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. (23) 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. (24) 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; (25) Neither is worshiped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; (26) 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; (27) That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from everyone of us: (28) 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. (29) 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. (30) And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: (31) 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. (32) And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. (33) So Paul departed from among them. (34) Howbeit certain men cleaved unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
It appears, from what is here said, that this meeting was by appointment. The dispute which Paul had occasionally entered into, with those different sects of Philosophers, as he met them in the market place; as well as with the Jews on the holy days in their Synagogue; had excited great curiosity among a set of people of whom we are told, that they spent their time in nothing else but an enquiry after novelty. They therefore took Paul to their public Court, called Areopagus; and then desired that he would deliver his opinion more fully, upon what he had before occasionally spoken of, Jesus and the Resurrection.
I do not think it necessary to go over the several parts of the Apostle's discourse, by way of illustration. Indeed this service is rendered needless, from the plain language Paul adopted. everyone must perceive, that in condemning the idolatry and superstition of this people, he hath fully shewn, the importance and necessity of the Gospel of Christ, But, for Readers of that class of persons for whom this Poor Man's Commentary is designed, I shall be doing a more acceptable service, if from the whole of the Apostle's sermon, I endeavour to raise such improvement, as under the Lord's blessing, may be rendered profitable. And, in doing this, I venture to believe, We shall be acting in correspondence to the gracious design of God the Holy Ghost, when the Lord caused this account of Paul's preaching at Athens to be recorded.
And here, at the very entrance on the subject of Paul's sermon, those two great points are discoverable, as though marked with a sun-beam. The Apostle's spirit was stirred within him, when he saw the whole city given to idolatry. But, in the close of the preaching, we discover the cause. Certain men clave unto him, and believed. Hence we learn here, as in the former instance at Berea, the Lord had a people at Athens, for whom Paul's spirit was stirred to speak. And here also, as there, mockers were found, to whom Paul's sermon became the ministry of condemnation. See Luke 10:5-16
I know full well, by long experience, that the mind of every man by nature, is apt to revolt at this: neither, till grace hath entered the heart, can such truths be received. But, the approval or rejection of God's sovereignty, leaves the subject just where it found it. The Lord hath said, and who shall gainsay it: My counsel shall stand, And I will do all my pleasure, Isaiah 46:10. So that, while the potsherd may, and will, strive with the potsherds of the earth; and if the blows be violent against each other, like earthen vessels, both may break: Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Isaiah 45:9
That the Lord hath a Church in the world, whose recovery from the Adam-nature fall, all the ordinances and means of grace under the Lord, are directed to accomplish, is a truth, too fully, and too plainly revealed in the word of God, to require any further arguments to prove. And, that there are others of mankind, not included in this dispensation, the prayer of Jesus in his Mediator-office, as decidedly shews. I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me. The world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Yea, the Lord, when speaking of God's decrees, in relation to discriminating grace, in separating the precious from the vile, makes use of the name righteous, as if (and which must be the case), the very act resulted, from this divine perfection. 0 righteous Father! the world hath not known thee! John 14:25; John 14:25. And, after the review of this part of Christ's prayer, who will venture to arraign God's justice? Who will assume the confidence of being more merciful than Christ? Who will impeach the divine sovereignty, when despisers of God, like those Athenian philosophers, are left to their scorn: and the cause in this instance, as in ten thousand others, is permitted to bring forth its natural effect? But, I pursue the subject no further. To the Lord I bring it. And with the Lord I leave it. Sweet and satisfying is that delightful scripture, though the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah followed it: Shall not the judge of all the earth do right, Genesis 18:25
I beg the Reader not to overlook, how blessedly the Chapter is closed. While some mocked, and others proposed to themselves another hearing, before the Apostle departed from them, certain men clave unto him and believed. And, the Holy Ghost hath handed down the names of two of them with honorable testimony, to the latest generations. Dionysius the Areopagite, by which it is probable is meant the judge of the Court: and Damaris it is also likely, was a woman of some distinction. And the account adds, and others with them. How many, or how few, is not said. But we may safely conclude all within that promise, Acts 2:39. See also John 6:37.