CHRIST LEADS HIS CHURCH - Hospers PCA



ATHENS AND JERUSALEM

(Acts 17:16-21)

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F.C.F:

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INTRODUCTION:

A. So here we find Paul in Athens. And this is one of the most fascinating and pored over portions of the book of Acts, because here we find the Gospel coming to the intellectual and cultural center of the ancient world. Here we also find an example of Paul’s preaching to a non-Jewish, thoroughly pagan audience, much as we would face in presenting the Gospel to our increasingly post-Christian world in America today.

Athens had a rich history of philosophical and cultural tradition. Listen to this description by Bible scholar F.F. Bruce:

“Athens, although she had long since lost her political eminence of an earlier day, continued to represent the highest level of culture attained in classical antiquity. The sculpture, literature and oratory of Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. have, indeed, never been surpassed. In philosophy, too, she occupied the leading place, being the native city of Socrates and Plato, and the adopted home of Aristotle, Epicurus and Zeno. In all these fields Athens retained unchallenged prestige, and her political glory as the cradle of democracy was not completely dimmed. In consideration of her splendid past, the Romans left Athens free to carry on her institutions as a free and allied city within the Roman Empire.” (in loc.)

B. What we can say of Athens is that she represented the best of purely human wisdom and understanding. This was the highest that the fallen human intellect could attain unaided by the special revelation of God’s Word. And what is of greatest interest is to note the clash between human wisdom, still represented by the various schools of philosophy in Athens of the day and God’s truth as it came through the Apostle Paul. It is also instructive for our day because the varieties of error are limited. Human reason can concoct an unending number of falsehoods, but only a very few are plausible and only a very small number are in some way workable or livable. You may know nothing about the philosophies Epicureanism or Stoicism which were the leading schools of thought in Athens at the time, yet you have met them over and over again. These systems even masquerade today in the disguise of Christianity.

C. So what I want to do this morning is to consider the Real Christianity as taught by Paul, and then contrast it with its pretenders of Epicureanism (which I call Romantic Christianity) and Stoicism (which I call Rugged Christianity). Hopefully by setting the genuine faith against its counterfeits we can see and practice the truth more faithfully.

I. REAL CHRISTIANITY.

A. Paul was in Athens providentially, but not according to his original plan. He had left Thessalonica hastily due to the opposition of the Jews. And he left Berea under similar circumstances. So while he was awaiting Silas and Timothy, he traveled about the city. He had a chance to look around. But instead of admiring the great sculptures and works of art, he was instead deeply disturbed by them. “16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.” If we were to travel to Athens today, we might well enjoy the beauty of the artist’s craft. But not so in Paul’s day. These were not some mere museum pieces, but idols and shrines begging and receiving the worship and prayers of the superstitious. Here was the epitome of human religious fervor—the foolishness of idolatry. And Paul’s immediate response was to be provoked. He was deeply troubled. The Greek word to describe his reaction comes into English as “paroxysm,” which refers to a seizure or fit. Paul was moved to a deep response of anger, indignation, and outrage. This word is the same one regularly used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to describe the Lord’s own reaction to idolatry.

Paul was provoked by what he saw. And notice that it was not at injustice nor spiritual error nor environmental disaster nor global warming. Paul was deeply disturbed by idolatry—the worship of false gods. What was utmost in his mind was the honor of God. Is it utmost in your mind? Is God’s honor the first and most important priority to you, and do you let yourself be provoked when God is in some way dishonored?

Paul knew that the first commandment was to have no other gods before the Lord. He knew that the second commandment forbade the worship of what our hands fashion. And he knew that according to Jesus the first and great commandment was to love God above all. Paul had been used to praying, as Jesus taught us to pray, the first petition of prayer which was “hallowed be Thy name.” He knew that this whole missionary journey was to see that the earth would be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters covered the seas. And undoubtedly he was disappointed and angered to find that the zenith of human wisdom could only obscure the glory of God through crude idols.

B. This is real Christianity. The goal of real Christianity is the glory of God, that God’s glory be proclaimed and acknowledged everywhere. The real Christian lives to glorify God. His heart beats for the glory of God, his hours waking and sleeping are all dedicated to the glory of God, and his powers, feeble though they may be, are all expended to the glory of God. And when God’s glory is obscured, overshadowed, or denied, the real Christian is provoked.

C. Of equal importance, however, along with what Paul felt is what Paul did. Provocation led to action, to proclamation. “16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.” The cure for the ignorant worship of false gods is to proclaim the glories of the One true God.

So real Christianity is most interested in seeing the glory of God declared, most provoked when the glory of God is obscured, and most desirous to have the true glory of God in Jesus Christ proclaimed.

But while in Athens, Paul was opposed by the representatives of two, competing schools of philosophical thought, the Epicureans and the Stoics. What’s interesting to me is that when you examine the beliefs of these two groups, each of which opposed the biblical Christianity which Paul preached, you find people claiming to be Christian yet teaching something very similar.

II. ROMANTIC CHRISTIANITY.

A. The Epicureans taught that life was due to chance, to the random collision of atoms. Whatever gods there may be, they were utterly irrelevant, so removed from the everyday world as to have no interest or influence on human life and destiny. So the purpose of life was pleasure, especially the pleasure of tranquility, of personal peace of mind detached from passion, pain, and especially fear. Since life was a random accident, there was no afterlife, no survival after death, and no judgment. Their motto could easily have been, “Don’t worry; be happy.” Their chief method was denial. And their goal was personal peace of mind.

Of course this philosophy was greatly at odds with real Christianity, whose goal was the glory of God. Real Christianity becomes passionately provoked at evil and false teaching, and proclaims Jesus as the Son of God, the only Savior from the coming judgment, and the true hope of everlasting life now and after death. So you can see how these two would clash, and how the Epicurean philosophers would scoff at Paul’s Gospel.

B. And yet there is a variety of Christianity today that is more like Epicureanism than it is like the faith of the Bible. It is therapeutic Christianity, a thoroughly psychologized version of the faith that, like Epicureanism, sees personal peace of mind as the highest good. This is romantic Christianity. Its key words are tranquility, harmony, serenity, and positive thinking. It talks much about coping with stress, dealing with personal problems, overcoming hang-ups, seeking inspiration, motivation, and enthusiasm. And this is not because a life of sanctification, of goodness and godliness honors the Lord as Savior, but because it gives me a greater sense of psychological well-being.

This is a light-hearted faith, that seeks to be entertained and inspired, to think happy thoughts and feel warm feelings. It doesn’t mind the wistful tear, as long as it is immediately followed by the radiant smile. It finds words like sin, judgment, hell, holiness, wrath, and repentance to be harsh and abrasive and unpleasing and unwelcome.

C. This is quite common in churches today. It is often called “Christianity,” but this is every bit as much Epicureanism as the philosophy which scoffed at Paul in Athens. It continues to scoff at Paul and his gospel today. And it is an illusion. It is an exercise in denial. It cannot save, and it doesn’t really work. Instead of the coveted personal peace of mind, it can only bring the “fearful expectation of judgment.”

III. RUGGED CHRISTIANITY.

A. Stoicism, on the other hand, was very much at odds with its rival school of Epicureanism. Founded by the Athenian philosopher Zeno who died 265 B.C. it acknowledged a supreme being, only this god was the impersonal ‘world soul.’ Rather than random chance, our times are determined by an inescapable fate. In response, people must simply do their duty, seeking to accept their fate, living by reason, enduring whatever pain may come, and developing self-sufficiency. This was a philosophy of personal power, of grit and determination and self-will, of the indomitable, pragmatic, can-do, pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps, believe-in-yourself spirit.

F.F. Bruce notes that “while Stoicism at its best was marked by a great moral earnestness and a high sense of duty, it was marked also by a spiritual pride quite foreign to the spirit of Christianity.” He offers the familiar lines of the humanist W. E. Henley as representing the “authentic voice of Stoicism.”

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my indomitable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

B. Of course, this proud, indomitable spirit has nothing in common with Real Christianity which teaches our brokenness and need, and God’s love in Christ redeeming sinners through his suffering and pain and glorious resurrection. Stoicism allows no spirit of repentance and faith in another, of humble trust in the mercies of almighty God. No wonder the stoics scoffed at Paul and his Gospel of a crucified and risen Son of God.

And yet, as remarkable as it may seem, there is also a contemporary version of Christianity that more resembles Stoicism than it does the faith of the Bible. If Epicureanism is therapeutic Christianity, Stoicism is pragmatic Christianity. This is the Christianity of the motivational speaker. It often features the “personal testimonial” of someone who overcame against all odds and now is the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or the professional athlete who has made yet another comeback and won yet another contest by the strength of his iron will. This is the religion of the man who said he could, when others said he couldn’t. This religion teaches that you can accomplish anything as long as you believe in yourself, and if you dream it, you can do it. It talks a lot about the power that is within you.

These kinds of statements are often made by those who may profess Christianity. Their favorite verse is “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” though the emphasis is always on the “I can do all things” rather than the “Christ who strengthens me.” You can see that this is really not Christianity, but unvarnished Stoicism, much like that which ridiculed and rejected Paul and his Gospel.

This common teaching today is really at a loss to understand simple statements by Jesus: “blessed are the poor in spirit…, blessed are those who mourn…, and blessed are the meek.”

CONCLUSION

Counterfeits to the faith abound. Paul found Athens to be full of idols. There is nothing new under the sun, and the best human philosophies are often dressed up in Christian verbiage and disguised as true religion. But you can tell them by their utterly self-centered agenda. Their focus will be on you—how you can feel better about yourself, or how you can celebrate yourself and accomplish all your self-centered ambitions.

Real Christianity seeks to glorify God. It is provoked when God’s glory is veiled or denied, and it proclaims God’s highest glory in Christ, for the salvation of lost sinners. This is the saving faith, the heart cry of a heart and mind that has been redeemed, rescued and transformed by Christ. This is the soul that has been so captivated by the love of Christ in his cross and the glory of Christ in his resurrection, that self has been forgotten abandoned for a greater love, for the love of Jesus Christ. (

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