WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.300 Acts chapter 17. 00:00:12.220 --> 00:00:18.460 And there's a well-known story of a young minister who's beginning to preach and he goes to an older minister 00:00:18.460 --> 00:00:20.500 ! and he asks for advice. 00:00:20.500 --> 00:00:20.500 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:31.120 And about 20 minutes. 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:34.119 And you might be thinking, oh, if only. 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:36.259 If only it was the last part. 00:00:36.859 --> 00:00:38.179 But that's good advice, isn't it? 00:00:38.579 --> 00:00:39.000 I think. 00:00:40.659 --> 00:00:44.120 Paul, the Apostle Paul, he preached God. 00:00:44.480 --> 00:00:46.460 I very much doubt that he preached for 20 minutes, mind you. 00:00:47.460 --> 00:00:51.640 But Paul's preaching was all to do with God. 00:00:53.100 --> 00:00:55.120 I look at verse 23. 00:00:55.420 --> 00:00:58.859 Him I proclaim to you. 00:00:58.859 --> 00:01:01.679 The God who made the world. 00:01:01.820 --> 00:01:03.939 That's the biblical approach. 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:07.219 How does the Bible begin? 00:01:07.379 --> 00:01:09.700 What's the first verse of the Bible? 00:01:11.739 --> 00:01:14.019 In the beginning, man. 00:01:14.780 --> 00:01:15.159 Is that right? 00:01:16.539 --> 00:01:17.359 No, it wasn't that. 00:01:18.180 --> 00:01:19.079 What does it say? 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:24.400 In the beginning, man began to wonder whether there was any purpose to the universe. 00:01:25.159 --> 00:01:27.680 In the beginning, man began to search for meaning. 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:28.780 That's not how the Bible begins. 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:32.360 It begins, not with human beings, but the Bible begins with God. 00:01:33.060 --> 00:01:35.180 In the beginning, God. 00:01:36.360 --> 00:01:38.000 That is the message of the Bible. 00:01:39.320 --> 00:01:41.320 The Bible never apologizes for God. 00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:44.619 The Bible doesn't defend God. 00:01:45.619 --> 00:01:50.879 The Bible assumes God and proclaims God, just as the Apostle Paul did. 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:58.140 And so you see, this book that you've got in front of you is not about man's search for God. 00:01:59.340 --> 00:02:01.599 It is really about God's search for man. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:08.639 And when the Apostle Paul began to stand up and preach the gospel in Athens, he began with God. 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:13.799 God is actually the subject of every sentence that we read. 00:02:13.899 --> 00:02:17.379 Him, I proclaim to you, I want to talk to you about God. 00:02:17.459 --> 00:02:19.719 I want to tell you God's story. 00:02:19.719 --> 00:02:26.080 And there are three things, great statements about God that we're going to look at. 00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:29.400 Somebody said that Martin Luther, at the time of the Reformation, 00:02:30.020 --> 00:02:36.199 that what happened and what he did was he took the church off its hinges and he rehung it. 00:02:36.740 --> 00:02:40.900 It's a really marvelous summary of what happened in the Reformation. 00:02:40.900 --> 00:02:47.719 And that's exactly what the Apostle Paul does in Athens with the Athenians with their thinking about God. 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:53.920 He says to them, your thinking about God is all wrong and it's the essence of idolatry. 00:02:55.420 --> 00:02:57.180 Of course, you and I, we looked at this last week. 00:02:57.259 --> 00:02:59.740 We don't make little statues of gold and silver. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:01.920 We're far too sophisticated for that, aren't we? 00:03:02.900 --> 00:03:07.960 But you can be guilty of bowing down and worshiping a mental image of God. 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:09.840 I like to think of God like this. 00:03:11.180 --> 00:03:14.260 My God, the God that I believe and the God that I follow, isn't like that. 00:03:14.599 --> 00:03:17.980 And so we make our own little images and we make God after our own image. 00:03:19.700 --> 00:03:23.500 And so what I want to try and do this morning is to take our thinking about God 00:03:23.500 --> 00:03:27.099 and to re-examine it in the light of what the Apostle says. 00:03:28.659 --> 00:03:33.020 And the problem with these people in Athens was that their thinking about God was entirely wrong. 00:03:34.200 --> 00:03:37.280 And so Paul takes it and totally rehangs it. 00:03:37.980 --> 00:03:39.300 And there are three great statements. 00:03:39.300 --> 00:03:44.860 I haven't really got points, but they're verse 24, verse 25, and then 26 and 27. 00:03:45.600 --> 00:03:47.100 And so here's this first statement. 00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:48.060 It's in verse 24. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:51.040 Where Paul says this, 00:03:51.039 --> 00:04:06.120 I think I told you last week that there were 3,000 shrines in Athens. 00:04:06.199 --> 00:04:06.879 I was very wrong. 00:04:07.979 --> 00:04:08.560 I checked my figures. 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:10.359 There were about 30,000. 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:14.820 30,000 different shrines, different temples, different gods in Athens. 00:04:15.860 --> 00:04:17.800 And so you paid your money and you got your choice. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:22.980 And as he wandered around the city of Athens, there was a God on every street corner. 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:25.840 And there was a God of every sort and every description. 00:04:27.500 --> 00:04:29.840 And you see what he's saying to the city of Athens, to these people? 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:30.400 What's he saying? 00:04:30.460 --> 00:04:32.720 He's saying, you've got it all wrong, verse 24. 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:37.920 Or verse 24, you think that you've got to build a temple for God to live in. 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:43.160 But let me tell you, says Paul, God has built the whole world for you to live in. 00:04:44.760 --> 00:04:46.600 Verse 26, he expands it. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:54.560 He says, he made from one man, that's Adam, every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:05:02.100 This world, this amazing world in which we live, God has given it to you and I as our living quarters. 00:05:04.060 --> 00:05:05.500 And what a wonderful world it is. 00:05:06.840 --> 00:05:09.600 It is so perfectly suited for our needs. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:12.779 So perfectly suited for life. 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:20.120 And God has placed us here and it raises for you and I the question, who is dependent on whom? 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:23.860 Who is dependent on who? 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:28.660 So, your children, okay, children, you hear? 00:05:29.220 --> 00:05:29.699 I come from an edge. 00:05:29.980 --> 00:05:33.160 You children, do you provide a home for your parents to live in? 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:35.160 No, you don't, do you? 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:36.740 You don't do that. 00:05:37.800 --> 00:05:38.579 Of course you don't. 00:05:39.459 --> 00:05:42.420 Your parents provide a home for you to live in. 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:44.959 Because your children are dependent upon you. 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:51.519 When your parents get old, well, then you might well have to provide a home for them. 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:52.980 And they become dependent upon you. 00:05:52.980 --> 00:05:55.460 So it makes life in old days so difficult. 00:05:56.660 --> 00:06:00.100 But the whole point is, as parents, we provide a home for our children. 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:03.939 You children are dependent on your parents. 00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:13.280 And what we need to understand is that to build a house for God to dwell in is to have it completely the wrong way around. 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:17.519 That actually is a pagan idea for God. 00:06:18.559 --> 00:06:28.019 If you think that you have to provide somewhere for God to live in, you're saying that God is somehow dependent upon you. 00:06:28.179 --> 00:06:29.799 And nothing could be more ridiculous. 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:38.199 And so this church building, as lovely as it is and as thankful as we are for it, it is not the house of God. 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:41.240 It is not the sanctuary. 00:06:42.780 --> 00:06:43.960 It's a meeting place. 00:06:44.080 --> 00:06:44.660 That's what it is. 00:06:44.660 --> 00:06:50.200 And God does not dwell in houses made with human hands. 00:06:50.300 --> 00:06:51.620 Because where does God dwell? 00:06:52.500 --> 00:06:53.580 Where does God dwell? 00:06:55.260 --> 00:06:57.800 He dwells with those who have a broken and contrite heart. 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:01.700 He dwells with those who are poor in spirit. 00:07:01.699 --> 00:07:02.279 He dwells with those who are poor in spirit. 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:02.279 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:06.479 he doesn't dwell in anything that you and I can make. 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:11.719 Second thing that Paul says here is in verse 25. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:19.779 Nor is he served by human hands as though we needed anything, 00:07:20.779 --> 00:07:26.119 since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:34.399 And so firstly we see that God is not dependent on us, we are dependent on God. 00:07:34.500 --> 00:07:38.019 But secondly, here's the other idea, that God needs us. 00:07:40.139 --> 00:07:44.079 As Paul wandered around the city of Athens, he would have seen people coming and going 00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:47.639 with their little offerings, with their flowers, with their bits of food, 00:07:47.699 --> 00:07:49.500 and all sorts of things for their particular God. 00:07:50.439 --> 00:07:54.420 They tended to the various shrines, the particular needs of the deities. 00:07:54.420 --> 00:08:00.580 And the pagan idea of God was that God needs to get something out of his followers, 00:08:00.759 --> 00:08:01.560 out of his devotees. 00:08:03.420 --> 00:08:08.980 And so it's up to you and I, we've got to win favor in one way or another with our God. 00:08:09.080 --> 00:08:13.920 And so we bring to him little offerings, little treats. 00:08:15.620 --> 00:08:20.400 And that's why Psalm 50, we read it, because it is withering sarcasm. 00:08:20.500 --> 00:08:21.139 Did you pick it up? 00:08:21.139 --> 00:08:24.599 God speaks to the people of Israel. 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:31.120 Don't misunderstand him in Psalm 50, he's not dismantling the sacrificial system, 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:32.199 God had set that up. 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:38.799 But the problem in the Old Testament was that they'd misunderstood what the sacrificial system was all about. 00:08:40.179 --> 00:08:41.860 And God speaks to them, let me read it to you. 00:08:41.899 --> 00:08:42.340 He says this, 00:08:42.340 --> 00:09:03.680 God says, 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:17.959 Can't you see the sarcasm? 00:09:19.959 --> 00:09:28.459 To think this morning that God needs in some way or other to be fed or provided for. 00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:33.100 Or God needs to be paid his weekly rent. 00:09:34.180 --> 00:09:36.220 That's a pagan idea of God. 00:09:38.460 --> 00:09:42.259 And there are so many people out there this morning that have gone to a religious building. 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:43.639 In fact, there probably aren't. 00:09:43.639 --> 00:09:49.159 But those who have gone often go to pay God his due. 00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:51.840 That's what nominal Christianity is. 00:09:53.220 --> 00:10:00.299 So people think, well, as long as you kind of go to church and you pay God his due, we'll all be well. 00:10:00.299 --> 00:10:05.339 That's why there was an altar to the unknown God, wasn't there, in Athens. 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:08.419 They were hedging their bets. 00:10:10.039 --> 00:10:11.439 It was just in case. 00:10:11.500 --> 00:10:15.779 In case there's a God out there that we don't know about and we've got to somehow make him, 00:10:17.500 --> 00:10:18.500 we've got to placate him. 00:10:21.699 --> 00:10:24.939 There's loads of people, well, there's people that go to church this morning like that. 00:10:24.940 --> 00:10:29.480 The churches are empty, aren't they? 00:10:29.540 --> 00:10:32.800 But the people who go, they've got no real knowledge of God, lots of them. 00:10:33.740 --> 00:10:35.740 They don't know if God is really there or not. 00:10:36.260 --> 00:10:38.560 Just in case, they just go to church. 00:10:39.180 --> 00:10:40.420 Just in case there's something in it. 00:10:40.860 --> 00:10:41.640 Just in case. 00:10:42.920 --> 00:10:45.480 And they worship at the shrine of an unknown God. 00:10:47.760 --> 00:10:49.620 Of course, the moment you become a real Christian, 00:10:49.880 --> 00:10:51.780 the moment that you encounter the God of the Bible, 00:10:51.779 --> 00:10:55.179 the moment that you come to know God and your mind is enlightened, 00:10:55.839 --> 00:10:59.459 you realize just how ridiculous it is to think of God in that way. 00:11:01.439 --> 00:11:04.399 Because as if God Almighty needed anything from you. 00:11:07.539 --> 00:11:10.399 As though Almighty God, who holds all things together, 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:13.679 should be satisfied by the likes of you and I 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:16.319 going into a religious building and nodding in his direction. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:19.100 It's ludicrous. It is ridiculous. 00:11:21.779 --> 00:11:24.059 I get it sometimes from people. 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:25.199 They say to me this. 00:11:25.259 --> 00:11:26.779 They say, I'm not a churchgoer, 00:11:27.339 --> 00:11:29.240 but say a prayer for me, would you? 00:11:31.379 --> 00:11:33.919 I believe there's someone up there, 00:11:34.059 --> 00:11:35.500 but say a prayer for me, vicar. 00:11:35.939 --> 00:11:40.419 That the idea that God would be somehow satisfied with our religion, 00:11:40.819 --> 00:11:41.799 with what we have to offer Him, 00:11:41.799 --> 00:11:47.079 that we're doing Him some kind of favor by being here this morning. 00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:54.860 The gospel doesn't teach us that God needs us. 00:11:57.280 --> 00:12:00.000 The gospel doesn't teach us that God needs us. 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:01.440 It tells us that we need God. 00:12:04.520 --> 00:12:06.960 The gospel doesn't proclaim that God needs us. 00:12:07.040 --> 00:12:08.940 It tells us that God wants us. 00:12:10.660 --> 00:12:12.600 And that's the great news this morning. 00:12:13.300 --> 00:12:14.540 That God wants us. 00:12:14.539 --> 00:12:16.059 Not that He needs us. 00:12:17.620 --> 00:12:19.639 He doesn't need us, but He wants us. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:25.039 And if you want to know how much He wants you this morning, 00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:26.839 you look at the cross. 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:31.839 If you want to know how much someone wants something at an auction, 00:12:33.419 --> 00:12:37.699 you ask how much are they prepared to pay for it. 00:12:37.700 --> 00:12:42.160 And if you want to know how much God wants you, 00:12:42.220 --> 00:12:44.420 you only have to look at Calvary. 00:12:44.540 --> 00:12:46.440 You only have to understand what is happening there. 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:50.160 So the Apostle Paul says in another place, 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:50.960 we are redeemed. 00:12:51.100 --> 00:12:52.000 We have been brought back. 00:12:53.480 --> 00:12:54.920 We've been brought to God. 00:12:54.980 --> 00:12:56.960 And we've been brought not by silver or gold, 00:12:57.040 --> 00:12:58.900 but by the precious blood of God's Son. 00:12:58.899 --> 00:13:03.779 And that is how much God wants human beings, 00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:04.259 men and women, 00:13:04.319 --> 00:13:06.980 and boys and girls like you in fellowship with Himself. 00:13:09.779 --> 00:13:11.059 He doesn't need you. 00:13:13.059 --> 00:13:14.559 He doesn't need our company. 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:16.059 He doesn't need our worship. 00:13:18.459 --> 00:13:19.879 The idea that He needs us, 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:22.519 sometimes the gospel is proclaimed like that. 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:25.819 That as if God is lonely without you. 00:13:25.820 --> 00:13:27.340 But God doesn't need us. 00:13:29.040 --> 00:13:31.980 The idea that God needs us is pagan. 00:13:32.140 --> 00:13:34.000 It is to un-God God. 00:13:36.300 --> 00:13:38.120 God doesn't need us, but He wants us. 00:13:38.400 --> 00:13:39.360 Let's think about that for a minute. 00:13:40.700 --> 00:13:42.900 God has made us for Himself. 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:48.440 A.W. Tozer, I think, puts it really helpfully. 00:13:50.780 --> 00:13:51.600 He says this, 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:54.660 The reason God made man in His image 00:13:54.659 --> 00:13:58.379 was that man might appreciate God 00:13:58.379 --> 00:14:00.100 and admire and worship Him. 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:05.019 So that God might not be a picture, so to speak, 00:14:05.179 --> 00:14:07.500 hanging in a gallery with no one looking at Him. 00:14:08.100 --> 00:14:09.259 It's a really good way of putting it. 00:14:11.439 --> 00:14:13.639 Think of some great work of art, 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:14.980 some masterpiece, 00:14:15.459 --> 00:14:17.339 and there's lots of those kind of paintings, 00:14:17.500 --> 00:14:17.779 aren't there, 00:14:17.819 --> 00:14:19.699 that are lying around in art galleries. 00:14:20.839 --> 00:14:22.319 Some of them are hanging on the walls 00:14:22.319 --> 00:14:23.419 for the public to admire. 00:14:23.419 --> 00:14:25.740 But there are many great works of art 00:14:25.740 --> 00:14:27.099 that the public never get to see. 00:14:28.139 --> 00:14:29.779 They never get to see the light of day 00:14:29.779 --> 00:14:31.279 that they're lying in an attic somewhere, 00:14:31.699 --> 00:14:33.139 or in a secret vault. 00:14:34.819 --> 00:14:35.979 And they're so precious, 00:14:36.199 --> 00:14:37.459 and they're so priceless, 00:14:37.740 --> 00:14:40.139 that they're actually kept away from the public. 00:14:40.259 --> 00:14:41.000 And the point is, 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:43.639 what Tozer is trying to say, 00:14:43.699 --> 00:14:45.939 is that a great work of art like that 00:14:45.940 --> 00:14:47.520 doesn't cease, 00:14:47.660 --> 00:14:50.340 doesn't stop being a great work of art 00:14:50.340 --> 00:14:51.520 just because it's stashed away, 00:14:52.620 --> 00:14:54.540 just because it's in a secret vault, 00:14:54.660 --> 00:14:56.420 or just because it's in someone's attic. 00:14:57.560 --> 00:14:59.860 Whether people see it or not, 00:14:59.900 --> 00:15:00.940 or recognize it or not, 00:15:00.980 --> 00:15:03.160 it's still a masterpiece of art. 00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:08.139 But such a great work of art 00:15:08.139 --> 00:15:09.079 ought to be admired, 00:15:09.199 --> 00:15:09.980 shouldn't it? 00:15:10.939 --> 00:15:11.939 And it ought to be enjoyed. 00:15:14.659 --> 00:15:15.439 I've told you before, 00:15:15.539 --> 00:15:16.379 but in our family, 00:15:16.459 --> 00:15:17.639 we have this china set, 00:15:18.500 --> 00:15:19.519 Aunt Lila's china. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:22.459 And it comes out one day a year, 00:15:22.539 --> 00:15:23.159 on Christmas Day. 00:15:24.439 --> 00:15:25.600 It's precious china, 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:27.179 Claire's aunt, 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:28.559 and it comes out on Christmas Day, 00:15:29.259 --> 00:15:29.899 but apart from that, 00:15:29.939 --> 00:15:30.559 it's hidden away. 00:15:31.899 --> 00:15:32.799 There's a little bit of an argument 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:33.679 that happens in our family. 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:34.819 I happen to think 00:15:34.819 --> 00:15:36.519 we ought to have it out most days, 00:15:36.699 --> 00:15:37.439 and every Sunday. 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:39.479 At least once a week, 00:15:39.599 --> 00:15:40.859 for us to enjoy it, 00:15:40.899 --> 00:15:41.500 and admire it. 00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:43.259 What's the point in having good china, 00:15:43.359 --> 00:15:44.559 if you never see it? 00:15:46.479 --> 00:15:47.519 And the argument goes, 00:15:47.599 --> 00:15:47.719 isn't it, 00:15:47.739 --> 00:15:48.739 well with kids like ours, 00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:51.500 they'd break it, 00:15:51.500 --> 00:15:52.119 or they'd, 00:15:52.379 --> 00:15:53.299 and it would be gone. 00:15:53.739 --> 00:15:54.559 And in our families, 00:15:54.619 --> 00:15:55.919 we probably all have that kind of discussion. 00:15:56.039 --> 00:15:56.919 But do you see the point? 00:15:57.759 --> 00:15:59.939 That china is no less beautiful, 00:16:00.219 --> 00:16:01.899 because it's stashed away all year. 00:16:02.019 --> 00:16:03.559 It's still beautiful, 00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:05.679 even though it's stashed away in a box, 00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:06.799 most of the year. 00:16:08.099 --> 00:16:09.099 And here's my point. 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:11.299 God would be no less God, 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:12.299 if He'd never made us. 00:16:16.139 --> 00:16:18.139 If God had never made this universe, 00:16:18.740 --> 00:16:20.939 and He'd never made you and I, 00:16:20.939 --> 00:16:22.959 He would be no less God. 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:27.800 He would have been just as much God, 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:28.759 as He is now. 00:16:30.740 --> 00:16:31.820 But the point is this, 00:16:31.940 --> 00:16:33.420 such a God is so glorious. 00:16:35.540 --> 00:16:37.480 And God is such a wonderful God, 00:16:37.560 --> 00:16:38.540 that He ought to be admired. 00:16:40.160 --> 00:16:41.440 And He ought to be worshipped, 00:16:41.540 --> 00:16:42.740 and He ought to be enjoyed. 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:44.740 And that is why God has made you. 00:16:44.740 --> 00:16:50.039 He's not made you, 00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:52.299 because He's got some kind of psychological quirk, 00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:52.840 in His nature, 00:16:52.940 --> 00:16:54.899 that He needs a fan club for Himself. 00:16:57.440 --> 00:16:59.720 That isn't why God made you to worship Him. 00:17:00.460 --> 00:17:01.440 We know people like that, 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:01.720 don't we? 00:17:01.899 --> 00:17:03.180 A kind of psychological issue. 00:17:03.259 --> 00:17:04.599 They're always fishing for compliments. 00:17:04.859 --> 00:17:06.660 But that isn't why God made human beings. 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:09.039 As though He was insecure, 00:17:09.299 --> 00:17:10.440 as though there's something wrong with Him. 00:17:10.840 --> 00:17:11.779 God is perfect. 00:17:11.980 --> 00:17:14.980 God has absolutely no need of us. 00:17:15.500 --> 00:17:16.700 No need of our worship. 00:17:16.840 --> 00:17:18.320 But such a God is so glorious. 00:17:19.980 --> 00:17:21.660 Such a self-sufficient God. 00:17:22.019 --> 00:17:23.039 Such a perfect God. 00:17:23.100 --> 00:17:24.240 Ought to be admired, 00:17:24.500 --> 00:17:25.220 and enjoyed, 00:17:25.500 --> 00:17:26.320 and reveled in. 00:17:28.500 --> 00:17:29.400 And for that reason, 00:17:29.460 --> 00:17:30.299 we ought to thank Him, 00:17:30.680 --> 00:17:31.200 that He did. 00:17:33.860 --> 00:17:34.900 There are times in life, 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:35.740 even in London, isn't it, 00:17:35.740 --> 00:17:36.400 where you get that, 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:38.080 it's good to be alive feeling. 00:17:41.180 --> 00:17:42.019 You say sometimes, 00:17:42.100 --> 00:17:42.259 I don't know, 00:17:42.279 --> 00:17:43.019 you see some view, 00:17:43.140 --> 00:17:43.820 you've been on a run, 00:17:43.900 --> 00:17:44.600 and you come back from it, 00:17:44.620 --> 00:17:45.299 or something like that. 00:17:45.340 --> 00:17:45.980 You've played sport, 00:17:46.120 --> 00:17:47.820 and you feel great, 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:48.299 and you say, 00:17:48.380 --> 00:17:50.120 well, it's good to be alive. 00:17:52.700 --> 00:17:54.700 And if the creation can do that for you, 00:17:55.980 --> 00:17:59.799 how much more can the Creator do for that, 00:17:59.980 --> 00:18:00.580 do that for you, 00:18:00.620 --> 00:18:01.340 if only you knew Him? 00:18:01.340 --> 00:18:01.420 Amen. 00:18:05.160 --> 00:18:08.480 Oh, how we ought to thank this great Creator, 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:10.980 this God for giving us existence, 00:18:11.140 --> 00:18:12.140 when He didn't need to do it. 00:18:14.660 --> 00:18:16.420 That He brought us to see the light of day. 00:18:18.500 --> 00:18:20.220 That He brought many of us by grace, 00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:21.440 to see the light of His face. 00:18:23.860 --> 00:18:25.480 And to know Him is to live, 00:18:25.539 --> 00:18:26.440 and to be truly alive. 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:28.940 And you're not alive, 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:30.079 until you truly know God. 00:18:32.539 --> 00:18:33.120 Because you see, 00:18:33.180 --> 00:18:34.700 that is what you're here for. 00:18:34.700 --> 00:18:38.440 You need to know what you're here for. 00:18:39.019 --> 00:18:41.160 You need to know why you exist. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:45.620 And you exist to enjoy Him, 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:46.660 and to know Him, 00:18:46.779 --> 00:18:48.240 and to glorify Him. 00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:49.920 You see what Paul is doing? 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:51.000 He's rehanging there, 00:18:51.059 --> 00:18:51.860 thinking about God. 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:55.340 And he's saying to them, 00:18:55.460 --> 00:18:57.100 you think that you've got to build a temple, 00:18:57.680 --> 00:18:59.640 for God to live in. 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:01.559 But I tell you, 00:19:01.580 --> 00:19:02.319 He's built the world, 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:03.420 for you to live in. 00:19:03.700 --> 00:19:04.559 You've got it the wrong way around. 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:06.839 And he says to them, 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:08.359 you think that God needs your worship, 00:19:08.500 --> 00:19:09.179 but let me tell you, 00:19:09.299 --> 00:19:10.039 it's the other way around. 00:19:10.139 --> 00:19:10.940 God doesn't need you, 00:19:11.019 --> 00:19:11.579 you need Him. 00:19:12.940 --> 00:19:14.079 And he says in verse 25, 00:19:14.220 --> 00:19:16.339 your very life depends upon Him. 00:19:20.539 --> 00:19:21.559 He gives you life, 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:22.639 and breath, 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:24.960 and everything. 00:19:25.099 --> 00:19:26.379 So do you realize this morning, 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:28.200 that you exist by His sovereign good pleasure, 00:19:28.940 --> 00:19:30.460 and your life is in His hand. 00:19:30.460 --> 00:19:35.400 And that if God permitted it, 00:19:35.400 --> 00:19:36.960 your life could end at any moment. 00:19:38.740 --> 00:19:41.860 And don't think that you're doing God some kind of favor this morning. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:43.460 That is a ridiculous idea, 00:19:43.539 --> 00:19:45.100 that you can serve God. 00:19:45.640 --> 00:19:46.680 You need God. 00:19:48.180 --> 00:19:49.759 You can't even take another breath, 00:19:49.799 --> 00:19:50.819 unless God allows you to. 00:19:50.819 --> 00:19:54.460 And the third thing is really, 00:19:54.639 --> 00:19:54.939 really interesting. 00:19:55.059 --> 00:19:56.419 It's in verses 26 to 28. 00:19:58.740 --> 00:19:59.859 And what he's saying there, 00:19:59.939 --> 00:20:00.539 I suppose, 00:20:00.659 --> 00:20:01.639 if I can kind of summarize it, 00:20:01.700 --> 00:20:02.859 is that God is knowable. 00:20:03.059 --> 00:20:04.099 But look at the way he puts it. 00:20:04.139 --> 00:20:04.779 He tells us there, 00:20:04.779 --> 00:20:06.000 that He made from one man, 00:20:06.059 --> 00:20:08.440 every nation of mankind, 00:20:08.700 --> 00:20:12.039 to live on all the face of the earth, 00:20:12.119 --> 00:20:13.700 having determined allotted periods, 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:15.660 and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 00:20:15.700 --> 00:20:16.859 that they should seek God, 00:20:17.220 --> 00:20:19.960 in the hope that they may find their way towards Him, 00:20:19.980 --> 00:20:20.639 and find Him. 00:20:21.899 --> 00:20:23.779 And He's actually not far from any one of us, 00:20:23.980 --> 00:20:25.899 because in Him we live and move and have our being, 00:20:25.940 --> 00:20:27.339 as some of your own prophets have said, 00:20:27.420 --> 00:20:28.619 for we are indeed His offspring. 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:31.539 And we've been made for Him, 00:20:31.539 --> 00:20:33.539 and that is what we are for. 00:20:34.779 --> 00:20:37.759 And we need to know what we are for. 00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:43.799 I told you last week tonight, 00:20:43.859 --> 00:20:44.619 about the ugly duckling. 00:20:44.740 --> 00:20:45.319 Let me tell you again, 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:47.720 it's a good enough illustration to keep telling. 00:20:49.700 --> 00:20:50.559 And the ugly duckling, 00:20:50.639 --> 00:20:51.639 he didn't know what he was for. 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:53.019 He thought he was a duckling, 00:20:53.099 --> 00:20:54.240 he'd been told he was a duckling. 00:20:54.500 --> 00:20:56.059 And the other ducks thought he was a duckling, 00:20:56.119 --> 00:20:56.879 but he was a swan, 00:20:56.899 --> 00:20:58.339 and he was so unhappy, wasn't he? 00:20:59.180 --> 00:21:01.279 Because he'd adopted the lifestyle of a duckling. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:03.700 But he was a swan. 00:21:04.779 --> 00:21:08.119 And you have been made for God. 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:09.579 You're not made for this world, 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:10.599 and just this world. 00:21:10.639 --> 00:21:13.119 You've been made to know and glorify and enjoy God. 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:19.759 The Bible tells us that God has written eternity in our hearts. 00:21:20.659 --> 00:21:22.399 It's stamped across our nature. 00:21:23.259 --> 00:21:25.059 It's like a stick of rock, 00:21:25.500 --> 00:21:27.739 with Blackpool written in the middle of it. 00:21:29.099 --> 00:21:32.439 And every bite you take of that stick of rock, 00:21:33.439 --> 00:21:34.979 there's Blackpool in every bite. 00:21:34.980 --> 00:21:37.099 That writing is in every bite. 00:21:38.900 --> 00:21:42.019 And every bite of life that you take, 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:43.960 everything that you do with your life, 00:21:44.059 --> 00:21:45.860 eternity is written across your nature. 00:21:46.019 --> 00:21:48.160 You were made for something more. 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:52.140 And that is the way God has made us. 00:21:53.740 --> 00:21:57.000 And so we cannot be happy scratching our way around in the dust. 00:21:57.080 --> 00:21:59.240 We can't be happy confined in time and space, 00:21:59.259 --> 00:22:00.660 because we're immortal souls. 00:22:01.060 --> 00:22:06.279 And so the dissatisfied feeling that our culture constantly feels, 00:22:06.620 --> 00:22:08.200 God has written that into our hearts. 00:22:08.200 --> 00:22:11.620 Because we're immortal souls. 00:22:11.799 --> 00:22:13.460 Because we were made for eternity. 00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:16.140 And God has made us, Paul says, 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:18.440 for himself that we might seek after him, 00:22:19.340 --> 00:22:20.160 until we find him. 00:22:21.640 --> 00:22:23.460 And we know what we're made for. 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:28.480 But not only has God made us for himself, 00:22:28.620 --> 00:22:33.880 but can you see that God actually has arranged the layout of the world, 00:22:34.460 --> 00:22:37.700 in order that we might seek after him. 00:22:37.700 --> 00:22:39.100 Look what he says there. 00:22:39.380 --> 00:22:41.580 He says, doesn't he, in verse 26, 00:22:41.700 --> 00:22:45.400 And he made from one man every nation of mankind 00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:47.420 to live on all the face of the earth, 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:50.860 having determined allotted periods 00:22:50.860 --> 00:22:53.220 and boundaries of their dwelling place, 00:22:54.519 --> 00:22:56.299 that they should seek God in the hope 00:22:56.299 --> 00:22:58.819 that they might feel their way towards him and find him. 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:01.799 He's actually not far from any one of us. 00:23:03.120 --> 00:23:05.340 Why are there so many different nations in the world? 00:23:06.340 --> 00:23:07.519 Why are there so many languages? 00:23:07.700 --> 00:23:08.779 About 6,500. 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:12.019 Well, according to Acts 17, 00:23:12.600 --> 00:23:13.720 God has ordained it like that. 00:23:15.460 --> 00:23:16.519 And he's ordained it like that 00:23:16.519 --> 00:23:19.180 so that we might seek after him and find him. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:20.960 So any teacher will understand that. 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:24.380 What do you do as a teacher 00:23:24.380 --> 00:23:26.900 when you've got troublemakers in your class? 00:23:27.900 --> 00:23:28.759 A couple of troublemakers, 00:23:28.819 --> 00:23:29.799 or maybe three or four. 00:23:29.799 --> 00:23:31.980 And they gang up on you. 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:33.799 What does the teacher do then? 00:23:34.159 --> 00:23:35.259 When two children, 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:36.159 what do they do, Ellie? 00:23:37.779 --> 00:23:38.399 Split them up. 00:23:38.419 --> 00:23:39.339 That's exactly right, isn't it? 00:23:39.339 --> 00:23:40.139 They separate them. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:42.639 You put one at the front, 00:23:42.700 --> 00:23:43.859 and you put one at the back. 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:47.079 My teacher just put one facing the wall 00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:48.700 with his nose against the wall like that. 00:23:48.700 --> 00:23:51.600 And if that doesn't work, 00:23:51.660 --> 00:23:52.380 splitting them up in the class, 00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:53.680 you put them in different classes, don't you? 00:23:53.779 --> 00:23:54.860 You stick one in the corridor, 00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:56.440 you put another one in another class. 00:23:57.160 --> 00:23:57.900 You separate them. 00:23:58.120 --> 00:23:58.819 Why do you do that? 00:23:59.059 --> 00:23:59.860 You separate them 00:23:59.860 --> 00:24:01.759 to stop them from ganging up on you. 00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:03.360 Doesn't that happen all the time in eating, Arthur? 00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:04.059 I'm sure. 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:07.419 But that's just what God has done. 00:24:09.179 --> 00:24:10.699 In his judgment and in his mercy. 00:24:12.099 --> 00:24:12.839 What has God done? 00:24:12.919 --> 00:24:13.859 Well, Genesis chapter 11. 00:24:14.639 --> 00:24:15.919 That's the whole story, isn't it? 00:24:15.959 --> 00:24:17.359 The story of the whole earth. 00:24:18.059 --> 00:24:19.779 They had one language and one speech at the time. 00:24:21.219 --> 00:24:22.619 And it came to pass that they said, 00:24:22.679 --> 00:24:23.819 come, let's build a tower 00:24:23.819 --> 00:24:25.579 to the top of the heavens 00:24:25.579 --> 00:24:27.500 and let's make a name for ourselves 00:24:27.500 --> 00:24:30.179 lest we be scattered over the face of the earth. 00:24:31.919 --> 00:24:33.059 And the Lord comes down. 00:24:33.059 --> 00:24:34.000 That picture of the Lord, 00:24:34.099 --> 00:24:35.279 they think it's going to be massive 00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:37.519 and the Lord kind of has to come down to see it. 00:24:38.940 --> 00:24:39.779 And the Lord says, 00:24:39.879 --> 00:24:40.859 behold, they are one people. 00:24:41.319 --> 00:24:42.079 They have one language 00:24:42.079 --> 00:24:43.740 and this is only the beginning of what they'll do. 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:46.379 And nothing that they propose 00:24:46.379 --> 00:24:47.559 will be impossible for them. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:48.859 So come, let's go down. 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:50.419 Let's confuse their language 00:24:50.419 --> 00:24:52.119 so they won't understand each other's speech. 00:24:53.659 --> 00:24:54.859 And the Lord dispersed them. 00:24:54.919 --> 00:24:57.200 The Lord scatters them over the face of the earth. 00:24:58.639 --> 00:25:01.139 And they left the building of the city. 00:25:02.140 --> 00:25:03.600 And its name was called Babel. 00:25:05.020 --> 00:25:08.060 Because the Lord confused the language of all the earth. 00:25:09.420 --> 00:25:09.960 And from there, 00:25:10.060 --> 00:25:12.120 the Lord scattered them over the face of the earth. 00:25:13.420 --> 00:25:15.920 And that is God's mercy as well as God's judgment. 00:25:17.320 --> 00:25:20.720 It's God's prescription for a fallen race 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:23.799 to contain and restrain men and women. 00:25:25.660 --> 00:25:27.299 To constrain their rebellion. 00:25:27.559 --> 00:25:29.700 So instead of ganging up on God, 00:25:31.720 --> 00:25:33.299 they are scattered. 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:36.900 Just think of the evil that the human race 00:25:36.900 --> 00:25:38.100 would be capable of 00:25:38.100 --> 00:25:39.680 if everyone spoke the same language 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:41.339 and the whole human race was united. 00:25:41.339 --> 00:25:46.179 It's better for human beings to be divided 00:25:46.179 --> 00:25:48.220 than united to stand against God. 00:25:49.899 --> 00:25:51.720 Do you see the goodness of God in that, can't you? 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:55.059 Do you see what Paul is saying? 00:25:55.319 --> 00:25:57.240 He's saying he's not only our Lord and our maker, 00:25:57.359 --> 00:25:58.939 he's not only the creator of the universe, 00:25:59.139 --> 00:26:00.720 he is the sovereign Lord of history. 00:26:02.919 --> 00:26:04.199 And he's appointed the boundaries 00:26:04.199 --> 00:26:04.919 and he says, 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:06.919 you will go this far and no further. 00:26:06.920 --> 00:26:09.880 And he scatters the human race 00:26:09.880 --> 00:26:10.640 into different languages. 00:26:12.900 --> 00:26:13.620 And he says, 00:26:13.900 --> 00:26:15.840 I do that so that you might seek after me 00:26:15.840 --> 00:26:16.880 and that you might find me 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:18.400 because I'm not far from any one of you. 00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:22.720 And so that means this morning 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:24.360 that you and I are without excuse. 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:28.380 And if you don't know God this morning, 00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:29.620 you are without excuse. 00:26:30.920 --> 00:26:32.300 Because God is not somewhere else. 00:26:34.279 --> 00:26:36.860 And if God seems to be far away from you this morning 00:26:36.859 --> 00:26:39.799 it's not that God is somewhere else 00:26:39.799 --> 00:26:41.479 in terms of space. 00:26:41.579 --> 00:26:43.119 He is not light years away from you 00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:44.259 through some black hole. 00:26:44.859 --> 00:26:45.599 No, Paul says, 00:26:45.779 --> 00:26:47.579 in him you live and move and have your being. 00:26:48.819 --> 00:26:50.599 He's not far from any one of us. 00:26:52.039 --> 00:26:53.879 Augustine says he's nearer than hands. 00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:57.240 He's nearer than breath. 00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:00.299 You can't get nearer than that. 00:27:00.379 --> 00:27:02.659 He's not feet and inches away from you this morning. 00:27:02.660 --> 00:27:06.420 He's not somewhere else. 00:27:06.600 --> 00:27:08.540 The problem is what we've already talked about this morning. 00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:09.900 The problem is our sin. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:15.500 That our sin has come between you and your God 00:27:15.500 --> 00:27:16.279 and that's the problem. 00:27:17.940 --> 00:27:19.380 But he's not far from any one of you. 00:27:19.960 --> 00:27:21.720 Because in him you live and move and have our being. 00:27:21.800 --> 00:27:22.880 So how do you find him? 00:27:22.900 --> 00:27:23.560 How do you know him? 00:27:23.779 --> 00:27:24.560 Look at verse 18. 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:28.599 How can you know this God? 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:30.139 How can you find him? 00:27:30.259 --> 00:27:32.859 Jesus, Paul tells us that when he arrived in Athens 00:27:32.859 --> 00:27:35.059 he preached Jesus and the resurrection. 00:27:38.460 --> 00:27:39.759 And that's his explanation. 00:27:41.940 --> 00:27:43.619 He's come to Athens and he says, 00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:46.539 they say he's got some new teaching. 00:27:46.539 --> 00:27:49.460 It's really interesting what you've got to say, Paul. 00:27:50.680 --> 00:27:51.940 And Paul explains to them 00:27:51.940 --> 00:27:54.879 why his message is about Jesus and the resurrection. 00:27:56.920 --> 00:27:57.740 And he says to them, 00:27:57.779 --> 00:28:00.579 I've not come to introduce to you some alternative philosophy, 00:28:00.940 --> 00:28:04.680 some life coaching or philosophy. 00:28:04.680 --> 00:28:08.519 I've come to tell you what happened in time and in space, 00:28:08.680 --> 00:28:09.200 in history, 00:28:09.680 --> 00:28:12.000 about a man called Jesus 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:14.559 who God raised from the dead. 00:28:16.539 --> 00:28:18.240 And they would have laughed at that 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:19.319 and they would have thought it was ridiculous. 00:28:21.399 --> 00:28:23.440 And Paul tells them why he's preaching it to them. 00:28:23.500 --> 00:28:23.779 He says, 00:28:23.879 --> 00:28:25.420 you've got your thinking about God all wrong 00:28:25.420 --> 00:28:28.779 and you cannot find God by philosophy or by religion 00:28:28.779 --> 00:28:31.139 and you're just groping in the dark. 00:28:33.159 --> 00:28:34.700 And the only way that you can know God 00:28:34.700 --> 00:28:36.420 is if God reveals himself to you 00:28:36.420 --> 00:28:39.159 and God has done that in the person of his son, Jesus. 00:28:41.139 --> 00:28:45.159 The invisible God whom no one has ever seen 00:28:45.160 --> 00:28:49.200 has now been declared to you 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:51.220 and God has made him known. 00:28:52.700 --> 00:28:54.720 And he has come into this world in order 00:28:54.720 --> 00:28:56.960 to deal with the very problem 00:28:56.960 --> 00:28:59.060 that keeps you from knowing God, 00:28:59.160 --> 00:29:00.100 the problem of your sin. 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:04.180 And he's come to die upon a cross 00:29:04.180 --> 00:29:05.740 to take that sin away 00:29:05.740 --> 00:29:08.080 to remove the barrier between you and a holy God. 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:15.659 And so he is not far from any one of you this morning. 00:29:18.599 --> 00:29:19.980 And so call upon him. 00:29:22.179 --> 00:29:23.919 Bow your knee before him. 00:29:26.539 --> 00:29:28.059 Ask him to forgive you. 00:29:29.819 --> 00:29:31.519 Ask him to take your sin 00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:34.180 and guilt away 00:29:34.180 --> 00:29:38.279 and be reconciled to God. 00:29:39.879 --> 00:29:42.319 Because the reason that you are here this morning 00:29:42.319 --> 00:29:44.079 and not somewhere else 00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:45.359 is that you should seek God. 00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:50.819 And you should perhaps feel your way towards him 00:29:50.819 --> 00:29:51.759 and find him. 00:29:53.599 --> 00:29:56.259 Because he's not actually far from any one of us. 00:29:57.559 --> 00:29:58.980 He's closer than hands. 00:29:58.980 --> 00:30:01.319 Closer than breathing. 00:30:02.579 --> 00:30:03.180 Let's pray.