Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 104
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IMMERSE
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MESSIAH
17:22–18:8
that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend
all their time discussing the latest ideas.)
So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men
of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 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.
“He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he
is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and
human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives
life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man
he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
“His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their
way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.
For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have
said, ‘We are his offspring.’ And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of
God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times,
but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and
turn to him. For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the
man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising
him from the dead.”
When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some
laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this
later.” That ended Paul’s discussion with them, but some joined him and
became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council,
a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he became acquainted
with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from
Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had left Italy when Claudius Caesar deported all Jews from Rome. Paul lived and worked with them, for they
were tentmakers just as he was.
Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews
and Greeks alike. And after Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul spent all his time preaching the word. He testified to the Jews
that Jesus was the Messiah. But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul
shook the dust from his clothes and said, “Your blood is upon your own
heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.”
Then he left and went to the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the leader of
