Paul: A Man of Grace and Grit (Great Lives from God's Word)

by Charles R. Swindoll

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kind of preaching that characterized the apostle Paul.

Though simple in form, his preaching cut through the complexities of his own pluralistic society as he magnified the supremacy of Christ.

Paul spoke boldly. Paul preached the Word. Paul taught with conviction. Paul connected with the needs of his hearers.

As the churning subsided, a sermon began to brew within him.

The final voice of authority on all this high-brow philosophizing came from the direction of the Areopagus, the hill of Mars, which still stands in solid marble today. In that lofty place sat philosophers and scholars, teachers and historians, each of them so unsettled and unsure in their thinking that no room was allowed for anything absolute.

Paul’s reaction to the city’s idolatry was not negative only but also positive and constructive.

he shared with them the good news of Jesus. He sought by proclamation of the gospel to prevail on them to turn from their idols to

the living God and so to give to him and to his Son the glory due their name.

Not only did careful observation play a vital role in Paul’s preparation for preaching, he also engaged in an exercise of thoughtful interrogation, interacting one on one with the people of Athens.

Paul was no mere tourist in Athens, he was an intelligent and engaged student of culture.

Paul chose to carry on a series of town-hall meetings, utilizing two familiar public platforms: the synagogue and the marketplace.

First, he went to the synagogue to speak to the Jews and then into the market to interact with Gentiles.

Paul wasn’t picky about his audience. Effective preachers don’t care who is listening. Their aim is to win a hearing with people, then help them interact with truth.

It wasn’t long before his audience included some rather sophisticated thinkers: “And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him.”

Stoics taught that a man should strive, fearless and proud, to accept the laws of the universe, however harsh. They were to work toward a world state founded on reason. They believed the soul survived the body, but only in a kind of ethereal state, bodiless and free. Emotionally, they remained passive, disengaged.

The Epicureans, on the other hand, taught that happiness and pleasure were the highest good. Both were to be pursued with unbridled passion. “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die,” is classic Epicurean sentiment.

All this talk of Jesus and resurrection seemed strange to the idolatrous philosophers. After all, none of their gods boasted such powers. Interested in pursuing these strange new ideas, they granted him a formal hearing.

On the prominent Areopagus, this august body of intellectuals amounted to a preacher’s dream. It was akin to being invited to preach in the hall of Congress or to stand and speak for Christ before the United States Supreme Court. There the sharpest minds and most respected judges of the land would listen to every word you’d say. Such was the Areopagus. It represented one of the choicest opportunities Paul would ever have.

Looking directly into their eyes, he began, “Men of Athens, . . .” And he was off and running. What a message he proclaimed!. It wouldn’t take you three minutes to read the entire sermon as Luke records it. He begins where they were and, like all good preachers, he led them to where they needed to go. They stood riveted to his words. Their minds never wandered.

He simply stepped up and delivered: “Men of Athens, I observe you are very religious in all aspects

Paul’s message wasn’t going to center on the meaning of the universe or the political histories of the ancient world—his topic was religion.

Paul continued, “For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23).

Good preaching starts with the familiar, then builds bridges to where folks need to be.

Paul spoke of that unknown God and immediately built a bridge to make Him known.

“The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is he served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himsel...

Not only is God omnipotent, He is sovereign. He sets the boundaries. He sets the limits. He is the immeasurable One who measures all. He is Lord—the true Kurios!

Paul’s warming to his climax:

“That they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets hav...

Paul was introducing to them the God who created the universe and demanded a response from His wandering. Having bated and hooked his audience, he now cautiously reeled in his catch with masterful skill.

The Proposition

Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will ju...

whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from ...

Paul boldly proposed that the God of heaven expected a heartfelt response from the ones He had lovingly created. Then came the final blow. He used that other “R” word—raised from the dead? Yes! The one-and-only God had proven Himself by raising Jesus from the dead.

Now when they heard of “the resurrection of the dead,” some began to sneer, but others said, “We shall hear you again concerning this.” (17:32)

And a very small group believed.

Among those whom Paul persuaded are Dionysius and Damaris (17:34).

You, too, are in one of those three categories. Which one?

You have a choice:

Reject ...

you’re intrigued by truth, or you b...

If you are responsible for communicating biblical truth, consider yourself a preacher (at least for the next couple of pages)—you are a communicator of God’s Word.