Defending the Faith II

1. How do we study worldviews?

a. First, by learning the only genuinely true worldview—the Christian worldview
b. By looking briefly at the various unchristian ideas in the marketplace
c. By seeing the common threads of the world’s worldviews.

2. The Defender of the Faith in the Marketplace—17:16-21

a. First, this is not a “failed effort” after which Paul abandoned intellectual arguments. 1 Cor 2:1-5 can be made to say that, until you look at 1 Cor 2:6-15. Paul preached as a learned man to learned people, and as a common man to the unlearned! See 1 Cor 9:18-22
b. What was he doing there? He had been thrown out of Thessalonica, and was awaiting his companions before he moved on.
c. Paul goes sightseeing, and gets provoked. Acts 17:16

(1) The word means “stimulated, irritated, aggravated…”;
(2) Paul saw the city in the grips of the worst of paganism, and he could not keep his mouth shut.

d. Paul stirs up others as well—Acts 17:17-18

(1) In the synagogue—why? The believers in Jehovah had not been a witness for Jehovah, but had become complacent.
(2) In the marketplace–because that is where the people were.
(3) Who were the Epicureans and Stoics?

(a) First, they exist today in various forms, the most important basic pagan and atheist viewpoints are close to these.
(b) Epicureans worshipped pleasure
(c) Stoics worshipped hard-bitten selfish success, and were exceedingly powerful. A Stoic who experienced a great failure was liable to commit suicide.

(4) Their reaction to Paul—a “seed picker.”
(5) Their reaction to the Gospel—“strange gods.” Note, that Paul is not arguing philosophy in the marketplace, he is preaching the Gospel as the answer for all problems.
(6) “Jesus and the resurrection”—see 1 Cor 15:1-4—the Person and Work of Christ is the basis for all Truth

e. The great minds of the pagan world meet the great mind of The Faith—17:19-21

(1) What was the Areopagus? It was a great grouping of philosophers and learned, able to declare what was legal philosophy and what was not.
(2) The description of them in verse 21 is humorous but funny.
(3) So, the great minds of the pagan world are about to meet the most profound mind of the church.

2. The characteristics of false Gods: Acts 17:22-23

a. False "gods" are created by their own worshippers, and the false "gods" are created in the images of those worshippers.

(1) They want a God who is just like them—Psa 50:21
(2) This does not even make logical sense, as the LORD points out to Isaiah: Isa 44:9, 19-20

b. False Gods are not Almighty, Sovereign, Eternal, Immutable, etc.

(1) The 'gods' of the pagan world were by legend, claimed to be powerful and great, but even the pagan legends show their false deities fall far short of the power and majesty of Jehovah.
(2) The reality of idols is: they are blind, deaf, dumb – De 4:28, they are helpless –Jer 10:5
(3) The 'gods' of the pagans are mere shadows of the imaginations of their creators, and they are utterly helpless.
(4) False Gods cannot save—Isa 45:20èIf you examine the teachings of the world's major religions, only Christianity has a sufficient answer for the question: "How can a good and holy God reconcile with sinful men and women?"

3. The Real God declared to the really lost—17:24-27

a. This is really the heart of the defense of the faith: a positive teaching about the nature of God.
b. God is creator and sustainer of the universe—17:24a
c. God is Sovereign Ruler over all
d. God is self-sufficient

(1) God is not limited by man: “…does not dwell in temples made with hands…”
(2) God does not need man—in fact God has no needs at all: 17:25 "Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything.” Remember, “worship” means to exalt, to ascribe worth to—and human religion cannot worship God.
e. God is the God of Providence—He provides and He rules—17:25b-26.

(1) God provides all for mankind—for that matter, He provides for all creation
(2) All mankind came from one common ancestor—God made every nation
(3) God determined the time, location, and end of every nation before the world was made. Dan 2:20-22 "Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. 21 And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings…” Ep 3:1-11, Rom 11:36, Is 14:24-27, Is 40, Is 46:8-11


4. The Grand Reason—His Glory

a. In Evangelism—17:27a
b. Even some pagan poets came close to seeing this—why? 17:27b-28

(1) Psalm 19:1-6, Rom 1:19-20
(2) Nature reveals even God’s invisible attributes
(3) Conscience reveals God’s Law—Rom 2:16

c. In Proper Worship—17:29

(1) God is glorified when our worship shows that we have a proper understanding of His nature
(2) We should know—we are responsible to know—that God is not something man can devise, draw, mold, sculpt, or understand, except for what He reveals in His word, in nature, in conscience—see Rom 1:21-25

d. Therefore, God’s Command—17:30-31. Note that salvation is not a choice or an option, it is a command.

5. The reaction to the defense of the faith—17:32-34

a. Some mocked
b. And some believed, even after a brief presentation. Why?
c. Because the bankrupt nature of human philosophy is subconsciously aware to many who claim to live by and believe it, and when the Holy Spirit merely pricks the balloon, some will be quickly deflated and defeated.

6. Analysis—what, then is our worldview?

a. Reality exists
b. The Faith is about real events that took place involving real persons in real time.
c. The Bible is “true Truth,” its words are those God inspired men to write down, and it is the only reliable guide to faith and Practice.
d. Man is not an independent creature who can call his own shots, but is dependent upon God for all things.
e. There is no salvation outside of Christ, outside the Truth Faith

7. What about the worldviews of the world?

a. First, they are diverse
b. Second, they have many things in common

(1) Moral laxity
(2) Self-love
(3) Worship of people, ideas, and things over God
(4) Human pride and arrogance
(5) Opposition to all things Holy, particularly Christianity
(6) They are pretty much summed up in Romans 1:18-32


8. How do we engage the worldviews of the world?

a. First, by knowing ours—

(1) Studying the Word—2 Tim 2:15
(2) The teaching/learning cycle—2 Tim 2:1-5

b. Second, by living ours—Jn 10:27, 1 Pet 2:11-12
c. Third, by speaking the Truth in love—Eph 4:12-16
d. By overcoming with

(1) Faith—1 Jn 5:4
(2) The blood of the Lamb and our testimony—Rev 3:21, 12:11
e. By realizing that this is spiritual warfare in its truest sense—Next Lesson