So let's read from verse 16 of
Acts chapter 17 and see what transpired. Now while Paul waited
for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw
the city wholly given to idolatry. So Athens was a very religious
place full of temples and shrines and idols and statues to mythical
gods and so many in fact that there was a saying back in those
days that there were more gods in Athens than there were men.
And because Athens was such a place so tolerant of all sorts of religion
and sects, there was also a synagogue there. And so that's where Paul
went, the synagogue of the Jews. Therefore disputed he in the
synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons, and in the
market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers
of the Epicureans and of the Stoics Perhaps all that we need
to know about these men is that they were philosophers. They just spent all their time
contemplating the meaning of life according to their own understanding. Men have spent their time hypothesizing
and speculating the nature of everything and deciding what
they thought God should be like, what they thought. Reading on,
some said, what will this babbler say? Other some, he seemeth to
be a set-aforth of strange gods, because he preached unto them
Jesus and the resurrection. They had no idea that Paul was
speaking of the one true God. Verse 19, and they took him and
brought him to the Areopagus. The Areopagus was just an area
of public meeting in Athens. where men spoke and were heard
of all their theories and beliefs. Then they said, then said, may
we know what this new doctrine whereof thou speakest is? 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. And Paul stood in the midst
of Mars Hill and said, ye men of Athens, I perceive that in
all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by and beheld
your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To the
unknown God. And then Paul speaks these words
to the ears, Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship. Him declare
I unto you. Him declare I unto you. I'm so thankful that our God
never leaves his people in ignorance. At the time of his choosing,
at just the right time, he reveals himself, doesn't he? He reveals
himself to his people and he declares things to them that
this world knows nothing of. He reveals his purpose, his purpose
according to election. He reveals the redeeming love
he has towards his people. He reveals that peace, the peace
of the cross, the peace made by the cross, the blood of his
cross. And he reminds them and he tells them of the promise
of eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ. These are glorious things,
aren't they? Glorious things that are revealed
only to believers. And there's a lovely verse of
scripture in Psalm 25, which speaks of a secret. Let me read
it to you. Psalm 25, 14 says, the secret
of the Lord is with them that fear him. The secret of the Lord
is with them that fear him. And he will show them his covenant. He will show them his covenant.
Have you ever tried keeping good news a secret? This is one secret
you'll want to tell everybody. And yet we know men can only
hear and only understand if the Lord gives them ears to hear.
He will show them his covenant. What covenant is that? That's
the covenant of grace. The covenant of grace. Has the
Lord shown you his covenant, that solemn agreement, pledged
before the foundation of the world, enacted by the three persons
of the Holy Trinity for the everlasting salvation of God's elect? You
can read those things in Genesis 17 and Jeremiah 32. There's lots
and lots of references there. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
surety of that covenant. The Father gave him a people
before the world began, and he promised to take full responsibility
for them, for all their eternal welfare. And there's lots of places you
can read that too. Genesis 43, John 6, John 10, and many, many
other texts. and it is a covenant that is
accomplished by shed blood, the blood of God himself, to present
his people holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. And so to an unbelieving world,
the covenant is a secret. It's a secret. And so men, because
they don't know this secret, they make their own covenants.
And they make them according to their own understanding of
God, don't they? I've heard people say that they've
made their peace with God. Have you ever heard somebody
say that? I've made my peace with God. If they knew the secret
of God, they would never say such a thing. They would never
say, you can't make peace with God. You can't strike a deal
with God. You can't bargain with God. You
don't have anything that God needs. Sin is all we have. Sin is all we are. God must make
peace with you. God must make peace with you.
And so he comes to his people and he instills a deep reverence
in them. That's the fear of God. And he shows them his covenant. He shows them his covenant. Paul
says, Him declare I unto you. So my message today is more an
introduction for us to contemplate the glorious subject of the attributes
of God. And in thinking of these things,
these past works, I'm very aware that I'm barely going to be able
to scratch the surface. These verses In this passage
even, down to verse 31, mention a good number of these attributes,
but for today I'll just focus on just a few and Lord willing
we'll look at these attributes more closely over the messages
to come. The truth is that this pulpit,
every message that comes from this pulpit declares the attributes
of God in some way. You'll always hear them. His attributes are who he is. That's who God is. That's his
attributes. Love is an attribute of God because
God is love. Grace is an attribute of our
God because He is the God of all grace, like the facets of
a beautiful jewel. Each facet reflects the glory
of that one jewel. No one attribute of God can be
separated, can they? They can't be separated one from
another. Each attribute stands in perfect harmony and perfect
connection with one another. They are never, never, ever at
odds. So the love of God, when we think
of the love of God, the love of God is perhaps the most common
and most spoken of of the attributes, isn't it? The love of God. Everyone
wants to talk about God's love and that is a wonderful thing.
God is love. But the wrath of God, the wrath
of God is also a divine attribute of our God. And in God, in God,
the two of those attributes are never, ever conflicted. Never
conflicting. How often do we, as sinful creatures,
we struggle and agonize when we have to make hard decisions?
Not so our God. Not so our God. God is not like
us. He's not like us. There's never
any indecision. in our God. God is never at odds
with himself. And as James said, in him is
no variableness, neither shadow of turning. I love that. I love
that our God has no variableness in him, neither shadow of turning. We're variable creatures, aren't
we? We are full of variableness. That's our sin nature. And that's
the corruption of this body. But in our God, there is never
any hint of doubt in his mind, never any unanswered questions. God has perfect knowledge of
all things at all time, and in fact, he's purposed and ordained
things before then. Of course he knows everything.
And his purpose is always immutable. These are the attributes of our
glorious God. These are the attributes of our
glorious God, and they are profound. And so we take one little step
at a time, don't we? One little step, look at one
little thing, a portion of each attribute, and we can gaze in
wonder at His glorious person. But can we comprehend God? Can
we comprehend Him? Can we know and encompass everything
there is about Him? That's a foolish notion, isn't
it? It's absolutely foolish. Let me read Romans 11. Romans
11 says, 11.33 says, Oh, the depth of the riches, both of
the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out. We have amazing God, don't we?
And yet there is an astonishing thing to note here, an astonishing
thing, an amazing thing for us to consider. The almighty God
of this universe, the maker and creator of all things, and the
sustainer of all things, is indeed knowable. He is knowable. Is that not an amazing truth?
That God would make himself known to worms like us. And he's made himself known in
the most delightful and glorious way, hasn't he? And in fact,
knowing God is a promise. Knowing God is a promise for
all God's people. John 17 says, and this is eternal
life, that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. Is there any higher subject for
us to contemplate than our glorious God? I was standing at the ocean yesterday
just gazing out and I was thinking, how vast is our God? How wise is he? How good, how
good is he? And so when Moses, you remember,
when Moses desired to see the glory of God, And God put him
in the cleft of a rock. And then he passed by and he
says, I will cause all my goodness to pass before you. All my goodness. God is the very definition of
goodness. What is goodness? God. What is
holiness? God. What is righteousness? God. You know the answer, don't you?
And so I love to contemplate these glorious things about him,
and I hope you do too, to consider his divine character. And we
look to this book, don't we? We look to this book for all
our authority in declaring who God is. I have no worldly qualifications
to tell you who God is. I have no doctorates or degrees
in divinity or anything like that. I'm just another broken vessel
with a message to tell. And I know I've heard another
preacher say it once, and I've said this before, and you've
heard me say this before, I'm just a nobody telling everybody
about somebody who can save anybody. And that pretty much sums it
up for me, I believe. Him I declare unto you. Let's look at what Paul says
to these men in verse 24. Verse 24 of our passage. Paul
says, God that made the world and all things therein, seeing
that he is Lord of heaven and earth. Paul speaks to these men
of the infinite power and wisdom of our God. In Job we read, he
stretcheth out the north over the empty place and hangeth the
earth upon nothing. Hangeth the earth upon nothing. The power of our God is a comfort,
isn't it? It's a comfort to every believer.
Is there anything too difficult? Is there anything too difficult
for our God? Is there anything at all? If there's nothing too difficult
for our God, then you can save a sinner like me. So when I plan to do anything,
I know there's a high probability that it'll never happen. But
if God has resolved to do something, there is an infinite probability
that it must happen. He has the power and the will
to do it, doesn't he? So if God has resolved himself
to save a person, to save a soul, that soul must be saved. There is absolutely no possibility
of failure in our God. And that is a comfort. Isn't
that a comfort to us? That's a comfort to every believer.
These men could see the world and they could see its wonders
with their own eyes. Romans 1 tells us that the things
of God are manifest in creation. Men have no excuse. And so men
can know with certainty that God is, But apart from the revelation
of God accompanied by the Spirit of God, a man cannot know who
God is. This world, isn't it, by and
large is largely ignorant. It's ignorant of who God is. I wonder if you've ever noticed
that it seems like almost everybody goes to heaven when even those
that have no profession of faith, and they go to heaven. Why do
they go to heaven? Because they're nice people, they're kind to
others, and they've been good citizens in their community.
The scriptures say there is none good And so their words, their words
and their intentions, it's all wishful thinking, isn't it? It's
wishful thinking. But even the average pulpit, we'd have to
say, the average pulpit promotes descriptions of God that are
no more than fairy tales. God loves you and wants to save
you, but he can't save you unless you take the first step. So the
stubborn will of man is too strong for poor God. The God of vain religion is weak
and pathetic and powerless. And they rob God of his glory,
don't they? They rob God of his glory. King
Nebuchadnezzar learned this lesson very much, didn't he? You recall,
he was the one that learned of his folly when he decided that he was going
to declare his own virtue and his own power. before God and
he took the glory of the kingdom of Babylon, which was a glorious
place, and he declared that it was by his might and his power
and his majesty that it was created. And the Lord, you might recall,
struck him down, struck him down for his pride and made him to
be like a wild animal. And you recall, he was driven
from men and he ate grass and the dew fell on his back. And
his hairs grew like eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird's claws.
And then the Lord had mercy upon him and brought him back to reason. And when the Lord had restored
him, he said these words recorded in Daniel 4. Listen to them as
I read them to you. Daniel 4.35, he says, all the
inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. They're reputed as nothing. And
he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or
say unto him, what doest thou? Paul says in verse 25 of their
passage, he giveth life, sorry, he giveth to all life and breath
and all things. Can we even comprehend the power
required to do all things? And yet his hands are tied, aren't
they? His hands are tied when it comes
to salvation. Christ died for everyone, they
say. If that were really the case,
then everyone would be saved. Obviously not everybody is saved,
are they? Not everyone's saved. And so what you have to do, you
have to do your part in order to make what he did work. And
so salvation, in that sense, becomes the work of men, doesn't
it? Why are there so many denominations in this world? Is it not in part
because there is a confusion, a disregard, an ignorance, or
a hatred even, of who God is and what he has done? An ignorance
of his attributes. His attributes are who he is.
So if somebody comes to me and says, well, I know Beth's dad,
and they describe him as a short man with blonde hair, I know they're mistaken, but
I find it remarkable and it just boggles the mind that men so
readily reject an incorrect description of somebody else, but they're
willing to compromise on the description of God as he is revealed
in these scriptures. Paul says to these men, he dwelleth
not in temples made with hands, Neither is worship with men's
hands, as though he needed anything. One of the great myths, isn't
it, of false religion, is that a holy God needs something from
sinful men. If God needed something from
men, then he's no longer God. And if God needed something from
men, he was deficient in a thing that he needed. There's no deficiency
in God. There's no deficiency in God. God is holy. What an amazing
attribute that is. He is holy. His holiness is the
glory of the Godhead. We ought to think upon his holiness
often. Moses declared he is glorious
in holiness. His holiness is the glory of
every perfection. His justice is holy justice,
isn't it? His wisdom is holy wisdom. And that holiness will
never let sin go unpunished. And when the holiness of God
is set before a sinner, a believing sinner, that sinner will make
himself as low as he possibly can, pleading mercy, just like
that publican who wouldn't so much as lift up his eyes to heaven,
but smote upon his breast, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
Listen to these words from Job, Job 15. What is man that he should
be clean, and he which is born of a woman that he should be
righteous? Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints. Yea,
the heavens are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable
and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water. Do those
things offend you? That description of all of us,
does that offend you? These religious Athenians think
God accepts the work of their filthy hands. Friends, the holiness
of God is not to be taken lightly. You and I cannot do holiness. We cannot do holiness. The only
holiness there is is the holiness of God. God declares his people
holy because that holiness is actually his holiness. And very
importantly we need to remember that holiness of God is a fearful
thing. Revelation 15 says, Who shall not fear thee,
O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou art holy. Moses declared, Who is like unto
thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, and doing wonders? Who is like
unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Of course we know that
there is none. There is none. Other gods don't
even exist, do they? Sometimes when I meet a new person
they might remind me of someone else. Perhaps they talk the same
or perhaps they look similar. But when we're speaking of God,
we ask that question, who is like unto thee? Who is like unto
thee? There is another glorious person,
isn't there? There is another one. Our Lord
Jesus Christ is like unto thee. And yet, and yet, Actually, that is an understatement. We're not talking about some
vague resemblance. We're not talking about some
similarities here, are we? When the Lord Jesus Christ went
up that mount, you might recall that Mount of Transfiguration,
Matthew says His face did shine as the sun and His raiment was
white as the light. Hebrews 1 says, The Lord Jesus
Christ is the brightness of His glory and the express image of
His person, upholding all things by the word of His power. That's our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Apostle John was given that grand vision of him in the book
of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. If you want to turn with me there
just for a moment, we'll just read this together. These are
just beautiful, beautiful descriptions of our God. Revelation chapter
1 verse 14. Listen to this description. His head and his hairs were white
like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were a flame of
fire, and his feet like undefined brass, as if they burned in a
furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he
had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun shineth in its
strength. These, of course, are descriptions
in a vision. And they do have their own representations,
representing the might and the glory and power of God. And then, having seen them, he
says, and when I saw him, I fell at his feet dead. And that is where he would stay,
except he'd be supernaturally strengthened And he laid his
right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first
and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead,
and behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen. And I have the keys of
hell and death. My point of all this is that
as we contemplate the glorious attributes of our God, we are
talking about Three persons. We are talking about three persons.
They are all three equally glorious. They do have different roles.
They do have different roles. 1 John 5, verse 7 says, For there
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. The glory of our
God is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God, isn't he? God cloaked
for a time in humanity. He was cloaked for a time. His glory was cloaked for a time. There were glimpses along the
way And having finished the work he was given, the Lord Jesus
Christ, he praised these words in John chapter 17, And now,
Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was. He had the glory
with God before the world was. The triune God, gloriously existing
before the world was. mind-boggling thought. Not for
a day, not for a year, not for an age, but from everlasting. From everlasting. Can you imagine?
We can't, can we? We can't envisage the time and
the age of it all from everlasting and yet amazingly there comes
a time. There does come a time when the
inseparable God, these three, there is a separation. A separation, a covenant, obligation
was to be performed in time. Part of the covenant was an obligation
that pledged that God the Son would become flesh and have all
the sins of all God's people laid on him to redeem them back
to God. When God made him sin, he knew
no sin. And in that dark hour he cried,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And God, in perfect
righteousness, seeing sin upon him, raised his mighty sword
and slew the shepherd in holy justice. All the while, all the
while, God remained true to every single attribute of his character, even to the death of his darling
son. Consider that for a moment. Such
is the resoluteness of our God. Such is the unwavering consistency
of his character. that he performed these things
even to the death of his darling son. How can we fathom such a
God? How thankful ought we be that God is true to himself. Everything he says about himself
is true and can be relied upon. Never any compromise in his divine
character Never a second thought in the divine mind. These are
beautiful things to contemplate. What a glorious outcome it was
too. All the sheep were spared. When the shepherd was slain,
all the sheep were spared, weren't they? Not a single one is lost
and now God gets all the glory in the salvation of his people.
And if you want to see the attributes of our God in all its glorious
forms, and we say this again and again from this pulpit, we
look to the cross and there you will see them all wonderfully
displayed in all their glory. You name it, the love of God,
the holiness of God, the justice of God, the righteousness of
God, all on full display before this world. These are the secrets
of the law to his people. I trust we love to contemplate
the wonder of our God as he has revealed himself to us. So what
will eternity be for the child of God? What will heaven be like? Will it not be an unfolding revelation of our God? No wrath remains. There's no
wrath. No wrath remains for your people.
The wrath was spent at the cross, wasn't it? There's no accusation
against God's people and his justice against the sins of his
people that's been satisfied in his son. Heaven will be, will it not,
a perpetual state of wonder and admiration. and a viewing of
his infinite glory, causing us to worship him forever in his
glorious presence. May he draw himself to us, may
he cause us to know him, and only then can we worship him
in spirit and in truth.