WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.400 Imagine you were invited, can you all hear me? 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:08.540 Good, thank you. 00:00:09.700 --> 00:00:13.540 Imagine that you got invited to go and give a TED Talk, 00:00:13.540 --> 00:00:18.320 ! and your audience would include all of the intellectual elites of the day, 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:22.839 all of the most highly educated Ivy League professors, thought leaders, influencers, 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:23.480 and the like. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:28.620 And imagine that you were invited to give a TED Talk and present the resurrection of Jesus. 00:00:28.620 --> 00:00:29.940 Did it happen? 00:00:29.940 --> 00:00:30.740 What does it mean? 00:00:30.740 --> 00:00:32.020 Why does it matter? 00:00:32.020 --> 00:00:39.700 That's almost exactly like the situation the apostle Paul finds himself in in Acts chapter 00:00:39.700 --> 00:00:40.240 17. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:42.280 He's at a place called the Areopagus. 00:00:42.280 --> 00:00:50.280 This is a place where this rocky outlook overlooking Athens, the philosophers, the leading philosophers 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:55.859 and thought leaders of Athens would gather to debate their various worldviews. 00:00:55.859 --> 00:01:03.179 And so Paul has been invited to present Jesus and the gospel to these leading thinkers. 00:01:03.179 --> 00:01:13.180 And he is essentially contending with two major worldviews that were very prominent in Athens, 00:01:13.180 --> 00:01:16.180 the Epicureans and the Stoics. 00:01:16.180 --> 00:01:17.819 Now these views sound ancient. 00:01:17.819 --> 00:01:22.500 And it first passed when you read chapter 17 of the book of Acts and you read about this 00:01:22.500 --> 00:01:23.500 interaction. 00:01:23.500 --> 00:01:27.939 It's easy to kind of write it off and think unless you're a first year philosophy student 00:01:27.939 --> 00:01:33.500 or just kind of a Bible nerd, a conversation that happened between Paul and these ancient 00:01:33.500 --> 00:01:36.939 philosophers doesn't really sound very relevant to where we are today. 00:01:36.939 --> 00:01:39.139 Why would we spend time looking at this? 00:01:39.140 --> 00:01:44.099 What we are going to find out is that even though these views have ancient roots, they 00:01:44.099 --> 00:01:46.859 are alive and well. 00:01:46.859 --> 00:01:55.140 We see the influence of Epicurean and Stoic thought everywhere we look in modern society. 00:01:55.140 --> 00:02:00.819 And in fact, as our society is becoming more secular over the last several decades, we have 00:02:00.819 --> 00:02:04.140 seen this clear trend more in that direction. 00:02:04.140 --> 00:02:10.259 And as our society becomes more secular, more and more people are gravitating to ideas and 00:02:10.259 --> 00:02:16.699 worldviews that strongly resemble Epicurean and or Stoic thought. 00:02:16.699 --> 00:02:23.180 So the message that the Apostle Paul has for the Athenian philosophers is just as relevant 00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:24.180 for us today. 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:29.060 And in fact, it actually might be more relevant for those of us living in this time and place 00:02:29.060 --> 00:02:31.819 than it might have been one, two, three hundred years ago. 00:02:31.819 --> 00:02:34.659 So that's why we're looking at this interaction. 00:02:34.659 --> 00:02:36.379 We're looking at what Paul says. 00:02:36.379 --> 00:02:41.019 We're looking at his message and we're trying to understand what it means for us today. 00:02:41.019 --> 00:02:45.699 Why is this relevant for people living in the 21st century who are trying to figure out 00:02:45.699 --> 00:02:47.939 who they are and what life is all about? 00:02:47.939 --> 00:02:50.979 So here's what we're going to look at as we look at this passage. 00:02:50.979 --> 00:02:54.319 How do these ancient worldviews show up today? 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:57.060 How do they fall short? 00:02:57.060 --> 00:03:00.900 And then how does the gospel offer something better, far superior? 00:03:00.900 --> 00:03:01.620 Let's pray. 00:03:01.620 --> 00:03:10.539 Lord, we thank you for your word and we thank you for the spirit, for your Holy Spirit that 00:03:10.539 --> 00:03:18.780 brings your word alive, that connects your voice to our hearts, your spirit who even now 00:03:18.780 --> 00:03:24.620 is praying for us on our behalf, interceding. 00:03:24.620 --> 00:03:29.740 And Lord, we know that one of the prayers of the spirit is that our hearts would be open, 00:03:29.740 --> 00:03:35.420 that our minds would be open, that there's a way that you can do work in us through your spirit 00:03:35.420 --> 00:03:37.659 that you alone can do, Lord. 00:03:37.659 --> 00:03:40.780 So take us away from human wisdom or ideas or rhetoric. 00:03:40.780 --> 00:03:44.780 And Lord, we ask that you would do your work in us through your word. 00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:49.180 And we ask ultimately that we would come face to face with your living word, Jesus Christ. 00:03:49.180 --> 00:03:50.780 And it's in his name that we pray. 00:03:50.780 --> 00:03:51.780 Amen. 00:03:51.780 --> 00:03:58.340 So we want to talk a little bit at first about how these ancient worldviews show up today. 00:03:58.340 --> 00:04:02.780 I read an interesting article back in April in the New York Times this year, earlier this 00:04:02.780 --> 00:04:05.939 year, by a woman named Lauren Jackson. 00:04:05.939 --> 00:04:11.939 And the title of the article is, Americans Haven't Found a Satisfying Alternative to Religion. 00:04:11.939 --> 00:04:14.340 Very interesting title. 00:04:14.340 --> 00:04:19.459 Since the 90s, we've observed, as I alluded to a little while ago, a trend towards secularization 00:04:19.459 --> 00:04:20.100 in our country. 00:04:20.100 --> 00:04:27.459 People leaving organized religion behind, increasingly referring to themselves as unaffiliated, the 00:04:27.459 --> 00:04:29.620 rise of the nuns, as it's been called. 00:04:29.620 --> 00:04:35.620 That has produced a growing number of people who are now trying to figure out how to build 00:04:35.620 --> 00:04:38.019 a life and live a life without God. 00:04:38.019 --> 00:04:43.779 And here's what Jackson says about her own journey after leaving religion behind. 00:04:43.779 --> 00:04:53.219 She says, I spent my 20s worshiping at the altar of work and in my free time, testing secular 00:04:53.219 --> 00:04:54.899 ideas for how to live well. 00:04:54.899 --> 00:04:55.899 And I read it. 00:04:55.899 --> 00:04:55.899 00:04:55.899 --> 00:04:55.899 00:04:55.899 --> 00:05:01.019 I cared for my nieces and nephews. 00:05:01.019 --> 00:05:03.019 I pursued wellness. 00:05:03.019 --> 00:05:10.419 I paid for workout classes on Sunday mornings, practiced mindfulness, went to therapy, visited 00:05:10.419 --> 00:05:13.219 saunas, subscribed to meditation apps. 00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:16.340 I tried book clubs and running clubs. 00:05:16.340 --> 00:05:21.700 I cobbled together moral instruction from books on philosophy and whatever happened to 00:05:21.700 --> 00:05:23.060 move me on Instagram. 00:05:23.060 --> 00:05:29.460 And I read that and I thought probably everybody in this room, we probably all, if we don't 00:05:29.460 --> 00:05:33.460 identify with that ourselves, we probably know plenty of people who do. 00:05:33.459 --> 00:05:40.259 That sounds like the average person, and I feel like I've had probably a dozen conversations 00:05:40.259 --> 00:05:45.139 in the last few months with people who would probably describe their lives very much like 00:05:45.139 --> 00:05:45.620 this. 00:05:46.419 --> 00:05:53.299 And what's interesting about Jackson's description is that it reveals a deep resonance with both 00:05:53.299 --> 00:05:56.060 Epicurean and Stoic ideas. 00:05:56.779 --> 00:06:00.319 See, when it comes to God, these philosophers were not like the masses. 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:05.599 In fact, a lot of these philosophers looked down on the masses and their kind of superstitious 00:06:05.599 --> 00:06:08.639 worship of the pantheon of gods and goddesses. 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:16.159 Their view of God or the gods was pretty different, and in many ways, they saw God as irrelevant. 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:22.839 The Epicureans said that if there were gods, they were clearly so far away and so distant 00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:26.500 and so irrelevant that they didn't really matter in terms of how we live. 00:06:26.519 --> 00:06:29.339 So it's up to us to figure out how to build a good life. 00:06:29.339 --> 00:06:33.500 The Stoics didn't even really believe in a personal God at all. 00:06:33.819 --> 00:06:38.019 If anything, they believed in a more Eastern idea, a kind of, you know, God as a kind of 00:06:38.019 --> 00:06:43.799 impersonal force or energy or principle that we might align ourselves with, the way people 00:06:43.799 --> 00:06:46.099 might talk about the universe today. 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:50.379 But in both cases, you have philosophers who feel as though they have transcended, they've 00:06:50.379 --> 00:06:53.219 kind of moved past the superstitious religion of the masses. 00:06:53.220 --> 00:06:59.040 And their focus is really on human wisdom and trying to figure out how does one build a good 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:01.320 life more or less apart from God. 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:08.940 And at the risk of being highly reductionistic, we might summarize their areas of focus this 00:07:08.940 --> 00:07:09.180 way. 00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:11.560 Again, this is highly reductionistic. 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:12.800 I'm admitting it out of the gate. 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:18.160 Epicureans essentially focused on a search for comfort. 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:23.920 And Stoics essentially focused on their search for control. 00:07:25.060 --> 00:07:32.100 So when Jackson talks about pursuing wellness, visiting saunas, subscribing to meditation apps, 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:36.980 going to therapy, practicing mindfulness, she sounds very Epicurean. 00:07:36.980 --> 00:07:37.480 Right? 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:42.900 Epicureans get a bad rap because people think that they were a bunch of hedonists. 00:07:43.220 --> 00:07:43.980 Not really true. 00:07:43.980 --> 00:07:48.640 But they were seeking a life of peace and comfort and contentment. 00:07:49.080 --> 00:07:52.160 And part of that meant focusing on and managing desires. 00:07:52.379 --> 00:07:59.700 They wanted to curate a life that maximized pleasure and freedom from anxiety and stress and pain. 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:06.120 Part of that means creating your own sense of meaning and crafting your own vision of the good 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:09.439 life sounds very similar to how many people live today. 00:08:11.300 --> 00:08:16.540 Now, when Jackson says, I worshipped at the altar of work, I built a community, I volunteered, 00:08:17.139 --> 00:08:23.019 I cared for my nieces and nephews, I tried book clubs and running clubs, there she sounds a bit like a Stoic. 00:08:24.420 --> 00:08:26.920 You know, the Stoics focused more on control. 00:08:26.920 --> 00:08:37.399 And by control, I mean self-control, self-mastery, self-optimization, forming virtue through disciplined habit 00:08:37.399 --> 00:08:41.100 and intellectual growth and character development. 00:08:42.180 --> 00:08:47.399 Learning how to be strengthened through experiences of suffering and hardship. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:51.840 That also sounds like many people we hear today. 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:56.500 The point I want to make here is that these are not new ideas. 00:08:58.280 --> 00:09:05.879 These are not, when Jackson describes her life, these are not new concepts or a new vision of a kind of post-Christian existence. 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:13.800 The point is that for centuries, for centuries, for thousands of years, 00:09:14.160 --> 00:09:18.680 people have been trying to figure out how to live life apart from God. 00:09:18.679 --> 00:09:23.299 That's always been an impulse in society. 00:09:24.500 --> 00:09:32.059 And the real point of Jackson's article is that people's best efforts to build a full and satisfying life apart from God 00:09:32.059 --> 00:09:33.339 haven't worked out. 00:09:34.599 --> 00:09:37.439 And many remain spiritually hungry. 00:09:38.479 --> 00:09:42.859 And while Jackson is not probably at this point ready to come back to church just yet, 00:09:43.099 --> 00:09:44.539 here's what she says at the end of the article. 00:09:44.539 --> 00:09:49.740 She says, I recognize that my spiritual longing persists. 00:09:50.599 --> 00:09:53.299 And it hasn't been sated by secularism. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:56.959 And then she says, I want a God. 00:09:58.339 --> 00:09:59.519 I want a God. 00:10:00.759 --> 00:10:03.339 For years, I haven't been able to say that publicly. 00:10:03.559 --> 00:10:05.779 But it feels like something is changing. 00:10:06.199 --> 00:10:08.120 That maybe the culture is shifting. 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:13.220 We talked last week about how just in the last three or four years, 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:22.279 there's been a major, a 12% increase in our country in the number of people who say they have a meaningful relationship with Jesus. 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:29.019 That's something like 30 million people who are saying that more than back in 2021. 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:31.899 So something is definitely shifting in our culture. 00:10:31.980 --> 00:10:37.639 And people like Jackson are now admitting, hey, this whole thing that I've tried to build on my own apart from God, it hasn't worked. 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:42.980 And I think that there are millions of people in our culture who feel the very same way. 00:10:42.980 --> 00:10:48.199 Probably many of them, especially if you live in a major city center, are probably scared to admit it. 00:10:49.100 --> 00:10:52.360 But I think that there are many people who are longing for more. 00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:59.620 As we said last week, it's not only true today, the same sense of incompleteness, emptiness, there has to be something more. 00:10:59.800 --> 00:11:01.440 That was also present in Athens. 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:08.560 Paul, as he's going along, sees an altar that is devoted to the unknown God. 00:11:09.980 --> 00:11:14.740 And he realizes that despite this veritable buffet of spiritual options, 00:11:15.680 --> 00:11:19.240 that somehow the Athenians still felt that something was missing. 00:11:19.240 --> 00:11:23.700 And so they devoted an altar to whoever or whatever that might be. 00:11:23.779 --> 00:11:25.419 There's still something missing here. 00:11:25.580 --> 00:11:28.200 And we want to acknowledge that architecturally. 00:11:29.620 --> 00:11:33.519 So the Athenians also had this sense that there was still something missing. 00:11:33.940 --> 00:11:35.259 Why is this the case? 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:36.539 Why does it not work? 00:11:36.840 --> 00:11:38.759 And this brings us to the second question. 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:44.500 How do these attempts to live life apart from God, how do these worldviews ultimately fall short? 00:11:44.500 --> 00:11:51.139 And the answer is essentially that these godless worldviews offer empty promises. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:55.100 These godless worldviews offer empty promises. 00:11:55.700 --> 00:12:04.200 Again, at the risk of being somewhat reductionistic, modern Epicureanism essentially promises comfort without God. 00:12:05.460 --> 00:12:06.639 Comfort without God. 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:12.139 You know, the promise of the Epicurean mindset is you can find peace within. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:26.580 You know, if you find the right combination of therapists and saunas and meditation apps and long walks and maybe some minimalism 00:12:26.580 --> 00:12:36.780 and, you know, whatever the other ideas du jour circulating around our Instagram feeds might be, 00:12:36.980 --> 00:12:42.020 that it's possible that theoretically one can curate a tranquil life without God. 00:12:42.980 --> 00:12:44.379 The problem is this. 00:12:44.379 --> 00:12:56.080 What you actually find is that these methods don't deliver what they promise because they don't deliver true lasting peace that exists despite your circumstances. 00:12:57.039 --> 00:13:05.179 They deliver ways to momentarily escape, to momentarily numb or check out. 00:13:05.179 --> 00:13:13.419 Because within this view, there are no resources to help cope with the biggest, most existential challenges of life. 00:13:14.199 --> 00:13:19.179 Because at the end of the day, if there is no God, that means that the universe is random and meaningless. 00:13:20.699 --> 00:13:23.219 And that causes a tremendous amount of anxiety. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:28.120 Because it means that there's nothing out there to give us any sense of purpose or direction. 00:13:28.719 --> 00:13:32.000 It means there's no comfort in the face of aging and death. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:36.840 There's nothing to help you understand what happens after we die. 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:41.379 There's no promise because there is nothing after death according to this worldview. 00:13:41.820 --> 00:13:42.559 There's no hope. 00:13:42.659 --> 00:13:45.399 There's no resources to help us deal with suffering. 00:13:46.860 --> 00:13:50.200 To help us name or make sense of evil when we see it. 00:13:50.200 --> 00:14:04.720 So the best that we can cobble together is an array of ways to temporarily or momentarily soothe that existential anxiety and dread. 00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:08.540 But it is always lurking just under the surface. 00:14:08.539 --> 00:14:18.939 And then if we look at modern Stoicism, modern Stoicism promises control, but it's control without grace. 00:14:20.379 --> 00:14:21.779 Control without grace. 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:25.039 It says that life is about self-mastery. 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:27.219 It's about self-optimization. 00:14:27.539 --> 00:14:28.679 It's about working hard. 00:14:28.779 --> 00:14:30.019 It's about taking responsibility. 00:14:30.419 --> 00:14:31.559 It's about doing our duty. 00:14:31.819 --> 00:14:33.980 It's about making our bed when we get up in the morning. 00:14:33.980 --> 00:14:36.920 You know, it's about avoiding emotional messiness. 00:14:38.379 --> 00:14:49.240 You know, and there are people out there like Tim Ferriss and Jordan Peterson who exerted enormous influence offering what largely reflects Stoic ideas of life. 00:14:50.500 --> 00:14:50.700 Right? 00:14:50.800 --> 00:14:57.539 How to take responsibility and become the kind of person, become the best version of yourself and aim at life's biggest challenges. 00:14:57.539 --> 00:15:01.679 Now, there's a lot that is inspiring in that. 00:15:01.779 --> 00:15:03.819 There's a lot that's inspiring in all of this. 00:15:04.219 --> 00:15:09.679 And a lot of things that we hear in these worldviews are true, or at least they reflect things that are true. 00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:14.139 But the problem with this worldview is, at the end of the day, it is all up to you. 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:16.980 It is all up to you. 00:15:17.059 --> 00:15:21.419 And if you fail, it's up to you to overcome that weakness in yourself. 00:15:21.879 --> 00:15:24.459 There's no ultimate forgiveness for our failures. 00:15:24.460 --> 00:15:35.620 If we make horrible mistakes, if there's guilt and shame that haunts us and hangs over us, there's no way to deal with that ultimately. 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:41.000 You simply have to detach from it and move forward and learn what you can from it. 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:51.980 And as I said, while this can be inspiring at first, over time I think this view leads a lot of people, particularly men, into places of exhaustion and isolation. 00:15:51.980 --> 00:15:58.320 So it's worth spending some time reflecting on your own tendencies. 00:15:58.460 --> 00:16:02.720 And I think we all have tendencies in one or other of these directions. 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:09.940 I think probably a lot of us, like Jackson, might have a mix of things if we looked at our lives that reflect these various worldviews. 00:16:09.940 --> 00:16:11.240 So it doesn't have to be cut and dry. 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:21.320 But I think that a lot of people tend to focus primarily either on comfort in their lives or on greater and greater and greater degrees of control. 00:16:21.500 --> 00:16:27.440 You know, some of us deal with our stress by wanting to check out, wanting to disconnect. 00:16:28.180 --> 00:16:32.259 We try to go out of our way to avoid things that are inconvenient. 00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:37.779 We want to make our lives as easy and as frictionless as possible. 00:16:37.779 --> 00:16:40.480 And I think others really lean in a different direction. 00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:43.079 I know people who really focus on control. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:48.639 You know, we manage anxiety and stress by wanting to have greater control over our lives. 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:51.220 We want to make sure there's a plan for everything. 00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:53.740 We want to make sure there's a schedule for everything. 00:16:54.860 --> 00:16:55.079 Right? 00:16:55.179 --> 00:16:56.899 We want to be highly organized. 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:01.919 We want to not only control our lives, but we want to try to control the people around us. 00:17:01.980 --> 00:17:05.759 We want to control what they think of us and how they respond to us. 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:09.839 We want to try to control and manage our circumstances. 00:17:10.299 --> 00:17:12.640 We want to try to control future outcomes. 00:17:13.019 --> 00:17:16.099 You know, we tend to be over-analyzers and over-thinkers. 00:17:17.019 --> 00:17:18.500 We're over-functioners. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:25.759 So I think that we all have a little bit of Epicurean and Stoic leanings within us. 00:17:26.460 --> 00:17:28.180 And it's probably different from one person to the next. 00:17:28.180 --> 00:17:35.580 The thing that we need to understand is everything that Paul says in this passage directly challenges these ideas. 00:17:36.460 --> 00:17:38.539 Not by saying that they're all wrong. 00:17:39.120 --> 00:17:40.980 But by simply saying that they're not enough. 00:17:41.940 --> 00:17:43.039 That they fall flat. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:45.880 That they don't ultimately deliver what they promise. 00:17:46.500 --> 00:17:49.759 And that the gospel offers something incomparably better. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:55.180 So that's the last thing I want to focus on is how does the gospel offer something better? 00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:56.099 And this is what we see. 00:17:56.200 --> 00:17:58.099 The meat of this passage, verse 24. 00:17:58.599 --> 00:18:03.759 Paul launches into this beautiful message by beginning with creation. 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:05.480 He says in verse 24, 00:18:05.619 --> 00:18:12.539 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man. 00:18:12.539 --> 00:18:18.500 Now they would be on the Areopagus and they would be looking out over all of the temples in the agora, right? 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:23.159 So he's, and they would be looking up at the Acropolis where the Parthenon was. 00:18:23.319 --> 00:18:26.819 And they would be looking at these things and he would say, God doesn't live there. 00:18:27.579 --> 00:18:28.680 God doesn't live there. 00:18:28.779 --> 00:18:30.480 He doesn't live in the temples made by man. 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:38.000 Nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 00:18:38.339 --> 00:18:39.639 So what's he saying out of the gate? 00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:43.860 The universe is not random and meaningless. 00:18:45.180 --> 00:18:48.360 And God is not this impersonal force or energy. 00:18:49.100 --> 00:18:52.340 He's saying the good news of the gospel is that there is a personal God. 00:18:53.280 --> 00:18:55.980 And that God has created everything that exists. 00:18:56.840 --> 00:19:00.860 And that God didn't create you or me because he needs something from us. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:05.880 God wasn't sitting around thinking, I need worshipers or I need people to bring me food. 00:19:05.880 --> 00:19:12.780 Some of the people believe that the gods needed to rely on human beings to meet their needs, right? 00:19:13.760 --> 00:19:17.400 Paul says the God who made you didn't do it because he needs anything from you. 00:19:17.980 --> 00:19:22.380 He did it purely as a gift because he's a God of love. 00:19:22.800 --> 00:19:23.880 And that's what love does. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:28.080 It creates and gives life and causes it to flourish. 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:30.539 So he did it as an overflow of his love. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:32.259 He goes on in verse 26. 00:19:32.619 --> 00:19:41.119 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods in the boundaries of their dwelling place. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:42.139 Listen to this. 00:19:42.399 --> 00:19:48.319 That they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:49.500 This is extraordinary. 00:19:49.500 --> 00:19:57.339 Not only, Paul says, did God make you, but God wants a relationship with you. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:03.700 And because of that, God has filled the world with evidence that points to him. 00:20:04.839 --> 00:20:15.599 And everywhere you go and everything that you do, you're going to be surrounded by things that point to and witness to the fact that there's a God who made you and wants you to feel your way toward him. 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:16.039 Right? 00:20:17.240 --> 00:20:17.679 Right? 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:19.759 And then he does something extraordinary. 00:20:20.099 --> 00:20:21.019 He shows them. 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:30.219 He says, on some level, you know this already because there is evidence that points to God in your own culture and in your own writings. 00:20:30.439 --> 00:20:33.199 And he quotes their thinkers. 00:20:33.779 --> 00:20:36.740 Paul says he's actually not far from each one of us. 00:20:37.439 --> 00:20:37.539 Right? 00:20:37.579 --> 00:20:39.639 So unlike the Epicureans, God's not distant. 00:20:39.740 --> 00:20:40.759 God is right here. 00:20:41.379 --> 00:20:42.639 And he wants to know you. 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:44.519 And then he quotes their thinkers. 00:20:44.519 --> 00:20:48.319 For in him, we live and move and have our being. 00:20:48.420 --> 00:20:49.119 That's one quote. 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:56.079 And even some of your own poets have said, and he quotes another leading thinker, for we are indeed his offspring. 00:20:57.700 --> 00:20:57.980 Right? 00:20:58.039 --> 00:21:00.740 So this is like Paul quoting Nietzsche. 00:21:00.940 --> 00:21:02.920 This is like Paul quoting from the New York Times. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:03.440 Right? 00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:11.599 And he's saying, even when you read this, which doesn't seem like it's religious, you see things that are pointing to what I'm telling you. 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:13.839 So he's quoting their pagan philosophers. 00:21:14.959 --> 00:21:24.339 These are essentially, Paul is saying, these are signposts, even within your own writings that point to the truth of the gospel because God wants you to feel your way toward him and find him. 00:21:24.339 --> 00:21:35.939 And, you know, our culture is full of songs and movies and books and music and poetry that points to the reality of God and the longing that people have to know him. 00:21:36.019 --> 00:21:39.980 You know, when people listen to the compositions of Bach, right? 00:21:39.980 --> 00:21:43.319 There's many people who have just said, there's something here. 00:21:44.380 --> 00:21:49.099 There's something that calls me, that points to there has to be more than this. 00:21:49.160 --> 00:21:49.240 Right? 00:21:49.339 --> 00:21:57.319 Or when scientists observe something like the finely tuned universe that is tuned just so in order to make life possible. 00:21:58.019 --> 00:21:59.759 Down to a fraction of a percentage. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:00.140 Right? 00:22:00.140 --> 00:22:08.240 When we look at these variables in the cosmos, that if they were to change by the slightest fraction in one direction or another, no life would be possible. 00:22:08.340 --> 00:22:14.660 And yet, the universe seems finely tuned just so to allow for the possibility of life to flourish. 00:22:14.780 --> 00:22:18.040 And so scientists will look at that and say, how could that randomly happen? 00:22:18.900 --> 00:22:19.100 Right? 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:24.400 That has to point to something more than this materialistic world. 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:29.100 And so Paul is saying, you're surrounded by evidence because the God who created you wants to know you. 00:22:30.320 --> 00:22:36.860 Another way of saying it is, he's saying, despite what you think, God is not distant or irrelevant and he's right here. 00:22:37.180 --> 00:22:41.540 And then that leads Paul to point out the absurdity of worshiping things that we make. 00:22:42.820 --> 00:22:47.040 He's like, it's absurd to worship things that we've made out of stoner metal. 00:22:48.040 --> 00:22:49.780 We shouldn't worship the things that we make. 00:22:49.860 --> 00:22:51.480 We should worship the one who made us. 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:53.920 Which is more worthy of worship? 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:56.280 And then he comes to the climax. 00:22:56.680 --> 00:22:57.160 Verse 30. 00:22:57.480 --> 00:22:59.220 The times of ignorance God overlooked. 00:23:00.120 --> 00:23:02.980 But now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 00:23:03.580 --> 00:23:09.120 Because he's fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. 00:23:09.700 --> 00:23:13.320 And of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. 00:23:14.740 --> 00:23:18.700 So Paul is saying, listen, times are changing. 00:23:20.600 --> 00:23:22.100 It's the dawn of a new day. 00:23:22.099 --> 00:23:25.339 And up until now you didn't know these things. 00:23:26.299 --> 00:23:28.039 But God is doing something new. 00:23:28.980 --> 00:23:34.240 We've come to a point in history where God has now made a way for everyone in the world to know him. 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:39.819 Jesus Christ has come into the world to restore all that has been broken. 00:23:40.180 --> 00:23:42.620 Including our relationship with our maker. 00:23:43.480 --> 00:23:45.259 And then Paul says, we know this is true. 00:23:45.500 --> 00:23:47.339 He's like, you don't have to take my word for it. 00:23:47.380 --> 00:23:50.259 We know because we saw Jesus raised from death. 00:23:51.220 --> 00:23:55.240 God's given us assurance that all this is true because somebody came out of the grave. 00:23:55.240 --> 00:23:59.640 So Paul is essentially saying, the time is now. 00:24:01.079 --> 00:24:04.079 Give up trying to live life apart from God. 00:24:05.079 --> 00:24:08.220 We've entered a new era of human history. 00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:10.039 And the time is now. 00:24:10.359 --> 00:24:12.960 Return to the one who made you and the one who loves you. 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:17.759 So he's telling these Epicureans and these Stoics and thus all of their followers. 00:24:18.259 --> 00:24:25.180 The real purpose of life, the real reason you're here, is not just to seek comfort. 00:24:25.840 --> 00:24:29.500 And it's not just to try to develop some measure of self-control. 00:24:30.539 --> 00:24:34.460 Your real purpose is to live for and glorify the God who made you. 00:24:34.460 --> 00:24:44.480 So to all of the modern Epicureans out there, the gospel says that life is not just about comfort. 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:47.700 It's also about holiness. 00:24:49.059 --> 00:24:50.140 It's about holiness. 00:24:51.160 --> 00:24:53.620 It's about living all of life in reference to God. 00:24:55.220 --> 00:24:57.680 And that's not always a comfortable life. 00:24:58.500 --> 00:25:02.620 In fact, Jesus makes it clear that it can at times be a very costly life. 00:25:02.619 --> 00:25:08.019 And yet the promise is that the gospel offers far more than momentary pleasure. 00:25:08.159 --> 00:25:10.799 The gospel offers joy that outlasts death. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:13.379 Joy that outlasts death. 00:25:14.339 --> 00:25:18.839 And to all the modern Stoics out there, the gospel calls us to let go of control. 00:25:20.279 --> 00:25:23.619 The gospel says we need to learn to trust God to be in control. 00:25:24.819 --> 00:25:27.199 You know, the song we sang earlier, this is our father's world. 00:25:28.979 --> 00:25:30.319 It's not my world. 00:25:31.219 --> 00:25:32.559 It's our father's world. 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:40.219 The gospel tells us that even though we want to be strong and it feels good to be powerful and it feels good to be in control, 00:25:41.659 --> 00:25:44.659 that true power is found in weakness. 00:25:45.739 --> 00:25:51.599 And that's one of the great mysteries of the Christian way of life is that true power is found in weakness, 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:54.439 not in us seeking personal strength. 00:25:54.440 --> 00:25:58.420 And that the gospel offers far more than self-optimization. 00:25:59.420 --> 00:26:00.660 It offers grace. 00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:05.640 And only grace can transform a human being from the inside out. 00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:13.680 So the gospel gives us more than we will ever find in the wisdom and the worldviews of human beings. 00:26:13.800 --> 00:26:17.740 It's not just a way to manage your life, but a way to be made new. 00:26:17.740 --> 00:26:21.240 It's not just a way to cope with death. 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:22.440 It's a way to conquer death. 00:26:24.140 --> 00:26:26.039 It's not just a way to think about God. 00:26:26.099 --> 00:26:28.960 It's a way to know that God intimately. 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:31.779 Paul says the time is now. 00:26:32.440 --> 00:26:33.160 Let's pray. 00:26:33.160 --> 00:26:46.320 Lord, may this truth and the beauty of it and the goodness within it, may that melt and soften hard hearts. 00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:49.160 May it change lives. 00:26:50.140 --> 00:26:56.259 Lord, may it call people who already have a sense that there is something missing, 00:26:56.259 --> 00:27:00.940 people who look at the altar to the unknown God in their own heart. 00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:04.440 May it inspire those people to seek after you. 00:27:04.740 --> 00:27:07.839 Lord, what a great comfort it is to know that you're not distant, 00:27:08.099 --> 00:27:11.339 that you're not holding back, waiting for us to get it right, 00:27:12.019 --> 00:27:16.619 that you're the God who desires that we would feel our way toward you and find you. 00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:19.819 You want relationship and you are here right now. 00:27:20.740 --> 00:27:24.799 And all we have to do is open our hearts and ask you for that relationship. 00:27:26.259 --> 00:27:27.980 In the name and for the sake of Jesus. 00:27:29.619 --> 00:27:31.019 And that your answer is yes. 00:27:31.079 --> 00:27:34.839 That you're like the father in the parable of the prodigal son. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:39.539 That the moment we take steps toward you, you run out to meet us on the road. 00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:41.500 You don't wait for us to get it right. 00:27:42.119 --> 00:27:43.799 Your arms are already around us. 00:27:44.460 --> 00:27:45.720 Lord, we pray that that would be true. 00:27:45.980 --> 00:27:50.000 We pray that those who are longing to know you would come to know you. 00:27:50.460 --> 00:27:52.420 We pray that your spirit would do his work. 00:27:53.119 --> 00:27:54.480 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:27:54.720 --> 00:27:54.900 Amen. 00:27:56.259 --> 00:27:57.079 Amen. 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.079