Author: remnantinthepass

Good Friday April third as we discover God’s will for our lives in His word.

Some believed-

Paul was given a platform to share to the Athenians, in who the designer of the universe was and is and shares about God who is a part of His entire creation including every soul that is alive. Paul is alone, and recognizes his audience, “Acts 17:22 “Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and says, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious” Paul came to this conclusion after walking through this city seeing thousands of temples and monuments dedicated to false gods and idols. Then Paul saw this one temple, Acts 18:23 “For as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD”. Paul then took this platform to share that God is known and can be known. Let’s read together from Acts 17:29-34 “Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” So Paul departed from among them. However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.” Jeremiah 10:8 NKVV “But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish; A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine.” Here is the NIV version, “People who worship idols are stupid and foolish. The things they worship are made of wood!” My wife tells me all the time when I yell out at the television, like when Kenley Janson gives up the game ending homerun, she says what good is all that, he can’t hear you, and you know I do know that she is right, but I have to say, sometimes I just feel better telling him what I think. Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.” As David looked into the night sky he identified, that what he was looking at was beyond anything his human mind could ever imagine, and what he saw was the Perfect Revelation of the Lord. Notice these words, “these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.” The point here being although man was ignorant and foolish denying Him, that He did not place any judgment on them and why, because from God’s perspective all were ignorant having not known the full truth. Keys words ignorant, not having the information to have the truth, and the word repent, when the truth is given, one then would have to be obedient to that truth. Luke 23:34a “Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”On the cross Jesus forgave those who had denied Him and why ignorance. But Jesus rose from the grave and now we having living truth, no excuse and so the coming judgment. Notice who heard Paul according to Luke, just a remnant believed here in Athens. Do you hear? Do you believe? Remnant

Good Tuesday March thirty-first as we study from God’s word to know His will for us.

While I wait in Athens-

Silas and Timothy remain in Berea but Paul is sent by sea away from a mob coming to cause him trouble and kill him. We live in a time when so many have opinions and sometimes their opinions are accepted as facts as Darwin who had and opinion developed a theory then placed it in the circle of science to be supported by facts but science which deals with the facts, has had to fail it from being a truth. But many have the opinion that facts are not always needed to persuade people in what they want them to believe. The Bereans would listen intently then study the facts before being influenced by anything a person was teaching. Let’s read together from Acts 17:16-21 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.” Athens where the world’s philosophers the world’s literary minds would come together to share with each other. Paul has entered many a synagogue and reasoned to many legal leaders in the Jewish temples, but here Paul had entered the capital of free spirits, like a scene out of Woodstock where people being spiritual but spiritual in everything and anything. Paul comes by himself goes to synagogue then to the streets and begins sharing with all who would listen. In Athens many had come such as Plato and Socrates, the city had built many buildings and monuments to be worshipped as gods. Luke says that Paul was heard, “Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Called a babbler by them because Paul was teaching about an eternal life, which stoics and epicureans did not believe in, they were the ones who said we have just today so eat drink and do whatever pleases you. This is the same human reasoning many teach today from our classrooms and political chambers. There is nothing after death so get all you can get it in the here and now. Because they wanted Paul to explain himself they lead him to “Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears.Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” Not like the legal Jews wanting to kill him these men who may disagree ask him to say more in the center of all intellect, the Areopagus, which means the hill of Ares, or Mars Hill. What do you listened too? The scriptures confirm Paul’s message, do you agree? Remnant