PAUL AT MARS HILL: Adam Zamora | Series: THE GREATEST EVANGELISTIC MESSAGES IN THE BIBLE

Acts 17 places Paul in Athens, a city full of ideas, religion, temples, statues, and philosophy, yet wholly given to idolatry. Paul does not walk into that culture afraid of it, captivated by it, or ignorant of it. His spirit is stirred because he sees more than architecture and Greek culture. He sees souls searching in the wrong places.

Paul recognizes their culture without surrendering to it. The world is a system against God, marked by the desire to do, to have, and to be apart from Him. Paul goes into the synagogue and the marketplace because evangelism happens where people are. The church cannot hide its light from a world that needs the truth, whether that world is found in business, medicine, law enforcement, schools, neighborhoods, or family relationships.

Paul recognizes the Athenians’ curiosity. Epicureans search for peace by avoiding disturbance, while Stoics search for meaning through reason, virtue, and self-control. Their questions do not intimidate Paul. Their doubts become open doors, because sincere questions about suffering, death, truth, purpose, and God can become bridges to the gospel. Salvation is not a process, but coming to faith often is.

Paul commends their spiritual search when he points to the altar “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.” Their religion reveals a void their many gods cannot fill. That altar becomes a point of contact, but Paul does not stop at the bridge. The bridge is not the destination. Paul moves from their searching to God’s answer.

God reveals Himself as Creator, Lord of heaven and earth, and the One who cannot be contained in temples made with hands. God does not need human service, sacrifices, buildings, or religious activity, because He gives life and breath and all things. God has made all nations of one blood, and every person bears His image and needs redemption. God remains sovereign over nations, history, boundaries, and times, even when the world appears out of control.

Paul finally confronts idolatry and calls for repentance. Gold, silver, stone, and human devices cannot represent the living God. God commands all men everywhere to change their minds and direction because judgment is coming through Jesus Christ, whom God raised from the dead. Some mock, some delay, and some believe. Paul’s responsibility is not to manufacture a response, but to faithfully proclaim the truth. Athens does not need another philosophy. Athens needs the true and living God.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. See souls, not merely cultural problems. Paul sees Athens as a city given to idolatry, but his heart does not settle into frustration, contempt, or withdrawal. His spirit is stirred because idolatry enslaves people made in God’s image. The culture around the church must be viewed through the reality that Christ died for the very people whose beliefs and choices may grieve believers. [05:38]
• 2. Questions can become gospel bridges. Paul does not treat intellectual curiosity as rebellion by default. Honest questions about suffering, God, death, and truth can uncover the deeper hunger of the soul. The gospel does not fear examination because Christ entered human suffering, revealed God, died for sin, and rose again. [18:44]
• 3. Build the bridge, then cross it. Paul uses the unknown god as a point of contact, but he refuses to leave the Athenians in vague spirituality. Common ground has value only when it brings a person toward the Creator, Lord, Judge, and Savior. Compassionate conversation must eventually speak plainly about Jesus, repentance, and resurrection. [22:56]
• 4. God sustains those who seek Him. God is not sustained by temples, offerings, money, or human effort. God gives life, breath, and all things, and He is not far from every person. Human searching is real, but God’s prior pursuit is greater, because He has placed humanity in history so that people might seek and find Him. [27:42]
• 5. Faithful witness leaves responses to God. Paul receives mockery, delay, and belief after preaching Christ raised from the dead. The truth does not become less true when it is rejected, and urgency does not require manipulation. Faithfulness means seeing people, engaging them honestly, and pointing them to the only One who can save. [38:50]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:26] - Athens: A City of Ideas
• [01:53] - The Gospel Never Changes
• [03:39] - Five Helps for Evangelism
• [04:56] - Paul Sees Idolatry and Souls
• [08:41] - Evangelism Happens Where People Are
• [11:45] - Paul Recognizes Their Curiosity
• [17:28] - Using Questions as Opportunities
• [20:51] - The Unknown God as a Bridge
• [23:33] - The True Nature of God
• [29:42] - One Blood and God’s Sovereignty
• [33:45] - Idolatry, Repentance, and Judgment
• [38:28] - Mocking, Delaying, and Believing
• [39:42] - Communicating Christ Without Compromise
• [43:29] - Seeing People and Pointing to Jesus

Bible Reading

Acts 17:16-34
“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.” [00:00]

1 John 2:15-17
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” [05:53]

Revelation 20:11-15
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” [37:34]

Observation questions

1. In Acts 17:16–18, what does Paul see in Athens, how does it affect him, and where does he choose to speak with people? [04:47]
2. What two groups of philosophers encounter Paul, and what kinds of answers to life do they appear to be seeking? [12:31]
3. What does Paul notice about the Athenians’ worship that gives him a starting point for his message? [21:31]
4. According to Acts 17:24–28, what does Paul say God gives to people, and what does he say about God’s nearness to them? [27:42]

Interpretation questions

1. Why is Paul’s spirit stirred by the idols in Athens rather than merely impressed or entertained by the city’s religion and culture? What does this show about how idolatry affects people made in God’s image? [06:32]
2. Paul begins with the Athenians’ altar to an unknown god, but he does not leave them in vague spirituality. Why is it important that a gospel conversation moves from common ground to the truth about the Creator, repentance, and the resurrection? [22:56]
3. How does Paul’s description of God as Creator, Lord, and Giver of life challenge the idea that people can earn God’s favor through religious effort, giving, or service? [28:22]
4. Why does Paul connect the call to repentance with coming judgment and Jesus’ resurrection? How does the resurrection make the message more than just another philosophy or moral suggestion? [35:30]

Application questions

1. When you look at people in your workplace, neighborhood, family, or online, do you mainly see cultural problems that frustrate you, or people for whom Christ died? What would help you see them with more compassion? [43:27]
2. Who is one person in your life whose questions, anxiety, grief, relationship struggles, or search for purpose could become an open door for a meaningful gospel conversation? What would it look like to listen carefully before responding? [11:00]
3. How do you usually respond when someone asks a difficult question about God, suffering, the Bible, or faith? What could help you become less defensive and more willing to treat sincere questions as opportunities? [18:29]
4. Think of a recent conversation with someone who does not know Christ. What “bridge” or point of connection was already present? How could you lovingly move beyond the bridge toward Jesus rather than stopping at a general spiritual discussion? [44:13]
5. Is there an idol—such as success, comfort, approval, control, pleasure, politics, or self-reliance—that competes for your trust and devotion? What change of mind and direction might repentance look like in that area? [35:00]
6. Paul received mockery, delay, and belief, yet he remained responsible for faithfully proclaiming the truth. Where might fear of rejection be keeping you quiet, and what would faithful witness look like this week? [39:31]