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Acts 17:16-34 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Well, I'm glad to be here with you this morning, and I am thankful that it is Easter Sunday.
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I am also thankful that as followers of Jesus Christ, that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ the other 364 days of the year.
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I'm thankful that we don't have to dig deep into our catalog of songs to sing songs about the resurrection.
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I'm thankful for its ongoing and ever-present implication in my life.
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Jesus is alive, and I have life in Him as a result.
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This morning, we're going to continue our study of Acts in Acts chapter 17.
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I'm glad that a year ago on this Sunday, we were in Mark chapter 16, which the resurrection story of Mark's telling is there.
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In our text today, Paul speaks of the resurrection, and he speaks of the resurrection as the affirmation of gospel truth.
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And so as we gather today as the church, let me assert to you that the gathering of the church is for the Christian.
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This primarily is for those followers of Jesus Christ in order to be equipped to go out there and to share the good news of Jesus Christ.
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As you've heard me say, we are gathered in order to go.
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And this morning, the burden for me is that you would see in the life of Paul the way in which he deals with the Athenians,
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and he shares this good news of Jesus Christ.
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Give an affirmation by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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Because as followers of Jesus, you are His marketing plan.
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You are meant to go out and to be light in a dark world.
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Now, even as I say this, I am thankful that there are many churches gathered today that will have people sitting in their crowds that have not heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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I am thankful today that there are many pastors who typically don't preach the gospel of Jesus Christ,
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who are having to wrestle with all of the implications of the resurrection.
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And I pray that they are pouring forth gospel truth to a people that desperately need to hear it.
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But I want you to understand why and to appreciate why we celebrate the resurrection of Christ every single day,
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and certainly on the Lord's Day when we gather together.
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It is empowering for our living.
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Don't leave here and wait until next year to consider the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Before I preach from Acts chapter 17, I want to pause and I want to pray.
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And I want you to join me in praying for this morning and what it means in our community and beyond.
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And then we'll turn to the text.
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So join me in a word of prayer this morning.
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Father God, I praise you this morning that you are the creator and the sustainer of this world.
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That you are sovereign.
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That your providence never fails at any point.
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You are always reigning over all things.
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I praise you for your gospel truth.
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I thank you that as we pray to you, we are praying to you clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
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That you are hearing our prayers and you are pleased with us because you are pleased with him.
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I praise you this morning, Father, that you have a church.
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Jesus is building it.
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He's drawing people to himself.
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And I pray that that would be the case in so many gathered groups this morning.
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That the gospel would be preached.
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Sin would be addressed.
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The need for repentance would be poured out.
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That people would turn and believe in Christ.
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I pray, Father, that men this morning who may not even themselves know what the gospel is,
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will preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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That we would have pastors this morning come to faith in Jesus because they have to open the word and deal with the text.
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I pray that countless people will know that today,
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that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is not firstly about them,
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but it's firstly about you.
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That they would know that they would know that they would get caught up in you bringing about the bright and proper praise that is due you this morning.
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Father, we know that we cannot schedule a revival.
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There's no tent large enough to rent.
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And no personality persuasive enough to bring about a working of your spirit.
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We know that for true revival to happen, you must visit us in a special way.
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I would ask that you do that this morning across our communities.
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Even now, as I'm sure, at 1120, men are opening up your word and speaking from it.
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Save souls this morning, Father.
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Do that in our midst.
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Equip us for the going out.
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Help us to see that we are meant to be your billboards,
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displaying your grace and mercy.
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And I pray all of this in Christ's name.
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Amen.
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Okay.
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My head is clear now, I think.
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So the book of Acts.
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You've heard me call the book of Acts,
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the Acts of the risen and ascended Jesus.
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That he is now still active, right,
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by the agency of the Holy Spirit in the life of his church.
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And we exist still as part of this telling of the story.
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But we get to step back, right?
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Luke, for our benefit,
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pinning down what happened in the life of the early church.
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So we're going to continue our study by looking at Acts chapter 17,
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verses 16 through 34.
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So if you're not already there,
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please take your copy of God's word and join me.
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Beloved, this is God's word to us.
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It was written for his glory and for our good.
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We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises
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and obey its commands.
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And I'll begin reading in verse 16 of Acts chapter 17.
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Now, while Paul was waiting for them at Athens,
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his spirit was provoked within him
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as he saw that the city was full of idols.
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So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons
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and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.
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Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him.
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And some said,
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what does this babbler wish to say?
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Others said,
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he seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities
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because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
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And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus saying,
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may we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting
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for you bring some strange things to our ears.
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We wish to know therefore what these things mean.
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Now, all the Athenians and the foreigners who live there
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would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.
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So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus said,
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men of Athens,
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I perceive that in every way you are very religious.
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For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship,
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I found also an altar with this inscription to the unknown God.
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What therefore you worship as unknown,
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this I proclaim to you.
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The God who made the world and everything in it,
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being Lord of heaven and earth,
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does not live in temples made by man,
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nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything,
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since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
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And he made from one man every nation of mankind
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to live on all the face of the earth,
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having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,
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that they should seek God
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and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.
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Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
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for in him we live and move and have our being,
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as even some of your own poets have said,
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for we are indeed his offspring.
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Being then God's offspring,
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we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone,
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an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
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The times of ignorance God overlooked,
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but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
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because he has fixed the day on which he will judge the world in righteousness
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by a man whom he has appointed.
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And of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.
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Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead,
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some mocked,
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but others said,
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we will hear you again about this.
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So Paul went out from their midst,
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but some men joined him and believed,
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among whom also were Dionysius,
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the Areopagite,
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and a woman named Damaris,
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and others with them.
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Now this morning our study of this text
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will be structured in the following way.
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Number one,
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mankind's need to philosophize.
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You could say mankind's need for philosophy.
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That spelling is more comfortable for you.
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Number two,
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mankind's need to know who God is.
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And number three,
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mankind's need to know what God has said.
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How are those for your three Easter morning points?
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Mankind's need to philosophize.
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Mankind's need to know who God is.
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Mankind's need to know what God has said.
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So Paul has traveled from Berea to Athens.
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You can look back previously in chapter 17
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and read more about that
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if you have not been with us the past couple of weeks.
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Up in the region of Macedonia,
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he's no longer there now.
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He's traveled far south on the peninsula,
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and he is waiting for Silas and Timothy to rejoin him.
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You may recall that as he leaves Berea,
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he gives a command.
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He leaves Silas and Timothy behind,
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but he gives a command for them to come and join him.
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Verse 16,
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while he was waiting for them at Athens,
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his spirit is provoked within him
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as he sees this city that is full of all these graven images,
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all of these idols, right?
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Things that have been crafted out of stone and wood and gold
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that are set up all over the city of Athens.
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And he's moved by the idolatry of the city.
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Quite possibly by zeal for the glory of the one true God
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and by compassion for the occupants of the city.
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However, it was that his spirit was provoked within him.
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He immediately turns and he reasons in the synagogue with the Jews
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and the devout persons and in the marketplace every day
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with those who happen to be there.
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So as was his custom,
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as we noted in verse 2 of chapter 17,
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Paul goes to the synagogue
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and on the Sabbath to share the gospel with his countrymen
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and to the God-fearing Gentiles.
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Again, another phrase for people who were not Jewish in bloodline,
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but people who were pursuing God through Judaism.
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Devout persons.
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These were God-fearing Gentiles.
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People familiar with the scripture of their day,
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our Old Testament.
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So on the Sabbath, he's with these people,
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his countrymen and the God-fearing Gentiles,
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sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.
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And he spends his weekdays sharing the gospel
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with anyone who would listen in the marketplace.
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Now, don't imagine him here wandering about a Kroger
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looking for people to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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The marketplace would have been the center of city life in Athens,
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where goods were traded as well as ideas.
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And it is here that this drama begins to unfold
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as he encounters two of the prominent philosophies of the day.
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So this brings us to our first point,
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mankind's need to philosophize.
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Now, some will frame philosophy as inherently evil.
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Right?
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You tell somebody that you're a philosophy major,
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they will just assume that there's no way
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you're learning anything true whatsoever,
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which in large part is true.
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But philosophy itself is not evil.
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Certainly some philosophies are.
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Most, if not all philosophies, are flawed in some sense.
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In some way, they err.
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But philosophy is simply the study of theories of knowledge,
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reality, and or existence.
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Theories of knowledge, reality, and or existence.
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Throughout history, mankind has philosophized.
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Because as cognitive beings,
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we have an innate desire to understand our place in the world.
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We're not merely walking through the world with impulse.
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Right?
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Not merely ingrained responses to the environment around us.
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But we're thinking beings.
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And as thinking beings,
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we want to understand where it is that we fit in the world around us.
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All people sense that there is purpose beyond themselves.
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That an intelligent world has an intelligent designer of one sort or another.
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Let me insert a parenthetical at this point.
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Some will deny the truth of intelligent design.
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That would be to say that the world in which we live
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is the result of billions and billions of years of happenstances.
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We just happen to find ourselves in the place that we are.
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Enter the atheist.
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But even the most, let me suggest to you,
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devout atheist,
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when he is honest with himself,
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knows there must be something greater than he.
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Paul speaks to the fact that men are aware of God's existence
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and furthers my argument by telling us in Romans 1,
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verses 18-20,
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that not only do they know that God exists,
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but they deny his existence because of their sinfulness.
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I read Romans 1, beginning in verse 18,
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for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
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against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men
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who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
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For what can be known about God is plain to them
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because God has shown it to them.
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For his invisible attributes,
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namely his eternal power and divine nature,
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have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world
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in the things that have been made.
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So they are without excuse.
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John says the same,
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but with an application to the knowledge of a revealed Savior,
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Jesus Christ,
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with an analogy of light and dark.
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John 1, verses 1-5.
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John writes,
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In the beginning was the Word,
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and the Word was with God,
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and the Word was God.
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He was in the beginning with God.
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All things were made through him,
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and without him was not anything made that was made.
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In him was life,
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and the life was the light of men.
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The light shines in the darkness,
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and the darkness has not overcome it.
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So Jesus Christ,
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and John's telling,
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is the light of the world.
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And John continues this analogy in chapter 3,
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verses 19 and 20,
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where he writes,
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And this is the judgment.
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The light,
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here,
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Jesus Christ there,
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the light has come into the world.
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And people love the darkness
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rather than the light
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because their works were evil.
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For everyone who does wicked things
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hates the light
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and does not come to the light,
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lest his works should be exposed.
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What is the wickedness of mankind
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to invent all various forms of philosophy
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that suggest that we are not accountable
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to a holy God?
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We need to explain the why
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of why we're here.
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Why?
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Why do we exist?
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Why are we here?
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And it is the very wickedness of man
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that devises all types of explanations
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that exclude a God
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who is holy
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and places requirements on us.
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Why?
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Because mankind is evil,
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and mankind wants to continue
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in its evil ways.
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Mankind needs to explain its existence,
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and so often prefers to do so
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in a way that preserves its freedom to live
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in any way that culture deems as valuable.
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And Paul here encounters adherence
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to two such prominent philosophies.
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These are two of the three most popular schools
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of philosophy in Greece in this day,
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the Epicureans and the Stoics.
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Epicurean philosophy taught
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that pleasure and the avoidance of pain
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are the chief end of man.
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Sound familiar, Americans?
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They did not deny the existence of gods.
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Pantheistic, this culture.
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But believed they were distant
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and did not interfere
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or were concerned at all
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with the affairs of man.
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So they were functionally then atheists.
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The Epicurean philosophers
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were functionally atheists.
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Sure, gods exist,
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but they don't care.
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They're not intervening at all
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in what we're doing,
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and the high chief end of man
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is pleasure and comfort.
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Stoic philosophers, on the other hand,
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taught that self-mastery
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was the chief end of man.
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Self-mastery.
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Being indifferent to both pleasure and pain,
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being entirely cerebral
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and feeling nothing
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was the highest value.
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Being able to walk through
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whatever came your way in life,
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right,
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as a thinker
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and not a feeler at all.
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They were pantheists
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and believed that the gods
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tested their devotion
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with both pleasure and pain.
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So the gods were delving out
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the circumstances of the world
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and it was their job
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to respond with nothing,
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to not respond really at all
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to both pleasure and pain
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in the world.
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So,
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the Stoic believed
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that you could enjoy nothing.
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The Epicurean believed
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that you should enjoy
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the temporal,
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those things that they could
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touch and feel
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and have experience of.
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Christians believed
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that our highest joy
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is found in God,
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the one true God
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as revealed by Jesus
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and His work on the cross.
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Now, at this point,
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I want to be clear
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that Christianity
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is not a philosophy.
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Christianity
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is not a theory.
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Christianity
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is a reality.
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It's based in truth.
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To be clear,
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when you philosophize
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with people,
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don't present Christianity
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as a philosophy of life,
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not a theory.
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Our highest good,
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our highest aim
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is joy in God.
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The Westminster Shorter Catechism
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asks the question,
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what is the chief end of man?
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If you're a good Reformed Baptist,
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you know the answer.
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It's man's chief end
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is to glorify God
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and to enjoy Him forever.
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Now, these two
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extremely different philosophies,
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Epicureanism and Stoicism,
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were united in their contempt
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for false teaching.
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Someone said,
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this is the last part of verse 18,
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what does this babbler wish to say?
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The word babbler
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from the Greek
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literally translates,
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and I think ESV did well
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to say babbler,
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it literally translates,
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seed picker.
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John B. Polhill
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in the New American Commentary
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on Acts
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says this,
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the word evoked
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images of a bird
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pecking indiscriminately
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at seeds
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in a barnyard.
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Not a kind thing
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they said of Paul.
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It referred to
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a dilettante,
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someone who picked up
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scraps of ideas
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here and there
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and passed them off
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as profundity
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with no depth
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of understanding
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at all.
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You know people like that?
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Look at your Facebook feed
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and call somebody
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a seed picker
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from time to time.
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It's an insult
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and it was intended
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as an insult here
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to call Paul
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a babbler.
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Others said,
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verse 18 tells us,
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he seems to be
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a preacher
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of foreign divinities.
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This shows
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that they weren't
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paying attention
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to him really
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at all.
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The word translated
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divinities
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is plural
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in the Greek
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so they seem
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to just misunderstand
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him altogether.
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Many scholars
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have postulated
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that they misunderstood
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Paul
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and thought
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that he was
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teaching them
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about a God
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named Jesus
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and a God
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named
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resurrection
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in the Greek
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anastasis.
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So Jesus
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and anastasis,
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these foreign
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divinities,
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they didn't seem
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to be paying
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attention at all.
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Paul.
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Now,
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whether or not
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they had
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exactly what
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they were thinking
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cannot be known
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for sure
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from our text,
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but I think
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we can imagine
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that Paul did
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not speak
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about Jesus
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without also
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speaking
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of his resurrection.
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The two were
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always being
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carried along
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together.
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Paul said
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in Romans
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chapter 1
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verse 4,
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he being
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Christ
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was declared
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to be
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the son
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of God
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in power
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according
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to the spirit
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of holiness
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by his
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resurrection
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from the dead.
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Jesus
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Christ
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our Lord.
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The affirmation
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that all
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that Jesus
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said he was
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was true.
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The two
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schools of
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philosophy
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had contempt
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for what Paul
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was preaching
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so they
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took him
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and they
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brought him
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to the
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Areopagus
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verse 19.
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Now the
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Areopagus
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was a
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court.
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It was
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named
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for the
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place
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that it
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had
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once
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convened
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and this
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day
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they
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probably
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didn't
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still
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meet
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up
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on
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this
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rock
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outcropping.
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Maybe
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they did.
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Some may
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want to
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contend with
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me on
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that.
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It
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doesn't
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matter.
24:52
It was
24:52
named
24:52
after the
24:52
place
24:53
where they
24:53
met.
24:54
But you
24:54
need to
24:54
see this
24:55
as a
24:55
court
24:55
that's
24:56
convened
24:57
to hear
24:57
what Paul
24:58
would have
24:58
to say.
24:59
And there
25:00
Paul is
25:00
informally
25:01
asked to
25:02
give an
25:02
account
25:02
of his
25:03
teaching.
25:04
And they
25:04
ask him
25:05
in this
25:05
way.
25:05
Last
25:05
part of
25:06
verse
25:06
19
25:07
and 20.
25:08
May we
25:08
know
25:09
what this
25:09
new
25:10
teaching
25:10
is that
25:11
you are
25:11
presenting.
25:12
For you
25:13
bring some
25:13
strange
25:14
things to
25:14
our ears.
25:15
We wish
25:15
to know
25:15
therefore
25:16
what these
25:17
things
25:17
mean.
25:19
And as
25:19
an apparent
25:20
parenthetical
25:21
I would
25:21
suggest
25:22
an explanation
25:23
of what
25:24
they asked
25:24
him in
25:25
verse 19
25:25
and 20.
25:27
Luke
25:27
adds,
25:28
now all
25:29
the Athenians
25:29
and the
25:30
foreigners
25:30
who lived
25:30
there would
25:31
spend their
25:32
time in
25:32
nothing except
25:33
telling or
25:34
hearing something
25:35
new.
25:36
And you have
25:37
to read that
25:37
as an
25:38
indictment
25:38
on them.
25:39
They obviously
25:39
did other
25:40
things than
25:41
hear tellings
25:42
of new
25:42
things.
25:43
But he's
25:43
characterizing
25:44
them as
25:44
saying they
25:45
were just
25:45
people who
25:46
were interested
25:46
in whatever
25:47
anybody had
25:48
to say
25:48
about anything.
25:51
So on
25:51
the surface
25:52
it seems like
25:52
there's this
25:53
genuine interest
25:54
in what
25:55
Paul had
25:56
to say.
25:56
But it's
25:56
more likely
25:57
simply a
25:58
new teaching.
25:59
They just
25:59
want to
25:59
know what
26:00
is this
26:00
new thing
26:01
that you're
26:02
going to
26:03
teach us.
26:05
And it
26:05
is the
26:05
interaction
26:06
of Paul
26:06
and the
26:06
market
26:07
with the
26:08
Epiducurean
26:09
and Stoic
26:09
philosophers
26:10
that has
26:10
set the
26:11
stage for
26:12
him to
26:12
correct the
26:13
thinking of
26:14
the Athenians
26:15
and for so
26:16
many in
26:17
our day.
26:18
And he
26:19
starts doing
26:19
that with
26:20
an observation.
26:21
he begins,
26:23
he sees this
26:23
little crack
26:24
in the
26:25
door and
26:26
he uses
26:27
this to
26:27
press the
26:28
door open
26:28
for gospel
26:29
presentation.
26:32
So Paul
26:32
stands in the
26:33
midst of the
26:33
Areopagus,
26:34
in the midst
26:34
of this
26:35
court that's
26:36
convened.
26:37
Men of
26:37
Athens,
26:38
I perceive
26:38
that in
26:39
every way
26:39
you are
26:39
very
26:40
religious.
26:42
You are
26:43
philosophers.
26:44
for as I
26:46
passed along
26:46
and observed
26:47
the object
26:47
of your
26:47
worship,
26:48
I found
26:48
also an
26:48
altar with
26:49
this
26:49
inscription
26:49
to the
26:51
unknown
26:51
God.
26:52
And he
26:52
sees this
26:52
as that
26:53
crack and
26:53
he flings
26:54
it open.
26:54
What
26:54
therefore you
26:55
worship as
26:57
unknown,
26:57
this I
26:58
proclaim to
27:00
you.
27:01
And he
27:01
starts off
27:02
into this
27:03
gospel
27:04
presentation,
27:05
which we'll
27:05
look at
27:05
more in
27:07
just a
27:07
moment.
27:07
But let
27:08
me stop
27:08
at that
27:08
point.
27:10
Mankind's
27:10
need to
27:11
philosophize and
27:12
give you some
27:12
application here.
27:14
We won't
27:14
have much
27:15
application
27:15
later,
27:15
so let
27:16
me give
27:16
this to
27:16
you here.
27:18
Number
27:18
one,
27:18
people need
27:19
to explain
27:19
their
27:20
existence.
27:22
People need
27:22
to explain
27:23
their
27:23
existence.
27:23
You can
27:23
get into
27:24
many wonderful
27:24
conversations
27:25
with people
27:25
if you
27:26
merely ask
27:27
them hard
27:27
questions about
27:29
the nature
27:29
of their
27:29
existence and
27:30
listen to
27:31
their answers.
27:33
Just ask
27:33
people,
27:34
why do you
27:34
think we're
27:34
here?
27:36
What happens
27:37
after we're
27:38
here?
27:39
Ask people
27:39
questions,
27:40
because the
27:40
reality of it
27:41
is that very
27:41
few people
27:42
really know.
27:43
they'll
27:43
philosophize.
27:45
They'll
27:45
have some
27:45
theory.
27:46
Talking about
27:47
unsaved
27:47
people.
27:48
They'll
27:48
have some
27:49
theory of
27:49
this, but
27:50
they don't
27:50
really know.
27:53
Be willing to
27:55
philosophize with
27:56
them.
27:57
Be willing to
27:57
understand where
27:58
they're coming
27:59
from and seek
28:00
opportunities to
28:01
kindly, graciously
28:04
punch holes in
28:05
their argument.
28:06
them.
28:07
You'll find it's
28:08
not that
28:08
difficult to
28:09
do.
28:09
People stand
28:10
on very
28:11
shaky ground
28:12
as they
28:12
theorize about
28:14
the world and
28:15
its existence.
28:18
Paul teaches
28:18
us in Romans
28:19
chapter 1 that
28:20
people are
28:20
very, very
28:20
aware that
28:22
there is a
28:22
God who
28:23
created the
28:24
world, and
28:25
all of the
28:25
bucking we
28:26
see against
28:27
recognizing that
28:29
is because
28:29
people want to
28:30
walk in
28:30
their sin.
28:32
Work with
28:33
them to
28:33
point this
28:34
out and
28:35
show them
28:35
Christ.
28:38
Two, if
28:41
the atheist
28:41
tries to
28:42
tell you
28:42
that he
28:43
believes that
28:45
he is the
28:45
result of
28:46
billions of
28:46
years of
28:48
happenstance,
28:49
tell him
28:51
that he
28:52
is the
28:54
evidence of
28:55
a designer.
28:57
Tell the
28:58
atheist it
28:58
says,
28:59
right,
29:00
I am
29:01
cosmic
29:02
stardust
29:03
brought
29:04
together
29:04
across
29:05
billions of
29:05
years,
29:06
say to
29:06
that person,
29:08
you are
29:08
too precious
29:09
for me to
29:09
believe such
29:10
a thing.
29:11
I am
29:12
looking at
29:12
you, and
29:13
I am too
29:13
amazed by
29:14
you to
29:15
think that
29:16
you are an
29:17
accident in
29:18
the world.
29:19
Tell him
29:20
that he is
29:21
fearfully and
29:22
wonderfully made
29:23
by a creator
29:24
who loves
29:25
him.
29:27
Obviously,
29:27
I have
29:27
characterized all
29:28
atheists as
29:29
males, but
29:30
you get the
29:31
point.
29:31
And because
29:34
he is
29:34
fearfully and
29:34
wonderfully made,
29:36
that is why
29:36
you are
29:36
concerned about
29:37
his world
29:37
view.
29:38
You can't
29:39
possibly believe
29:40
that you are
29:40
an accident.
29:44
Thirdly,
29:46
and I hope
29:47
obviously, but
29:48
it is too
29:49
often not,
29:51
preach the
29:51
gospel of
29:52
Jesus Christ.
29:54
Note that in
29:55
our text so
29:55
far, Paul is
29:56
in Athens
29:57
waiting for
29:58
Silas and
29:59
Timothy.
29:59
This is why
30:01
he has gone
30:02
to Athens.
30:02
He has come
30:03
away from
30:03
Berea and
30:04
the persecution
30:04
that was there
30:05
in Macedonia.
30:06
He is out of
30:07
the region of
30:07
Macedonia now.
30:09
And what does
30:10
Paul do to
30:10
pass the time?
30:12
He shares
30:13
the good news
30:14
of our
30:15
resurrected
30:16
Savior with
30:17
anyone who
30:19
would listen.
30:20
And this
30:21
brings us to
30:21
our second
30:21
point.
30:23
Mankind's
30:23
need to know
30:24
who God
30:25
is.
30:26
And I am
30:26
going to
30:26
start speeding
30:27
up.
30:29
In response
30:30
to the
30:31
popular
30:31
philosophies
30:31
of the
30:32
day,
30:33
Paul tells
30:33
the Areopagus
30:34
who God
30:36
is.
30:38
For our
30:39
benefit, let's
30:39
consider what
30:40
Paul said in
30:40
four titles.
30:41
God is the
30:42
creator,
30:43
the king,
30:46
the sustainer,
30:48
and the
30:50
revealer.
30:51
And let's
30:52
work through
30:53
these quickly
30:53
together.
30:54
Number one,
30:55
God is the
30:56
creator.
30:56
He says in
30:57
the first part
30:57
verse 24,
30:59
the God
31:00
who made
31:01
the world
31:02
and everything
31:03
in it.
31:04
He's destroying
31:05
pantheism at
31:06
this point.
31:08
The God,
31:09
singular,
31:09
right?
31:10
The articles
31:10
in the
31:10
Greek,
31:11
the God
31:12
who made
31:12
everything
31:13
in the
31:14
world.
31:16
Genesis
31:16
1-1,
31:17
in the
31:17
beginning,
31:18
God created
31:18
the heavens
31:19
and the
31:20
earth.
31:22
Goes
31:22
further in
31:23
our
31:23
understanding
31:24
now as
31:24
New Testament
31:25
followers
31:26
of God.
31:27
And we
31:27
have the
31:28
revelation
31:28
of Jesus
31:29
Christ.
31:30
John writes
31:30
in Revelation
31:31
4-11,
31:32
Worthy
31:32
are you,
31:33
our Lord
31:33
and God,
31:34
to receive
31:34
glory and
31:35
honor and
31:36
power,
31:36
for you
31:36
created all
31:37
things,
31:38
and by
31:38
your will
31:39
they existed
31:39
and were
31:40
created.
31:42
Paul writes
31:42
in Colossians
31:43
1-16,
31:45
For by
31:45
him,
31:46
being Jesus,
31:47
all things
31:47
were created
31:48
in heaven
31:48
and on
31:49
earth,
31:49
visible and
31:50
invisible,
31:51
whether thrones
31:51
or dominions
31:52
or rulers
31:53
or authorities,
31:54
all things
31:55
were created
31:55
through him
31:56
and for
31:58
him.
31:58
This is
32:00
our God,
32:01
creator of
32:03
heaven and
32:03
earth.
32:05
Secondly,
32:05
God is the
32:05
king.
32:07
The last
32:07
part of
32:08
verse 24,
32:09
being Lord
32:09
of heaven
32:10
and earth.
32:11
He does not
32:12
live in
32:12
temples made
32:14
by man.
32:16
And also,
32:17
verse 26,
32:19
And he
32:19
made from
32:20
one man
32:20
every nation
32:21
of mankind
32:22
to live on
32:22
all the face
32:23
of the earth,
32:24
having determined
32:25
allotted
32:27
periods and
32:28
the boundaries
32:29
of their
32:30
dwelling
32:31
place.
32:34
Psalm 103,
32:35
verse 19,
32:37
The Lord
32:37
has established
32:38
his throne
32:39
in the heavens
32:40
and his
32:41
kingdom rules
32:42
over all.
32:45
Paul again
32:45
gives this
32:46
application to
32:46
Jesus Christ,
32:47
1 Timothy 6,
32:48
15.
32:50
Jesus Christ,
32:51
who is the
32:52
blessed and
32:52
only sovereign,
32:54
the king of
32:55
kings and
32:56
lord of
32:57
lords.
32:58
Rules over
32:59
all things.
33:02
Third,
33:02
God is the
33:03
sustainer.
33:05
He created
33:07
it,
33:07
he rules
33:08
over it,
33:09
and he
33:09
sustains it.
33:11
Verse 25,
33:13
Nor is he
33:14
served by
33:14
human hands
33:15
as though he
33:16
needed anything,
33:17
since he
33:18
himself gives
33:19
to all mankind
33:20
life and
33:21
breath and
33:22
everything.
33:23
The idols
33:23
of the day
33:24
were objects
33:25
and they
33:26
needed things
33:26
brought to
33:27
them for
33:27
their sustenance.
33:29
The worship
33:29
of the day
33:29
was about
33:30
appeasing and
33:31
bringing to
33:33
the idol.
33:34
But God,
33:35
the one true
33:36
God,
33:36
is the
33:37
sustainer of
33:38
all things.
33:40
Psalm 104,
33:41
verse 14 and
33:43
15,
33:44
You cause the
33:45
grass to grow
33:46
for the livestock
33:47
and plants
33:48
for man to
33:48
cultivate,
33:49
that he may
33:50
bring forth
33:51
food from
33:51
the earth,
33:52
and wine to
33:53
gladden the
33:54
heart of man,
33:55
oil to make
33:55
his face shine,
33:57
and bread to
33:58
strengthen man's
34:00
heart.
34:01
The writer of
34:02
Hebrews gives
34:04
this application
34:05
to Christ.
34:06
Chapter 1,
34:07
the first part
34:08
of verse 3,
34:10
He's the
34:10
radiance of
34:11
the glory of
34:12
God and the
34:13
exact imprint
34:14
of His nature,
34:14
and He
34:15
upholds the
34:17
universe by
34:18
the word of
34:19
His power.
34:21
God, in
34:23
Christ, made
34:24
all things,
34:25
rules over
34:25
all things,
34:27
sustains all
34:28
things, and
34:30
He is also,
34:31
fourthly, the
34:32
revealer,
34:33
reveals all
34:35
things.
34:37
Verse 27,
34:38
28, and
34:40
29, that
34:41
they, all
34:43
these things He's
34:43
done to reveal
34:44
Himself, that
34:46
they should
34:47
seek God, and
34:49
perhaps feel
34:50
their way toward
34:50
Him and find
34:52
Him, that He is
34:53
actually not far
34:54
from each one
34:56
of us.
34:56
And at this
34:57
point, Paul
34:58
quotes from some
34:59
of their very own
35:00
poets and
35:01
literature.
35:01
These would not
35:02
have been a
35:02
people that were
35:03
familiar with the
35:04
Old Testament
35:04
scriptures, and
35:06
so he uses two
35:07
separate ones.
35:08
In Him, we
35:08
live and move
35:09
and have our
35:10
being, and
35:11
for we are
35:12
indeed His
35:14
offspring.
35:15
And he makes
35:15
the point from
35:16
this poet, being
35:17
then God's
35:18
offspring, we
35:20
shouldn't think
35:20
that this divine
35:22
being is like
35:22
gold or silver
35:23
or stone, an
35:24
image formed
35:25
by man.
35:26
So he looks
35:27
back up to
35:28
God being the
35:29
creator of
35:31
the world.
35:33
By the
35:33
natural revelation
35:34
of God in
35:36
nature, previously
35:37
mentioned in
35:37
Romans 1,
35:38
verses 18-20,
35:39
and by the
35:40
conscience of
35:41
man, God
35:42
can be known.
35:44
God can be
35:45
known by His
35:47
revelation in
35:47
nature and in
35:48
the consciences
35:49
of men, not
35:51
salvifically, but
35:53
sought after.
35:55
All the
35:56
religions of the
35:56
world are trying
35:58
to find their
35:58
way to God.
36:00
They have
36:01
enough, enough
36:02
information to
36:03
seek after God.
36:06
They need the
36:07
gospel to be
36:08
saved.
36:09
But as
36:09
such, men
36:10
are without
36:11
excuse.
36:12
Romans 2,
36:13
verses 14-15.
36:15
For when
36:16
Gentiles, just
36:18
those outside
36:18
of Judaism,
36:20
who do not
36:21
have the
36:21
law, by
36:21
nature do
36:22
what the
36:23
law requires.
36:26
Sharing your
36:27
faith with
36:27
somebody who
36:28
wants to
36:28
have entirely
36:30
relativistic
36:34
moralism,
36:35
ask them
36:37
objective
36:37
questions.
36:38
If morality
36:41
is relative,
36:43
can I kill
36:44
you now?
36:45
And is that
36:46
okay with
36:46
you?
36:47
And the
36:48
right mind
36:48
says no.
36:49
Where does
36:50
that come
36:50
from?
36:51
Where does
36:51
it come
36:52
from?
36:52
That there
36:53
are parameters
36:54
that we
36:55
place upon
36:56
ourselves.
36:57
Paul explains
36:58
it to us
36:59
here.
36:59
It's in our
37:00
nature.
37:01
Right?
37:02
We do what the
37:03
law requires.
37:03
They're a law
37:04
to themselves.
37:04
even though
37:05
they don't
37:06
have the
37:06
law,
37:07
they show
37:08
that the
37:09
work of the
37:10
law is
37:11
written on
37:12
their hearts
37:13
while their
37:14
conscience also
37:14
bears witness
37:15
and their
37:16
conflicting
37:16
thoughts
37:17
accuse or
37:19
even
37:20
excuse them.
37:22
mankind
37:24
cannot stop
37:26
merely at
37:27
knowing who
37:28
God is.
37:29
Certainly
37:29
mankind needs
37:30
to know
37:31
who God
37:32
is.
37:33
We must
37:34
also know
37:35
what God
37:35
has said.
37:37
If God
37:38
is to be
37:38
sought after,
37:40
how is it
37:41
that he
37:41
is found?
37:43
So our
37:44
third point,
37:46
mankind needs
37:47
to know
37:47
what God
37:48
has said.
37:51
Because there
37:52
is a God
37:52
who is the
37:54
creator,
37:55
the king,
37:55
the sustainer,
37:56
and the
37:57
revealer,
37:58
and because
37:59
he has
37:59
spoken,
38:01
we need to
38:02
heed his
38:03
words.
38:05
Paul says
38:05
in the beginning
38:06
of verse 30,
38:07
the times
38:08
of ignorance
38:09
God
38:09
overlooked.
38:11
That is to
38:11
say that in
38:12
times past,
38:13
God did
38:14
not always
38:15
bring particular
38:16
judgment against
38:17
nations that
38:17
did not know
38:18
him.
38:19
He didn't
38:19
always bring
38:20
the specific
38:20
judgment.
38:22
He did at
38:22
times with
38:23
some nations,
38:23
but not
38:24
always.
38:24
He overlooked
38:25
times of
38:26
ignorance,
38:28
although generally
38:28
there is always
38:29
consequence for
38:31
sin.
38:32
That is what
38:32
Paul is
38:32
suggesting here.
38:34
Athenians,
38:35
God has not
38:36
brought a
38:36
special judgment
38:38
down on you
38:38
yet.
38:41
In times
38:41
past,
38:42
he's overlooked
38:42
your ignorance
38:43
ignorance.
38:44
But now,
38:45
verse 30,
38:46
but now,
38:48
he commands
38:49
all people
38:50
everywhere
38:51
to repent.
38:53
All people
38:55
everywhere
38:55
to repent.
38:57
Why?
38:58
Verse 31,
38:59
because he has
39:00
fixed a day
39:01
on which he
39:02
will judge the
39:02
world in
39:03
righteousness
39:03
by a man
39:05
who he
39:06
has appointed.
39:07
God
39:08
Paul is saying
39:09
that a day
39:09
is coming
39:09
soon that
39:10
the world
39:10
will be
39:10
judged
39:11
in comparison
39:13
to a man
39:14
who kept
39:14
the law
39:15
without
39:16
deviation,
39:17
the man
39:18
Jesus Christ.
39:19
The Christ's
39:20
perfection
39:21
and mankind's
39:23
imperfection will
39:23
be held up
39:24
to one
39:25
another.
39:26
We will be
39:26
judged by
39:27
the man
39:28
that God
39:28
has appointed.
39:30
For the
39:30
Athenians and
39:31
for us,
39:32
to stand in the
39:33
day of judgment,
39:33
that is to be not
39:34
wiped out,
39:35
to stand in
39:35
the day of
39:36
judgment,
39:36
we must be
39:38
found in
39:39
Christ.
39:39
We must have
39:40
his righteousness
39:41
so that when
39:41
we're held up
39:42
to him,
39:43
we line up.
39:44
We're seen
39:45
as righteous,
39:46
possessing it
39:47
by faith
39:48
in his person
39:49
and his work.
39:50
We must believe
39:51
in who Christ
39:51
is and what
39:53
he has done
39:53
on our behalf
39:54
to be found
39:55
in him.
39:58
Not only will
39:58
we be judged
39:59
in comparison
40:00
to Jesus,
40:01
but God
40:02
has granted
40:03
judgment
40:03
to him.
40:05
will also
40:06
be judged
40:06
by
40:07
Jesus.
40:09
John chapter
40:10
5,
40:11
verses 22
40:12
through 27.
40:14
For the
40:14
Father judges
40:15
no one,
40:17
but has given
40:17
all judgment
40:18
to the Son,
40:20
that all may
40:20
honor the Son
40:21
just as they
40:22
honor the Father.
40:23
Whoever does
40:24
not honor the
40:24
Son does not
40:25
honor the Father
40:26
who sent him.
40:27
Truly,
40:27
truly,
40:28
I say to you,
40:29
whoever hears
40:29
my words and
40:30
believes him
40:31
who sent me
40:32
has eternal
40:33
life.
40:33
he does not
40:35
come into
40:35
judgment,
40:36
but has passed
40:37
from death
40:38
to life.
40:40
Truly,
40:40
truly,
40:40
I say to you,
40:41
an hour is coming
40:41
and is now here
40:42
when the dead
40:43
will hear the voice
40:44
of the Son of God
40:45
and those who hear
40:47
will live.
40:49
For as the Father
40:49
has life in himself,
40:51
so he has granted
40:52
the Son also
40:53
to have life
40:53
in himself,
40:54
and he has given
40:55
him authority
40:56
to execute
40:57
judgment
40:58
judgment
40:58
because he is
41:00
the Son
41:00
of Man.
41:03
And I mentioned
41:03
just kind of
41:04
as an aside
41:05
when I was reading
41:06
a story to the
41:07
children this morning
41:08
in that book,
41:09
Jesus is on a
41:10
horse
41:11
and he says,
41:12
come on,
41:12
friends,
41:14
come in.
41:17
Before that scene
41:18
takes place,
41:19
he's on a horse
41:22
and on his thighs
41:23
are emblazoned
41:24
King of King
41:25
and Lord of Lords
41:26
and he has a tongue
41:26
like a sword
41:27
and he comes back
41:28
and he's splattered
41:28
in blood
41:29
because he judges
41:30
the Lord.
41:32
That's a judgment
41:33
I want to escape.
41:38
And the rest of
41:39
verse 31,
41:41
and of this
41:42
he has given
41:43
assurance,
41:44
God has given
41:45
assurance to all
41:46
by raising
41:47
Jesus
41:48
from the dead.
41:50
The good news
41:51
of the gospel
41:51
rises or falls
41:53
on the fact
41:54
of Jesus'
41:55
resurrection.
41:55
many churches
41:58
this morning,
41:59
to their benefit,
42:00
it's a good thing,
42:00
are apologetically
42:01
proving that the
42:03
resurrection actually
42:03
happened.
42:04
That's a good thing.
42:05
It's a good exercise
42:05
for your faith.
42:06
I'm not doing that
42:07
this morning,
42:07
but for your benefit,
42:09
if you're not too
42:10
sure about the
42:11
surety of
42:12
the resurrection,
42:14
spend some time.
42:14
There's lots of
42:15
resources.
42:15
Come to me.
42:15
I'll talk with you
42:16
about it for a
42:17
really long time.
42:18
Because if Jesus
42:21
was not raised,
42:23
then he was a
42:24
moral teacher
42:25
and a lunatic.
42:26
He said crazy
42:28
things if he
42:29
wasn't raised
42:29
from the dead.
42:29
If he wasn't
42:30
after the Son
42:30
of God,
42:31
he claimed to
42:31
be the Son
42:32
of God.
42:32
He claimed to
42:33
be from God.
42:33
He claimed to
42:34
forgive sin.
42:36
He was insane.
42:40
But if he was,
42:41
and he was,
42:44
praise God
42:45
the Son
42:46
that he was,
42:48
then he is all
42:49
that he claimed
42:49
to be.
42:51
Jesus Christ,
42:53
the Son of God,
42:54
who takes away
42:55
the sins of the
42:55
world by his
42:56
perfect life
42:57
and his perfect
42:58
death,
42:59
who is seated
42:59
now at the
43:00
right hand of
43:00
the Father
43:01
interceding
43:02
for us.
43:05
Acts 4.12,
43:07
Peter said,
43:08
and there is
43:08
salvation in
43:09
no one else,
43:10
for there is
43:11
no other name
43:12
under heaven
43:12
given among
43:13
men by which
43:14
we must be
43:16
saved.
43:18
Do you believe
43:19
this?
43:21
There are not
43:22
many ways
43:23
to heaven.
43:25
And there are
43:26
people who are
43:26
out there
43:27
dying,
43:29
thinking,
43:30
just thinking
43:31
they can earn
43:31
their way,
43:33
inventing some
43:33
God of their
43:34
own making,
43:35
some philosophy
43:36
that they hope
43:38
will find them
43:39
one day
43:40
in heaven
43:41
with God.
43:42
those philosophies,
43:45
those aired
43:46
philosophies are
43:47
damning to
43:47
them.
43:48
Who must,
43:49
must,
43:49
must,
43:50
must preach
43:51
the gospel
43:51
of Jesus
43:53
Christ?
43:55
Typically on
43:55
your bulletin,
43:56
I like to give
43:57
you a quotation
43:58
from an old
44:00
dead guy.
44:02
John Piper is
44:03
not,
44:04
at least not
44:06
dead.
44:06
He is old,
44:11
don't murmur,
44:12
it's fine.
44:14
He wouldn't be
44:15
offended by that.
44:16
I just thought
44:17
that this quotation
44:18
fits so well
44:18
here.
44:19
The best news
44:20
of the Christian
44:20
gospel is that
44:22
the supremely
44:22
glorious creator
44:24
of the universe
44:25
has acted in
44:26
Jesus Christ's
44:27
death and
44:28
resurrection
44:28
to remove
44:30
every obstacle
44:31
between us
44:32
and himself
44:32
so that we
44:33
may find
44:34
everlasting joy
44:35
in seeing
44:36
and savoring
44:37
his infinite
44:39
beauty.
44:40
We may have
44:41
that which
44:42
truly satisfies
44:43
the joy
44:44
that can be
44:45
ours.
44:46
What is the
44:46
chief end
44:47
of man?
44:49
To glorify
44:50
God and
44:50
enjoy him
44:51
forever.
44:55
So we've seen
44:55
the last couple
44:56
of verses,
44:57
32,
44:57
33,
44:58
and 34,
44:59
the mixed
45:00
responses,
45:01
which is pretty
45:01
typical in the
45:02
ministry of Paul
45:03
and it will be
45:04
in our
45:05
ministry as
45:06
well.
45:07
Some think
45:07
he's crazy,
45:08
they mock
45:09
him.
45:10
Some are
45:10
interested in
45:11
what he had
45:12
to say and
45:12
they want to
45:13
hear again
45:13
what he may
45:15
be teaching
45:16
and some
45:17
believe and
45:18
follow.
45:20
So this
45:21
morning,
45:21
just let me
45:21
ask,
45:22
are you one
45:23
who mocks?
45:24
Is it possible
45:24
that you found
45:25
yourself in
45:26
the meeting
45:27
of Christians
45:27
and you're a
45:30
mocker of the
45:30
resurrection of
45:31
Jesus Christ?
45:32
I saw a
45:32
stat this
45:34
week and I
45:34
didn't do a
45:35
lot of research
45:35
on where it
45:35
came from that
45:36
said that 25%
45:37
of professing
45:39
Christians don't
45:40
believe the
45:40
resurrection actually
45:41
happened.
45:43
They're not
45:43
Christians then.
45:45
They can claim to
45:46
be but they're
45:46
certainly not.
45:49
Do you think
45:49
you're in Christ
45:50
and you don't
45:50
believe he's
45:51
alive?
45:54
I pity you.
45:56
Repent and
45:57
believe.
45:59
Are you one
45:59
who would hear
46:00
more?
46:01
We want to
46:02
share more.
46:03
Boy, do we
46:03
love talking
46:04
about the
46:04
gospel around
46:05
here.
46:06
Just ask.
46:07
Ask anybody.
46:08
Certainly I'm
46:09
available.
46:09
I'd love to
46:10
speak more about
46:10
the gospel of
46:11
Christ with
46:11
you.
46:13
Are you one
46:13
who believes?
46:16
Just believing
46:17
in the resurrection
46:18
is the beginning
46:19
of a life lived
46:21
in service to
46:22
God.
46:23
You note,
46:24
Clay read
46:24
earlier,
46:26
Jesus appears
46:27
amongst the
46:28
disciples.
46:29
What does he
46:29
say?
46:30
Just as the
46:30
father sent
46:31
me, so am
46:32
I sending
46:33
you.
46:34
We're part
46:35
of all of
46:36
the gospel
46:36
implication.
46:38
We're now
46:38
with the
46:39
spirit of
46:39
Christ in
46:40
us,
46:41
displaying his
46:42
mercy to
46:44
the world
46:44
around us.
46:45
So be
46:45
active with
46:47
your family
46:47
and friends
46:48
and coworkers
46:49
and roommates
46:50
displaying the
46:52
glory of the
46:53
gospel.
46:54
Let's pray
46:55
together.