Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Acts chapter 17. The name of the message is Paul
in Athens. Paul in Athens. We'll go back to our study in
the book of Acts after last week looking at the resurrection of
our wonderful, merciful Savior. He's risen, isn't he? He's risen
indeed. Amen. Oh my. Praise his mighty name. Praise
his mighty name. He was raised for our justification,
wasn't he? It's glorious. Glorious. Let's stand up together. We're
going to read our text today, which will be verses 15 to 21
of Acts chapter 17. So let's stand up and read this
together. And they that conducted Paul
bought him into Athens, and receiving a commandment unto Silas and
Timotheus, for to come to him with all speed, they departed.
Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred
in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore
disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout
persons in the marketplace, and with them that met with him.
Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and the Stoics
encountered him, and some And some said, I'm sorry, and some
said, what will this babbler say? Others some, he seemed to
be a setter forth of strange gods, because he preached unto
them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought
him to the Areopagus, saying, may we know what this new doctrine
whereof thou speakest. For thou bringest certain strange
things to our ears. We would know, therefore, what
these things mean. For all the Athenians and strangers
which were there spent their time in nothing else but either
to tell or to hear something new. Oh my, isn't that wonderful? This will be our text for today.
And I want you to take note, I want to take note in verse
18, he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods, okay? There's a reason why it seems
strange to them. There's a reason. And then look
at verse 20, for thou bringest certain strange things to our
ears. And note, Note what he preached
to them in verse 18, because he preached unto them, Jesus,
the only Savior of sinners, right? God in the flesh dying for sinners,
and then rising again, and now seated at the right hand of the
Father. Who did all the work? Christ did it all, didn't he? And we as believers, we just
believe, right? My oh my. The brethren we see in verse
15 were concerned with Paul's safety. They were new converts. They were born again, blood-washed
saints at Berea. And they took Paul and they went
towards the sea to make it appear, remember the Jews from Thessalonica,
the unbelieving Jews from Thessalonica had come, and they started, they
had heard, oh, he's preaching over in Berea now. They came
all that way, I think it was 50 miles we looked at last time,
50 miles just to cause trouble, just to cause trouble, just to
cause, to get in there and say, you don't listen to what this
guy's saying. They hated the gospel, didn't they? God, that's
all of us by nature, isn't it? Yeah. Oh, my. And so they go there, and next
thing you know, the Berean brethren, they take them, and they look
like they're heading towards the sea, and then they go by
land towards Athens. Just so that those Thessalonican
Jews, if they follow them, they're going to think, oh, he took a
ship. Now, I believe the walk, I didn't write it down again,
but I think it was over 200 miles. It would have taken two weeks
for them to walk from Berea to Athens. Two and a half weeks,
about two and a half weeks. Could you imagine the fellowship
they had? They'd be talking about Christ
the whole way there, wouldn't they? They'd be filled with joy. They have Paul talking to them
and telling them about the Scriptures, opening the Old Testament Scriptures,
saying, there's Christ. There he is, just like we have
now. We have that when we look into
the Word. It's wonderful. It's wonderful,
isn't it? Oh my. And so we see, the trip
would take about two and a half weeks. They walk with Paul. They
took him all the way there. What love they have for him.
These are new converts. And they just love Paul. They
want to be with him. I couldn't imagine how full of
joy they would have been heading home and talking. They'd have
talked the whole way home about what Paul and them talked about.
Let's read verse 15 again. And they that conducted Paul
brought him unto Athens, and receiving a commandment, unto
Silas and Timothy, to continue to him with all speed they departed."
So Paul sent them with a message. Go and tell Silas and Timothy,
come quickly, as quickly as you can. Come as quickly as you can. He desired them to be with him. My oh my. And we see, Now, in verse 16. Let's read verses 16 and 17.
Here we go. Paul is now in Athens. Look at
this. Now, while Paul waited for them
at Athens, and Athens is a huge city. It's one of the greatest
cities of the Greek culture. One of the greatest cities. Remember,
the Greeks had city-states. So each city was an independent.
They were a confederation. But there was a time when they
even warred against us. Sparta and Athens used to fight all
the time. My, oh, my. In other cities, too. So it's
like a city-state. It's huge. It's a huge city. You can even see ruins of it
still, if you look online. It says here, now while Paul
waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when,
look at this, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Now I've never been in Rome,
I've never been in Italy, in Rome, but I remember Spurgeon
writing this. He said it made him almost sick
when he went to Rome. Beautiful place, he said, but
there's idols everywhere. Statues of Mary everywhere. He
said, every crook, every nook has an idol, has a statue. That's what Athens was like.
Every crook, every nook had an idol. Do you know, I found out
in studying for this, that in Athens, there was over 30,000
different gods worshipped. 30,000 different gods. My oh my. And we see here, the
Holy Spirit has Paul penned us. The whole city is given over
to idol worship. But you know what, beloved? God's
got some lost sheep in there. Would Paul be there if there
wasn't lost sheep? Oh my. There's some lost sheep there.
God's, according to God's eternal plan and purpose, Paul has been
sent to Athens. And let us remember this, too.
I'd like this to bring forth something for us to consider
and remember. That there's absolutely nothing
new under the sun, right? Solomon writes that, tells us
there's nothing new under the sun. Nothing's changed. Man hasn't
changed. Right? They may have changed
the name of the gods, Like from one god to Buddha. Or from another, from Athena
to Mary. Or from this to that. Man doesn't change. And think of this. These are
gods of a man's imagination, right? These are gods of man's
imagination. How do we know that? Because
they're transactional. Remember we looked at that in
Sunday school? They're transactional. You do this, and they supposedly
do that for you. You do this, You offer them this,
and they offer, they'll give you this. I remember, I'm reading
books on Roman legions still, and there's this one part, Caesar's
going to attack a group of people, and he says, okay, let's offer
up a sacrifice, right, to hopefully gain favor with Mercury, who's
the god of war. And their hocus pocus guy looks
at the enthrals and goes, oh, I think it's favorable. So off
they went. But they would do that all the
time. They would offer sacrifices to
the various gods in order to gain favor with them. It's all
transactional. Think of our lives. Everything
in our life is transactional. Right? You go to work, you get
paid, right, Tom? Transaction. We go to the store,
we buy food, transactional. So is it any wonder then that
the gods of man's imagination, all of them, are transactional? Isn't that amazing? I learned
that this week. I was like, oh my gosh, I want to share it with
you all. Transactional. Right? So all these gods, they
have to give them something. They have to offer them something.
in order to receive a supposed blessing. But you know what?
Christianity is the only thing that is not transactional. You know how we know that? Who
did it all? Christ. We have not, Tom, remember you
said that when I preach the gospel, I preach that we don't bring
nothing except our sin, right? But there's nothing we offer
to God. See, they would offer things
to their gods. We got nothing to offer God. For our salvation, do we? And
then afterward, we're ordained to good works, that he works
in us, and we don't even know when we're doing them. Isn't that amazing? So, now,
remember how I pointed out the strange things? This is totally
foreign to their concept of what gods would do. Because gods are
angry. Gods are figments of man's imagination.
You gotta make them happy. Christ repeats God's wrath for
us. He did it all, beloved, by the
shedding of His blood. We're just receivers. We receive
the mercy and grace. By faith, we look to Him, right?
We believe, and that's God-given faith. Oh, Lord, I believe! Well,
you're born again then. Right? You're born again before
you even believe, because you gotta be born again. Right? And then we get in faith,
and it happens just like that, beloved. We're not born again
because we have faith. No, that's so foreign to scripture,
it's not funny. We believe because we're born
again. And it's all a work of God. This is totally foreign to them.
This is totally foreign to the Gentile mind. You mean I don't
have to do anything of myself to make God happy? We can't. But Christ has. Isn't it wonderful? Oh, my. So this is why it's so
strange for them. And you know what else is transactional? Sister Barb and Jim, you guys
know this. You came out of this stuff. Religion. I remember this. I didn't tithe enough. Back then, I didn't know it was
called giving. I didn't tithe enough. That's why my car broke
down. I used to think that way. It's
such a foreign way to think. Vicki and I went to a pizza place
one time when we were in religion with friends of hers who weren't
saved. And we didn't pray for our meal. We got food poisoning.
You know what we said? Oh, man, we got food poisoning
because we didn't pray. What? Isn't that foreign to scripture? Now, do we pray for our food?
Yes, of course. We love giving thanks to God,
right? But God's not up there with a
paddle waiting for when we mess up, because you know what? We
mess up all the time, don't we? So this is totally foreign to
the Gentile mind. We've got to get ourselves in
the mind of the Gentiles. This is totally foreign to them.
And you know what else is transactional? Oh, those guys on TV that say,
look at this, just give me your money and God will bless you. What's that? That's transactional,
isn't it? And you know why that's so popular, beloved? Because
we are that way by nature. be amazed. God saved us by himself,
because it pleased him to do so. So they're hearing about,
they're hearing about this Jesus, he died, and, and he redeemed
his people, and then he rose again, and now he's seated at
the right hand of the Father, and all you gotta do is believe
on him? Yep. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shall be saved. Hallelujah. Isn't that wonderful? Absolutely wonderful. So the
pagan gods of man's imagination were transactional. You had to
do something to please them or to gain their favor, even though
they're just figments of man's imagination. So this whole city is given over
to that kind of worship. The whole city. And Paul is grieved. He's grieved. And remember, there's
nothing new under the sun, right? This stuff is still going on
today. I remember I was watching a movie
one time, and it was an Indian family, an East Indian family.
And they had a picture of some guy. I don't even know who it
was, some guy. and they were stapling money to the pitcher. Same thing. There's nothing new
under the sun, beloved. Well, I'll put that there and
surely I'll get a blessing. We love Thai food. We go into
Thai food restaurants and there's a giant gold big guy there, right? And there's money all around
there. And each time I go in and I say to Vicky, I said, well,
that money ain't moved, is it? He didn't even eat that food.
They must have put new food out. But see, it's all transactional,
beloved. And this is the whole city's given over to this. The
whole city is taken away by this. And that's why it's so popular. And there's nothing new under
the sun. It's still going on today. It's still going on today. My, oh, my. Workspace religion
is transactional. You know, all this. So there's
no difference. There's nothing new under the
sun. It appeals to man. It appeals to man's flesh. And think how, again, radical,
how radical the preaching of the gospel is. God himself became a man. Think how radical that was to
them. Their gods didn't even interact with them except for
unless they offered them stuff, and you see? See how foreign
it was? See how strange it would be to
them to hear about God himself becoming a man to save his servants? To save sinners? It would be so radical. My oh my. to the Gentile world. God became a man, and at no cost
to his people, redeemed our eternal souls. What a Savior, beloved. What
a Savior is Jesus Christ our Lord. So here is Paul preaching
the one true God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who obtained eternal
redemption for his people, and all one had to do was believe
on him. What? I don't have to offer anything? Nope. Remember the Philippian
jailer? See how ingrained it is in us?
What must I do to be saved? It's ingrained in us, beloved.
And Paul gives them the most beautiful words, and Silas, both
of them. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shall be saved. That's it. This is radical for
the Gentiles. Oh, my. And if you really want
to get a look at it, read the first chapter of Ephesians. It's
so full of it. All just God choosing us in Christ,
right? Christ becoming a man, redeeming
us. It's all Him. And then chapter
2 says, when we were dead and trespassed, that was us. Christ
did all that for us, according to the will and purpose of God.
Isn't it spectacular? It's absolutely amazing, beloved.
My oh my. Now, as far as false worship
again in the city of Athens, it far exceeded the other cities
in worship of false gods. Do you know they had an altar
for mercy? Just an altar for mercy if you want. An altar for
shame. They had an altar for fame. They
had another one for desire. And they expressed more religion
to false gods than any others did. And Paul is sent into this city
by the eternal purpose of God. What's he going to do when he
gets there? Amen. He's going to preach Christ,
isn't he? I love it. I love it, beloved. Oh, my. You know, they also they had
an altar dedicated to 12 gods. And because they would not be
sure of all, they erected one to an unknown god, which we'll
see next week. Paul uses that to preach Christ. Uses that to preach Christ. One
of the countrymen of Athens joked to another one of his fellow
city dwellers. He said, our country is so full
of deities that one may easily find a god more than a man. Yet
with all their learning, they knew not the wisdom of God, did
they? And we saw in the last verse that we looked at, they
were ever learning. They always wanted to find something new.
Tell me something new. Tell me something new. You know if it's
new, it's not true. You ever think of that? Oh my. And do you know the gospel
that we believe is not a new gospel? It's called the everlasting
gospel. Do you know it was all put together
and planned and purposed before the foundation of the world?
Because it's the one true gospel of God's grace and mercy showing
to sinners in Christ. Marvel that we know him. Marvel
that he revealed himself to us. And give God all the glory and
honor and praise. My, oh my. So, Paul's alone in
this city. Again, it's the cultural and
the educational and the philosophical center of the Gentile world.
It is the most featured city of the Gentile world. Everything
flows out of Athens. I believe that's where democracy
started, too, I believe. If I'm not wrong, I'll have to
look that up. But it was a free city. And walking through, can you
imagine Paul walking through the streets? He's walking through the streets
of Athens. Just picture this. And his spirit is stirred with
both anger and compassion. Anger about all the false idols,
but compassion for the people. Because what does the scripture
say? He beheld the city wholly given over to adultery. He would have been bursting at
the seams to preach Christ, beloved. And we say, we're going to see
he was. And where's the first place he goes? To the Jewish
synagogue. Paul got a habit of that, doesn't
he? And the New Testament's not written. They're reading the
Old Testament scriptures, and he's saying Christ is the Messiah. Christ is a long-awaited Messiah. And again, in the city of Athens,
every street, in every corner, wherever nook was found, there
was a statue of some pagan god. Everywhere. Everywhere. Again, someone estimated that
there were more than 30,000 false gods in Athens alone. Over 30,000 false gods. All, now think of this, all gods
of man's imagination. All transactional because they
come from man's imagination. And the one God, true God, who
we don't know, who must reveal himself to us, is non-transactional. Oh my! Isn't that amazing? Jesus paid it all. All of it. Praise his mighty
name. My, let's read verses 16 and
17 now. Now, while Paul waited for them
at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly
given to idolatry. So what's he do? He goes to the
synagogue. Therefore, disputed he in the synagogue with the
Jews and with the devout persons. And look at this, he's not only
at the synagogue, he goes to the market daily too. Look at
that. With them that met with him.
Oh, there's a group meeting with him. Oh, there's some sheep. We're going to see there's definitely
some sheep in here. My, oh, my. How do we know? Look at the last verse of this
chapter. Howbeit certain men clave unto
him and believed. Among them was Dionysus of the
R.E. op a gate, and a woman named
Damaris, and others with them." God's got some sheep in Athens,
lost sheep. And they must hear the gospel,
right? It's their time of love. They don't have any idea they're
worshiping these false gods. And God sends Paul at the exact
time in to the city. And where does he go? Right to
the synagogue. And now he's meeting with some
people in the market, too. Paul was an evangelist at heart,
wasn't he? He was a preacher, but he was an evangelist at heart.
Oh, my. This is wonderful. While Paul
waited for Timothy, his spirit was stirred in him. When he saw
again the city wholly given over to idolatry, His heart was grieved. And there's a burning desire
in his innermost being, beloved. He's got compassion for these
people, for the people of Athens. And he desires to bring before
them the one true living God. Because what's he sent to do? He's sent to preach Christ, isn't
he? And how is he going to present
to them the one true living God by the preaching of the gospel
of the grace of God in Christ. And it was so strange for them
to hear about a God, we know the true God, who became a man
and died for his people at no cost to them. Oh my. But it's the most glorious
news, isn't it? For we who are the redeemed of
the Lord. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. It makes a heart
leap for joy. Christ redeemed us by the shedding
of His blood, all by His perfect sin atoning work. This is marvelous. So this is what Paul is going
to preach. He's going to preach Christ.
He's going to present Christ to them. He's going to put Christ before them.
The one true living God in a city given wholly over to idolatry. And he had to unload the burden
of his heart, beloved. I was talking to Donnie this
week, and we were talking about when we, before we preach, we're
just ready to pop. We have this burden upon us to
proclaim Christ because we love him and he saved our souls. So he had a burden that he needed
to unload. And again, as his manner was,
he went in and disputed with the Jews. and some devote Gentile
proselytes in the synagogue. And he continued to preach Christ,
beloved. He continued to preach Christ
in the marketplace daily with them that met him. That's amazing.
Now he's got some folks meeting with him in the marketplace.
Remember, he was a tent maker, right? So he'd be doing his craft there,
selling tents, making tents and selling them. So he gained an
interest in some of the minds of some who started meeting with
him every day at the marketplace. Now let's read verse 18. Then
certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered
him. Oh, who are these folks? And some said, what will this
babbler say? And others some, he seemeth to
be set aforth of strange gods. Yeah, no wonder it was strange
to them. The God he preached wasn't transactional. It wasn't, do this and God will
bless you. It was, Christ done it all and he's God in the flesh. And he, God in the flesh, gave
his life. That would be so foreign for
them to hear about a God, the God, who gave his life That would
be unthinkable in the gods of man's imagination. Look at this. He seemeth to be
set forth of strange gods. Why? Well, here it is. Because
he preached unto them Jesus in the resurrection. He preached
Christ dying for sinners, and he preached Christ rose from
the grave. He's risen for our justification. Because if he
hadn't risen from the grave, we're not justified. But praise
God, God's fully satisfied, isn't he? God the Father is fully satisfied
with the sacrifice of God the Son for the sins of his people.
Oh my, and we're just receivers of mercy and grace, beloved.
This is wonderful. But to those Gentiles, we had
never heard anything like this. How was it when we first heard? It was foreign to me. Oh, no,
I don't want to do with that. Born-again people, what are you
talking about? What's that about? They're just Bible thumpers. My family used to make fun of
the guy who gave me my first Bible. And I made fun with him,
and I didn't even know him. Then later on, I worked with
him and my brother, and he'd come up to me, and he gave me
my first Bible. And he says, I'm praying for
you, Wayne. My. And you know what? He turned
out to be, I found out he's one of the dearest guys I've ever
met. My, oh my. So what's happening here? God's
eternal purpose is unfolding right before our eyes. This is
incredible. Once again, there's some lost
sheep in Athens who must hear the gospel. So God, in his wise,
overruling providence, tribulation comes, right? Trial comes. Paul's sent out of the city.
See, why did those Jews come there? Well, they're just being
used by God to move Paul along. Isn't that amazing? For what? The furtherance of the gospel.
My, oh, my. That city that's wholly given
over to idolatry, Paul must preach there, and he must preach Christ.
Oh, my. It's wonderful. Now, we may ask,
who are the Epicureans of the Stoics? These folks did not believe
they were philosophers, religious group. They did not believe that
the world was made by any deity or with any design. with any
design. Now listen to this. Tell me if
this doesn't sound familiar. But that it came into being and
formed through atoms of various sizes and magnitude which met
and jumbled and cemented together and so formed the world. That sounds like a theory I've
heard about. Doesn't it sound like a theory you guys have heard
about called evolution? The Big Bang thing or whatever?
I like what, I think it was Scott said, I don't know if it was
Scott or Henry said, oh there's a big bang, God said, let there
be light, boom, there was light. Oh my. But doesn't that, see,
again, like I told you earlier, there's nothing new under the
sun, is there? It's just rewrapped and repackaged. And it's man's
way of trying to explain away God. Because they do not want
to think about God. I was there, my oh my. They also didn't believe that
the world was governed by any God. Even though they did believe
in many gods, again, sounds familiar, doesn't it? Sounds familiar. We still have those ungodly philosophers
with us today who believe in the Big Bang Theory and they
deny that God is the one who governs the world. They say,
oh, it's just floating around and doing its thing. There's a designer. There's a
creator. An intelligent design is all
around us, beloved. All around us. Just look at those
beautiful flowers. We love the plant. Look at how
they're all different colors. Look how they're spun. They don't
toil or spin. Oh my, look at the birds that
we love to watch. They're all different. The Blue
Jay is different than the Cardinal, but they're all made and formed
in a beautiful way. I like chickadees. Those little
guys, they make me heart sink. You know? I especially like it
when a big old blue jay is trying to get them away and they're
like, I'm eating, leave me alone. Right? I love those little birds. But
they're all unique, aren't they? And then you see the finches. All intelligent design created. Look at our own bodies, beloved.
How intricate they say the eyeball alone is. Oh my. You know, if you have any questions
about how the body functions, ask Sister Barb and Sister Kathy.
Isn't it amazing how we're made? And how we function? And if one
little thing is off, it can throw the whole body in kilter. It's
all intelligently designed. It's amazing. Amazing. And then there was the Stoics.
Well, they did believe there was only one God who created
the world, but they believed the world was governed by fate.
And of course, the one God they believed in wasn't the one true
God of the universe. But they just believed, oh, don't
we hear people say that all the time? Even now, nothing new under
the sun, is there? Oh, my. And they also believed
that a man determines his own happiness. Oh, that sounds like
the power of positive thinking, doesn't it? Nothing new under the sun, beloved.
Nothing new under the sun. Oh, my. There's a lady called
Mary Baker Eddy. She was the founder of Christian
Science, and they believed that. They believed that you could
make yourself, you could heal yourself and all of this. Well,
she died. Guess it didn't work for her.
Right? Because it's appointed on a man
who wants to die, and after this, the judgment. You know where
true joy comes from? The Holy Spirit of God. That's
where true joy comes from. Worshiping the King, King Jesus,
the only Savior of sinners. So once again, there's nothing
new under the sun. So these Epicureans and Stoics,
they didn't know what to think about Paul. They didn't know
what to think about the gospel he preached. They said, who are
these strange gods they're talking about? Oh my. Now again, let us think
how strange it is for them to hear about a God who gave himself
for those he saved. Pagan gods would never do that.
Never. They were tyrants. They were
tyrants, beloved. They were gods of man's imagination
who demanded something in exchange for their supposed blessings. God asked nothing in exchange
for saving our souls. And even the faith that we exercise,
believing on him, is a gift from God. My beloved, this is wondrous. This is wondrous. So Paul comes
and preaches, there's only one God. And it's God himself who
saved his people from their sins. By the shedding of his blood,
God became a man. God became a man. He shed his
blood to redeem his people. And then he rose again three
days later. He rose from the grave. He rose
for the justification of his people. And where is he right
now? Think of this. He's saying, right
now, he's seated in the right hand of glory, right now. Oh, he's gone. He's gone home. He's gone home, beloved. My,
oh, my. And think of this. Christ offered
himself up for the sacrifice of our sins. God sent him to
do that. God the Father and God the Holy
Spirit and God the Son were in agreement that God the Son would
become a man, and his name is Jesus Christ, and that he would
save his people from their sins. My, oh, my. And it cost us nothing. But our
sins had to be paid for, didn't it? And it took the precious, precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ to save us from our sins. It
cost us nothing, but it cost Him. And He did it willingly,
didn't He, Brother Tom? He willingly did that. The Scripture
says the joy that was set before Him, going to the cross, He's
redeeming His bride. He's saving his bride from all
their sins. And so, this gospel, even today,
is so foreign to man, too. That's why it's so foreign to
man, even today. Oh my. We say, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. And they say, but what
must I do? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Oh my, but don't I have to do
something? No works of yours and no works
of mine could ever save our souls. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shall be saved. He's the only savior of sinners. Now let's read verse 19. So they're
going, well, this is strange stuff. We never heard anything
like this. So we're going to take you to the Areopagus. The Areopagus. I had to listen to it phonetically
just to pronounce this word. Look at this in verse 19. And
they took him and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we
know what this new doctrine whereof thou speakest. Now, again, this
is not new, is it? The gospel of salvation through
Christ is not new. It's the everlasting gospel,
beloved. And the Areopagus was a house
of judgment. where Paul would be allowed to
declare his doctrinal beliefs. And we know what he did. He preached
Christ. He preached Christ. So he's bought there, he can
preach Christ. What he would, what he believed would then be
judged by men in authority, men who were respected, unregenerate
men and women of the city of Athens who were given wholly
over to idolatry. Now remember this, just as us,
they would not understand it unless God gave them an understanding,
right? Well, there's some lost sheep there, beloved. There's
some lost sheep there. Oh, my. What a wonderful opportunity
God has providentially arranged. Our sovereign Lord has providentially
arranged for Paul to preach the glorious gospel of the free grace
of Christ, salvation in Christ alone, which is exactly what
Paul did. Oh my. Now let's read verses
20 to 21. Look at this. Of Acts chapter 17. For thou
bringest certain strange things to our ears. We would know therefore
what these things mean. For all the Athenians and strangers
which were there spent their time in nothing else but either
to tell or to hear something new. So it's obvious from our
text that we read here that these pagan idolaters had never heard
the gospel. They'd never heard it, because
they're like, what's this new strange things you're talking
about? The gospel had never come there. But marvel, because we
know this, God sends the gospel. You know why Norm said I'm here?
Because God's got sheep here. He says, when the time is over
and there's no sheep, the Lord will move his preacher somewhere
else. Y'all got to stay alive longer than me, okay? I won't
go nowhere. But isn't that wonderful? Isn't
that wonderful? You see, it's There's a purpose being worked
out. God's eternal purpose is always being worked out, even
when we don't see it. And it's marvelous. It's marvelous. So they'd never heard the gospel
of Christ. They'd never heard the gospel
of God's amazing grace through the perfect redeeming work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. But notice, they did have a carnal
interest in it. because they had a carnal interest
in things they'd never heard before. But we know that God's
got some sheep in there, don't He? And He's going to give them
hearing ears and seeing eyes, just like He did for us. We are
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. It's wonderful, beloved. I get so excited reading these
portions and preparing for these. Each week, this book of Acts
has been wonderful. because they're going out and
preaching the gospel, and they don't focus on anything else
but preaching Christ. And it's wonderful. That's what
we want to hear as God's people, eh? And that's what the unsaved
world needs to hear. That's why I'm so grateful when
you guys are praying, the messages are going out into the world,
because they're going out and reaching God's lost sheep, beloved,
and his sheep, too. His sheep were already saved. So the gospel of Jesus Christ,
we know it's not new. It's not new. To man, it's new.
To us, it was new when we heard it. But it's not new. Christ, the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. Donnie said something. He said
he preached last Sunday. Before there was ever a sinner,
there was a Savior. Now, isn't that wonderful? That's
good news, isn't it, Brother Tom? That's good news. Before
we ever were, there was a Savior. And we were chosen in Him. All according to God's everlasting
love and purpose. It's absolutely amazing. So it's
not new. Again, if a doctrine's new, it's
not true. You hear some strange new doctrine, it ain't true.
We follow the old path, don't we? Yeah, we do. Oh, my. God's doctrine determines practice,
too. Think of that, too. Why do we
serve God? People say, well, if I preach
like you, folks could just do whatever they want. No. You know
why? Because we're constrained by love. What motivates us? Love. The love of Christ, doesn't
it? That's what motivates us to serve
him. That's what motivates us to come and hear the gospel.
That's what motivates us to support the work. It's because it's all
for him. It's all for the furtherance of the gospel. It's all about
him. And it's wondrous. Absolutely wondrous, beloved. My oh my. So the gospel, it's
actually called the everlasting gospel. It's a gospel of God's
mercy shown to sinners from before the foundation of the world. Now, meditate on that this week,
beloved. The gospel is the everlasting
gospel, right, of mercy shown to sinners from before the foundation
of the world. And we're a part of that, because we were chosen in Christ's
name. That's just amazing. It's amazing. Now, the gospel's
new to those who hear. When we first heard it, it was
new. I never heard nothing like that. Christ died for me, for
my sins. Praise his mighty name. It's new to me. It's new to you. If God gives you hearing ears
today, or when you hear a message, It'll be new to you. But it's the everlasting gospel
from before the foundation of the world. And before there was
ever a sinner, there was a Savior. Oh, my. In this generation we're
living in, it isn't much different than any other generation. Apart
from the revealing, enlightening power of God the Holy Spirit,
the world is still a world of unregenerate people who are wholly
given over to idolatry. Well, some might say, well, I
don't believe in nothing. Well, I bet you you're worshiping yourself. Yeah? Is it all about you? That's called self-worship. I
told my daughter the other day, I said, everybody's worshiping
something. Believers are worshiping the
one true God. And unsaved people, they're either
worshiping themselves, or they're worshiping false gods. Or they're worshiping nature.
I love that song we sing. The whole world's new to us now,
isn't it? The flowers are more beautiful than they ever were.
The birds, oh my, they sing even wonderful songs in the morning.
So we get up at six o'clock sometimes in the morning with my dog. Man,
those birds, there's a heavenly choir going off there. It's wonderful. Get up 5.36 in the morning, and
them little birds, they're just singing. And I just think, they're
singing to you, Lord. They're singing to you. They
bring Him glory. Everything in the world, this
world is here to glorify Him, right? Oh, my. My. So this should excite every believer.
Every time our Lord Jesus Christ is pleased to open a door for
us to declare his glorious gospel, to those who have never darkened
the door of a church building or have no idea who Christ is,
or is an idol worshiper, this should fill us with excitement.
Oh my. All self-righteous works religionists
are following a false god, beloved. They are. The gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace requires nothing from us to gain salvation. We must believe
We must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. No one is going to heaven
unless they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And praise be to
God, he gives us that faith. Oh my, isn't it wonderful? So let us never forget that God
has obtained a time and place where he will cause the path
of his faithful servants and the path of his chosen blood-bought
lost children to cross. And faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. And what does Paul do? He preaches
Christ and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
Holy Spirit takes those words and moves and saves sinners. And what happens? They believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't it wonderful? Praise God
for his wondrous work of salvation that he's done for us. My, oh
my. Brother Brian, can you close
us in prayer?