Is, Was and Will Be – The Unknown Character of Christ and His Word

Menu
Contact Us

Act 17:18-34  Whom You Ignorantly Worship, Him Declare I Unto You

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Act 17:18-34  Whom You Ignorantly Worship, Him Declare I Unto You

[Study Aired June 18, 2023]

Act 17:18  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.
Act 17:19  And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?
Act 17:20  For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
Act 17:21  (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.)
Act 17:22  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.
Act 17:23  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.
Act 17:24  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;
Act 17:25  Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Act 17:26  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;
Act 17:27  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:
Act 17:28  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.
Act 17:29  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.
Act 17:30  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Act 17:31  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.
Act 17:32  And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
Act 17:33  So Paul departed from among them.
Act 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.

Paul has just fled Berea because the unbelieving Jews of Thessalonica had come to Berea and stirred up opposition to Paul and his message about the gospel of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the salvation He brings to mankind.

For the sake of context, I will begin with the last two verses of our last study:

Act 17:16  Now while Paul waited for them [Silas and Timothy] at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
Act 17:17  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.

Paul [“as his manner was” (vs 2)] went “to the Jews first” and reasoned with them. Nothing is said about how those in the synagogue there in Athens received the gospel. All we are told is “he… disputed… in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons. Here in Acts 17:17 these words are added… “and in the market daily with them that met him.”

We have already been informed that Paul also shared “the decrees of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem”, which decrees came out of the Jerusalem conference that was held to determine whether the Lord required the Gentiles to be circumcised. Paul and Silas shared these decrees with those they were teaching:

Act 16:4  And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.

That conference was called to settle the question of whether Gentiles needed to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. The decision made at that conference was that the Jews still needed to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, but the Gentiles were given “no such commandment.”

Here is that “decree”:

Act 15:22  Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, [“the whole church included Peter, Paul and Barnabas] to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:
Act 15:23  And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:
Act 15:24  Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
Act 15:25  It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
Act 15:26  Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Act 15:27  We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
Act 15:28  For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
Act 15:29  That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
Act 15:30  So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle:
Act 15:31  Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.

When exactly did Paul and Silas deliver these decrees to the churches? Let’s read it again so we can know and remind ourselves that Paul and Silas, both being physical Jews, were keeping the law of Moses even while “delivering the decree” that the Gentiles ‘keep no such commandment’:

Act 16:4  And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.
Act 16:5  And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.

On this second journey, Paul and Silas are preaching the gospel in many cities that have no church to which they can deliver the decrees of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. All the cities they visit after leaving Pisidian Antioch have no Christian congregations with whom they can share the decrees from the apostles. If the question of the Gentiles needing to be circumcised had presented itself, then there would be no doubt Paul would have shared the decrees of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem to settle that question. However, there was no church yet established there in Athens. Therefore, that very controversial point was not an issue while Paul was in Athens waiting for Silas and Timothy to come to him from Berea. What we are instead told is:

Act 17:18  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.
Act 17:19  And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?

Here is Strong’s definition of the meaning of an “Areopagite”:

BT+ adds this:

Being brought before the Greek Areopagus is like being brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin. Both are courts, but the Sanhedrin was always an adversarial court of the followers of Christ. The Areopagus court was not at all adversarial, and like curious Pilate, the Gentile Roman ruler who was “determined to let [Christ] go” (Acts 3:13), these Gentile Athenian judges are also simply curious about the new doctrine they are hearing Paul proclaim.

Act 17:20  For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
Act 17:21  (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.)

This is an affliction which is common to us all. We all want to be the first person to learn “some new thing” so we can share it with others. It is a true blessing to see the Truth for the first time, but we must be on our guard against making ourselves the center of attention, as the young damsel in Philippi did. Christ, who is the Truth, must always be the center of our attention and our dedication.

Col 1:15  Who [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16  For by him [Christ] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

Paul kept Christ at the center of everything He taught, even as he was speaking to an audience who “spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing”:

Act 17:22  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.
Act 17:23  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.

Paul gives us a good example of how we, as the Lord provides us opportunity, should engage with the world. We, too, can and should use the world’s own words to begin a dialogue about Christ, and we should never shy away from the opportunity to witness for our Lord:

2Ti 4:1  I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2Ti 4:2  Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; [“speaking smooth things” (Isa 30: 8-11)]
2Ti 4:4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
2Ti 4:5  But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Alluding to the Athenian monument “to the unknown God”, Paul uses their own words as a segue to preach Christ and His gospel to these pagan Athenians:

Act 17:24  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;
Act 17:25  Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

As Christ told the woman at the well, the time has come when God does not want men building “a house for God” as one mega-minister did. The time has come to realize what the true “temple of God” is and to worship Him in spirit and in Truth:

Joh 4:19  The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Joh 4:20  Our fathers [the northern ten tribes who rebelled against Rehoboam] worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Act 17:26  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;

Everything that happens on this earth is “before appointed” by God; both the good and the evil. Even the apprehension and crucifixion of Christ was “before appointed… [and] “determined before to be done”:

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Act 17:27  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:

Like Saul of Tarsus and the man whom Christ healed of being born blind, we all must first come to see and acknowledge our spiritual blindness and “feel after Him” before we will be given eyes that see or ears that hear Christ and His words, because the natural man is born spiritually blind:

Joh 9:40  And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin [and spiritual blindness] remaineth.

Act 9:8  And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
Act 9:9  And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

At His appointed time the Lord removes our blindness as He did from the man who was born blind and as He did from Saul of Tarsus, and then we begin to see as He sees and to understand as He understands:

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Paul encouraged these Athenians, as types of us, to begin to come out of their default blindness and begin to acknowledge the hand of God in the affairs of this age:

Act 17:28  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.

Here Paul once again alludes to “[their] own poets”, who had said, “We are also His offspring.” According to John Gill’s commentary, two Greek poets had made this statement. One was Aratus who was from Solis, a city near Tarsus, the hometown of the apostle Paul. The other was a Greek named Cleanthes who taught at Athens. By quoting their own poets, Paul disarms them and introduces them to Christ. If the spirit then sees fit to cause it to do so, the Lord’s word will take root in their lives. The Truth always puts down its roots in the lives of a remnant:

Act 17:29  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.

Paul is addressing pagan Athenians and telling them that even their own poets have rightfully acknowledged that we are God’s offspring. Those Greek poets agree with the Bible, which reveals that mankind is indeed “the offspring of God”:

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Psa 82:6  I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

Luk 3:38  Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

Like our original father, the first Adam, we are all “children of the most high” (Luk 3:38). Even at the time that we “are of [our] father the devil” (Joh 8:44), we are still the sons of God because God is “the father of spirits” both good and bad:

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

“We are His offspring” and we are “in the Potter’s hand” even in our carnal unconverted condition while the Lord is in the process of making us a new vessel:

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Jeremiah 18:4 accords with Paul’s statement to these Athenians telling them they are “the offspring of God”. It also agrees with Luke who tells us that the “first Adam”, the original “vessel of clay”, was also “the son of God”:

Luk 3:38  Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

It is by the Lord’s own design that the vast majority of the English translations have mistranslated both Genesis 2:26-27 and Jeremiah 18:4. The verbs in both are in the Hebrew ‘qal stem’. The Hebrew qal stem is the same as the Greek aorist tense, which always indicates that the statement made is true, but it is not yet completed.

Here is a much better translation of Genesis 1:26-27:

Gen 1:26 And saying is the Elohim, Make will We humanity in Our image, and according to Our likeness, and sway shall they over the fish of the sea, and over the flyer of the heavens, and over the beast, and over all land life, and over every moving animal moving on the land.
Gen 1:27 And creating is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them.

What we are being told is that God is in the process of making man in His image and after His likeness, and these “clay vessels” we now occupy are just the first step in that process.

Paul explains this process in these words:

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

The Lord wants us to know that Adam’s transgression was not something He had not anticipated. Quite to the contrary, Adam’s transgression was the inevitable result of his natural condition and his clay and dust composition. Adam could not possibly have done anything other than transgress the Lord’s commandments because the “one lawgiver” (Jas 4:12) had installed a “law of sin” in Adam’s flesh which made him err from the Lord’s ways (Isa 63:17).

Here is what the ‘first Adam’ was contending with:

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

There is in the natural man “the law of sin which is in [our] members”. There is but “one lawgiver who is able to save and able to destroy”:

Jas 4:12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

Act 17:30  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

God “winked at… the times of this ignorance” because it was He who worked and ordained a ‘time of ignorance’ in the life of every man. Spiritual vision is absolute unadulterated “foolishness” to our natural man:

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

God made all things for Himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of evil. Yet He has also devised means that even His banished will not be expelled from Him:

2Sa 14:14  For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him [1Co 15:22].

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

In the end, all mankind will be dragged to God through His fiery judgments. The fiery judgment which is now on the house of God and the final white throne judgment, which will drag all men to Christ:

1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Act 17:31  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.

Christ’s resurrection from among the dead is His “assurance” to “all men” that he will also “raise us up… in the third day.”

Hos 6:2  After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

1Co 6:14  And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

2Co 4:14  Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.

The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is foolishness to our natural man.

Act 17:32  And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.

Paul was not led by the spirit to spend a lot of time in Athens, but a remnant had heard and believed his witness, including one of the judges of the Areopagus, a man named Dionysius, a woman named Damaris, and others:

Act 17:33  So Paul departed from among them.
Act 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.

Nothing is said at this point about Silas and Timothy coming to be with Paul in Athens. However, we learn in 1 Thessalonians that Silas and Timothy had indeed joined Paul in Athens, and that it was from Athens that Paul had sent Silas and Timothy back to check in on and minister to the churches of Macedonia including the church in Thessalonica right after being “shamefully entreated… at Philippi”:

1Th 2:2  But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention [The unbelieving Jews in Thessalonica greatly withstood Paul to the point that he was forced to flee for his life to Berea].

1Th 2:14  For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews:
1Th 2:15  Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:
1Th 2:16  Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.

The persecution of Christ and His Christ indicates that the wrath of God is upon those who do so.

It is in telling these Thessalonians of his great desire to see them again, that we learn Silas and Timothy had indeed come to Athens and had been there with Paul before Paul left Athens for Corinth:

1Th 2:17  But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.
1Th 2:18  Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.
1Th 2:19  For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?

This is how we should all feel toward each other. We are each other’s “hope [and] joy [and] crown of rejoicing.”

1Th 2:20  For ye are our glory and joy [We are to each other “our glory and joy”].

Verse 20 is the last verse of chapter 2 of 1 Thessalonians, but there were no chapters when Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, and these are his very next words:

1Th 3:1  Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;

This verse in conjunction with Acts 18:5, informs us that Silas and Timothy had both come to Paul while he was in Athens. It was from Athens that Paul had immediately sent Timothy and Silas back to check on and encourage the churches in Macedonia.

1Th 3:2  And [from Athens] sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith:
1Th 3:3  That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.
1Th 3:4  For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know [Act 14:22].
1Th 3:5  For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.

Paul had sent Timothy back to Thessalonica while he was still in Athens. Our next chapter will fill in some blanks and let us know that he had also sent Silas back to Macedonia. He had apparently left Athens alone and had gone to Corinth, and that is where “Silas and Timotheus” had returned to be with Paul:

Act 18:1  After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;
Act 18:2  And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.
Act 18:3  And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.
Act 18:4  And he reasoned in the synagogue [“To the Jew First”] every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
Act 18:5  And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

There it is! Paul himself tells us in 1 Thessalonians 3:1-2 that he was still in Athens when he sent Timothy to the Thessalonians. Acts 18:1-5 tells us Paul was in Corinth when Silas and Timothy returned with a good and encouraging report of the churches in Macedonia. Paul was in Corinth when he wrote this first epistle to the Thessalonians.

1Th 3:6  But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:
1Th 3:7  Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith:
1Th 3:8  For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.

Meditate upon these words. Paul longed to see the saints, and the saints longed to see Him.  Reading of the love these early saints had for one another, and how they earnestly desired to get to see each other, should cause us to thank the Lord and rejoice in the Lord’s incredible provisions every time we look at our computer and see “our own flesh” (Isa 58:7), “Jesus of Nazareth” (Act 22:8), from all around the world right there in front of us. We have this great blessing, and by this blessing we also are comforted in all our afflictions. Never take this blessing for granted. Never permit this blessing to become a thing for which you do not show the Lord your great appreciation.

Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

Even Zoom was invented for us because “all things are for your sakes” (2Co 4:15), and our gathering together as we do is a precursor to the ultimate fulfilling of this prophecy of our Lord:

Mat 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Mark adds “the earth” to the equation:

Mar 13:27  And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

2Co 4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

Other related posts