PEARLS OF PAUL
LOST CITIES AND THE POWER OF THE CROSS
DR. JIM DIXON
ACTS 17:22-34
JULY 23, 2000
Two and a half months ago, off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt, electronic mapping revealed an elaborate lost city beneath the sea. Subsequent investigation showed that this lost city and its great temple were once dedicated to the mythological Greek hero Hercules. At about the same time, two and a half months ago in South America, scientists and archeologists were hiking through the thick jungles of Peru and they came upon another lost city, the incredible ruins of a lost city. They immediately punched the coordinates into a satellite tracking system so that that lost city might be lost no more. Today they believe that that Peruvian city might be the basis of the Legend of El Dorado and the City of Gold.
I hold before you U.S. News and World Report from two weeks ago. The cover story is called “Lost Cities.” According to U.S. News and World Report, modern technology is enabling scientists to discover lost cities all over the world—in the thickest jungles and in the deepest sea?”. When scientists speak of lost cities, they are speaking of ruins of prior civilizations. They are thinking and speaking of buried and hidden ruins of what once were cities.
When we go to the Bible, we come to a different understanding of lost cities because the Bible tells us that cities in this world are lost in the sight of God. There are metroplexes of people living in ignorance of God, metroplexes of people living in defiance of God, separation from God. Those are lost cities. The Bible speaks of certain infamous lost cities. The Bible speaks of Babylon, which has become parabolic for evil and apostasy. The Bible speaks of Nineveh as a lost city. For this reason, God sent Jonah there. Certainly, Sodom and Gomorrah were lost cities, metroplexes of people living in defiance of God. Lost cities.
Those cities are, today, lost physically as once they were spiritually—buried, perhaps, deep beneath the Dead Sea. Jerusalem was a lost city. That’s why Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem, saying, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, stoning the prophets, killing those who are sent to you… How often I would have gathered your children to Myself as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you would not.” He wept over the city of Jerusalem saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace, but they are hid from your eyes. And I tell you, the days are coming when your enemies will cast up a bank about you, surround you, hem you in on every side, and not one stone shall be left lying upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
The Bible speaks of Capernaum and Chorazin and Bethsaida as lost cities, and Jesus Christ Himself pronounced judgement upon them. But before He pronounced judgement upon them, He offered the people of those cities salvation. He offered them salvation because, the Bible says that “the Son of Man came not to judge the world but that the world, through Him, might be saved.” The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ came to seek and to save the lost.
The Bible indicates that all the cities of the world are really lost cities, metroplexes of people living in separation from God. The city of Denver is a lost city. As we gather here on this Sunday morning, more than 80% of the people of Denver are not in church. Of the less than 20% who are in church, some of them are in churches where they do not hear the word of the cross. The statistics are worse in the suburbs than in the inner city. As a percentage of the population, more people go to church in the inner city than in the suburbs because, in the suburbs, there are many women and men who think that they can find fulfillment through money and success and recreation and entertainment. The truth is, however, that when we give our lives to these things, it bankrupts the soul, and fulfillment is only found in communion with God and in fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ and with the people of Christ. Fulfillment is found in the service of the eternal kingdom of heaven, a lifetime of service.
And so here we are, Cherry Hills Community Church, placed in this lost city, and we’ve been called into ministry. This church is not some kind of club for Christians to just “hang out” in. We have been called into ministry. Jesus Christ is seeking to mobilize an army of women and men who are willing to seek and save the lost by the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s why Christ has placed us here.
1,950 years ago, the Apostle Paul arrived in the city of Athens, another lost city. He went up on to the Acropolis. He saw the majesty of the Parthenon. He saw the Temple of Athena Nike. He looked down from the Acropolis and saw the incredible Temple of Olympian Zeus. He saw the Theater of Dionysus. Paul saw altars erected to a multiplicity of gods, even an altar erected to an unknown god, a lost city. Paul began to engage the people in conversation and dialogue, and the people led Paul to the Areopagus where he delivered the talk that was in our scripture this morning.
Etymologists and philologists seek to understand the word “areopagus.” The Areopagus was a reference to the hill that was next to the Acropolis, but what does the word “areopagus” mean? There are two views. Some view the word areopagus as meaning “hill of Ares,” Ares being the Greek equivalent of the Roman god of war, Mars. And that’s why, in the AV translation of the Bible, the Areopagus is rendered “Mars Hill.” But other etymologists believe that the word areopagus doesn’t mean “Hill of Ares.” They believe it means “Hill of the Erinyes.” In the Greek world, the Erinyes were the equivalent of the Roman “Furies.” The Erinyes and the Furies were the divinities that administered justice and judgement and the wrath of the gods upon all wrongdoers.
Archeologists have just recently found at the base of the Areopagus in Athens a hidden cave. And inside that cave, they found shrines that were dedicated in the time of Paul to the Erinyes, the Furies, the divinities that administered justice and judgement in the Greek and Roman world. We may not know for sure the etymology of the Areopagus, but we know this: It was a place of judgement. The hill of the Areopagus was a place of judgement, and the judgement council of Athens met on that hill. That ruling council in Athens took the name Areopagus from that hill. Even when they didn’t meet on the hill, when they met sometimes in the royal stoa or when they met up on the Acropolis, they still called themselves the Areopagus, and it was the place of judgement.
When Paul stood in the midst of people in the Areopagus, he spoke of judgement, and he warned the people of that lost city that judgement was coming. Paul said, “God has fixed a day upon which He will judge the world in righteousness.” Certainly, all the lost cities of this world need to know that judgement is coming, but God has not called us to judge the cities and peoples of the world. God has called us to a message of salvation. The Apostle Paul knew that.
As he stood there on the Areopagus, he sought to lead women and men to Christ. A few responded. We’re told that “Dionysius the Areopagite accepted Christ and joined Paul and believed.” We’re told that a woman named Damaris joined Paul and believed. We’re told that a few others did as well, but we’re kind of led to believe that perhaps Paul was disappointed as he left Athens, disappointed because not many responded. We’re told that he went from Athens south and west to the city of Corinth, another lost city, and there he “came in weakness,” Paul said, “and in much fear and trembling.” Paul said that as he spoke to the people in Corinth, he “resolved to know nothing amongst them but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” He resolved that he would not speak with eloquent wisdom, less the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. He said, “The word of the cross is the power of God for those who are being saved.”
I think Paul came to understand what the Holy Spirit would have us understand this morning, that if we would reach out to this lost city and if we would reach out to lost people, we must focus on the cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all people unto Myself.” When you look at that statement contextually, Jesus is speaking of the cross. “If I be lifted up on the cross, I will draw all people unto Myself.” And so, Christ has given us this call to take the word of the cross to the people of this lost city and to all lost people all over the world. This call, this commission, is upon us.
Where do you see the mercy of God and the grace of Christ but on the cross? Where can you find salvation but at the cross. Where do you see the concept of substitutionary atonement? Only at the cross. And so, He has called each of us to serve the word of the cross, the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are to do this with our time and with our talent and with our treasure.
All of you have heard of Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach was born on March 21, 1685. When he was only two days old, he was baptized in the Christian faith on March 23, 1685. His parents died when he was only 9, but Johann Sebastian Bach grew up to love Jesus Christ. He also grew up to become one of the greatest composers in the history of the world and perhaps the greatest genius of baroque music. Now, whenever Bach composed, he would put the Latin letters “INJ” on the paper, representing “in the name of Jesus.” When he turned to the next blank page, before he wrote, he would put the Latin letters “JJ” at the top, “Jesu Juva,” “Jesus help me.” After he had composed the page, he would put the Latin letters “SDG” at the bottom, “Soli Deo Gloria,” “To God alone the glory.”
Certainly, as we look at our future and the blank pages that are there, we need to do all things in the name of Jesus. We need to begin every day with “JJ, Jesu Juva; help me Jesus.” Hopefully, at the end of each day, we’ll be able to say “SDG, Soli Deo Gloria,” “To God alone the glory.”
When we were in Israel just the last few weeks, the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra did a performance in Tel Aviv of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. They were joined by the Prague Philharmonic Choir and also by five selected soloists. This performance in Israel of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio was controversial according to the Haaretz, the leading newspaper of Israel. It was controversial, first of all, because they performed it by splitting it in two since it was 2-1/2 hours long and purists didn’t like that. But most of all, it was controversial because this performance focused on Jesus Christ.
In Israel, the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra does not normally focus on Jesus Christ. According to the Haaretz, this was creating great controversy. But I was interested in reading that the newspaper invited all Jews to come, invited all Jewish men and women to come because, the newspaper said, the birth of Christ is not so offensive to Jews as is the death of Christ.
I thought, “Well, that’s a curious statement. Why is the death of Christ offensive to Jewish people?” If it is offensive to Jewish people, I think perhaps it’s because the Jewish leaders in the time of Christ were accused of orchestrating his crucifixion.” But it wasn’t really the Jewish leaders who crucified Christ, or even the Roman authorities. I mean, in the deepest sense, we all crucified Christ because He died for your sins and He died for my sins. He died for the sin of the world, and nobody had the power to put Jesus Christ on the cross. He chose to go there.
I mean, do you remember when He was in Gethsemane and the guards came for Him and Peter drew his sword? Jesus told Peter to put his sword away. He said, “Do you not realize that I could, at once, summon twelve legions of angels?” Apparently there were 72,000 angels nearby. Nobody had the power to take Him. Nobody. He went willingly to the cross. For this He was born, and for this He came into the world. “You will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” This is the message we’re to take to this lost city of Denver. This is the message we’re to take to the lost people of the world. It’s the word of the cross, the grace and mercy of the gospel, the proclamation of substitutionary atonement, the offer of salvation and forgiveness of sin to all who believe in the name of Christ. This is the call that has been given to us as a church.
You know, when we were in Jerusalem, we went up to the Temple Mount. On the west side, there is the Western Wall, oftentimes called the Wailing Wall. The Jewish people go there to render their prayers because they view the Wailing Wall holy since the stones at the bottom of the wall are from the time of the Temple itself. Archeologists have more recently unearthed the southern portion of the Western Wall and then around the corner, archeologists have unearthed the southern wall of the Temple Mount. All of those stones date from the time of Herod’s Temple and the time of Christ. They’ve also unearthed the steps on the southern wall that led up to the Temple Mount and the Gate Beautiful. We, as a group, went there. We stood on those steps by the Gate Beautiful.
In Acts, chapter 3, the Bible tells us that Peter and John went up those steps by the Gate Beautiful, and they saw a lame beggar, a paralyzed beggar, paralyzed from birth. Peter looked down at this man and Peter said, “Silver and gold have we none, but such as we have, we give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” The power of God went forth, and that man was healed, and he stood up and walked.
There’s not anyone in this room who can say “Silver and gold have I none…” We all have been greatly blessed, and we are called to be faithful stewards. There’s no one in this room who has the healing power of the apostolic office. I don’t question the power of Jesus Christ to heal. I know Jesus Christ still heals today. I know that. But no one in this worship center has the healing power of the apostolic office. I’ll tell you what we do have. We have the power of the gospel. It’s been entrusted to us. It’s been entrusted to you. The power of the gospel. The power of God attends, accompanies the gospel, and we’ve been called to take that gospel to this lost city and to all the lost people of the world.
As we come to communion this morning, I want to ask you to do something unusual. You know, we call communion a sacrament. The word sacrament literally means “sacred oath.” I want to ask you, as you come to this table this morning with me and we partake of the bread and the cup, to join me in making a sacred oath that you will commit the remainder of your life—all of your tomorrows, as long as you draw breath on this earth, to take the gospel to the lost—that you will offer your time, your talent, and your treasure in this purpose. I hope that we will join together as a church and we will do this together, that we will take Jesus and the word of the cross to the people who are lost right here in Denver and ultimately all over the world. If we would do this together, the power of the Holy Spirit will be great in our midst, and we cannot imagine the great things that Christ will do. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.