Tag Archives: Athens

ACTS THE SEQUEL…ENTER AQUILA AND PRISCILLA – 40

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Dotted all over the known world, God had His people. So, on to Corinth…

“Corinth is a historic city in southern Greece, located on the isthmus connecting the Peloponnese to the mainland, about 80 km west of Athens…

“Inhabited since the Neolithic period, ancient Corinth was a major commercial center during the 7th–6th centuries BC. It was a dominant Greek city-state known for its naval power and as a “mother city” (metropolis) to many colonies…

“The Apostle Paul famously visited Corinth in the 1st century AD, spending 18 months there establishing a church.

The biblical books of 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians are letters written by Paul to the Christian community in this city. 

“Ancient Corinth Includes the 6th-century BC Temple of Apollo, the Roman Forum, and the Bema, where Paul was brought before the proconsul Gallio….” (Source: Google AI)

“Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had left Italy when Claudius Caesar deported all Jews from Rome. Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was.”

Priscilla and Aquila, two people who became  Paul’s close associates…fellow Jews…fellow believers…and fellow craftsmen.  Luke gives us a glimpse into Paul’s everyday life in Corinth. We sometimes use the term “tent making” to describe people who earn their own living as well as preaching the gospel.  Paul was one of these. He claimed not to be a burden to the churches by working to support himself rather than depending on the churches to fund him. 

So, he joined Aquila and Priscilla in their tent-making business, remaining in Corinth for at least eighteen months. This association must have led to close friendship with these two people. At the same time, he preached and taught in the local synagogue until, as usual, the opposition reached the point where he could no longer find an audience in the synagogue. 

“Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike. And after Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul spent all his time preaching the word. He testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, “Your blood is upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.”

‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭18‬:‭4‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Then he left and went to the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and everyone in his household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also heard Paul, became believers, and were baptized.”

‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭18‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Unlike his compatriots, the Jews, Paul found the Gentiles open to the gospel and willing to listen to his message. Once again, a church was born in Corinth, people who turned out to be spiritually gifted but immature and somewhat unruly. In more than one letter,  Paul had to address them quite severely for the childish behaviour of some. 

Paul became discouraged. I guess, after years on the road, battling the hardships of travel as well as the mixed reception he received from his hearers, and the care of new believers fresh out of paganism…he must have been exhausted. There was no such thing as “time out”…going home on furlough…or spending a few days at the beach!

So the Lord paid him a personal visit. 

“One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God.”

In one of few recorded verbal encounters with the Lord, especially when Paul needed encouragement, God told him to persevere because He had many people in this city whom He had chosen. 

However, once again, the Jews rose up to make trouble for Paul.  Gallio, the newly appointed governor of Achia, refused to listen to their false accusations against him and dismissed them with contempt. 

“But when Gallio became governor of Achaia, some Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment. They accused Paul of “persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to our law.” But just as Paul started to make his defense, Gallio turned to Paul’s accusers and said, “Listen, you Jews, if this were a case involving some wrongdoing or a serious crime, I would have a reason to accept your case. But since it is merely a question of words and names and your Jewish law, take care of it yourselves. I refuse to judge such matters.” And he threw them out of the courtroom. The crowd then grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him right there in the courtroom. But Gallio paid no attention.”

‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭18‬:‭9‬-‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Just for good measure, because they couldn’t get their way, the mob assaulted Sosthenes, leader of the synagogue…but Gallio was indifferent to their hooligan behaviour. He turned his back on them…

By this time, we would surely given up and gone home. Not Paul. His life was not his own. He had a calling…he had a commission…he was determined to remain faithful to the end. 

“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, Paul soldiered on, his determined purpose to reach Rome itself, the centre of the “world” to which he was called to take the gospel.  

To be continued

ACTS THE SEQUEL…ATHENS – 39

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“But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭17‬:‭13‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The same pattern…the same result! The same battle lines! The hostile Jews in Thessalonica were not satisfied to get rid of Paul from their own city. They hounded him to Berea…stirring up a mob of hooligans like themselves. 

Once again, Paul had to flee for his own safety, leaving Silas and Timothy to follow when the coast was clear…And so, they finally reached Athens, another hotbed of idolatry and false worship. 

Paul was not idle while he waited for his companions to rejoin him. He found another opportunity to preach the truth…

“While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭17‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Of course…the synagogue…the first and best place to gather an audience. Jews and proselyte Greeks were willing to listen to him there and so did a gathering of philosophers in the market place, men who held opposing ideas about life. 

Paul dived in with all the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, preaching the message he loved best to share…Jesus….crucified and risen. 

…Then…

“A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭17‬:‭18‬-‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Well! That was the invitation Paul was waiting for.  Debate! There was nothing he could do better than debate the truth with those who were constantly looking for new ideas. Were these philosophers honestly seeking truth or were they only enjoying and honing their debating skills? 

Paul gave them more than they bargained for…he had his point of contact…the very idols he hated so much.  

“Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭17‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The unknown god they included in their pantheon of gods, just in case they left one out… was the one he chose to introduce to them. The Unknown God…the Creator God…the self-sustaining God…the God who gives life and orders men’s affairs…this God is real. He is. the one who seeks and finds…

This is the God who will judge all people. He is not represented by an idol…and neither are we!

““LTherefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭17‬:‭29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“It’s time, people of Athens!  God is here, now, calling on you to change your minds and turn back to His way. Judgement is coming and no one will escape.”

“In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭17‬:‭30‬-‭31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul finally dropped the bomb!  Carefully weaving his argument around the one whom God appointed as judge because He vindicated Him by raising Him from the dead, he had their attention! Resurrection! This was a brand new and startling idea. 

“When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” At that, Paul left the Council. Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭17‬:‭32‬-‭34‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This was a cliff-hanger…and Paul left them with it. The real ones…the ones who had taken the bait…the ones in whose hearts was hunger and hope…were the ones who wanted more. They went after him to find out about the truth…and they believed…

and so, the church took root in yet another city…regardless of conflict…opposition…war…the word of God prevailed again…the kingdom planted in human hearts!

God had added Athens to the growing list of towns and cities where the gospel had begun to take root. Seeds were sown…new life was beginning to sprout…despite jealousy, hatred, opposition, persecution…everything the enemy threw at them failed to stop them because the march of God’s kingdom was unstoppable. No matter how hard some of the soil might be,  the seed of truth would fall into good ground, take root and grow. 

To be continued

THE BOOK OF ACTS – ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE

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ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE

“These people got together and asked him to make a public presentation over at the Areopagus, where things were a little quieter. They said, ‘This is a new one on us. We’ve never heard anything quite like it. Where did you come up with this anyway? Explain it so we can understand.’ Downtown Areopagus was a great place for gossip. There were always people hanging around, natives and tourists alike, waiting for the latest tidbit on most anything.

“So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. ’It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, TO THE GOD NOBODY KNOWS. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with.'” Acts 17:19-23 (The Message).

Masterful stroke! We can learn a lot from Paul’s approach to people. His evangelistic style was faultless. He was no Bible-basher; he began where people were.

In a letter to one of the churches he explained his method. ‘I have become all things to all people.’ It would have been useless talking to the intelligentsia in Athens about Abraham or the exodus from Egypt. It would have meant nothing to them. But to begin with their shrines and images was right on target. It was something they understood and were into in their everyday lives.

Paul recognised that they were a religious people. There were shrines and idols everywhere. This meant that they acknowledged the need to worship something or someone greater than themselves. They even realised that out there somewhere was a God they did not know. In their ignorance, they added Him to their collection of man-made deities.

Paul was astute enough to realise that this was the gap he needed to get his message across — his point of contact with them. Since they already honoured this UNKOWN GOD in their way by making an altar to Him, he would fill them in on the details of who He was and what He had done to make contact with them and to reveal Himself to them.

Paul did it in such an inoffensive way that he was able to arouse their interest and not their antagonism. Once the door was open, he had carte blanche to share God’s story, to give them their opportunity to believe it or not to believe it.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where the story of Jesus is relatively well known in many places, but so distorted by the additions of religion or the misrepresentation of those who have embraced the theory but don’t practise it that it no longer looks anything like He intended it to be.

What is our role in spreading His story to the world? We need to shed all the religious baggage the church has gathered over the centuries and get back to who Jesus is and what He called us to do. His invitation remains unchanged and is deceptively simple: ‘Follow me.’

Like Paul, we need to live with our ear close to His heart — learning to listen and obey. If we do that, we will also recognise those ‘light bulb’ moments when the Spirit whispers wisdom into our minds to grab the opportunity that will crack open the hardest heart and shine His light into the darkness.

THE BOOK OF ACTS – OCCUPIED TERRITORY

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OCCUPIED TERRITORY

“The longer Paul waited in Athens for Silas and Timothy, the angrier he got — all those idols! The city was a junkyard of idols.

“He discussed it with the Jews and other like-minded people at their meeting place. And every day he went out on the streets and talked with anyone who happened along. He got to know some of the Epicurean and Stoic intellectuals pretty well through these conversations. Some of them dismissed him with sarcasm: ‘What an airhead!’ But others, listening to him go on about Jesus and the resurrection, were intrigued: ‘That’s a new slant on the gods. Tell us more.'” Acts 17:16-18 (The Message).

Angry? Why was Paul angry when he saw the city of Athens dotted with idols? Did it really matter that they used images to decorate their city?

Yes, it did matter to Paul because idols were the evidence of “foreign occupation”. The city of Athens, capital of Greece was announcing, through the visible symbols of their allegiance, that they were part of the devil’s domain. They were “occupied territory” and subject to his rule and, therefore, they would not be rescued without a fight.

Unlike the countries that Germany occupied during WW2, the people of Athens, and the rest of the world, accepted Satanic occupation without resistance. You see, they didn’t know any better. Satan exploited their ignorance and their gullibility to entrench himself in their belief system because they knew of no alternative.

It is the devil’s avowed intention to wrest worship from the rightful King of the universe, Jesus. Long before God prepared the earth to be a suitable home for man, He evicted the devil from His domain for rebelling against Him, and banished him to the earth.

“And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” Revelation 12:7-9 (NIV).

Why was Paul angry? Was he angry with the Athenians for worshipping idols? No, he was angry with the devil for hoodwinking the people. All they needed to do was to follow the whims of their rebellious hearts and they were suckers for any lying suggestion the devil made to them.

Without supernatural revelation from God, human beings cannot know Him or even conceive of a being like Him. All we can do is create beings in our imagination who are caricatures of human beings, and can never be any greater than we are, and then worship them as though they really exist. And the devil is laughing because he is the inspiration behind our foolishness and gets the glory for it.

Whatever we put our confidence in that is not God is an idol. The tragedy is that we become what we worship. People who put their confidence in money, for example, are most often times greedy, stingy and even dishonest to hold on to what they have and to get more.

God said of His people: “When they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved.” Hosea 9:10b (NIV).

People are not only held captive to Satan’s lies but also suspicious of the truth. Some Athenians laughed at Paul and walked away. Others waited around a little longer to listen to him. What does it take to convince a person that God is telling the truth? It takes an honest person and a mighty, supernatural act of God’s Holy Spirit to rescue a deceived soul from the clutches of the devil and transfer him into the realm of God’s truth.

All Things To All People

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ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE

“These people got together and asked him to make a public presentation over at the Areopagus, where things were a little quieter. They said, ‘This is a new one on us. We’ve never heard anything quite like it. Where did you come up with this anyway? Explain it so we can understand.’ Downtown Areopagus was a great place for gossip. There were always people hanging around, natives and tourists alike, waiting for the latest titbit on most anything.

“So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them.’It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, TO THE GOD NOBODY KNOWS. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with.'” Acts 17:19-23 (The Message).

Masterful stroke! We can learn a lot from Paul’s approach to people. His evangelistic style was faultless. He was no Bible-basher; he began where people were.

In a letter to one of the churches he explained his method. ‘I have become all things to all people.’ It would have been useless talking to the intelligentsia in Athens about Abraham or the exodus from Egypt. It would have meant nothing to them. But to begin with their shrines and images was right on target. It was something they understood and were into in their everyday lives.

Paul recognised that they were a religious people. There were shrines and idols everywhere. They meant that they acknowledged the need to worship something or someone greater than themselves. They even realised that out there somewhere was a God they did not know. In their ignorance, they added Him to their collection of man-made deities.

Paul was astute enough to realise that this was the gap he needed to get his message across — his point of contact with them. Since they already honoured this UNKOWN GOD in their way by making an altar to Him, he would fill them in on the details of who He was and what He had done to make contact with them and to reveal Himself to them.

Paul did it in such an inoffensive way that he was able to arouse their interest and not their antagonism. Once the door was open, he had carte blanche to share God’s story, to give them their opportunity to believe it or not to believe it.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where the story of Jesus is relatively well known in many places, but so distorted by the additions of religion or the misrepresentation of those who have embraced the theory but don’t practise it that it no longer looks anything like He intended it to be.

What is our role in spreading His story to the world? We need to shed all the religious baggage the church has gathered over the centuries and get back to who Jesus is and what He called us to do. His invitation remains unchanged and is deceptively simple: ‘Follow me.’

Like Paul, we need to live with our ear close to His heart — learning to listen and obey. If we do that, we will also recognise those ‘light bulb’ moments when the Spirit whispers wisdom into our minds to grab the opportunity that will crack open the hardest heart and shine His light into the darkness.