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THESE TIMES OF IGNORANCE

THE DAILY FOUNTAIN DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE OF THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)

DATE: SATURDAY, 4TH FEBRUARY, 2023 
         
TOPIC: THESE TIMES OF IGNORANCE

TEXT: ACTS 17:17-END 

17. Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. 
18. Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?”
Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.
19. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? 
20. For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” 
21. For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
22. Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 
23. for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:THE UNKNOWN GOD
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 
24. God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 
25. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 
26. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 
27. so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 
28. for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ 
29. Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 
30. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 
31. because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
32. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” 
33. So Paul departed from among them. 
34. However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.


MESSAGE: 
It is very unfortunate that our generation will be counted in the times of ignorance of the Gospel more than 2000 years after Jesus left the earth.When Paul arrived in Athens, he was burdened by what he saw-the level of idol worship in the place, to the extent of dedicating an altar to “THE UNKNOWN GOD.”This gave Paul the opportunity to preach about this “Unknown God” to them and many believed. Even some philosophers wanted to find out this 'new doctrine' that Paul brought.Are we still like ignorant Athenians in this 21st Century? The way the youths are embracing idolatry, cultural revival, kidnapping, money rituals and cultism makes one wonder if the gospel is being preached. The Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword...” (Heb. 4: 12). This is manifested when the Word is spoken in the power of the Holy Spirit. Anything short of this may not make the needed impact in a world that places learning, science, technology and artificial intelligence above God. We must fight this ignorance by preaching the gospel zealously as the Day of the Lord fast approaches. Preach the gospel today.

PRAYER: 
Use me Lord to pull down every spirit of idolatry in my generation in Jesus Name. Amen.

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