22 So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way,23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about. (Acts 17:22-23)
Title: Who’s on Your Altar?
“While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city.” — Acts 17:16
I. Confusion: Substituted Religion for Relationship
“Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way. (Acts 17:22)
A. Superstition over Salvation
But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. (Matthew 12:39)
“All who love Me will do what I say… and We will come and make Our home with each of them.” (John 14:23)
Z-Tweet: Just because you have rituals, it doesn’t mean you have relationship!
II. Confession: Unintelligent Worship
“I saw your many shrines. One altar said: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.”
(Acts 17:23)
“We can be sure that we know Him if we obey His commandments.” (1 John 2:3)
“I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death,” (Phil. 3:10)
Z-Tweet: “It is possible to go through the motions of worship and have no meaning in your worship!”
III. Clarity: Informed Worship
A. God of Creation “He is the God who made the world… He doesn’t live in man-made temples… He gives life and breath to everything.” (Acts 17:24-25)
God is not a statue. He’s the Sovereign Creator, not a creation of man’s mind or marble.
B. God of Personal Involvement
“He is not far from any one of us… For in Him we live and move and exist.” Acts 17:27-28
”The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
(John 10:3)
“These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs” (Matthew 6:32)
“He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” (Hebrews 4:15)
C. God of Repentance
“God overlooked people’s ignorance in earlier times, but now He commands everyone everywhere to repent.” — Acts 17:30
D. God of Judgment
“For He has set a day for judging the world… and proved it by raising Jesus from the dead.” — Acts 17:31