Worshipping the Unseen God

I. Though the Romans conquered the world militarily, they perpetuated the culture of the Greeks.

A. This culture involved an assortment of Greek gods.

B. The pagan ceremonies observed by their followers were rich in visual appeal and ceremony. There were temples built to the gods and large statues portraying the gods in human form.

C. Idol worship was prevalent throughout the Roman Empire.

D. Often the worship, as in the case of Bacchus or Eleusis, involved drunkenness, lewd behavior, and barbaric acts of self-mutilation or tearing animals apart while they were still alive. The Manner and Customs of Bible Times: “Religion was largely bound up with culture; games, meals, arts, and all forms of celebration were always in honour of the gods.” Some religious cults developed secret mysterious rites that members could undergo to attain a closer relationship with their gods.

E. The Greco-Roman mind had been immersed in mythology for centuries.

II. This was the spiritual setting for Paul’s great sermon in Athens, the ancient capital of Greece and the heart of Greek civilization, Acts 17:22-34.

III. Background

A. When Paul came to Athens he was troubled by the city consumed by idols, 17:16. “Easier to find a god than a man.” When he began to teach the Greeks in the marketplace, the Athenian philosophers wanted to hear this new doctrine for he seemed to proclaim foreign gods, 17:18-21.

B. Paul’s sermon

C. Paul noted their many objects of worship.

D. Statues of the Greek gods surrounded the Areopagus, where Paul preached (Chart 1-Picture).Yet Paul courageously preached an unknown and unseen God who was different from these idols.

E. God does not dwell in temples made by human hands, v.24.

F. Though there was a temple in Jerusalem, the primary benefit was for the Jews, not God. God promised that His presence would be there so when they prayed toward that temple and worshipped him, He would accept them. When Solomon dedicated the temple, he said that it could not contain God. God does not need anything from man, He gives everything, v.25. God desires men to seek Him, though His is not far from them, v.27. God should not be represented in idolatrous form.

IV. God is not to be fashioned into statues and icons.

A. God’s eternal and omnipotent being cannot be represented by images.

B. The divine nature is not like a man made idol, v.29. Fashioning God in an image or idol reflected an era of ignorance, v.30.

C. Fashioning God in an image is displeasing to Him, Rom 1:20-25.

D. His invisible attributes are evident to all, v. 20. Men, puffed up by their own arrogance, idolized God. They changed His incorruptible glory into corruptible images of man and beasts. They did not glorify Him in their practice but displeased Him.

E. Old Testament law

F. In the Old Law, God prohibited the Jews from making images. Exodus 20:4 – Commandment ( Chart 2) Exodus 32:2-10 – Aaron’s golden calf represented Jehovah1 Kings 12:28-31 – Jereboam’s calves represented Jehovah

G. Yet some religions do this today

H. Catholic arguments

I. Chart 3: Catechism #1159 (But we do not know how Jesus looked) Chart 4 : Catechism #1160 “(Images confirm the reality?)

J. Chart 5: Catechism #2132

K. Do you think the Greeks really thought that the statue was Zeus, Aphrodite, etc? Do you think Aaron really thought the golden calf was God? All idols represent a deity and to venerate the idol is to venerate the deity, not the statue. Yet God condemned such worship of Himself!

L. Not only is God venerated in these idols but Mary, the apostles, angels, and people whom the Catholic Church has called saints.

M. Code of Canon Law, Canon 1255 says, “To sacred relics and images there is also due a veneration and worship which is relative to the persons to whom the relics and images refer.”(D. Riggs)

N. We are not to venerate anyone but God.

O. Peter refused worship, Acts 10:25-26. Angels refused worship, Revelation 19:10.

P. There is no scriptural support for the veneration that Mary receives by those seeking to reach Christ through her.

Q. Chart 6 Quote 1 by Liguori (he was canonized by the Catholic church) Chart 7 Quote 2 by Liguori Chart 8 Quote by Lorraine Bottener2 Thessalonians 2:4 – the Man of perdition accepts worship as God.

R. We can appreciate the good example of the godly people who have died, but God never commands or permits us to pray through dead believers as intercession to Him.

S. 1 Timothy 2:5 – One mediator – Christ We do not need a mediator to get to Christ.

T. Pantheon in Rome ( Chart 9 – Pantheon Exterior)

U. The Pantheon was a temple to worship the Greek gods ( Chart 10 – Parthenon Picture of Greek worship) Now, where the statues of the Greek gods stood, there are statues and paintings of Jesus and the saints. (Chart 11 – Modern Parthenon ) Chart 12 : Chiniquy, page 50

V. If God was not pleased with images in the Old Testament or the New Testament, and the fashioning of images reflected a period of ignorance and foolish thoughts, do we think it glorifies Him now?

V. We worship the invisible God.

A. The faith delivered to the saints is not so shallow that it must be propped up with images to venerate or symbols to surround us.

B. We trust in the unseen God, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

C. We can live like the faithful people of old who trusted in the unseen God.

D. Hebrews 11 describes the faith of the Patriarchs in what they could not see with physical eyes but beheld with spiritual vision. Hebrews 11:27 – Faith like Moses, who sees the unseen. Hebrews 12:1-2 – We focus on Christ whom we have not seen but can see spiritually through the scriptures.

E. We walk by faith, not by sight, 2 Corinthians 5:6-8