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