WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.600 Well, friends, we are in a series, this is the last week of the series, that we are in looking 00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:16.960 ! at Acts chapter 17, and we're looking at Paul's ministry in Athens. And Athens, as we have said, 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:24.719 is a lot like Washington, D.C. It was a very religiously pluralistic place. It was a center 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:32.879 for intellectualism. A lot of the most well-educated people in the region lived in Athens. They 00:00:32.879 --> 00:00:41.099 gravitated there. It was a cultural center. And so, a lot like D.C. And Paul has been invited at 00:00:41.099 --> 00:00:47.820 this point in the story to come and essentially give a kind of TED Talk at Harvard University, 00:00:48.039 --> 00:00:53.679 so to speak, or Oxford. He's been invited to present the gospel at the Areopagus, 00:00:53.679 --> 00:01:01.299 which is this rocky outcrop where all of the philosophical elites would gather to discuss 00:01:01.299 --> 00:01:08.200 the various competing worldviews in the age. And so, Paul is invited to make the case for Christ. 00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:14.500 And we come to this moment, it's kind of a climactic moment, and recognize that this is Paul's big 00:01:14.500 --> 00:01:20.299 moment. This is his big chance. Everybody gets quiet, they listen, and he begins to lay out the 00:01:20.299 --> 00:01:26.879 case for Christ. And we looked at, last week, the content of his message. And this week, we're going 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:32.599 to look at the way people respond. And what we're going to see is that there are three general 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:40.000 categories of response to Paul. And those map onto the three general categories of response that we see 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.000 more broadly. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:43.000 And... 00:01:43.000 --> 00:02:09.979 Paul didn't have a microphone. 00:02:09.979 --> 00:02:17.000 phone? And now neither do I. I'll use this one. So anyway, Paul is invited to present, 00:02:17.239 --> 00:02:21.339 and we're going to see his responses. There are three general categories of response, 00:02:21.839 --> 00:02:28.560 and each of the ways that we see people in Athens responding to Paul are the ways that we will 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:33.179 always see people respond whenever they hear the gospel. So three general categories of response. 00:02:33.419 --> 00:02:37.659 We're going to look at these, and I invite you as we are looking at these ways of responding to the 00:02:37.659 --> 00:02:45.099 gospel. I invite you to reflect on your own heart, your own life, to ask, how have I responded to the 00:02:45.099 --> 00:02:56.379 gospel? So let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word, and we thank you that it has a power 00:02:56.379 --> 00:03:06.979 independent of our preaching or our human wisdom, that your word is the way through which you do 00:03:06.979 --> 00:03:13.679 your work in us. And we pray, Lord, that as we open your word together, that you would guide us and 00:03:13.679 --> 00:03:20.579 lead us and ultimately do your work in us, that we might encounter the living word, Jesus Christ, 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:27.479 and become more like him, Lord. We pray that you would do this for our good and for your glory. 00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:29.000 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:37.120 Amen. So here's the first category of response that we see to Paul's preaching, verse 32. 00:03:37.620 --> 00:03:45.000 Now, when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. We get to recognize here, we got 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:50.780 probably the greatest church planter who's ever lived. This man has seen Jesus face to face. 00:03:51.580 --> 00:03:55.960 He is theologically and rhetorically brilliant. He is filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:03:55.960 --> 00:04:02.520 And he gets laughed out of the room. They don't even let him finish his sermon before they start 00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:08.740 mocking and deriding what he's saying. So he has no other option but to turn around and walk out. 00:04:09.719 --> 00:04:13.520 And, you know, it's instructive to us because I think there are a lot of people who live in this 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:19.120 day and age who assume that the people who came before us, the people who lived 2,000 years ago, 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:25.340 were much less sophisticated. They were much more superstitious. They were much more gullible and 00:04:25.339 --> 00:04:31.659 because of those things, something like a claim of resurrection, a lot more people would buy it 00:04:31.659 --> 00:04:36.699 because they were just less sophisticated than we are in the 21st century. And this is something that 00:04:36.699 --> 00:04:42.819 C.S. Lewis famously called chronological snobbery. And the truth is that from the very beginning, 00:04:43.259 --> 00:04:48.859 people have mocked and ridiculed the claims of Christianity. We see that going all the way back 00:04:48.860 --> 00:04:54.819 to the Apostle Paul getting laughed out of the room. And especially in a place like Athens, the idea 00:04:54.819 --> 00:05:04.000 of resurrection went directly against the founding charter of the Areopagus. Traditionally, the god 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:10.560 Apollo inaugurated the court of the Areopagus. And when he did, he made this declaration, quote, 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:15.660 when a man dies and his blood is spilled on the ground, there is no resurrection. 00:05:17.780 --> 00:05:23.399 That's in the founding charter of the Areopagus. So Paul is directly challenging one of the founding 00:05:23.399 --> 00:05:32.459 principles upon which the Areopagus and everything it represented was built. So no wonder people mock him. 00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:40.459 But let's imagine that's not the case. Let's imagine that there was nothing specifically against the idea 00:05:40.459 --> 00:05:45.779 of resurrection. Let's imagine that we're in another place. Regardless of when and where you might be, 00:05:46.159 --> 00:05:53.439 there will always be some people who immediately reject the claims of the gospel when they first hear 00:05:53.439 --> 00:06:01.599 them. And for some people, this is simply a spiritual block. We know that the Lord needs to open the hearts 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:10.120 of people to hear and respond to the gospel. But along with that, in general, it's important for us to 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:16.680 recognize, especially those of us who desire to, and I hope we all do, share our faith with people around 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:23.420 us who don't know the Lord. One of the things we have observed about human nature is that in general, 00:06:23.420 --> 00:06:30.340 people have a very hard time changing their mind. People have a hard time changing their mind. 00:06:30.339 --> 00:06:38.319 When you have a settled way of thinking about things, that creates a sense of peace. You kind of know how 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:44.579 the pieces fit together. You have a settled worldview, a settled way of seeing things. And then when you're 00:06:44.579 --> 00:06:51.419 presented with new information or evidence that challenges those presuppositions, that causes a lot 00:06:51.420 --> 00:06:58.220 of anxiety. Because all of a sudden, everything is kind of up in the air, it causes what we call cognitive 00:06:58.220 --> 00:07:05.160 dissonance. Where you have thoughts over here that are not in harmony with thoughts over here and thoughts 00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:11.580 over here. And all of a sudden, there's a lot of internal stress caused by that cognitive dissonance. 00:07:11.579 --> 00:07:19.079 And so because of that, some people respond by doubling down on their original position. 00:07:20.479 --> 00:07:27.339 They double down. It's called the backfire effect. So you present people with a strong argument and 00:07:27.339 --> 00:07:32.659 evidence that challenges their views, but instead of changing their mind, they become more entrenched 00:07:32.659 --> 00:07:39.680 in their original position. And there was a big study, a kind of meta-analysis done in 2019 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:44.939 on this effect. And what they found is that with more neutral issues, you don't really see this 00:07:44.939 --> 00:07:48.800 effect that much. With more neutral issues, people are more likely to change their minds 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:55.000 in the face of strong evidence. The key is, if you're dealing with issues that are more closely 00:07:55.000 --> 00:08:07.220 linked to identity, such as political or religious or moral ideas, that is where you see the backfire 00:08:07.220 --> 00:08:16.380 effect most strongly pronounced. And whenever we are engaging with people across lines of difference, 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:22.560 whenever you're talking to people and there's a difference in views and you're dealing with topics 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:28.360 that are political or moral or religious, it's incredibly important that you keep in mind, 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:38.519 you are not just having an intellectual debate. People on both sides are having to manage their own 00:08:38.519 --> 00:08:46.159 internal stress and anxiety that is being caused by cognitive dissonance. For most all of us, just being 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:52.100 open to the possibility that you might be wrong on anything causes an enormous amount of discomfort. 00:08:52.100 --> 00:09:00.360 So Paul comes in and he's claiming that Jesus was resurrected. That runs directly against the worldview 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:07.379 that was held by many of his listeners. And so that causes an enormous amount of cognitive dissonance. 00:09:07.460 --> 00:09:13.620 And so some of these people double down and they become more certain and more sure than ever that 00:09:13.620 --> 00:09:18.300 there's no possibility of resurrection and they can't even let him finish and they mock him and they drive him 00:09:18.299 --> 00:09:25.839 out. So for those of us who are contending for the gospel, some people are immediately going to shut down. 00:09:29.179 --> 00:09:34.759 And don't think that you can talk them through or convince them or present more evidence. 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:41.379 That's really not what's going on. They're trying to manage the storm of anxiety that this is causing 00:09:41.379 --> 00:09:46.740 inside. And many times you just have to accept you're not going to change that person's mind anytime soon. 00:09:46.740 --> 00:09:53.519 So some people mock and immediately reject Paul's message. The next response is very interesting. 00:09:54.220 --> 00:10:03.360 We go on to read, others said, we will hear you again about this. Now it's possible that some of 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:07.960 these people are genuinely curious and that's probably the case. I mean, certainly there are 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:12.820 legitimate reasons why people would want to discuss and investigate the claims of Christianity more. 00:10:12.820 --> 00:10:20.040 And I would always tell anyone who is exploring Christianity, you should ask all the hard questions. 00:10:20.800 --> 00:10:27.460 You should not be afraid to investigate these claims. Christianity does not ask people to take a 00:10:27.460 --> 00:10:35.160 blind leap of faith. It's a faith that's actually based on strong evidence and eyewitness testimony. 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:42.299 It has a rich intellectual tradition spanning 2,000 years. Some of history's greatest thinkers have been 00:10:42.299 --> 00:10:47.199 faithful followers of Jesus. So I would always encourage people, if you're genuinely wanting to 00:10:47.199 --> 00:10:55.179 investigate this, you should. There's a lot there. But a lot of commentators read this response from the 00:10:55.179 --> 00:11:02.339 Athenians more as a form of procrastination. In other words, they're putting off what they really believe 00:11:02.339 --> 00:11:09.379 about Jesus as long as they can. And I think that there are a lot of reasons why a person would be 00:11:09.379 --> 00:11:19.740 tempted to procrastinate. We live in a culture that prizes open-mindedness. I heard one professor lamenting 00:11:19.740 --> 00:11:29.700 his students and how there is a kind of overwhelming cynicism that pervades. His students are so afraid 00:11:29.700 --> 00:11:37.060 to appear earnest or that they might genuinely be passionate about or believe something because 00:11:37.060 --> 00:11:42.580 they're afraid that they will be mocked and outed as being intellectually unsophisticated. 00:11:42.580 --> 00:11:49.780 And so there's a kind of cynical open-mindedness that says we can't ever really be sure about anything 00:11:49.780 --> 00:11:58.700 that holds sway and masquerades as intellectual sophistication. And so people on the issue of 00:11:58.700 --> 00:12:05.480 religion on something like the truth of the gospel believe that if they remain perpetually open-minded 00:12:05.480 --> 00:12:13.680 about everything, that that is the most secure place to be. You'll never be seen as being naive 00:12:13.680 --> 00:12:21.720 or having been taken in by something. You know, the words of G.K. Chesterton come to mind where he 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:28.019 famously said, an open mind is like an open mouth. It's meant to be shut again on something solid. 00:12:28.019 --> 00:12:33.740 And, you know, if you're never prepared to close your mouth on something solid, 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:43.360 you'll ultimately experience spiritual starvation. And your mind is the same way. If you always ask 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:49.399 questions, never prepared to receive an answer, you're going to experience, eventually, starvation. 00:12:50.679 --> 00:12:55.860 So that's one reason potentially why people might procrastinate, the desire to remain open-minded and 00:12:55.860 --> 00:13:02.200 appear intellectually sophisticated. Another reason, I believe, is that some people think that as long 00:13:02.200 --> 00:13:08.560 as they don't have strongly held convictions, they can't be held accountable to those convictions. 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:13.659 Because once you say you believe something, then you're accountable to that thing. 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:23.560 And over the years, I have seen many, many people hover right on the edge of faith for years and years 00:13:23.559 --> 00:13:29.639 and years. These are people I love, people with whom I've had long conversations, people for whom I have 00:13:29.639 --> 00:13:35.319 great respect. But I've seen people hover right on the edge of faith for years and years and years. 00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:43.239 They clearly feel compelled by the truth of Jesus and the gospel, but they will never step fully into faith 00:13:43.239 --> 00:13:48.059 because they know that it means that things will begin to change in their life. 00:13:48.059 --> 00:13:54.139 So they're not willing to let that happen. And what you begin to realize is 00:13:54.139 --> 00:14:01.419 the real obstacle for such a person is not intellectual. So again, no amount of evidence 00:14:01.419 --> 00:14:10.659 is going to make a dent. The real obstacle is control. These are people who would prefer to stay 00:14:10.659 --> 00:14:19.059 in control, to not have to surrender their lives to something or someone greater. And so they are 00:14:19.059 --> 00:14:25.980 incentivized to hover right on the edge of faith. So there are a number of incentives to procrastinate 00:14:25.980 --> 00:14:32.959 where people never really decide what they believe and commit to it. But I think that we need to 00:14:32.959 --> 00:14:38.159 understand that if we respond this way to something like the gospel, we are deeply misunderstanding 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:44.019 the nature of the gospel message. Because say, if you go to a wine tasting and somebody says, 00:14:44.120 --> 00:14:50.319 you know, I think the Pinot is better than the Cab, you might say, well, thanks for the input. I'll 00:14:50.319 --> 00:14:57.039 consider it and I'll decide what I think about it and what my opinion is. And there's no incentive to 00:14:57.039 --> 00:15:01.419 do that anytime soon. You can go the rest of your life and never really be sure if you like Pinot or 00:15:01.419 --> 00:15:08.779 Cabernet more and you're okay. You'll survive and do just fine. But if somebody calls and says, 00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:16.620 your house is on fire, or if the bank calls and says, your mortgage payment is late, or if somebody 00:15:16.620 --> 00:15:23.740 calls and says, you've just won the lottery and you only have so many days to reply. See, that kind 00:15:23.740 --> 00:15:28.120 of message is fundamentally different. You wouldn't in any of those cases say, well, you know, that's your 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:35.000 opinion and I'm just going to take some time and decide what I think. That kind of message demands 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:41.259 a response. So if you understand what the gospel message is saying, it's saying the God of the 00:15:41.259 --> 00:15:48.320 universe made you and loves you beyond all comprehension. And he has now made it possible 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:54.299 for you to know him intimately, to be forgiven for all the ways that you've rebelled against him and to 00:15:54.299 --> 00:16:01.559 become part of the new creation for all eternity, to be renewed from the inside out. So that's the gospel 00:16:01.559 --> 00:16:09.279 message. So either it's not true and you shouldn't do anything, or it is true and it changes everything. 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:16.259 But if you understand the nature of the message, there is no third option that says, spend the next 00:16:16.259 --> 00:16:24.759 10 years of your life on the periphery taking that into consideration. You know, Paul says, 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:33.919 the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now is the time to decide. And that brings us to the third 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:42.299 response, which is the response of faith. And these two converts that we learn about in verse 34 are 00:16:42.299 --> 00:16:49.019 wonderful examples of this. As Paul starts to walk away, it says in verse 34, some men joined him and 00:16:49.019 --> 00:16:55.779 believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. 00:16:56.939 --> 00:17:03.819 And so we're told about some men who leave with Paul and then we're told about two converts by name, 00:17:04.019 --> 00:17:10.519 Dionysius the Areopagite. This is the equivalent of someone who's on the faculty of Harvard or Oxford. 00:17:10.519 --> 00:17:19.539 Right? So Dionysius is somebody who is highly respected. He is a scholar in first century Athenian terms. 00:17:19.900 --> 00:17:27.980 And then Damaris is a woman who we can only imagine must have been a very high status to be allowed in the 00:17:27.980 --> 00:17:35.299 Areopagus, where most of the time women were not allowed. And the fact that these two people are mentioned by name 00:17:35.299 --> 00:17:43.099 strongly suggests that they were well-known and respected, if not leaders, in the church that formed 00:17:43.099 --> 00:17:49.579 in Athens after Paul's ministry. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, they're both held up as saints 00:17:49.579 --> 00:17:56.019 and celebrated for that reason. So these people, including these two that are mentioned by name, 00:17:56.119 --> 00:17:58.220 hear Paul's message and they respond with faith. 00:17:58.220 --> 00:18:07.120 So what is Paul's message? Well, it's the same message that Jesus preached during his earthly ministry. 00:18:07.120 --> 00:18:15.180 And it has two parts, repent and believe. Repent and believe. In modern English, you know, we say, 00:18:15.360 --> 00:18:20.880 I believe something. And what we mean by that often is, you know, I think that's true. It's intellectual 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:29.180 assent. But in the New Testament, the word pistou is far richer. It doesn't just mean that you assent 00:18:29.180 --> 00:18:39.060 to facts being true. It means entrusting yourself. Entrusting yourself. It's even used sometimes to 00:18:39.060 --> 00:18:44.820 describe entrusting yourself to another person. So when you say, I believe something, pistou, you're 00:18:44.820 --> 00:18:50.860 saying, I entrust myself to this. So that's the difference between saying, I believe that this 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:58.320 chair can hold my weight and actually sitting down in the chair. One is an opinion. The other is a 00:18:58.320 --> 00:19:06.020 commitment. And if believing means entrusting yourself to someone, what that means is that you 00:19:06.020 --> 00:19:12.740 have to turn away from the things that you used to trust and rely on. And that's really what the word 00:19:12.740 --> 00:19:20.520 repentance means. So when Jesus says, repent and believe the gospel, he's not inviting us simply to 00:19:20.519 --> 00:19:28.879 nod our heads to a creed. He's saying, you need to turn away from every lesser trust. 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:39.220 Your achievements, the control you believe you have over your life or the people around you or the 00:19:39.220 --> 00:19:45.920 future, the idols, the things that you have built your life on. He says, you need to turn away from 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:52.259 every lesser trust. Every other thing that you look to give you peace and security as you lay down at 00:19:52.259 --> 00:19:57.340 night to go to sleep. Every other thing that you live for that you can't imagine your life without. 00:19:59.539 --> 00:20:08.640 And throw yourself entirely into his arms. In other words, to believe in Christ is to trust him 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:15.480 to bear the weight of your life. I believe that this person can bear the weight of my life. 00:20:16.420 --> 00:20:22.000 To entrust your past, your present, and your future to him and to follow him. 00:20:23.860 --> 00:20:29.140 If you remember the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, some of you know I love this 00:20:29.140 --> 00:20:34.120 illustration. There's a powerful illustration of repentance. And I pull it out every few years 00:20:34.119 --> 00:20:40.439 because it bears repeating. At the end of the movie, there's this chasm that is opened in the 00:20:40.439 --> 00:20:47.339 ground and Indiana Jones is hanging over the chasm. And his father is holding him by one hand, 00:20:47.419 --> 00:20:52.059 but with the other hand, he's reaching out trying to grab the grail. So if you can imagine, he's hanging 00:20:52.059 --> 00:20:57.959 like this and the grail is just out of reach. And he's just struggling and trying to reach out for the 00:20:57.959 --> 00:21:02.059 grail. And he keeps saying, I've almost got it. I've almost got it. I've almost got it. 00:21:02.059 --> 00:21:06.899 And his hand is slipping. And we know as the audience that if he keeps reaching for it, 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:11.940 he's going to lose his grip and he's going to plummet into the chasm. And so his father very 00:21:11.940 --> 00:21:21.639 calmly speaks his name. And he says in a very calm and loving voice, Indiana, let it go. 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:29.019 And then Indy stops reaching out for the cup and he turns and he looks into his father's eyes. 00:21:29.019 --> 00:21:33.940 And then he reaches up and he takes his father's hand and his father pulls him out. 00:21:34.900 --> 00:21:38.319 And in my opinion, it's probably one of the best illustrations of repentance 00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:47.259 in pop culture. Every single one of us sins because we are constantly tempted to pursue things, 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:52.059 to worship things, to give our allegiance to things other than God. And often these are good 00:21:52.059 --> 00:21:56.859 things that we've just allowed to become too important. But we all have kind of holy grails 00:21:56.859 --> 00:22:02.779 in our lives, like things that we are reaching for that we believe are the thing that we most need, 00:22:02.779 --> 00:22:09.879 like security or comfort or affirmation. And eventually, pursuing those things instead of God 00:22:09.879 --> 00:22:16.799 will ultimately lead to our demise. And so repentance means listening to the voice of our father 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:28.579 who is calling us each by name in a calm and gentle and loving voice and responding to his invitation, 00:22:29.220 --> 00:22:35.819 let it go. The things that we're pursuing instead of him. And it means turning around and taking his hand 00:22:35.819 --> 00:22:44.539 and trusting him to bear us up. That's repentance. So think back for a moment to the second group, 00:22:44.539 --> 00:22:50.460 the procrastinators, the people who we said ultimately are procrastinating, 00:22:50.460 --> 00:22:57.680 not for intellectual reasons necessarily, but possibly because they want to stay in control 00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:06.819 of their lives. The barrier really here, now that we understand this, is that they don't want to repent. 00:23:06.819 --> 00:23:14.339 They don't want to have to let it go. They want to, many times, have both. I want to have a little bit 00:23:14.339 --> 00:23:18.259 of Jesus in my life. I want to have a little bit of faith. And I also want to have the things that I 00:23:18.259 --> 00:23:24.700 most want. And it keeps you in this state of perpetual uncertainty and uncommitment and ultimately 00:23:24.700 --> 00:23:31.039 spiritually hungry. They want to stay in control. You know, there's a guy in the news this week. 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:34.799 Some of you may know who I'm talking about. He's the CEO of a tech company. 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:42.240 You know exactly what I'm talking about. And he's been having an affair, it's such a cliche, 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:48.839 with a woman from his company, head of HR or something like that. And they're at a Coldplay concert 00:23:48.839 --> 00:23:55.980 and they get out the kiss cam and they're pointing it at different people. And all of a sudden, 00:23:55.980 --> 00:24:01.420 they come over to this couple and they look up and they realize that they're on the jumbotron. 00:24:03.180 --> 00:24:10.420 And they're horrified. And they start scrambling, trying to hide. You know, the woman just turns 00:24:10.420 --> 00:24:16.360 around and the guy just sort of awkwardly just kind of lays down on the ground. And of course, 00:24:16.460 --> 00:24:20.500 you know, people have pointed out that it's their attempts to hide that outed them. You know, 00:24:20.519 --> 00:24:24.200 if they just played it cool, probably nobody would have known. But the more they try to hide, 00:24:24.200 --> 00:24:28.519 the more guilty they look. And of course, the internet has done its thing. 00:24:30.019 --> 00:24:35.100 And this man's poor wife wakes up to thousands of messages on her Facebook page, I think, 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:41.259 outing her husband as a cheater. And people are tearing him to shreds and mocking him. And 00:24:41.259 --> 00:24:49.180 I mean, it's a feeding frenzy. You know, you see that. And I just, I don't know if this thought 00:24:49.180 --> 00:24:57.580 struck you, but I mean, you know, imagine what it would be like to have your sin projected up on a 00:24:57.580 --> 00:25:03.980 jumbotron. You know, you think you're there. He made some comment about we should be able to 00:25:03.980 --> 00:25:08.380 expect some measure of privacy. And I can't believe you outed us, you know. 00:25:08.380 --> 00:25:16.700 But imagine if that was you. And imagine if your sin was just put on display on a jumbotron 00:25:16.700 --> 00:25:21.680 for everybody to see. Here's the thing. He probably thinks this is the worst thing that could have 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:29.540 happened to him. Spiritually speaking, this could be the best thing that ever happened to him. 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:37.180 This could be the moment that changes everything in this man's life. Because the truth is out there. 00:25:37.180 --> 00:25:41.980 His sin is on display. And if we know anything about us, it's just the tip of the iceberg. 00:25:43.640 --> 00:25:50.960 No more hiding. No more self-deception. No more deceiving his company and his wife and his kids. 00:25:51.160 --> 00:25:58.279 And no more lying. It's all out there. And imagine if a man like that allowed this to drive him to his 00:25:58.279 --> 00:26:05.200 knees, to humble him. Imagine if it drove him to repent, to cry out to Jesus for mercy because he's not 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:11.779 finding it anywhere else. Imagine if he cried out and imagine if he fell into the arms of Jesus. 00:26:11.980 --> 00:26:16.500 This could completely change his life. We could see a guy like this 10 years from now looking back and 00:26:16.500 --> 00:26:23.360 saying, that was the best thing that ever happened to me. Because I was exposed. Because here's the thing. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:32.719 God sees our hearts. To him, it's like all of our sin. Not just the affair that we might be having, but all of it 00:26:32.719 --> 00:26:40.359 is on display like a big jumbotron. Right? And from God's perspective, the more we try to hide, the more 00:26:40.359 --> 00:26:46.259 ridiculous we look. And the more guilty we look. But here's where the gospel differs. 00:26:46.259 --> 00:26:56.839 The gospel says that unlike the internet mob, God doesn't delight when people are publicly shamed. 00:26:58.839 --> 00:27:05.619 He doesn't delight in people being exposed and ridiculed. You know, God doesn't laugh at us. 00:27:06.740 --> 00:27:11.519 God doesn't mock. When God sees our sin, it breaks his heart. 00:27:11.519 --> 00:27:17.500 God doesn't. And Jesus is willing to suffer and to die to cover our shame. 00:27:18.180 --> 00:27:19.319 Not to magnify it. 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:23.819 And he does that because God ultimately wants us to be forgiven. 00:27:24.279 --> 00:27:27.460 And he wants us to be restored. And he wants us to be with him. 00:27:28.599 --> 00:27:31.099 God sees who he created us to be. 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:35.519 And he wants to restore us to that original glory and purpose. 00:27:38.099 --> 00:27:40.059 That's the invitation of the gospel. 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:42.519 God sees who he's forgiven. 00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:46.359 So these are the three responses that Paul gets in Athens. 00:27:46.539 --> 00:27:51.200 And for those of us who are Christians, who are hoping to see culture renewed, 00:27:51.420 --> 00:27:55.420 this passage, I think, helps level set. It helps manage our expectations. 00:27:56.359 --> 00:27:59.900 There will always be people who mock. That's okay. 00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:03.579 There will always be people who reject it. 00:28:04.119 --> 00:28:06.220 There will always be people who procrastinate. 00:28:06.220 --> 00:28:12.740 And in those two categories, most likely we're not dealing ultimately with intellectual objections. 00:28:13.559 --> 00:28:14.720 It's something deeper. 00:28:15.860 --> 00:28:20.400 But then there will always be people like Dionysius. 00:28:21.059 --> 00:28:23.640 There will always be people like Damaris. 00:28:23.779 --> 00:28:27.000 There will always be people around us. 00:28:27.100 --> 00:28:33.000 The people we might least expect whose hearts at that very moment are being open to the truth of the gospel. 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:35.400 And all they need is for someone to share it with them. 00:28:36.339 --> 00:28:40.920 And imagine if Paul had quit because of the mockery or the procrastination. 00:28:41.720 --> 00:28:48.380 If he had quit, he never would have seen these people come to faith. 00:28:49.059 --> 00:28:51.619 And there might never have been a church in Athens. 00:28:53.900 --> 00:28:54.519 Let's pray. 00:28:54.519 --> 00:28:59.500 Lord, we thank you for your word. 00:28:59.940 --> 00:29:02.619 We thank you that you are at work in our midst. 00:29:04.039 --> 00:29:06.240 And 99% of it we cannot see. 00:29:07.379 --> 00:29:10.519 But you are doing things that go beyond what we can ask or even imagine. 00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:12.460 I pray that we would have eyes of faith. 00:29:13.019 --> 00:29:14.639 To trust and to know that. 00:29:15.079 --> 00:29:16.900 And to respond accordingly. 00:29:17.660 --> 00:29:21.099 That you would give us boldness and wisdom and insight. 00:29:21.099 --> 00:29:27.819 Lord, I pray that for those who may hear this who are on the fence. 00:29:28.019 --> 00:29:33.159 Or who have closed themselves to the possibility of you, Lord. 00:29:33.199 --> 00:29:36.959 I pray that your Holy Spirit would do what no human can do. 00:29:37.059 --> 00:29:38.539 Would open those hearts. 00:29:39.219 --> 00:29:40.399 And make that truth known. 00:29:40.740 --> 00:29:41.519 And sink it deep. 00:29:42.359 --> 00:29:44.019 We pray this in Jesus' holy name. 00:29:44.179 --> 00:29:44.379 Amen. 00:29:44.379 --> 00:29:44.500 Amen.