103 Acts 17:32-34 PEOPLES REACTIONS TO THE GOSPEL Introduction: In our text today we see a classic example of three different kinds of reactions to the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I. The Apostle Paul preaching at Mars’ Hill When the Apostle Paul went into the city of Athens, Greece, he preached the gospel first at the Jewish synagogue. That, of course, was on the Jewish sabbath day. There he preached chiefly to people of Hebrew nationality, but some who were present in the synagogue were of the Gentile bloodline. These were Gentiles who had been converted from the worship of idol gods and who had become proselyte members of the synagogue. After the sabbath day ended, Paul, not being content to wait another full week for the next sabbath day to arrive, went the next day into the market place where many people came to buy and sell. In the market place Paul witnessed to whoever would listen to him, most of them being Gentiles of the Grecian bloodline. At the market place Paul had no difficulty getting an audience, because the people of Athens were exceptionally religious. They believed in the existence of many different gods and each individual tried to worship all them. Just in case there was another god in existence that they were not familiar with, they had erected an altar which they dedicated to the worship a god whom they called “The Unknown God.” When some of the members of the city council heard Paul at the market place speak about Jesus, they thought Jesus to be just another of the gods of whom they had never heard. So they invited Paul to come to the place where the city council normally meet where Paul could speak to a much larger audience and they could all learn about this new god. However, when Paul spoke to the people, he did not preach to them that Jesus is one of the many gods. Paul preached that there is but one true God and that He is the Creator of all heaven and earth. Paul preached that Jesus is the Son of God and that He had come to the earth to live in human flesh and to give Himself to be crucified so as to become a sacrifice for the sins of man. Paul preached that even though Jesus had been crucified as a sacrifice for the sins of men, yet Jesus had arisen from the dead and, therefore, He lives to save each person who trusts in Him for salvation. It was after Paul had preached about the death and resurrection of Jesus that the people reacted to his gospel message in three distinct ways. II. Some mocked V. 32, “And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked...” They rudely interrupted the speech which they had invited Paul to make and they mocked him. They rejected the idea that Jesus could have risen from the dead. They apparently rejected the idea that anyone could arise from the dead. Since they rejected the idea that Jesus had arisen from the dead, they rejected the entire gospel message concerning Jesus. Note that not all of them mocked. Luke says that some of them mocked. But judging by verse 33 it must have been most of them who mocked. It must at least most of the members of the city council were in this group. They had wanted to hear about what they considered to be a new god. They had heard and they rejected what they heard. The members of the Aeropagus, the city council, has now rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ and they have publicly made it clear that in their opinion, Jesus is not worthy of the worship of the people of Athens. We can identify somewhat with Paul in this matter. Christians often seek to witness about Jesus only to meet with ridicule and mockery. There are a lot of people in this old world who have already closed their minds to the gospel of Jesus. No matter what you say, they are not open to your message. III. Some delayed (V. 32), “...and others said, We will hear thee again of this [matter]....” These were not convinced that Paul was right about Jesus. Neither were they convinced that Paul was wrong about Jesus. They willing to listen to what else Paul had to say. They wanted to hear more so that they could make up their minds. Their attitude was most certainly better than those who rejected Jesus. Yet there was danger in delaying their decision about Jesus until some other time. By delaying in the matter there was the danger that they would yet reject Jesus as the Savior. There was the danger that they would never be saved. They should have accepted Jesus as the Son of God. They should have believed the gospel message. They should have trusted Jesus to save them from their sin. Yet let us not be overly critical of them. Let us remember that this was their very first time to hear the gospel. Let us also remember that we did not trust Jesus the first time we heard the gospel. At least, I didn’t and I dare say that you didn’t. In spite of them making a mistake by not trusting Jesus right then and there, yet there was still the chance that they might later make the right choice and place their faith in Jesus and be saved. But there is still that very real danger. There is the danger that this person will conclude that Jesus is not the Christ, that He cannot save or that Jesus, Himself, has never yet been resurrected and is still in the grave. There is the very real danger that the person to whom you are trying to witness will yet be cast into The Lake of Fire and Brimstone where he (or she) will suffer forever in the everlasting fire. Again we can identify with Paul. Every Christian who has ever done any witnessing for Jesus has spoken to some lost person about his need of trusting Jesus and being saved only to meet with a delayed decision. And this is not altogether bad. At least that lost person is willing to listen. There is still a chance, a very good chance that this person may yet trust Jesus and be saved. Let me say this to you, if you are lost and you fully intend to get saved, but you just keep putting it off until some other time, you are in very grave danger. If you just keep putting the salvation of your soul off until tomorrow or until some future time, you may suddenly meet with death and all of your opportunity to be saved will be gone forever. Before getting to the third kind of reaction to the gospel, let us take a quick look at verse 33. V. 33, “So Paul departed from among them.” It appears that Paul did not really get to say all that he wanted to say about Jesus Christ being the Son of God and the Savior of men. But there was no need for him to persist in trying to talk to them over their mockery. There was no chance that he could get anywhere with those who were filled with mockery toward the gospel message. So Paul left. He left the city of Athens. He did not wait for Silas and Timothy to arrive. He just left and went on to another city where he could witness to someone who was willing to listen to the gospel message. IV. Some believed V. 34, “Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed...” Thank God for these men. Thank God that not all rejected their message about salvation through repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ. Thank God not all put of salvation until some other time. Thank God that some believed Paul’s message that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God. Thank God that some believed that Jesus died to pay the redemption price of salvation. Thank God that some believed that Jesus arose from the grave and that because He lives today He is able to save. If He did not live, He could not saved. Thank God that some of those men who listened to the Apostle Paul as he spoke on Mars’Hill trusted Jesus Christ to save them from their sin. Thank God those of us who are saved will meet those men in heave some day. (V. 34), “...among the which [was] Dionysius the Areopagite...” One of those men who got saved on that day was Dionysius whom we will meet and talk with one day. We will get to hear from his own lips what it was like to be among the number that got saved on that day. Luke tells us that Dionysius was an Areopagite. That is, he was a member of the City Council of Athens, which met in Athens at the Areopagus which is called Mars’ Hill. So not all of the City Council of Athens rejected the gospel and mocked at Paul’s message on that day. At least one of the council members trusted Jesus and got saved. He could now use his influence in the city to persuade men to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. (V. 34), “...and a woman named Damaris...” We know that this woman was not a member of the Athens City Council because there were no women on that council. But she must have been a very prominent woman. In all probability she was a successful business woman. She, too, could use her prominence to witness to the people of Athens that Jesus Christ is the Savior and that they, too, should trust Jesus and be saved. (V. 34), “...and others with them.” Luke did not tell us the names of the others who got saved on that occasion nor does he even tell us how many there were. But Luke does let us know that whenever the gospel is preached, all who will accept the gospel message and trust in Jesus will get saved. We should take consolation in this fact. Even when we witness to the unsaved today, all who will put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ will be saved.