Some Mocked, Some Believed

A Call to Respond to the God Who is Near. | Acts 17:27-34 | Alex Sands

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Transcript

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Welcome to the Game Life podcast. Today's comment X17 27 through 34. What Paul speaks to the people searching for truth, meaning something greater. It reminds them that God is not destined. Or unreachable. He is near and he desires that we would think if I doesn't stop there. He points to the resurrection of Jesus as the proof that God is calling. Every person can respond. People wanted to hear more. As we listen today, let's ask. How are we responding to the God of the year? Now let's listen to Pastor Alex Sayers. Teach us Acts 17.

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Today we are in Acts chapter 17, and the book of Acts is written by Luke, and Luke is recording the works of the Holy Spirit through the apostles as they continued the ministry of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. So this is the growth of the church through the first, say, 30-some years of the church's existence. He begins where Jesus gives his final commission to the disciples, and then he ascends to heaven, and his charge was the gospel to go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth, and like concentric circles. And as we've been studying Acts, we've seen it grow. Even in the midst of opposition, the church grew. More and more people heard, and more and more were saved. We're at the part of Acts where we're at the uttermost. Seeing the Jerusalem, the Judea, Samaria. Now we're in the uttermost where the gospel is going into new regions. It went over into Asia through the apostle Paul and Silas. And so we're in this in Paul's second missionary journey. And this is around 49 A.D., I believe, when the events take place that we're studying in Acts chapter 17. And in this passage where Paul is addressing the council in Athens, the Aragapas, he is uh giving an answer for what he has been proclaiming in the marketplace because some have been saying, you know, he's is he teaching about some foreign deities? Is what what is this? Some laugh, some rejected, but some wanted more information. And he had the opportunity to present in front of about 30 some men that made these major decisions in Athens, a city that was renowned for history and its culture and its architecture, its art, all of that, and he proclaimed Jesus there. He proclaimed Jesus because as he was walking around the city, he saw all of these idols everywhere, some estimates of 30,000 images. And he was provoked. He was angry about it, so he preached. He preached and he preached. And that's what led him into the position that he was in in front of the leadership, in front of the council. But there was one altar that he had noticed that was to the unknown God. The citizens were were just so so uh you know kind of caught up, they were afraid that they would not acknowledge a God and then have to incur his wrath. So they left an extra space for the one we don't know about. The unknown God. And Paul started his address by saying, What whom you call unknown, I'm going to declare him to you today. He is no longer unknown. And last time I shared, you know, how kind of like if you're uh you can see somebody with that that's, you know, they're driving around, you can tell that they're lost because you see them doing circles or something like that, and then you go back and forth, and and maybe even it's somebody that you have invited to your home, and you see them close to the house, but not quite, you know, they're they're they're they're out there, but they're not. That's kind of the way it is in Athens. You know, that you have some people that are close, but no, that's they've they've got to come to daddy's house. They've got to come to the father, and and and so these people there, they need direction, they need instruction. Well, today, I have you ever had a a um maybe your your workplace or maybe uh a gym or somewhere that you go often, but you go there so frequently, you have one route that you go. And you don't even know the streets. You just know how to get there. And then one day somebody says, Hey, okay, this is all before Google Maps. Forget Apple Maps, everything else, MapQuest, whoever, Tom Tom, forget all of that. Somebody asks you, How do I get to X, Y, and Z? And you try to, it's like, oh, well, hey, but don't you go there, don't you work there? Don't you well, yeah, um, let me, well, kind of like you, well, if you get on this street, then you you go like past two lights, I think it is, maybe three, and then there's a telephone pole, you go over there and and you go this. It's kind of embarrassing. I mean, anybody else have that? You know, street names, all of that. You've passed by it every day, and you're like, I don't, I don't really know, I didn't count. Didn't know. And then you have somebody who lives near you, real close, and you can just basically kind of retrace it. You don't know the streets and all that, but you can just kind of retrace it. Sometimes people are right near you and you can kind of get them, but if somebody's from another part of the town, another part of town, maybe challenging. Like maybe you invite somebody to your house, and it's okay, it's cool. Somebody lives in Fountain Inn, that's not bad, but but but what about if somebody is in Travelers Rest or Possum Kingdom? It's a real city. And so you you kind of know the vacant, you know, you don't know all the turns they got to make. You know, you don't know all of that, but you kind of, if I can get them in the neighborhood, it'll be okay. The beautiful thing about the Apostle Paul is wherever somebody was, he could lead them to Jesus. Traveler's rest, if someone theologically is in traveler's rest, he could get them to Jesus. Or in Landrum, he could still get them to Jesus. He was, he had this, uh, he had such depth of knowledge and understanding that if he was in a synagogue, he preached to Jews. And he would go through the law and the promises and then say, Jesus is the Messiah we've been waiting for. But here in Acts 17, he's not in front of a Jewish audience. He is in front of pagans. They worship multiple gods. And so he doesn't start with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He he he he starts where they are, he meets them where they are. And it's a lesson for us. If I can submit this to you, church, I think a lot of us just have one way that we tell people about Jesus, and and and we fail to understand that people receive him differently here, differently, when they're from different parts of the country, different generations. And sometimes, you know, maybe in in my generation it was okay, you just gotta prove that he exists. But now it's not so much prove it exists, yeah. But the apologetics part is important, but people want to know does he care about me? Does he even, does he love me? Does he, and I can go into my proof text, but you understand what I'm saying? You gotta know where somebody is to direct them and tell them where to go. Have some kind of way of getting them closer. Paul gives us the example of that in this sermon, this message in Athens. And and I'm just gonna break it down a little bit. We went through verses 20, uh 204 is where it begins. All right, I wanted to share this real quick here. Just a little summary about his message and what he does and what the things that he says. He starts off with in verses 24 and 25. This is just a summary. What he goes to basically is I'm gonna announce to you the God that you you say you don't, that you don't know, the unknown. I'm gonna I'm gonna make you make him known to you. And he starts in verses 24 and 25 just laying out the God who created all things, who made all things. Verse 24, the God who made the world and everything in it, made the world and everything in it. That is the linchpin. What else is getting ready to say here shortly? Everything built is built on the fact the God, singular, who made the world and everything in it, and since he made the world and everything in it, and world is cosmos, it's the universe, it's everything, it's not just earth. Well, then, since he made everything and he is the initial cause, he was he is not made of the stuff he created. Well, he's Lord of heaven and earth. He owns it, he created it. Being Lord of heaven and earth, that means he doesn't live in temples made by man. What does he need a temple for? He he doesn't need a temple, he doesn't need any anything in matter here on this because he created everything. He was here before time, before space. He doesn't live in temples. So God is the creator of all things. Implication one is that he doesn't live in temples, he cannot be contained, he can't be restrained. All of your 30,000 images and shrines and all of that. Let me tell you, God isn't there. You want to control God, but God cannot be controlled. And even today, people try to control God and make him into their image and make them make him fit into their mode. You can't control, restrain, you can't do. God is bigger than your box. He can't be contained, he doesn't live in temples that man makes. And and nor that nor is he served by human hands. What does he need human hands for? Because, you know, whatever he has no needs that we can supply. Now the idols, they needed food, they needed everything else, they needed sacrifices, they didn't need to get kept, you know, uh stirred. God doesn't need any of that. He didn't need that. He is the only self-sufficient being in creation. Period. Of all. He doesn't need anything. And so implication too is that he's not served by man because man has nothing to offer him. God has no needs. Now, again, as I shared last week, let that soak in. We don't bring anything to God that he needs. Which means his love is pure. Then beginning at verse 26, he transitions to talk about how God created the entire human race through one man. God created mankind from one man, and we know his name, his name's Adam, but he made from one man every nation to live on the face of the earth. Having determined allotted periods and boundaries of their dwelling places. He created man to inhabit the earth. And this boundaries and allotted periods, what this means is there's absolutely nothing that happens on the earth that is by accident. No nation has risen without the sovereign hand of God. Nations rise and fall, kings rise and fall, all still part of God's master plan. He determined the boundaries. Even when men think they're in control, God is in control. He, the heart of the king is in the Lord's hands. He redirects it wherever he desires. And even individually, you being here today is no accident. The people you have bumped into in life, they are not there by chance. The God who created a universe that is that that is uh takes 93 billion light years to travel across the known universe. That God is big enough to know everyone, everyone's thoughts, and how to make sure everybody is pitted in place exactly where he wants them to be. Two trillion galaxies? Yeah. That means God's hand is on your life. He's never not been in your life. Even with all of that pain, he can work all of that together for good. And no one suffered more than Jesus because he never did anything wrong. And he says, I know I'm here. So don't ever think God has abandoned you. He's he's all of it, he's set our boundaries, and for the reason this that they should seek God and perhaps, perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. That's where we left off last week. He created man to inhabit all of the earth in the areas and periods he allotted, purpose to for creating man, the human race, he created man to be in fellowship with him. Oh, saints, that's so good. He just sometimes I had to remind myself, God is more interested in you just being who you are, not what you do. You don't have to perform for God. He created man for fellowship, not to satisfy any need that he had. Perhaps feel their way toward him. So all the boundaries, verse 27, that they would seek God and perhaps feel their way. And that speaks of like someone reaching out in the dark, you know, trying to get their hands on something, but they can't see. And reaching out and reaching out and reaching out, and perhaps they would find him. What that says is on our own we can't find him. He has to reveal himself to us. You won't, you will, you know by general revelation, you know he must be great. You see all of it, I mean, you see order and structure, but to really know him, that takes revelation. That takes understanding that what God has given the prophets and the apostles and what he spoke through Jesus, God opening up your understanding to it. God opened up the heart of Lydia. He opens up the hearts of those who are who are ready to receive him, and he's already ordained before the foundation of the world. Then he says, continuing, yet he is actually not far from each of us. So mankind reaching, fumbling, trying to find in the dark, just trying to get this, trying to get that, trying to trying to satisfy this thirst, because man was created to worship, trying to fill that void, and and and yet Paul says he's actually not far from each one of us. He's not distant, he's not detached, he's not hiding. He is not far from each one of us. Now, right there, you know, there were two major philosophers that are out in that crowd. There were the Epicureans and the Epicureans. What they believed is that if there's a God, well, he doesn't care. He's just distant, he's out there, and he's not really interested in what happens. So just do what makes you happy. Just do what you do. That's the Epicureans. Then you have the Stoics, who they believe just God in a divine essence that's in everything. God is everywhere in the trees and he's in the rocks and everything else. And so what Paul has done is he's dismantled both of them. He has said God is near every one of us. That shoots down the Epicureans. The Stoics who believe, well, well, God is in all of the trees and all of that. No, God created the trees. He created all things, and he is before all things. He is not all in trees and things like that. He created the trees, but he is not far from each one of us. He's greater than creation, but he's not separated from creation. I mean, he is above us, but he's not away from us. This is called the eminence of God. He is near, he is here. As big as the universe is, he's here too. And he's not contained in any box. He's actively present. And I love the fact that Paul says, he's not far, but look at it. Read it at the end of verse 27. He's not far from each one of us. Not just one or two. Each one of us. That's everybody. That's everybody. That's personal. He is, we are from him. He created man. And he's not far from everyone. And Paul is is making this message as he's delivering it. There are shopkeepers in earshot distance. They can hear. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's not far from him. The lady who's doing her her shopping, yeah, he's near her too. He's near the philosopher. He is near. He is near the mathematician. He is near the poet. He's near the engineer. He's near the doctor, the lawyer, the custodian, and the homeless person who is trying to make life work. He is near to all. That's where that each one of us. But that doesn't mean that there's universal salvation. That doesn't mean everybody is saved because God is near. It doesn't mean everyone has a relationship with him. But what it means is everyone can have a relationship with him. Because all that can be known about God, he's made this available, plus, he wants all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. He's not far from each of us. But every path doesn't lead to him. You can't just go your way. This isn't Burger King. The problem is not that God is too far away to be found. The problem is that sin blinds us to his nearness. I remember when I gave my life to Christ. I just remember that night, it was in October 1995. Yeah, I'm that old. I was 25. But I remember finally surrendering, not to avoid hell, but because I wanted to be a different man, a better man, and I couldn't do it in my strength. And it was like I got on my knees and I repented and I wept, and it was so, his presence was so real. He was right there with me. Is that anybody's testimony that you just like you just kind of you didn't have to run and race to him? He was right there when you turned. It's like I was waiting for you. He was in that room in Smyrna, Georgia. He's not far from each one of us. In Jeremiah chapter 23, verses 23 and 24. Am I a God at hand? declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. He's not boxed into a temple, he's not boxed into a city, he's not uh boxed inside of a shrine, and no one can hide. Whither can I go from your presence? There is nowhere we can go, and he knows our thoughts before we think them. That's too amazing for me. It's one I can't even fathom that. Didn't have the thought yet. God knows our thoughts. You want to repent right now, don't you? Then verse 28. Listen how he continues. For in him we live and move and have our being. In him we live. We live, we move, we have our being, we live, I want to make sure we call it live, we move and have our being. Anybody ever heard of that before? Yep, me too. You know what I found out? Most likely, that is from a poet in the 7th century BC who wrote a story about Zeus, or about Zeus's son. And and and he made the statement, because every people were saying Zeus is dead in this poem. Zeus is dead. No, Zeus isn't dead. In him we live, move, have our being. And Paul quoted it. But he's not done there. Even as some of your poets have said, for we are indeed, I keep doing that. Go back to using my finger. We are indeed his offspring. One of their poets said that. Oh, that's you know, that that is um there. Well, that was another another um another poet had mentioned that. And and so, listen, Paul is not saying you run out and find Epamenides, all of his writings. He's not saying that everything they've done was correct. What he's done is that he has just taken something out of the culture, a common phrase, and he said he put God on it. Because God is the one we live and move and have our being. It's not Zeus, but he used that phrase that they would have known. He said, That's God. In him we live and move and have our being. And then this other poet says, indeed we are his offspring. Now, the part about us living and moving and having our being, that means every breath, every step, every heartbeat, every thought at all is made possible by God. If he stopped for a second, if he decided, I don't want to provide for man anymore for one second, we would die. If he decided to shut off the sun, take out the oxygen, all that is required for life, if he took it all away, we are totally dependent upon him. It all comes from him. He's the maker and the sustainer of life. Then, though, indeed we are his offspring. Now, that offspring, it it it's what it means is we are his creation. We are his creation. He's not talking about salvation, he's saying that we all have the same creator, and he's using that quote from again a uh a poet from their time. We are all his offspring. Now, you can't be a child of God without Jesus. Yes, we all have descent. God created us in his image, so forth. But listen, I just want to throw in Galatians 6, 23, 26. Galatians 3, 26, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. But I'm God's offspring. You were created in the image of God, but that won't save. So now in verse 29, he summarizes this part of the section of his argument. Being then God's offspring, having then been made by him, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. Paul, just give it to him. Being God's offspring, created in his image, and remembering that God created the universe, right? And he's not dependent on the universe for his survival, everything else. He didn't because he's independent of it. Well, being his offspring, we shouldn't think the divine being can be made of gold and silver, which can be shaped by man and put in an image according to man's imagination. No more than God is made up of what he's created. Well, man can't create an idol and say that idol is now the source of my life. Because an idol, listen. Man in him in him we live, we move, we have our being. Idols they have no life. It's just a block of wood or maybe marble or or gold. It has no life, it's not moving unless you put some wheels on it. It's not mobile, it has no existence, it's not real. And so, how can an idol sustain you? God sustains. Not an idol, not something that's created. And how could we think that the divine being is like an idol? That is something we can manufacture in our imagination. Not only is it wrong, I mean it's foolish, it's illogical, and that's what idolatry is. It's upside down, it's making creation into God. And trying to get something out of creation, what we were only created to get from God Himself. So here, Saints, is the third part of his argument, the third and last part is that God is the sustainer of mankind. He's the sustainer, he sustains us, he created the heavens and the earth, he is the creator of the universe, and he created man, and he sustains man. So the implication, number one, is that he is near and active, and every second he is giving life, vitality, and supplying every breath to all mankind. You aren't controlling your heart right now, you aren't controlling the other functions going on in your body. God designs your body with 60,000 miles of veins, arteries, and capillaries that if you laid one on end to end, it would circle the earth twice. Over two times. Packed in your body. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. And the second implication is that any image man creates and sustains is inferior to God and to the man who made it. Did you get that? Making any form of idol worship nonsensical. Yeah, I just made it nonsensical. Because the the the the idol is inferior to the person who created it, just like man is inferior to our creator. So why are we gonna give attention to and worship an idol? Money, car, golf, fishing, job, education. Fill in the blank. Why would we think anything in this creation can fulfill us? Nothing here can satisfy. And remember, as I shared the last couple of weeks, that an idol is anything we trust to give us identity, security, meaning, or peace in life in the place of God. So we may not be carving out idols and going to wood and carving out this. Look, we're still carving achievement to try to get our identity. We can still be carving out money to feel safe and secure about our future. We can still be trying to carve out likes and and and uh people you know uh favoring us, approving us. We may be carving that out to make an idol that says, I'm worthy. I have worth and value because other people say I have worth and value. Here's the kingdom life. Principle. I just want to just make it real. Saints, in this season of war and economic uncertainty, be careful not to rebuild the idols you left behind in Egypt. Your Egypt. When you were delivered, what he delivered you from? Don't go back. I you know, these are destabilizing times. Every time you turn on the news, there's something different happening. And I know for many people they fear losing their jobs. AI is gonna take over my job. Or the economy keeps going down. Uh look, I'm am I gonna have enough left in my retirement? So on and so forth. Remember, that's an idol, money, career, retirement. That's an idol from your past. Don't bow to the idols of your past. And you are bowing to those idols when you are consumed thinking about them. Because I have to have this amount to be secure. No, we need God. That's what we need. Don't bow to the God of politics. Politics in itself is just politics, it's just a thing. Don't think that that's your hope. I just need to run this person out of office. There's someone else coming behind, they may be worse. It's irrelevant when we talk about parties because the church is above parties. Yeah, we're that's underneath the the church's mission. That's under, that's we have a bigger mission. But but often when things become uncertain, people start to we we go back to the idols in our past. You remember when Egypt, when the uh when the children of Israel had left Egypt, and then you know things got a little, you know, it was they couldn't find water, and oh, if only we were back in Egypt. We had the leaks, all the leaks we wanted, and the fish, oh, I'm tired of this manna, and just whenever there was a least bit of trouble in the water, I want to go back. Don't you remember you were beaten in Egypt? Don't you remember what the devil did to you before you became a Christian? When you were worshiping all those idols? Why go back to him? Don't allow the stress of our times to take your minds off your mind. Because sometimes when everything is fine and copacetic and our accounts look good and we're buying what we want, we're eating what we want, we can just feel like we don't have any idols. But it's often when God just destabilizes things. Our idols are exposed. Now, if I'm not teaching it, I know I'm talking to myself. I know me. I remember first time the uh the I was I when I got laid off, I didn't realize how much of an idol I had made career and education until I got laid off. And I saw it coming, everybody saw the layoff coming. We were just predicting different days, but when it happened, that's when the idol showed up. Well, how come they let me go? And the funny thing is, I was ready to move on anyway. But how come they got to stay? Hey, Val, you remember those days? So, right, and and so it's it's often when we God has to strip some things and destabilize some things. Now, things are happening in the world, but often where they touch our lives, we know God has allowed it. And God often allows some of this trouble in the water for those idols to pop up, and sometimes things you thought were over and done with, like, oh, it was just lurking underneath the surface. And God had to drain the pool a little bit so you could see it. Don't let this time, because everybody is anxious, don't let this time lead you to go back to the idols from your past. All right. Now, Paul is done. Almost. He has answered the question about the unknown God, right? He has answered that question, and no, you know, this this isn't something new, whatever. Uh, and so they they at this point, check the box. He could have walked away. I've explained to you the God that I worship. But oh no, oh no, Paul wasn't done there. He added a little extra sauce on it that they needed to hear. The times of ignorance God overlooked. But now, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. First, the times of this ignorance, times of ignorance, times is chronos, like seconds, the times of the ignorance, the ignorance and worship all of these all of these idols, so on and so forth, the time in which God overlooked. Important to understand what that word means and what it doesn't mean. Overlooked means to act as if one did not see, to wink at, or to bear with. Just the King James Version says that I never understood when I first got saved. Times of this ignorance, God winked at. Why would he wink at it? But it means to act as if one does not see. God isn't saying that it's acceptable. God isn't saying idolatry is innocent. What this shows is his patience. He allowed it to continue for a season, but the clock was ticking. Tick, tick, tick. Paul says that time is done. Clock has expired. No more. The times of ignorance God has overlooked in his divine forbearance. Because understand this, Saints, patience is not permission. Parents know that well. God is slow to anger, and he's merciful, and he's patient. 2 Peter 3:9, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. He's patient. That's why things are continuing, continuing out, because he's patient. People are still getting saved. Right now, people are giving their lives to Jesus. He's allowing, he's not slow. And don't you understand that the kindness, do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? God's patience. Well now, Paul says, but now, because that season's over. Clock has expired. But now, since Christ has come, but now, since Christ has fully displayed what God is like, but now, since Christ has lived a sinless life, but now since Christ went to the cross, died, was buried, and was resurrected, but now since the gospel has been moving forward and this mission is moving forward, but now you can't hold on to that idolatry. The message to the Athenians is right now, you need to repent. Burn all the temples, tear it all down. You need to repent. The light has come. It's time to repent. And that repent is to change one's mind. To turn, to turn around, to leave one direction and move toward another. Repentance is more than feeling sorry. It's more than being sad. It's more than regret. It's not just feeling bad about something you did, it's turning to Jesus. Because people can feel bad about things and people can make changes in their lives, but not go to Jesus. The repentance is having idols and replacing Jesus with idols. That's the sin, that's the offense. Everyone needs to turn and turn to Jesus. The scope, did you hear it? All people. What does that mean? That means everybody. All people, everywhere, wherever they are. Doesn't matter if it's an immoral person, a religious person, a white person, a black person, a purple person, any any kind, doesn't matter where they come from. South America, could be Russia, all have to repent. All have to repent. Because he has fixed a day. He has fixed a day. On which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. The fascinating thing about this whole message is he doesn't mention Jesus. Fixed means to set, it means to determine to a point. This is something that is going to happen. And fixed means there is a clock. Tick, tick, tick, tick. We're closer to eternity than we've ever been in our lives. There's coming a time when all of this will be wrapped up. There is a countdown clock. And only God knows the day. But understand, if you if Jesus isn't your Lord and Savior, you don't know. You just don't know whether you'll make it to the end. But understand, there is an end. And he will judge the world by the man that he has ordained. And judge, you know, that means Jesus is the judge. Now he's going to judge in righteousness. There's not going to be any kind of foolishness like you see in courtrooms across the world today. Oh, the missing evidence. Oh, oh, that the witness, we can't find him. None of that kind of stuff. God is just. Perfectly just. And you either either your sins have gone to Jesus or you're going to have to deal with God yourself alone. By a man that he has appointed and has given assurance to us by raising him from the dead. Romans 2.16 says, On that day according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. God's not just going to judge what we did, he's also going to judge. And I speak we as in humanity, mankind. Thank you, Jesus. I won't face that. None of us who profess Christ, we won't have to face those sins. But for those who don't know him, it's not just what you did, it's what you wanted to do, but just didn't have the opportunity to do. That you thought, that you schemed, even that will be brought out. Oh. And God will judge in righteousness. Meaning you will, oh, Jesus. Be saved today. There'll be no bargaining, there'll be no negotiations. And he has given us assurance to all. You see the all again? By raising him from the dead. There is our assurance is that he was risen from the dead. As proof that this man, that God has chosen to be the judge. The proof is he's unlike any other human being, and he is alive. He didn't die. God raised him from the dead, caused him to stand, literally. John 5 22 says, For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son. He has given us assurance that it's coming, proof, a guarantee, a pledge that confirms what God has declared. If Jesus has been risen, if God raised Jesus from the dead, that means his voice is the one voice that we need to listen to. The one voice we need to follow. Everything can line up like him, what he says, but he's the one voice, because there's no one like him, and he's the one that we would stand before. He's the one. The empty tomb proves that Jesus is Lord and Judge. Repentance is not optional. And remember, all have to repent. So it's like this. Imagine I'm giving people directions to come to Kingdom Life Church. Our address here is 416 Holland Road. People can come from north, south, east, west, but eventually they have to get to Holland Road. Because I understand, maybe you maybe you've never been here to church, to Kingdom Life, but we have no side street that gets to the building. There's no road behind us or to either side. You have to get on Holland Road to get to the church. One way. In order to get to Jesus, one way. You gotta get on repentance street. You have to repent and acknowledge that Jesus died on the cross for your sins. He was buried and raised again for you, for your sins, not for his own. Paul always, regardless of who the audience was and where he started, he always got to repentance street. And when we share the good news, we always have to share repentance. And that isn't, that may not be welcome, but it's the truth. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your grace. So application, live soberly and with gospel urgency. So live soberly, meaning, you know, as we go through life, think about that tick, tick, tick, tick. There's what are we holding on to? What are we anxious about? We can't take it with us. And and just just remembering that, hey, hey, this world is not my home. Uh the things I have, they don't define me. If anything is taken away, I haven't lost anything. I still am a child of God. I might get sick. I might not have the energy I used to have. I may, but still I'm a child of God. Ebbs and flows, my relationship with Him hasn't changed. That's having that mindset that soberly, but also urgency, because today is the day of salvation. So when we live soberly, that means we wake up in the morning, we give thanks to God for the day, and then as the Holy Spirit brings conviction of sinful thoughts and sinful actions, we repent. We confess and repent. And that is our life as believers. Confess, repent, and rejoice. Celebrate. The more you realize the sin and the baggage, the more you should love Jesus, the greater your worship should be. That he's so faithful and so merciful. That's the way this, and then that gospel urgency. People need to hear Jesus. The message that He is Lord, He has come. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer every person. O Lord, teach us to number our days, that Lord, we may gain a heart of wisdom. Let's quickly look at the results. Verses 32 through 34, and we wrap up our the his uh the ministry in Athens. Now, when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. They didn't mock about God being the creator. There wasn't mocking when it was about God uh creating mankind and even about not being in temples. They didn't mock that part. Or the God being the sustainer. But when he talked about Jesus, that is the dividing line. That's when you hear people say that's gone too far. You mean Jesus perfect, sinless, and died? Nope, that's too raised from the dead, that's too much. That's a fable. They mocked him, that means they sneered, they chuckled. But that wasn't the only response, was it? Others said, We will hear you again about this. They are just as bad as the first group. They're in bad shape. Because saying, I'll just investigate it some more tomorrow, you may not have tomorrow. There's an old whining song. Tomorrow? Who promised you tomorrow?

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Please don't turn him all the way.

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But you know what? You're not promised tomorrow. But the someone's saying, we'll hear you again about this. A Paul might be gone, or B, you might be gone. You don't know that you'll have another chance. You don't know if you'll have another opportunity to have a Bible study, to be able to come to church, to hear it again. You don't know if you'll be able to make it to another evangelistic crusade. You don't know if you'll have that opportunity. Tomorrow, who promised you tomorrow? No one's promised you tomorrow. You better get saved today. Today is the day of salvation. To be sitting on the fence. That's the worst place you could be in. Because you're deceived into thinking there is a fence. There is no fence when it comes to Jesus. You either believe in him or don't. There's no fence. Verse 33, so Paul went out from their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius, the Aeropagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. Look at there. Isn't it God good? There are three responses: the mocking, then the kind of indifference, indifference meaning it's not top priority for me, whatever. And then the fruit. And but that Dionysius, he was part of that 30. He was part of the council. If Paul was just preaching to him and the other 29 were laughing and joking and sneering, it was all worth it. You may have to talk about Jesus to 30, 50, 500 people, but one person makes it worth it all. This is a miraculous salvation for God to deliver this person, and he's gonna probably, he probably lost his position, respect, but he joined Paul. That means come alongside and follow. To become a learner. Not just kind of associating, to join with. She must have been uh significant too, uh, and known by others. That's the day, the day, the day. Here's the truth. The resurrection demands a response that leads either to rejection, delay, or faith. But it demands a response. Then uh what you believe about Jesus it demands a response. He's a Lord, liar, or lunatic, but he can't be just a good person. Good people don't say I am the way, the truth, and the life. And then deceive people. The following. Second Corinthians chapter 2, verses 15 and 16. We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved, among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? It will always be a split decision, church. That's been my experience. Whenever there's there's there'll be some who receive, some who laugh, and some will say, I'm thinking about it. To be honest, what that's the one that grieves me the most. I'm just thinking, I'm gonna think about it. Because you can be settled on that and thinking you're doing okay, because you're thinking about it. And I would just say this in terms of uh, you know, just as our as our Christian walk and talking about urgency and living soberly, pray that obedience will become a reflex response. That's what I've been thinking about this week. I want obedience to be a reflex, muscle memory. I want muscle memory obedience. That means you're just unconsciously doing what Jesus told you to do. It's a problem, the longer we deliberate, the more time we give the enemy to sow doubt and pull us away. Ever had that? Like God told you to do something, you're like, eh, and and then you just left enough time for the enemy to sow these seeds doubt, and before you know it, you just all didn't do anything. I want my obedience just to be, yes, Lord, because this is why I'm here, and I don't know if I have another opportunity to do what you've called me to do. I don't know what I don't want to hold on to anything. Yes, Lord. I'm not there yet, but I'm praying to be, and I'm better than where I was. I hope you see as me, you know that that uh as I've gotten older here, I've realized not a whole lot is terribly important to be all upset and mad about. Fewer and fewer things get me off course because the Lord is still on the throne. And church, we are blessed to be in our daddy's house. It's a blessing to be called a child of God. That's the most important thing about you. Now, others are trying to find their way, some are going to other places altogether. There's nothing you can do about it, but there are some who have heard and they're just lost. They need a little guidance. Because we are his children, saints, that doesn't mean we need to just stay and huddle together all the time. We need to go out to where they are and help them come to Daddy's house. They can give their lives to the Lord. If you know the way, if you know the way, if you know the directions, if you know the instructions and keep them to yourself and allow someone just to be lost, spiritually, it's criminal. If you just allow and God gives you opportunity and grace to speak into their life, and you obstinately say, I'm not doing it. I don't care. I ran into a brother. I ran into a brother, I was so furious. He would not talk up to Jesus with anybody who had a rebel flag on their car. I said, Don't you dare say that. It doesn't, if God tells you to share the gospel with somebody and they have a rebel flag on the sticker on their car, you better go. That's what we're here for. May not get another opportunity. Don't let anything hinder you hold you back from being obedient to the Lord. He is faithful. Lord, thank you for this lesson. Thank you for this message of Paul's address to Athens. And I pray God it's hit fertile soil uh over the last few weeks. And and and God help us to pay attention to who we're talking to. Help us to be provoked by the idols in society. Open up our eyes, Lord. Help us not to be comfortable with sin. Help us to see the idols. Help us, Lord, to see them the way you do. Love people enough to tell them that there's hope. And then as we meet people from different places, love them enough to hear and listen about them first, where they're coming from, so we can know how to share Jesus with them better. So thank you for this time, Lord. Thank you for this word. In the name of Jesus. Amen.