SPEAKER_00: Acts chapter 17.
SPEAKER_00: We are in a uh section by section journey through this uh wonderful book.
SPEAKER_00: Acts chapter 17, and I'm just gonna I'm not gonna read it up front today, but uh but we will um kind of go verse by verse Acts chapter 17, where I'm gonna begin in verse 22.
SPEAKER_00: Well, today as we continue looking at Paul's ministry in Athens, I want to continue to preach on this idea of reaching our post-Christian culture.
SPEAKER_00: How many know our culture is broken, our nation is broken, but the problem is not economic, it's not political.
SPEAKER_00: The ultimate reason our culture is broken is because man is broken, amen.
SPEAKER_00: And the only hope is the Lord Jesus Christ, it is the gospel, and we know this, and we want to reach our culture with the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Shake your head at me if you agree.
SPEAKER_00: But it's like in this godless culture that is so hostile towards Christianity, where do we even begin?
SPEAKER_00: Is it even possible?
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's one reason I love to read about Paul's missionary journeys because he took the gospel throughout the ancient world.
SPEAKER_00: Many of them were extremely hostile towards Paul and the gospel, and yet the gospel swept the ancient world.
SPEAKER_00: And I think as we look at Paul's ministry in Athens, that we can learn a lot about how to reach our own culture.
SPEAKER_00: Understand that Athens at this time was the kind of cultural Mecca of the Greco-Roman world.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, it would be Athens and then, of course, Rome.
SPEAKER_00: It was a very influential city, but a very dark city full of idolatry and all kinds of darkness, which, by the way, does not intimidate Paul.
SPEAKER_00: In our culture, should not intimidate you.
SPEAKER_00: He addresses in our text the Athenians in a very profound way, demonstrating, I think, how you and I can share the gospel in a context that is often indifferent or again, even hostile towards the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: So there's um three necessary components to reaching our culture.
SPEAKER_00: I uh took two of them last week in uh beginning in verse uh 16 of chapter 17.
SPEAKER_00: I dealt with the first two.
SPEAKER_00: Today I'm gonna fill uh I'm gonna handle the second or the third, excuse me, uh component.
SPEAKER_00: Now just to do a quick review, these three components are this.
SPEAKER_00: If we're gonna reach our culture, we must do three things.
SPEAKER_00: We must feel something, we must do something, and then today we must say something.
SPEAKER_00: So first we we must feel something.
SPEAKER_00: When Paul arrives in Athens in verse 16, uh, Luke tells us that he saw that the city was full of idols.
SPEAKER_00: And and Luke tells us that when he saw that, that his spirit was provoked.
SPEAKER_00: Now there's two things going on on here.
SPEAKER_00: On one hand, Paul is jealous for the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: As a Jew, he abhors idolatry, he does not want to see what is meant for God given to man or any other idol.
SPEAKER_00: So he is jealous here for the glory of God as he sees the idolatry and it provokes him.
SPEAKER_00: But something else is going on in Paul's life, namely, he is broken for the people of Athens.
SPEAKER_00: He is disheartened when he sees in all of their religiosity that they are actually so lost and so confused and so far from God.
SPEAKER_00: Reminds me of when Jesus was crossing, was looking down upon Jerusalem, and you remember uh what he did.
SPEAKER_00: The Jerusalem, the people that were so uh against him and so far from God and so confused, he looked upon Jerusalem, and Luke tells us in his gospel account that Jesus wept over the city.
SPEAKER_00: I just believe if we're gonna reach our culture, it must begin with being broken over the culture, over the lost.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to feel something if we're gonna reach the culture, but secondly, we've got to do something.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 17, again, as we covered last week, Paul, Luke tells us that Paul daily, when he was in Athens, went to the marketplace.
SPEAKER_00: Now, again, this is not Richmond Center, okay?
SPEAKER_00: This is not TJ Maxx and Myers and all of that.
SPEAKER_00: This was the cultural hub of Athens.
SPEAKER_00: It was the place that commerce happened, business deals happened here, buying, selling, trading.
SPEAKER_00: It was the center for uh religion.
SPEAKER_00: There were temples and altars and shrines and all of these things.
SPEAKER_00: It was the intellectual center for Athens.
SPEAKER_00: All the philosophers who were anybody debated their ideas, proclaimed their philosophical worldviews from the agora.
SPEAKER_00: So again, I want you to say this is the cultural heart of the Greek world.
SPEAKER_00: And what does Paul do?
SPEAKER_00: He goes right to the agora, right to the marketplace.
SPEAKER_00: So I would say to you, if we're going to reach our culture, yes, we must be broken over the culture.
SPEAKER_00: And while we should pray for the people of our culture, we don't just pray, we've got to go to them.
SPEAKER_00: How many Christians are just waiting for the lost to show up and ask them about Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: That happens from time to time, but not as often as you might think.
SPEAKER_00: Beloved, if we are going to win our culture, we have got to go to the culture.
SPEAKER_00: We have got to engage the culture.
SPEAKER_00: Now, we don't have an agora here in Richmond that I know of, at least.
SPEAKER_00: I highly doubt it.
SPEAKER_00: But what this means for us is that when you go to work, you engage with non-Christians, not just believers.
SPEAKER_00: Don't say, well, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: They don't believe like me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just going to stay away from them.
SPEAKER_00: No, you engage the culture.
SPEAKER_00: If you're on campus, it's school, at college, you don't avoid the culture.
SPEAKER_00: What do you do?
SPEAKER_00: You engage it.
SPEAKER_00: Let me give one caveat here, though.
SPEAKER_00: When you engage the culture, it's imperative that you still remain distinct from the culture.
SPEAKER_00: Because some quote-unquote Christians engage the culture, but they live just like the culture.
SPEAKER_00: They they allow the culture to influence them rather than influencing the culture.
SPEAKER_00: So if we're going to reach the culture, if we're going to reach the lost in our cities, here's what we must do.
SPEAKER_00: We must feel something.
SPEAKER_00: We must be broken.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, we must do something.
SPEAKER_00: We must take, uh, we must go to the marketplace and engage the culture.
SPEAKER_00: And number three, those two things are not enough.
SPEAKER_00: We don't just uh feel something, we don't just go, but we have to say something.
SPEAKER_00: We have to say something.
SPEAKER_00: Namely, reaching the culture requires sharing the gospel within our cultural context.
SPEAKER_00: Now let me break that down.
SPEAKER_00: The first part requires sharing the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: You know, when Paul arrives in the Macedonian area, he starts in Philippi and then he goes to Thessalonica.
SPEAKER_00: And do you remember what the authorities uh accuse Paul of in Thessalonica?
SPEAKER_00: They say this man is turning the world upside down.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is the Roman world.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul and three other of his team members, ordinary men, they are turning really the world upside down.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes, they are.
SPEAKER_00: Actually, they're turning the world right side up.
SPEAKER_00: Well, how are they doing it?
SPEAKER_00: Because, as we've seen, from city to city, they are proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says explicitly in Romans 1:16, I am not ashamed of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: For it is the power, it is, it alone is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes first to the Jew and then to the Greek.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, the people of our culture do not need reform, they need to be transformed.
SPEAKER_00: That's why politics and uh putting in the right laws, it's not going to change the culture.
SPEAKER_00: For the culture to change, hearts have to be changed, and that only happens through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: To reach the culture, we must preach the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the second part of my thesis.
SPEAKER_00: We must do so within our cultural context.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what in the world do I mean?
SPEAKER_00: I am not saying, hear me.
SPEAKER_00: I am not saying that we have to make the gospel relevant.
SPEAKER_00: Beloved, the gospel is relevant all by itself throughout history and place.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel is the most relevant thing that we can preach to every culture.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying that we change the message in any way.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not suggesting that we water down the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: No, that's not what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I'm saying: there is no cookie cutter method to preaching the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't know if you've ever taken an evangelism class or read a book on evangelism or watched some videos.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, while many of them are well intentioned, some that I've been through, they give you an ABC one, two, three, you know, they give you steps like this is exactly how you're gonna share the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: This is what you need to do.
SPEAKER_00: And while that sounds good, and we would like that, it just doesn't work.
SPEAKER_00: Because here's what here's what I'm saying the message does not change, but the method of preaching the gospel changes from culture to culture.
SPEAKER_00: This is why we have uh our missionaries here with us this morning, and when someone is called to missions, we don't just send them out immediately, right?
SPEAKER_00: What did you go?
SPEAKER_00: You had to learn a language, yes.
SPEAKER_00: How long was your kind of training?
SPEAKER_00: Two years?
SPEAKER_00: Two years where you learn the language, you learn the culture.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because for us to be effective, we must understand the culture and we must know how to present the gospel within that cultural context.
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm sure, Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Busky, you saw this in Russia.
SPEAKER_00: Quite different than sharing the gospel here, I would imagine.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to leave Acts 17 to make this point.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, when Paul goes to Thessalonica, he starts his ministry in the synagogue.
SPEAKER_00: And Luke draws out what he said in the synagogue.
SPEAKER_00: He's giving non-believing Jews the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: And Luke tells us that in Thessalonica that he reasoned with them from the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because the scriptures, it was the lifeblood of the Jewish community.
SPEAKER_00: So when Paul presented the gospel, no doubt he went to the law and the prophets and even the Psalms, showing them that this Jesus whom you crucified and the one who is raised from the dead, he is your Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: That was his presentation of the gospel in the synagogue.
SPEAKER_00: That's the beginning of chapter 17.
SPEAKER_00: But in Athens, as we'll see today, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: Paul never directly quotes the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: He gives an extremely biblical message, to be sure, but he doesn't quote the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because these philosophers are unaware of or indifferent to the Hebrew scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: So he presents the gospel in a way that is within their cultural context.
SPEAKER_00: Now, do you know one of the top two reasons that Americans, Christians, say they don't share the gospel?
SPEAKER_00: The majority don't, by the way, statistically.
SPEAKER_00: The number one reason is fear, the fear of rejection.
SPEAKER_00: This is why you've got to break your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Your heart has to break for the loss.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to learn to love people and care more about their eternity than your own ego or fear of rejection.
SPEAKER_00: That's how you get over that one.
SPEAKER_00: But the second reason is they feel ill-equipped.
SPEAKER_00: So here's what you need to know.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: You need to know two things in order to share the gospel within a particular culture.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, you've got to have a clear understanding of the gospel, which I fear many do not have in the church today.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel, by the way, is more uh than escaping hell and going to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: That's what many Christians think the gospel is.
SPEAKER_00: It's just about escaping hell, going to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: The word gospel is the Greek word evangelion, and it is a kingly announcement.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel, what is the good news?
SPEAKER_00: What was the good news to the Jewish people?
SPEAKER_00: The king has come.
SPEAKER_00: Through Jesus, death, burial, and resurrection, he has been enthroned, and God's kingdom has been inaugurated.
SPEAKER_00: The king is here.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's good news.
SPEAKER_00: Through him, to be sure, through Jesus Christ, we can experience the forgiveness of sins, and we can be brought into the kingdom of God and be part of new creation, his creation project.
SPEAKER_00: So we need to have a clear understanding of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: But secondly, if we're going to be effective in our culture, again, we've got to understand our culture.
SPEAKER_00: What are our cultural idols?
SPEAKER_00: What are the cultural narratives that are being espoused?
SPEAKER_00: So Luke mentions that Paul in the agora is reasoning with two uh philosophers, two philosophy camps, if you will.
SPEAKER_00: Number one is the Epicureans, number two is the Stoics.
SPEAKER_00: The Epicureans they believed that the traditional Greek gods existed, but unlike traditional Greek religion, they thought the gods were far away, living in their own world and uninvolved in human affairs.
SPEAKER_00: The Epicureans did not believe in an afterlife.
SPEAKER_00: The Epicureans did not believe in moral, uh, you know, objective moral truths.
SPEAKER_00: So what did they do?
SPEAKER_00: Their aim, since this life was all there was, and since there's no God kind of watching them, they said the meaning of life is found in maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain.
SPEAKER_00: Now that sounds a lot like the liberal narrative today, does it?
SPEAKER_00: Just do whatever makes you happy, live for pleasure.
SPEAKER_00: The Stoics, on the other hand, it sounds a lot like the conservative non-Christians.
SPEAKER_00: The conservative, uh, or the excuse me, the Stoics did not believe in the traditional Greek gods, but they did believe that the divine was kind of part of nature.
SPEAKER_00: They believed in what they called divine reason or logos.
SPEAKER_00: And the aim of that they, by the way, did believe in moral absolutes that were revealed kind of in nature.
SPEAKER_00: So the goal of life was not to maximize pleasure for them, but it was actually to live a self-controlled life.
SPEAKER_00: And so what they would do, their whole goal was to discover the virtues that nature revealed and to live in a way that aligned with those virtues.
SPEAKER_00: So they believed in like traditional values.
SPEAKER_00: That sounds a lot like the conservative narrative.
SPEAKER_00: Neither one of those are Christian narratives, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: So, so the Stoic said the meaning of life is found in being a really good person.
SPEAKER_00: Not in Jesus, being a good person.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: So the reason I share that with you is because I want you to see as we as we go through Paul's sermon at the Areopagus, you are going to see that Paul is very, very familiar with these two cultural ideas, narratives, worldviews.
SPEAKER_00: And so I think that's really helpful.
SPEAKER_00: So you got to know the gospel if you're gonna be effective in this culture, and you've got to know the culture.
SPEAKER_00: So let's let's dive into his sermon here.
SPEAKER_00: Paul begins with commending his listeners.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul has been at the agora and he's been preaching Christ, and some people mocked him, but others uh said, we want to hear more.
SPEAKER_00: And they invite him to Mars Hill, up the hill to uh to to to this place that is you know kind of reserved for the elites.
SPEAKER_00: It's called the Areopagus, and it literally uh means um, excuse me, I totally lost my my thought there.
SPEAKER_00: God of war, that's what it is.
SPEAKER_00: That it it it it means the uh it means the hill of Ares, who is the God of war, and it was the platform for the most intellectual minds of the day.
SPEAKER_00: Matter of fact, centuries before, do you know Socrates was led up that same hill?
SPEAKER_00: This is no joke, guys.
SPEAKER_00: Paul has a platform, and here's how he starts using that platform.
SPEAKER_00: He starts by commending his listeners.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 22 Paul standing in the midst of the Ariacabus said, Men of Athens, I perceive in every way that you are what?
SPEAKER_00: Religious.
SPEAKER_00: Notice what he doesn't do, he doesn't start smashing idols, he doesn't do that, he doesn't start off by criticizing, he says, I'm I perceive that in every way you are religious, and so is Paul, just in a different way.
SPEAKER_00: You see what Paul's doing here, he's building a bridge.
SPEAKER_00: I think this is a really good way to get an audience's attention and to kind of take down any barriers that would cause them not to listen to you.
SPEAKER_00: You know, our cultural values, our culture values many things that we as Christians value.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of people in our culture, even atheists, call themselves spiritual.
SPEAKER_00: I was just sitting on uh uh a person's porch uh three weeks ago, and uh my aim was to share Jesus with this person and looked at me and said, Well, I'm very spiritual.
SPEAKER_00: I said, Great, me too.
SPEAKER_00: That was the starting point.
SPEAKER_00: Now, my spirituality to be sure looks a lot different than this person's.
SPEAKER_00: It was more about meditating and chanting and all that stuff, but nonetheless, a ground of commonality.
SPEAKER_00: Our culture believes in freedom.
SPEAKER_00: So do I.
SPEAKER_00: I just believe that freedom is found in Christ, not personal autonomy.
SPEAKER_00: Our culture believes in identity, right?
SPEAKER_00: The narrative is you need to look inside and find out who you really are and be true to that person.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I believe everyone needs to find their identity.
SPEAKER_00: I just believe that that identity is only found in our creator and in the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And we could go on and on, but he's building a bridge.
SPEAKER_00: I think that's extremely helpful.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 23 as I passed along, I love this, and observed the objects of your worship.
SPEAKER_00: I found also an altar with this inscription to the unknown God.
SPEAKER_00: And watch what he does.
SPEAKER_00: I love this.
SPEAKER_00: What therefore you worship is unknown, this I proclaim to you.
SPEAKER_00: This is brilliant.
SPEAKER_00: The Athenians had altars to a plethora of gods, particular gods.
SPEAKER_00: But in case they missed one, as not to offend the God, they have this altar that says just to the unknown God, like, hey, if you show up, here's your altar.
SPEAKER_00: We just didn't know what to call it, it was totally for you.
SPEAKER_00: Like we did this on purpose, right?
SPEAKER_00: And Paul agrees with them.
SPEAKER_00: He he doesn't destroy them for that.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Listen, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: There is something outside of the gods that you're worshiping, and to you, he's the unknown God.
SPEAKER_00: But I've come with great news.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna introduce you to the God that you do not know.
SPEAKER_00: Is that powerful?
SPEAKER_00: See, deep in every heart, deep in every heart, man knows that there is something beyond us.
SPEAKER_00: We know that there is a God.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 1, 19 and 20, for what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them for his invisible, excuse me, invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived every since the creation of the world in the things that have been made.
SPEAKER_00: So they are without excuse.
SPEAKER_00: To be sure, people suppress the truth.
SPEAKER_00: But listen, the the Greeks here, the Athenians, with all of their gods said, There's something else we're missing.
SPEAKER_00: And even the most staunch atheists, if they're if they're honest, they know there's something.
SPEAKER_00: There's something else.
SPEAKER_00: You know, if you listen to people long enough, you'll pick up on the fact that they actually do believe in God.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just give you an example.
SPEAKER_00: Those who refer to themselves as spiritual, don't they know there's something divine?
SPEAKER_00: An atheist who claims not to believe in God because of the presence of evil and suffering, you know what they're admitting in that comment?
SPEAKER_00: That there actually is evil and suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Like objective evil and suffering.
SPEAKER_00: If there is no God, if there is no transcendent moral lawgiver, evil would just be a perception.
SPEAKER_00: For there to be truly objective evil and truly objective good, there has to be a God.
SPEAKER_00: Many atheists in our culture demand racism and genocide are objectively wrong, not just here, but in every culture.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I agree with that, but for that to be true, you understand there has to be a God for there to be moral absolutes.
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, how can we say what works for our country, our culture has to be, you know, the thinking of another culture?
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't work.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul says to his audience, listen, you've got this altar to the unknown God.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna tell you about him.
SPEAKER_00: And he here's what he does: he preaches a big God.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I'm gonna give you a God, number one, that is bigger than you could ever imagine.
SPEAKER_00: And I just want to remind you of the uh majestic and holy and infinitely powerful God that we serve today.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the traditional Greek gods, while considered to be powerful and immortal, they were also believed to have the ability to be wounded, to be tricked, to be bound like Zeus was even once, and to be humiliated.
SPEAKER_00: The gods were subject to human weakness like jealousy and pride and anger, which made them extremely vulnerable.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I've come to tell somebody today that that's not the kind of God we serve.
SPEAKER_00: We don't serve a God who can be humiliated, humiliated, we don't serve a weak God, we don't serve a God who can be tricked or bound.
SPEAKER_00: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have a God that is uh subject to human weakness.
SPEAKER_00: No, we have a living God that is more powerful than the world can even imagine.
SPEAKER_00: He begins, God is the creator of all things.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 24.
SPEAKER_00: The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, the Epicureans nor the Stoics believed in a God that created the world.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul is correcting their view here.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, Listen, this world did not just happen, it was designed with a purpose.
SPEAKER_00: You were designed with a purpose.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, all these years later, all we've done is learn more about science.
SPEAKER_00: And the more we learn about science, the more ignorant you have to be to believe that this just all happened.
SPEAKER_00: To say that this universe that is full of precise order just arose from pure randomness is like saying that the letters of a 600-page novel just spilled out of an ink bottle and appeared in order.
SPEAKER_00: Rather than the more logical conclusion that maybe there was an author.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know it takes more faith to be an atheist than it does to be a Christian?
SPEAKER_00: 100%.
SPEAKER_00: God is creator.
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, God is the sus not just the creator of all things, but he is the sustainer of all things.
SPEAKER_00: He is self-sufficient.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: He is not served by human hands as though he needed anything.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, don't ever say to someone, God needs you.
SPEAKER_00: I know he uses us, but God got along just fine without us.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord does not need anything, he is self-sufficient.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: He is not dependent upon us.
SPEAKER_00: As a matter of fact, we are dependent upon him.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know every atheist, every Christian, uh, every person that walks this planet today, they're breathing right now only because God Himself is sustaining them.
SPEAKER_00: It is God who gives us breath, it is God who wakes us up every morning.
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah 66 says, Heaven is his throne, the earth is his footstoolstool.
SPEAKER_00: If that is the case, why in the world would God need me?
SPEAKER_00: God is self-sufficient, the sustainer of all things.
SPEAKER_00: Thirdly, God is sovereign, he's involved in his creation.
SPEAKER_00: The uh verse 30 or 26, he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.
SPEAKER_00: Look at me, you're not here by chance.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is sovereign.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, the Epicurean said, okay, maybe the gods exist, but they're uninvolved in human affairs.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul says, No, I've got to correct that.
SPEAKER_00: That might be your puny gods, but the unknown God who I'm telling you about, this God is sovereign.
SPEAKER_00: He is in control.
SPEAKER_00: We serve a sovereign God.
SPEAKER_00: Paul proclaims a God who is the creator of all things, sustainer of all things, and who sits enthroned and he is sovereign.
SPEAKER_00: He proclaims a God that is bigger than we could ever imagine.
SPEAKER_00: But here's what else he does: He proclaims a God that is more personal than we could ever dare dream.
SPEAKER_00: On one hand, God is more powerful than we could ever imagine, but on the other hand, he is more intimate, more personal than we could ever dare dream.
SPEAKER_00: Does that not blow your mind?
SPEAKER_00: That this omnipotent God who created not just us, not just the earth, but the entirety of the universe will have a personal relationship with you and me.
SPEAKER_00: That's fascinating.
SPEAKER_00: And it's the best news in the world.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 26.
SPEAKER_00: He made from one man, that would be Adam, every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and boundaries of their dwelling place.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 27, that they should seek God.
SPEAKER_00: That they should seek God and perhaps feel their way towards him and find him.
SPEAKER_00: This is what the Lord wants.
SPEAKER_00: Yet he is actually not far from each of us.
SPEAKER_00: For in him we live and move and have our being.
SPEAKER_00: As even some of your own poets have said, we are indeed his offspring.
SPEAKER_00: You know, the question that one of the big questions that transcends time and place is what's the meaning of life?
SPEAKER_00: Why are we here?
SPEAKER_00: What's our purpose?
SPEAKER_00: And people are on this quest to find their purpose.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh they're searching in all kinds of uh different areas of life to try to find fulfillment, sex in education and callings and family, but but they're never satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: They're never satisfied because those things were not meant to satisfy our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: We were made first and foremost to know God.
SPEAKER_00: Very first question in the Westminster Catechism is what is the chief end of man?
SPEAKER_00: And here's the answer Man's chief end is to glorify God and to, I love this, enjoy him forever.
SPEAKER_00: You want purpose, you want meaning, you want satisfaction.
SPEAKER_00: It's not found in what the world says it's found in, and they know it because they're not happy.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you've noticed.
SPEAKER_00: No meaning in joy is found when we know God and we live every waking moment to glorify Him, to honor Him.
SPEAKER_00: And then this is not just an obligation, this is a joy.
SPEAKER_00: We are meant to enjoy the Lord forever.
SPEAKER_00: The Epicureans, chief end of man is pleasure.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, No, those things aren't satisfying your heart.
SPEAKER_00: You want your heart to be at rest, you come to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, We're put here for a reason.
SPEAKER_00: He says in verse 29 that we are his offspring.
SPEAKER_00: And again, he doesn't quote the Bible here, he quotes their own poets.
SPEAKER_00: Again, very familiar with the the culture.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, Listen, your own poets, your own people, your own philosophers have written things that let us know they are quite aware that there is more to the world than meets the eye, that there is this unknown God.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul says, I've got great news.
SPEAKER_00: He's not far off like you Epicureans think.
SPEAKER_00: He's nearer than you think.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what he does: he gives them an invitation.
SPEAKER_00: I imagine he's saying, I have decided to follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Turn your hymn books to page.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what he does, verse 30.
SPEAKER_00: The time of ignorance got overlooked.
SPEAKER_00: But now, now that we can see the image of God in Christ, he commands all people everywhere to do what?
SPEAKER_00: To repent.
SPEAKER_00: Because he is fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he appointed.
SPEAKER_00: And of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: Remember what the Stoics value, the conservatives?
SPEAKER_00: Their meaning was found in trying to be a really good person who holds to traditional values.
SPEAKER_00: And that sounds really good.
SPEAKER_00: To some of you, it might sound Christian.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the problem.
SPEAKER_00: If you're honest enough with yourself, if you're trying to be a really good person and you think this is what's going to make me happy, you'll never be happy because you have to be naive to think you're a good person apart from Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Jordan Peterson talks about the monster within, the malevolence that we are all capable of.
SPEAKER_00: What happens if you're if you're you know the meaning of life is for you to be good?
SPEAKER_00: What happens when you realize you're not good?
SPEAKER_00: It will crush you.
SPEAKER_00: It'll crush you.
SPEAKER_00: So here's what Paul's saying to the Stoics.
SPEAKER_00: He's calling all of them to repent.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, You're no better than the Epicureans.
SPEAKER_00: We all hear me, we are all separated from God.
SPEAKER_00: There are none righteous, no not one.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul invites them to repent of their sin, to turn from their idols, and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, as he said, the one who will judge the world in righteousness, and the one who is raised from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't water gut down the gospel, does he?
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't shy away from talking about judgment, but he invites them to repent and to know the true and living God through repentant faith.
SPEAKER_00: So beautiful, so beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: And you say, Well, how do they know?
SPEAKER_00: Paul, why should we believe you?
SPEAKER_00: We've got all these other philosophies, all these other gods.
SPEAKER_00: Who's to say your view is right?
SPEAKER_00: And here's what Paul said look, look what he says, verse 31.
SPEAKER_00: And of this he has given us assurance to all by raising him from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but if I've got to pick a religion, I'm going with the guy that's raised from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: Are you with me?
SPEAKER_00: You're quiet this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Are you with me?
SPEAKER_00: Listen, we don't serve a dead God.
SPEAKER_00: Of course, we know now all these uh we we call these traditional Greek gods, we call them you, you know, we call it Greek what?
SPEAKER_00: Mythology.
SPEAKER_00: They were they were working very hard to serve gods that didn't exist.
SPEAKER_00: But we do not serve a dead God, we do not serve a dead prophet, we serve the Lord Jesus Christ who was raised on the third day and is enthroned forever.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the impact.
SPEAKER_00: I won't take time to read those last verses.
SPEAKER_00: There are three groups of people.
SPEAKER_00: Some of them mock Paul.
SPEAKER_00: That's all right.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's not intimidated, he doesn't care.
SPEAKER_00: They mocked him because others, he doesn't care, because others said, we want to hear more.
SPEAKER_00: And even more.
SPEAKER_00: Some said, Paul, we believe what you're saying.
SPEAKER_00: My assumption is that they repent and are baptized for the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: You know what this tells me?
SPEAKER_00: Our job is not to save our culture, it's not to save people.
SPEAKER_00: That's God's job.
SPEAKER_00: All we're to do is to be faithful and sharing the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: We're to be faithful and sharing the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Let me ask you who this week in your family, at work, at school, who is broken?
SPEAKER_00: Who is lost?
SPEAKER_00: Beloved, your heart needs to break for them.
SPEAKER_00: Get over yourself, get over your fear of rejection.
SPEAKER_00: Ask God, Lord, break my heart for the lost.
SPEAKER_00: Share the gospel with that person or those people.
SPEAKER_00: Go to them, engage them, listen to them, dialogue with them, and tell them about who is to them the unknown God.
SPEAKER_00: As Jerry mentioned earlier, we have we've made it really easy for you.
SPEAKER_00: Because all you have to do this week is invite somebody that doesn't know Jesus to Alpha.
SPEAKER_00: We've got cards in the in on the welcome table, invite cards.
SPEAKER_00: All you have to do, if you say, Man, I don't know that I'm ready to do this, eventually you're gonna have to get out of your comfort zone and just do it.
SPEAKER_00: That's the way to learn.
SPEAKER_00: But listen, I want to encourage every one of you this week to invite somebody to Alpha.
SPEAKER_00: And I really believe they will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: If you're here today, finally, and uh maybe maybe you're not yet a Christian, or maybe you are a Christian, but you're still looking to other things like the Epicureans for meaning and satisfaction.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you are trying to look inside for identity, try to figure out who you are.
SPEAKER_00: The only way to find your identity, you know what it is, is to go to Jesus Christ, the one who created you.
SPEAKER_00: Paul said, I've been crucified with Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It's no longer I who live, but Christ in me.
SPEAKER_00: When you find your identity in Christ, you don't have to worry about people affirming you anymore.
SPEAKER_00: If God be for you, who can be against you?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: It's the only solid and true identity that will ever satisfy your heart.
SPEAKER_00: You want freedom.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you say, Well, I want the kind of freedom that the world is promising.
SPEAKER_00: I want to be able to make my own decisions and do whatever I want.
SPEAKER_00: If you do that, it will isolate you because you're gonna make decisions that other people don't understand.
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna make decisions eventually that will hurt other people, exploit other people, and these decisions, how much anxiety is that?
SPEAKER_00: Do whatever you want.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, a fish is only free when it's in the bat within the boundaries of water.
SPEAKER_00: Freedom is not do whatever you want.
SPEAKER_00: It true freedom is found in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He is the only master who will not crush you.
SPEAKER_00: And we're all slaves to something.
SPEAKER_00: If your God is sexuality, you will end up being enslaved to sexual sin.
SPEAKER_00: If your God is the the office, you know, uh the corporate office, listen, your job will eventually enslave you.
SPEAKER_00: If it's beauty and and allure, listen, it will enslave you.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever it is outside of God, whatever you're serving, and we're all serving and worshiping something, it will enslave you.
SPEAKER_00: Freedom is found only in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He's the only master that will not trust you.
SPEAKER_00: So I would encourage you today, if you don't yet know this unknown God, if he's still unknown to you, we would love.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna sing one song.
SPEAKER_00: We would love to tell you more about you can how you can know God through the Lord Jesus Christ.