Sunday School Lesson 9 (Acts 17:1-34)
~ Pastor Thuamminlian
LESSON 9 (ACTS 17:1-34): PAUL’S JOURNEY FROM THESSALONICA TO ATHENS
On leaving Philippi, Paul along with Silas and Timothy set out for Thessalonica by passing Amphipolis and Apollonia and then to Berea without Timothy and due to the few persistent Thessalonians, who followed them to Barea, had to leave for Athens alone via sea route.
A. Preaching Christ at Thessalonica and assault on Jason’s house (Acts 17:1-9)
As his custom, Paul went in the synagogue of the Jews and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them but there was a drift when they asserted that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. A great deal of them were furious, setting the whole city in an uproar censuring their claim that there was another king Jesus and raided the house of Jason who harbored them. They let them be only after receiving security from Jason and the rest.
B. Ministering at Berea (Acts 17:10-15)
The people of Berea were fair-minded, reading the Scriptures daily, living by it and a great deal of them received the Word of God with all readiness and also some prominent Greeks. Their stay in Barea was shortened by the persistent Thessalonians who came there and stirred up the crowd.
C. The Philosophers at Athens (Acts 17:16-21)
While waiting for Luke and Silas, he found the city engulfed with idols that provoked the spirit in him and he began preaching in the synagogue of the Jews and the gentile worshippers. Then he encountered certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. They found his words fatuous nontheless realistic so they took him to Areopagus to hear him out.
D. Addressing the Areopagus (Acts 17:22-34)
Paul than proceeded avoiding any dissident but approved them of their commitments for religious practices. He then pointed out that the God whom they worshipped without knowing is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient and the source of everything. He is neither confined under any roof nor is He worshipped as if He needs anything. Every man must seek Him and grope for Him and find Him. As the poets had said, “For we are also His offspring”, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art of man’s devising and gave a fare warning that though the ignorance of man may seem overlooked, there would come a time when He would judge the world in righteousness by the man whom He has ordained.
POINTS TO BE NOTED:
- We ought not to forget that we are not praising God as if He needed or lacked anything but to praise Him for His unfailing love and blessings bestowed upon us and must never forget that God is never confined under any roof for He is present everywhere, anywhere and anytime.
- In our days of youth, we must never forget that there will come a time when God judges every man with righteousness and we must be very mindful of our actions.
