May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in His Holy Word. Let's turn to the Acts of the
Apostles and the 17th chapter, and we'll read verse 30. The
Acts of the Apostles, chapter 17, and reading verse 30. And the times of this ignorance
God winked at. But now commandeth all men everywhere
to repent. Lord God gave the Apostle this
great privilege to preach the Gospel and he gives us the reason
why this command is given. The command is, But now commandeth
all men everywhere to repent. And the next verse tells us,
Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the
world in righteousness. by that man whom he hath ordained,
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath
raised him from the dead. This was the first occasion that
the Apostle had been in Athens. He'd been traveling around, as
we read in the 17th chapter, but now he was found in Athens. And it's a wonderful thing that
the Lord God directed him there. And we're told that Paul was
waiting for his colleagues at Athens. And at that time, his
spirit was stirred in him because he saw the city wholly given
to idolatry. Well, that's not a dissimilar
position, is it, to that which we have today in our nation? We're very different from Athens
because we've had the gospel. and it would appear prior to
that they didn't really know what the gospel was. So there
was the apostle then in Athens and we're told what he did. We're
told, therefore disputed he in the synagogues with the Jews
and with devout persons and in the market daily with them that
met with him. This was the occupation of the
Apostle Paul to these people who were ignorant of the truth
of God, his great cern was to inform them. of the truth of
God. And he was concerned, obviously,
about their souls' eternal salvation. Well, that need has not disappeared. That need hasn't been dissipated.
It still is great today. And although we live in a nation
where we've been wonderfully blessed with the gospel, for
the most part today, men and women turn their back upon the
great truth of God. and prefer to follow their own
inclinations and not worship, and if they do, to be found worshipping
what the Athenians were doing, worshipping the unknown God.
Well, it's a great blessing if we have the evidence of the Holy
Spirit in our hearts, in our midst, and take note of what
we read earlier in this chapter about the church at Berea, because
we're told what they did. And we're told that the brethren
sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea, who coming thither
went into the synagogue of the Jews. And we're told these were
more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word
with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily
whether those things were so. It's probably a reasonably familiar
verse to many of us, but it's a wonderful testimony of God's
grace and favour to these Bereans. And it's a wonderful example
for us today because we're told, first of all, these brains, they
received the Word. They didn't reject it. They didn't
say, oh, I don't agree with that. I'm just going to forget about
it. No, they received the Word. And how good it is when you and
I are given grace to receive God's Word. And we're told they
received it with all readiness of mind. It would appear they
weren't looking for a reason to dispute it. They weren't looking
for a reason to cast it away. They were here requiring they
might benefit from the Word of God. And therefore they heard
that which the Apostle spoke, and then we're told they searched
the Scriptures daily whether those things were so. It's good,
isn't it, to have a religion like that. which doesn't just
come to chapel and hear a sermon, go home and forget all about
it until the next time you arrive at chapel to hear another sermon.
These people, they desired to search the scriptures. And of
course, remember, in those days, the scriptures weren't like we
had them. They did have the Old Testament. They didn't have the
New Testament. So they were able to search the
Old Testament. see whether those things which
the apostle preached were indeed true. And it's wonderful therefore
to have this example. And then we're told, therefore
many of them believed. What a wonderful blessing. What
a wonderful blessing to have heard the word preached, have
gone home and searched the scriptures whether they were true and through
that been given grace to believe. Well it's a great blessing for
you and me today. You know you and I are wonderfully
privileged to be able to hear the gospel preached and often
people don't realize the privilege it is when we think of the billions
of people who never hear the gospel and yet ours is a great
privilege and we don't don't assess it as such and yet it
is and when we think we hear the words of eternal life we
hear the words of the gospel what a great and wonderful favour
it is and what a blessing therefore if God graciously applies the
word to our souls so that we do benefit from it. You know,
we don't want to come to chapel and hear the gospel and read
the scriptures and go home as though nothing's happened. We
want to come and hear for eternity. Never forget that. You and I
want to come and hear for eternity. Because our life, as I often
remind you, is exceptionally short and exceptionally small. Eternity is... Well, I was going
to say long. That's probably a total underestimate.
Because eternity is forever. And we need to appreciate that.
And therefore what a good thing it is if you and I come and listen
for eternity. Eternity. Well, the Apostle had
preached at Berea and now he'd come and was found in Athens
and there he was going in and out the marketplace every day
as opportunity presented himself. He didn't waste his time. He
went there, and what a wonderful blessing it was. We're told about
it. He went in, and we're told certain
philosophers, etc., and they said, what will this babbler
say of us some? He seemeth to be set forth of
strange gods, because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. No different, really, to today,
is it? People go down the same path,
don't they? And they say, oh, that preacher, he's no good.
We're not going to listen to what he says. And therefore, they
just forget about it. But you see, what a mercy it
was then when the Spirit of God came and helped Paul. And we're
told he stood in the midst of Mars Hill. And Mars Hill isn't
a very big hill. I've been privileged to stand
on it myself. It's not a very big hill. And the people could
gather round. And the people gathered round
and he, what did he do? He preached faithfully. He preached
faithfully. And it would appear he starts
off in this way and says, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that
in all things ye are too superstitious. That means they were too doubtful
to believe the truth that was being spoken to them. And how
many people today are just like that? Just too superstitious. Well, I hope we're not superstitious. I hope the Lord gives us grace
to believe the great truth of God. And even if sometimes things
appear difficult and hard to understand, nevertheless to recognize
they are true. The Bible is true. We're not
to cast it aside. We're not to forget about it.
We're not to think it's something which is irrelevant. It's a wonderful
privilege, but my friends, let us be very clear. You and I,
when we stand on that judgment seat, before that judgment seat,
will be without excuse. We won't be to make any excuses.
No. And if we've never received the
word of God, we are guilty. We are guilty. And the result
will be that we will be cast into hell forever and ever. It's a terrible thought. It's
a terrible truth that that place of hell is a place of outer darkness. Yes, where there is gnashing
of teeth. People won't be able to see each
other. They're just in outer darkness, complete pitch black. And where we're told their worm
dieth not. Oh, my friends, it's a tragic
scene, isn't it? And that is forever. That is
forever. Well, what a privilege then,
like these Athenians. They were privileged to hear
the word of God. And you and I, my friends, today
are wonderfully privileged to hear the word of God. And the
apostle is very faithful. He directs them. And it's good
to direct people in this way. God that made the world and all
things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth. That's the great God. that you
and I worship, that's the great God before whom we will stand
on that judgment day. That's the great God who will
judge us as to whether we did believe, whether we turned our
back upon the things of God and thought we were able to, well,
we didn't like that and we weren't going to believe that and we
weren't going to follow that. to realize that you and I are
just puny, puny little things on this vast earth, this vast
universe. And there is a great almighty
God who sits in control of everything. And so the apostle goes on and
tells us, he says, Neither is worship with man's hands as though
he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life and breath
and all things that God's given you and me. life he's given you
and me our breath he's given us strength to be here today
to worship it's a wonderful blessing isn't it many people in the world
do not enjoy this many people would love to have this privilege
well what a mercy it is and then he says and it's made of one
blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the earth or
the face of the earth and have determined times before appointed
and the bounds of their habitation. That means God has determined
where you and I will live. He's determined where you and
I will go, where we go on holiday, what we'll do, what we'll say,
when we walk down the road, when we go to the shops. It's all
determined by Almighty God and the bounds of their habitations
that they should Seek the Lord, if happy they might feel after
him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. My friends, it's a great, wonderful
blessing if you and I are given grace, and that means the free
unmerited favour of God, to seek the Lord, to seek the Lord and
his face. to seek the evidence that you
and I are one of his children, to seek that we have the evidence
that we are loved, we're in everlasting love. And my friends, sometimes
it may need digging deep into our heart, but you need to do
that. to see whether there are those
evidences. And if you can't find anything,
you need to pray earnestly that the Lord will look upon you and
remember you with that favour that He bears unto His people. As the Apostle said, for in Him
we live and move and have our being. We're not alive outside
of Christ. We're dead. We're dead. What
a blessing it is if we are amongst those who live spiritually because
we possess that new nature, that new man, have been blessed with
that new birth. And my friends, these things
are not irrelevant. These things are so very, very
important. And so he says, for as much then
as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the
Godhead is like a gold or silver and stone engraving by art and
man's image. How many people today in the
world think of that? How many people worship a false
God? How many do and will be lost
at last? What a wonderful, wonderful favour
for you and me today to realise we worship the great and the
almighty God. that one who lives forevermore.
And that brings us in to this 30th verse where we read, And
the times of this ignorance God winked at. He passed over, but
now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. That's a very important
and a very relevant statement. and everyone is called upon to
repent. And we all need God's grace to
give us that spirit of repentance. And perhaps you may be honest
enough to say, well, I don't think I've ever repented. Well,
that's an admission, but it's good to be honest. And if you
are like that, then to earnestly pray that God will give you His
grace to repent. That means to be truly sorry
for your sins and not to ignore it and not to turn away from
it. When we turn to the the epistle
of Paul to the Hebrews and he gives us some very solemn words
in the third chapter of the Hebrews he says verse 7 wherefore as
the Holy Ghost saith that means as God saith today not tomorrow
if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts as in the provocation,
in the day of temptation, in the wilderness, when your fathers
tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years, whereof
I was grieved with that generation, and said they do always err in
their heart, and they have not known my ways. So I swear in
my wrath they shall not enter into my rest. It's a very striking
statement, isn't it? It's very lucid, it's very clear.
So then the Apostle goes on to say, take heed brethren, lest
there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing
from the living God. By nature, we are unbelieving. We need God to enable us to repent
and to believe the great and glorious truth of the Gospel. Yes, and you see, the Apostle
was very aware under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God what
man was like. And then he encourages the church. This is what he encourages us
with. But exhort one another daily while it is called today. What a good thing that is, isn't
it? To exhort one another. We're not very good at that,
you know. But it's good if we hear God's Word and we do encourage
one another in the things of God. Encourage one another. to
seek earnestly and that we may have the evidence of that life
of God in our souls and truly be able to praise Him for that
which He has done for us. Well, we come back to this word
and the times of this ignorance God winked at. That means He
passed over. He passed by. It's history, isn't
it? In your life and my life. If
we've been carrying on ignorant of things of God and just pleasing
ourselves, not wanting to commit ourselves to the things of God.
And it's history. We can't recover those days.
They're past. But what a wonderful thing it
is. The Apostle says, but now, but now. Yes, that's past. That's past. You can't bring
it back. We wasted many hours, we wasted many days, we wasted
many years. But now, says God, but now, there's
the apostle preaching here to the Athenians, but now, he says,
but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. All men everywhere
to repent. What a great blessing it is.
As that was preached to the Athenians for the most part, they ignored
it. Today, for the most part, we ignore it. But what a blessing
it is if the Spirit of God comes into our hearts and produces
that wonderful desire to truly come and bow down before God. And the Lord tells us, this is
encouraging in Peter's second epistle, Peter knew the mercy,
he knew the compassion of God, he knew that the Lord had looked
upon him, you may remember poor old Peter denied his Lord on
three occasions and that was after he'd been warned by the
Saviour that he would do that he thought he would never be
weak enough to deny his Saviour and therefore he said he wouldn't
but he did but he knew the Lord's compassion because we're told
in one of the accounts, that having denied his Lord the third
time, the Lord looked upon Peter. And what a look that was. What
an effect that had upon Peter. He realised what he'd done. What a mercy if God looks upon
us. Looks upon us. As it were, we're brought to
our senses. And we realised we'd been walking
in an opposite direction, contrary to God. Perhaps we've been pretending
we're a Christian when we're not. We've been walking contrary
to God. Well, Peter was able to write
his epistle and therefore he tells us this in the second epistle
in the third chapter, verse nine. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering
to usward." That's a wonderful word, isn't it? Longsuffering to usward. I hope this morning, perhaps,
you and I can realise that God has been longsuffering toward
us He hasn't cut us off, but is long-suffering to us, Lord,
not willing that any should perish or should come to repentance. Well, what a mercy if you and
I know the long-suffering mercy of God. And really that long-suffering
mercy of God is because of His love toward us. Yes, is looked
upon us like we read in the Leviticus
and saw us in our blood and said live, live spiritual life given
that grace given that submission given that willingness to humble
ourselves before God and come and bow down before Him and truly
come with repentance and sorrow for our sin. All of us today
need to look into our hearts to see whether that has occurred
through the mercy of God, not because there was any good in
us, not because we were better than anybody else, but because
of God's grace and His wonderful elect in love. He saw us ruined
in the fall, yet loved us, notwithstanding all. Oh, my friends, what a blessing. What a mercy. You know, when
the Lord Jesus started his life, his spiritual life on this earth,
and when he was revealed, after being baptised, he preached,
and The first things we read was this. He called upon the
people to repent. Significant, isn't it? The first
things that Almighty God Himself preached to repent. And it is so vital. And as I've
said, if we haven't experienced it, if we haven't had any concern
about it, let us realize how we need it. Because without repentance,
there's no safety. Without repentance, there's no
heaven at last. We all need to be blessed with
that. Well, what a mercy it is then,
if God gives us that grace to truly desire that we may come
and be found in that condition. and be found in that situation.
The Lord may indeed make us willing in the day of his power. Willing
in the day of his power. When the Apostle Paul wrote to
the Corinthians, there's many instructive words in that. And in the fifth chapter of the
second epistle, he writes this. In the 10th verse, for we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone,
no exceptions, no exceptions, there's no escape route, none
of us can escape. We must all appear, you and me,
before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the
things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad. Yes, everything is known to God. Everything is recorded. And I
think that day hastens on in your life and my life when we
must stand before that judgment seat of Christ. Well, says the
apostle, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. And that means what it says,
isn't it? It's a command from God. You know what commandments
are. We have the 10 commandments.
And we're not to pass those by. And I expect we understand what
they mean and what they say. Well, here we have another command. A command from God. And again,
let me repeat, you may say, well, I don't seem to be able to come
and repent of my sins. Well, you can ask God that he
will help you to do it. Help you to do it. And you may
not be very willing to do it. In actual fact, you may not want
to find out where you offended God and where you turned away
from God. but it's good to therefore become
willing. Yes, willing before God. My friends,
it's between you and God, between me and God. It's a personal relationship. It's a personal relationship.
You and I must have a personal religion. You can't go to heaven
on your parent's religion. You can't go to heaven on your
friend's religion. as you stand before God and I
stand before God, and you and I have the evidence that we do
possess the gift of eternal life, to have that wonderful realization
that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, and as
Paul said, of whom I am chief. You won't throw stones at other
people. You won't look around and think, well, that person's
worse than I am. you'll realize when you come you'll have to
come like Nathan said to David thou art the man you won't be
able to throw stones what a blessing to receive like David did that
forgiveness of all his sins against thee thee only have I sinned
for a holy God and to realise the great blessing that gift
of repentance you see those things you may think oh that's all theoretical
no it's not it's all that which the Holy Spirit brings into our
heart it's the work of the Holy Spirit don't forget we have the
Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit works to
reveal to us the Son, the second person in the Trinity, and have
revealed that the Son is the only Saviour of mankind. There is no other name given
under heaven and upon earth whereby we must Don't pass over that
little word. Must. Must. You and I must be
saved. You and I must repent. Oh what a blessing it is if God
graciously shows us and produces in our heart that real concern. And that concern is a blessing
if it comes to this in our hearts. So we ask the question. Where
should I spend eternity? Have you asked that question?
Where should I spend eternity? It comes home to you and to me. And my friends, you and I must
spend eternity somewhere. Because we are born with an eternal
soul. a soul that never dies don't
let the devil say it's not true it is true you and I have a never-dying
soul we were here this morning with little
Samuel he has a never-dying soul like the oldest person with us
today have a never-dying soul all of us have a never-dying
soul and what a blessing it is if therefore we have the evidence
that God has given us grace to repent. Oh, my friends, this
morning, let's go home with this thought. Do I come within that
statement that I have repented and that God has been merciful
to me and he has shown me himself as his great and glorious Saviour,
the one who's died to take away all my sins. And we can come
then and stand on that good ground, that rock Christ Jesus, and believe
we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. That's what
the Apostle Peter said. We've already referred to him.
Yes, my friends, it's a blessing to come there. That's a place
of rejoicing. It's a place of thankfulness.
It's a time to glorify God. for his great and wonderful grace
which has sought us out. Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God. What a mercy. If we can look back in our lives
to a time when we were sought out, and if not, may it be even
today that the Lord sought us out. brought us to that place,
and we fall down with that desire to worship God. In the times
of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men
everywhere to repent. Amen.