gospel of the true and living God.
2. Our God is not needy
Seeing an altar that was dedicated to an unknown god, Paul takes the opportunity to declare the one true God. Unlike the false gods that were worshipped throughout the Roman Empire, the God revealed to us in scripture and through his Son Jesus is not needy. He does not need us to give him a temple nor does he need anything else from anyone, for he alone is the self-sufficient triune creator of all things. In every way, he is infinitely superior to the false gods represented at the Areopagus.
3. The God who pursues
Nothing is coincidental. Not the times we live in, the families we are born into, nor our zip codes or addresses. God determines all of this with the intention of drawing us to him. He has determined a day of judgment and has appointed his Son, Jesus, to be both judge and deliverer for all who put their trust in him.
Study Questions
1. Paul was provoked by the vain things that the people were trusting. Though our culture doesn’t erect statues and idols, we do put our hope in things that cannot save us. What are some of our cultural idols? What are some of yours?
2. Read Psalm 115. List the ways that God is superior to idols.
3. In this text, Paul claims that God has arranged our lives in particular ways in order that we might find him. In what ways has God arranged your life specifically to bring you to him?
