Greatest Sermons - Paul at Mars Hill (Acts 17)

When the apostle Paul went to Athens, he ended up at a place called Mars Hill, where he delivered a powerful sermon to the philosophers and people of Athens. And there is a real element to his sermon that most professing followers of Christ today need to hear and take heed to. “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, to the unknown god. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them” (Acts 17:22-33).

Like the Athenians, ‘Christians’ today are trying to worship a God whom they do not know. The picture of Jesus painted by Christianity is not the picture that the Bible paints of Jesus (II Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:6,7). The Jesus of the Bible did not tell anyone to wait at Jerusalem to “get saved,” or to “accept the Lord,” or to “confess [him] as Lord.” But he did tell those who followed him to “wait for the promise of the Father, … For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” (Acts 1:4,5). And this is what the only man sent from God to pave the way for Jesus had to say: “I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost” (Mk. 1:8). And the apostle Paul confirmed that it is that experience alone that puts anyone into the one body of Christ, which is comprised of all who have truly believed on Jesus according to his terms (I Cor. 12:13; Jn. 7:37-39). Many today should take a serious look at Paul’s sermon at Mars Hill, to note the point he made that God “dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” The Christian format of today is steeped in ceremonies, buildings called ‘churches,’ and traditions of men that have to do with carnal things (“Touch not; taste not; handle not” - Col. 2:21). Yet this same apostle told us that “the kingdom of God is not meat and drink (or any carnal thing); but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 14:17). And whereas it is such the Christian thing to tell others to “come to my church,” and also to call a building “the house of God;” the prophet Isaiah sent out a much different call from God that resonates with great power, authority, and necessity today: “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word” (Isa. 66:1,2). Sounds to me like men of God in the Bible, including Jesus, were in agreement; so where does that leave today’s Christianity? How about right here? “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev. 2:20). Amen.