Three Responses to the Gospel

“THREE RESPONSES TO THE GOSPEL”

ACTS 17:16-34

READ AS TEXT: ACTS 17:32-34

INTRO: Someone has said, “The world has many religions; it has but one

1992 by Edythe Draper). Friends, the gospel is powerful (Romans 1:16a), the

gospel is personal (Romans 1:16b), the gospel is perfect (Ecclesiastes

3:14), and the gospel is about a person (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). E.

Stanley Jones said, “The gospel is not so much a demand as it is an

offer, an offer of new life to man by the grace of God.”(Draper's Book of

to share the gospel with a lost and dying world. Psalm 107:2 tells

us—“Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed

from the hand of the enemy.”

In our text we read about Paul’s message in Athens. Paul’s heart was

stirred within him as he saw the whole city given over to idolatry.

This city with so much culture was filled with corruption. Paul’s

message from Mars’ hill is one of the finest defenses of the gospel you

will find in all the Scripture. And yet, Paul’s message met with varied

response. Paul’s Mars Hill speech is often regarded as a brilliant,

textbook example of evangelistic witness. Even so, it received a mixed

reaction: some sneered, some kept searching for more information,

and a few believed (17:33-34). We should expect similar results. Don’t

hesitate to tell others about Christ because you fear that some will not

believe you. Don’t expect a unanimously positive response to your

witnessing. Even if only a few believe, it’s worth the effort.(LifeApplication

House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton, Illinois. Life Application is aregistered trademark of Tyndale House

FindEx.com, Inc.).

Friends, I want to speak today on the subject, THREE RESPONSES

TO THE GOSPEL. Let us note first of all…

(1) THE DERIDERS

ACTS 17:32a—“And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead,

some mocked…”

ILLUS: H. Bonar relates:

“Suppose you were attending to hear a will read, where you expected

an inheritance; would you employ the time in criticizing the manner in

which the lawyer read it? No; you would be giving all attention to hear

if anything had been left to you. So you ought to hear the Gospel.

“The Gospel comes to the sinner at once, with nothing short of

complete forgiveness as the starting point of all his efforts to be holy. It

does not say, ‘Go and sin no more, and I will not condemn thee’—it

says at once, ‘Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more’ ” (John

A. THEY MOCK GOD’S POWER. Friends, God’s power is unequalled. God

can do whatever He wants, whenever He wants, and however He wants.

Psalm 135:6 tells us—“Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in

heaven, and inearth, in the seas, and all deep places.” It is not due to a

lack of God’s power that people remain lost. It is because they choose to

resist God’s power that they remain lost. Isaiah 59:1-2—“Behold, the

LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that

it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God,

andyour sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

B. THEY MOCK GOD’S PLAN. Salvation from start to finish is all of the grace

of God. Yet, many today attempt to mock the plan of God by cheapening

grace. The question is this: Is grace sufficient or is it not? Do we have to

add anything to God’s grace? Romans 4:1-5 tells us—“What shall we say

then that Abraham our father, as pertaining tothe flesh, hath found? For if

Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before

God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was

counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not

reckoned of grace, butof debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on

him that justifieththe ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Any

time anyone says that you must add to or take away from the gospel—

salvation by grace through faith—they are mocking God’s plan!

C. THEY MOCK GOD’S PERSON. When Paul arrived in Athens the Scripture

tells us that “…he saw the city wholly given to idolatry…[and]… found an

altarwith this inscription,TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.”(Acts 17:16, 23). For

many today Almighty God is THE UNKNOWN GOD. They fail to recognize

His greatness! They fail to recognize His glory! They fail to receive His

grace! V18 tells us—“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.” Because Paul preached Jesus and

theresurrection, to them utter novelties,they pronounced him “an

expositorof strange demons.”(COMMENTARY ON THENEW TESTAMENT VOL. 5ACTS – ROMANS

(2) THE DELAYERS

ACTS 17:32b—“… and others said, We will hear thee again of this

matter.”

A. THEY RESIST THE WOOING OF THE SPIRIT. The word “woo” means

“to seek the love and attention of, to entreat earnestly; beg, to invite;

seek.”(Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary.N-Z. Volume 2, p. 789). Friends, that is what

the Holy Spirit does with the lost sinner. He entreats earnestly, He begs, He

invites, and He seeks. Jesus said in John 6:44—“No man can come to me,

except the Father which hath sent me draw him:and I will raise him up at the

last day.” The question is, “how does He draw us?” The answer is: by the

Holy Spirit. In John 3:5-8 Jesus said—“…Verily, verily, I say unto thee,

Except a man beborn of water and of the Spirit,he cannot enter into the

kingdom ofGod. That which is born of the flesh isflesh; and that which is

born ofthe Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said untothee, Ye must be born

again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thouhearest the soundthereof,

but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither itgoeth:so is every one that

is born of the Spirit.”

ILLUS: The wind blows in avariety of directions-we hear its sound, perceive

its operation in themotion of the trees, etc., and feel it on ourselves

but we cannot discern theair itself; we only know that it exists by the

effects which it produces: sois every one who is born of the Spirit: the

effects are as discernible and assensible as those of the wind; but

itself we cannot see. But he who is born of God knows that he is thus

born: the Spirit itself, the grand agent in this new birth, beareth

witness with his spirit, that he is born of God, Romans 8:16; for, he

that believeth hath the witness in himself, 1 John 4:13; 5:10;

Galatians 4:6. And so does this Spirit work in and by him that others,

though they see not the principle, can easily discern the change

produced;for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, 1 John

5:4.(CLARKE’S COMMENTARY NT, VOLUME 5B JOHN – ACTSby Adam Clarke. The Master Christian

B. THEY REFUSE THE WARNING OF THE SCRIPTURE. The Bible says in

2 Corinthians 6:2—“… behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the

day of salvation.” Satan is wonderful on procrastination, never letting the

sinnerget ready to repent, always clamoring, “Wait till tomorrow”; while the

devil’s tomorrow never has come, and never will. “God is nigh in the valley

of decision.” The will can only act in the present tense. Faith is actually

circumscribed to the present tense, having neither past nor future, and, as

we get everything from God by faith, we must receive it in thepresent

tense. It is actually now or never.(COMMENTARY ON THE NEW TESTAMENT VOL. 4

AGES Software. Albany, OR).

ILLUS: A good, old monk had a dream, and he told it around the monastery

fire to the brethren. And he said, "Brethren, I had a strange dream last

night; I saw a council of devils held in hell, and they were met in order

to take counsel how to defeat the work of God on earth, and one of

Satan's servants said to him, "My master, I saw a cargo of missionaries

going to foreign lands to preach the Gospel, and I raised a storm and

sank the vessel." "Thou hast done nothing to stay the work of God."

"Then another servant of Satan stood forth and said, "My master, I

have caused books to be written against God, and against all that is

good and holy and pure." "Well," said Satan, "that is better than what

your brother did, but they won't believe you. I have been trying to

persuade them that there is no God, or heaven, or hell for six

thousand years past, and they believe in it almost as much as ever."

"What hast thou done?" said Satan to another, one of particularly

diabolical countenance—and he said, "Oh, my satanic master, let me

tell you, let me tell you what I have done. There was a mission going

on in a certain city, and I attended every service of the mission, and I

said to the vast congregation, "Every word that that stranger says is

eternally true; God loves you, Jesus died for you, the Holy Spirit

pleads with you, you can get perfect peace in your soul," but at the

close of each service as the congregation was going out, I used to

whisper in their ears, "Put it off till to-morrow, don't come to any

decision, put it off till to-morrow." "Ha! ha! thou hast my satanic

blessing!" said Satan, "thou hast done more than all the rest to defeat

the counsel and purpose of God for their salvation."—George C. Grubb

(3) THE DECIDERS

ACTS 17:34—“Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among

the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named

Damaris, and others with them.”

A. THEY REPENTED OF THEIR SIN. Instead of mocking or politely waiving

the subject, having listened eagerly, they joined themselves to the apostle

for further instruction; and so they “believed.”(Jamieson-Faussett-Brown Commentary on

How do we know they repented? Because the Bible teaches us that

repentance is necessary for salvation. Jesus Himself said, “…except ye

repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3).

ILLUS: I want to share with you some truths I found about repentance:

Repentance means not only a heart broken for sin but from sin.
Many people in mending their ways use very thin threads.
Repentance is not only saying, "I'm sorry." It is also saying, "I'm

through."

Some so-called penitential crying is only hypocritical lying.
To be good, you must first look and see that you are bad.
Money will never buy repentance.
He who delays his repentance pawns his soul to the devil.
To grieve over sin is one thing; to repent is another.
Late repentance is seldom true but true repentance is never late. (The Complete Book of Zingers.Bible Explorer 4.Copyright 2006.WORDsearch Corp.).

Friend, the question this morning is, “have you truly repented?” But they

not only repented but…

B. THEY RECEIVED THE SAVIOUR. The Bible tells us here—“Howbeit

certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius

theAreopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.” (v34).

We don’t know much about these people but we do know one thing: They

believed. The Bible tells us in Romans 10:9-10—“ That if thou shalt confess

with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath

raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man

believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto

salvation.”

CLOSING: There were three main reactions. (i) Some mocked. They were

amused by the passionate earnestness of this strange Jew. It is

possible to make a jest of life; but those who do so will find that

what began as comedy must end in tragedy. (ii) Some put off their

decision. The most dangerous of all days is when a man discovers

how easy it is to talk about tomorrow. (iii) Some believed. The wise

man knows that only the fool will reject God's offer.(Daily Study Bible. e-

Friend, the question today is, “what will your response be to the

Gospel? Will you be a derider, a delayer, or a decider?

(PREPARED BY BROTHER BRYAN L. BROWNING, PASTOR OF BEECHMONT BAPTIST CHURCH, BEECHMONT, KY FOR SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 1, 2009).