Turn with me this morning to
the book of Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17. I've had on my mind a couple of weeks
the passage here concerning when Paul stood on Mars Hill and preached
the gospel. But in preparing this message,
I just kept going back. I wound up in chapter 16, because
I want to fill you in on what's going on. In these chapters,
we have an amazing story of the power and the purpose and the
providence of God in the saving of his elect. In Acts chapter
16, as you know, God had saved Lydia by the preaching of the
gospel through Paul. The scripture says in verse 14
in chapter 16 that she attended unto the things that were spoken
by Paul. Paul and Silas had been beaten
and thrown into prison for preaching the gospel and God sent an earthquake
and he shook the foundations of the prison. and the jail cell
doors were open, and every prisoner's chains fell off. And when the
keeper of the prison awoke and saw the jail cell doors open,
he drew his sword to kill himself, but Paul prevented him from doing
so, which resulted in God saving him and his whole house. Isn't
God an amazing God? What a picture of the redemption
of chosen sinners is found in that incident. God shakes the
foundation of our souls, he opens the prison doors of our deceitful
and desperately wicked hearts, and he delivers us from the chains
and the bondage of sin by saving us by his grace. And after that,
when the powers to be at Philippi found out that Paul and Silas
were Roman citizens, and that they'd been beaten, the scripture
says in verse 37, uncondemned, which means without a trial.
They wanted to let them go in secret as to not draw attention
to their wrongdoing. And then in verse 39, we're told
that they came and besought them, meaning that they kindly encouraged
them as they brought them out of the prison. To set them free,
to depart out of the city. Just go on and leave, get out
of here. Verse 40, and they went out of
the prison and entered into the house of Lydia, and when they
had seen the brethren, they comforted them and departed. Let's don't
be too quick to miss some of the hidden blessings found in
the Word of God. You know, at first glance in
reading verse 40 there, it sounds as if those in Lydia's house
comforted Paul and Silas, while they were the ones that had been
thrown into prison and beaten and falsely accused. But it wasn't
those in Lydia's house that did the encouraging and the comforting.
It was Paul and Silas who encouraged them by telling them all the
things that the Lord had done for them. Sometimes all we have
to do to comfort and encourage others is simply tell them what
the Lord's done for us. Verse 40 simply says, they comforted
them and departed. Who departed? The same ones that
did the comforting, Paul and Silas. And this is exactly why
believers do not forsake the assembling of themselves together. They meet in the fellowship of
the gospel to exhort one another, to encourage one another as they
see the day of Christ's return approaching. And we know that
we've passed from death to life by our love for the brethren,
by our love for one another. Then in chapter 17, verse 1,
I'm just trying to set the stage as to what's going on here. We
find Paul and Silas heading to Thessalonica. But again, don't
read over the sad yet obvious fact that Paul and Silas by divine
direction and providence passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia. Christ didn't come into the world
to save the whole world. He came to save His chosen people
in the world. And we have evidence of that
through all the Scriptures. God had them pass through these
two places. to get them to His desired end.
In verse 2, chapter 17, And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto
them, and three Sabbath days he reasoned with them. The Greek
word for reasoned here is preached. He went into the synagogue and
he preached out of the Scriptures. Verse 3 says, That means thoroughly
expounding and alleging, convincing, committing themselves to and
setting forth that Christ must needs have suffered and risen
again from the dead. And that this Jesus, whom I preach
unto you, is Christ. This is the heart of the gospel.
In order for God's people to be saved, Christ must need to
have suffered. He suffered the penalty of the
law that his people should have suffered. That being death, for
the wages of sin is death, the soul that sinneth it shall die. Christ died the just for the
unjust to bring us to God. Christ must have suffered. Christ
was risen from the dead. Since Christ had no sin of His
own, death and the grave couldn't hold Him. When the justice of
God was completely satisfied, With Christ as our substitute,
death and the grave had to let Him go. They could not justly
hold Him. You know what this is saying,
don't you? God died for the sins of His people. God suffered the
penalty. of the law. God in the person
of Christ and by His perfect work of righteousness satisfied
His own just, strict law by substituting Himself the just for the unjust. And I never grow tired of hearing
that. Salvation cannot come to a center
any other way. And that's why Paul said in verse
three, this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ. He's Christ. He's the Messiah. He's the one
that God promised would come and save his people from their
sins, Matthew 1 21. Then in verses four and five,
we see what always happens when the gospel is preached. We mentioned
that in the first hour and some of them believed. And then in
verse five, we see that some of them believe not. Last week,
we talked about halting between two opinions. Elijah said, if
God be God, follow Him. And if Baal, the world and the
things of it, be your God, then follow Him. And when you hear
the gospel preached, you'll either believe or not believe. Those
who believe in and on the true Christ of the Bible will be saved,
and those who don't will be lost. Then upon further observation
of verse five, we see that those who believe not were moved with
envy, jealousy, and joined themselves with some lewd, rough, vicious,
and malicious men, and they started a riot in the city. Trouble came. Who sent it? God sent it. They
assaulted the house of Jason, who was the very one who entertained
and kept Paul and Silas while they were in Thessalonica. And
when they couldn't find Paul and Silas, they drug Jason to
the rulers of the city saying that he and his cohorts were
responsible for this uproar and ruckus when they were the very
ones responsible for it themselves. And then in verse seven, they
accused Jason of receiving Paul and Salus, who had spoken contrary
to the law of Caesar, claiming that there was another king other
than Caesar by the name of Jesus Christ. And then the following
verses reveal that they, those who were overseeing this evangelistic
event, sent Paul and Silas by night into Berea, and they pretty
much immediately went into the synagogue of the Jews, according
to verse 10. And it's here in verse 11 that
we're introduced to those noble Bereans who received the word
with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily
whether those things were so, those things which Paul preached
were so. In verse 12, therefore many of
them believed also of honorable women which were Greeks and of
men, not a few, God saved many Gentiles this day. And I'm telling
you, it would do the lost sinner good to search the Scriptures
like these Bereans did, to see if the things that I preach to
you are so. Do you see the divine providence
of God? How in ordained trouble, God
moved His servants, His preachers, exactly to where He purposed
in order to save the chosen of God. I'm so amazed. I always, I don't know why I
am, shouldn't be, at God's divine providence in crossing the gospel
of saved sinners. This would be a good time for
me to say that if you're here this morning, it's not by accident.
No accidents, mere happenstances with God. You're here by the
divine purpose and providence of God. God has sovereignly directed
your steps. And you're here this morning
by the divine purpose of God. Oh Lord, I know that the way
of man is not in himself. It's not in man that walketh
to direct his steps. It's God that directs them. And
in verse 13 we read, But when the Jews of Thessalonica had
knowledge that the word of God was preached to Paul at Berea,
they came there also and stirred up the people. And again, we
see that God allows this interruption, this uproar, this ruckus, to
find its way to where Paul is preaching, to drive him to the
Lord's predestinated end. Verse 14, And then immediately
the brethren sent away Paul to go, as it were, to the sea, but
Silas and Timothy abode there still. And they that conducted
Paul brought him unto Athens, and receiving a commandment unto
Silas and Timothy, for to come to him with all speed they departed. And now again by the power, purpose,
and providence of God, Paul sailed to Athens to wait for Silas and
Timothy to join him." Immediately you think, well, it looks like
maybe Paul's going to get a well-deserved rest. He's going to get a few
days off. No. No, sir. Verse 16, now while
Paul waited for them in Athens, his spirit was stirred in him.
Who stirred that spirit within him? God did. And when he saw
the city wholly given to idolatry, therefore disputed he in the
synagogue with the Jews and with the devout, the religious persons,
and in the market daily with them that met with him. Now,
whether in the synagogue of the Jews or in the streets of the
marketplace, Paul is preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ. And Paul simply preached the
gospel of Christ unto them, and they disputed with him. And that's
obvious from what we're told in verse 18. Then certain philosophers
of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered, and that
word means attacked him. And some said, what will this
babbler Do you know what a babbler is? A babbler is one who shoots
his mouth off with stupid things. That's what they claimed Paul
to be. That's what they accused him of being. A babbler. And
others said, he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods. In other words, they considered
Paul to be a false prophet of strange and false gods. You know,
when you preach the gospel to folks, you'll be accused of that.
Why did they say that? It tells us right here, because
He preached unto them Jesus and His resurrection. You tell folks
the truth, and unless God divinely intervenes, they'll have no part
of it. They thought that Jesus Christ was some strange God. They thought that the resurrection
of Christ, they thought it to be absurd. The resurrection of
Christ and His people are absurd to the lost. But the resurrection
displays the power of God, does it not? God has the power to
raise the dead. And that proves Him to be God.
And because of Christ and His sinless life, and being made
sin for His people, and giving them His perfect righteousness,
God not only has the power to raise believers from the dead,
He in holy justice has the right to raise them from the dead.
Having fulfilled the law of God and having satisfied God's holy
and divine justice in Christ, God can remain just and yet justify
ungodly sinners. They've been made holy, just,
and righteous. They've been justified, which
is the act of being made holy, righteous, and just. And God's
people are made. I love this. Unblameable. Above
blame. Unreprovable. Above reproof.
In God's sight. So because of these men's disputings
with Paul and his preaching of the gospel, in verse 19, they
brought him to Areopagus on Mars Hill to be heard. Now Mars Hill
was the highest courts of justice in Athens. And this is where
the learned philosophers and educated men of Athens and the
world came to meet and discuss new ideas, philosophies, and
things of religion were discussed and debated. Matter of fact,
in verse 19 they asked Paul, they said, What is this new doctrine
whereof thou speakest? For thou bringest certain strange
things to our ears. We would know therefore what
these things mean. In verse 21, for all the Athenians
and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else,
but either to tell or to hear some new thing. Isn't that something?
They love to talk and hear about some new thing. They spent their
time in nothing else. What a picture of religion today.
What a picture of religion. Always looking to hear and talk
about something new. I can assure you of this. If
it's new, it's not true. If it's new, it's not true. The
gospel that I preach to you, that Brother Gene preaches, Brother
Lindsey preaches, has always been the gospel. Now we come
to that amazing sermon that Paul preached on Mars Hill. It took
me a while to get there, but I think important for us to see
how God providentially moves His servants to preach where
they're supposed to be. Now I want to make some observations
and comments from this amazing gospel message. Verse 22, then
Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, ye men of Athens,
I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. Now the word for superstitious
here simply means religious or more religious than others. He
says in verse 23, for as I passed by and beheld your devotions,
your worship and your adoration, he said, I found an altar with
this inscription to the unknown God, whom therefore ye ignorantly
worship. Him declare I unto you. That's
the very God that I'm gonna preach to you. He's unknown to you.
You ignorantly worship Him, but He's the one that I preach. He's
the one that I declare. And you know, when I was preparing
this message, I was thinking how that pretty much every city
in America is pretty much like the city of Athens. Paul walked
up and down the streets of Athens and he saw their shrines and
their statues and their altars and their temples everywhere.
Some Greek historians say and claim that there were as many
as 30,000 statutes in Athens alone. There are churches on
almost every corner in America. Teresa and I counted one time
on our way to church, I think past 20 churches just in the
short distance from our home to here. Madisonville is the
19th in population in the state of Kentucky. And Kentucky is
the 26th state in population in America. Madisonville, give
or take a few, has 71 churches. 71 churches, that's a church
for approximately every 275 people. Boy, we live in a day of religion,
don't we? It's big business. I had a fellow
who used to attend here say to me not too long ago, he said,
why do I need to come to church when I can hear the Gospel online
24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Religion is everywhere. Everywhere
you go, folks say, have a blessed day. America has more gods, more
altars, more denominations, more churches than any other nation
in the world. And I'm not talking about godliness
now. I'm talking about religion. Way
too superstitious. Way too religious. That's what
Paul said to the folks at Athens. Religion affects and influences
everyone from the White House to the homeless. There's 24-hour
religious radio. There's 24-hour religious television. There's 24-hour religious websites. America has become way too religious. To most in our day, the God of
heaven and earth is unknown. The people of Athens erected
an altar to the unknown God, and this altar was erected because
of uncertainty and fear. They were not sure of their gods.
They were not sure of their ways of worship. So they raised an
altar to whatever god or gods that might have existed that
they might have missed. They did it out of doubt. They
did it out of fear. And they did it out of uncertainty.
They weren't confident. They weren't satisfied that their
religion was right. So they erected an altar to whatever
unknown god that they may have missed. They didn't want to offend
anybody. Didn't want to offend anybody.
Oh, well, in case we missed your God, we've got Him right here.
He's the unknown God. And He certainly was that. He
was unknown to them. And you know, that's the reason
why men and women today tolerate all manner of religious foolishness
and religious emotionalism. They don't want to offend anybody.
They'll say things like, well, we're all spokes in the same
wheel that lead to the center hub, Jesus. No, we're not. No,
we are absolutely not. Folks don't want to rule out
any religion just in case they're wrong. But not God's people. And that's so obvious from the
gospel that Paul declares unto these religious folks. He says
to them, the God that you ignorantly worship, that's my God. That's
my God. And that's who I'm going to declare
and preach to you. And that's exactly what Paul
does. Look at verse 24. He says, God that made the world
and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and
earth, He dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Paul says, I
tell you who God is. He's the God that made the worlds
and everything in it. I'll tell you who God is. He's
the Lord of heaven and earth. He's too big. He's too powerful. He's too omnipresent to dwell
in a temple that man can make with his own two hands. The Most
High God ruleth in the kingdom of men, and He giveth it to whomsoever
He will. Daniel 4.23. God doth 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? Whatever the Lord please, that
did He in heaven, and in earth, and in the seas, and in all deep
places. The God you don't know, He is
God. He's sovereign, He's supreme,
He's almighty, and He's Lord of all. He's sovereign in creation. He's sovereign in providence.
And He is most definitely sovereign in salvation. And He doesn't
dwell in a house or in a temple or in a church building made
with human hands. You know, when Solomon was building
the temple of the Lord, I'm paraphrasing, but this is what he said. He
said, how can I build a temple for God when the heaven of heavens
won't contain Him? Look at verse 26. Paul speaking
of God says, and he, that being God, hath made of one blood all
nations of men, for to dwell on the face of the earth, and
hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of
their habitation. Now listen to me, mankind was
made by one source, and that source is God. Now we may, and
we do, We divide folks into classes and colors and circles, but all
of us came from Adam. Every single one of us. Wherefore,
by one man, Adam, sin entered into this world, and death by
sin, so death passed upon all men. By one man's offense, death
reigned. By one man's offense, judgment
came upon all men to condemnation. For in Adam, All die. God set
forth the nations. God determined the times appointed
for each one. God divided men into nations. God gave them different languages
to speak. God set forth the bounds of their
habitations. God established their lands and
the days of their lives. This is the true God. Does that
sound like the God you hear preached in the world today? No. He's
for the most part, sadly, an unknown God. He's the only one
who can truly claim the name of God. He's almighty. He's all-present. He's all-knowing. God is God. Do you know Him? Or is He unknown
to you? In verse 27, Paul says all men
should seek this God. Eternal life is not in religion.
It's in knowing God. Jesus Christ said in John 17
3, it's been on our bulletin for almost 30 years. And this
is life eternal. You want to know what life eternal
is? He tells us right here. This is life eternal that they
might know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou
hast sent. That's eternal life, to know
God in Christ. Don't seek the right church.
I heard someone not long ago say, I'm looking for the perfect
church. Sorry, you won't find it. There is no such thing. But if
you seek the Lord with all your heart, you'll find a perfect
Savior. One that can make you perfect.
Don't seek the gifts. Seek the giver of the gifts.
That's a sure way of receiving all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places. How? In Christ. That's how we
get the gifts by worshiping the Giver. Trusting the Giver. Seek
the Lord. Paul said He's not far from every
one of us. Verse 28, For in Him we live
and move and have our being. Is it not God who gives life
and breath and all things? I went to see a dying friend
this past Monday. He struggled for nearly every
breath. You find yourself trying to help
a dying man breathe. Have you ever noticed that? But
you can't. You can't. Only God can. Only
God gives breath. Every breath that that friend
took, God gave until he took the last one Friday evening about
6.30 p.m. It's in Christ, friends, that we live. It's in Christ
that we move and have our being. He's the one who gives life and
breath and all things. Everything I have, God gave. He gives all things. And then
look at verse 39, for as much then as we are the offspring
of God, created in the image of God, we ought not to think
of God as silver, gold, idols, or the work of men's hands. We
are the offspring of God. God created me in His image. Why would anyone bow before a
statue? The eyes of God are in every
place. God's ears are not heavy that He can't hear, His arms
not too short that He can't save. We must worship God in spirit
and in truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him. Verse
30, In the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth
all men everywhere to repent. Now it's sad, but it's true. God leaves some people in their
ignorance. God leaves some in their darkness. How do I know? Look at verse 31. Because He
hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom He hath ordained. whereof He hath given assurance
unto all men, and that's all His chosen and elect, in that
He hath raised Him, Christ, from the dead. I have to finish, but
let me ask you a most serious question in closing. Can the
living God be known? He was unknown to the men of
Athens, and sadly He's unknown for the most part unto the world
today. How can this living God be known?
Only one way. And that's in Christ. That's
in Christ. Philip said, show us the Father.
And the Lord Jesus said, have I been with you so long? And
yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And how sayest thou then, show
us the Father? God hath appointed a day Paul
said, in which he's going to judge all men by that man whom
He hath ordained. And that's Jesus Christ. God
has given full assurance that He did not leave Christ in the
grave, but He raised Him on high to intercede for His people.
That's my hope. That's my assurance. That gives
me great comfort knowing that I have God the Son pleading my
cause. How comforting to know that Christ
lives and is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us, his people. Do you remember what I said in
the beginning of this message, how one of two things always
occurs when the gospel's preached? Some believe and some don't. Verse 32, and when they heard
of the resurrection of the dead, Some mocked, and others said,
we'll hear thee again on this matter. So Paul departed from
among them. Howbeit, certain men clave unto
him and believed." Which will it be for you? Will you mock the preaching of
God's Word? Will you put it off until a more
convenient time? Or will you believe? Today is
the day of salvation. Choose this day whom you'll serve,
Joshua said. He said, as for me and my house,
we'll serve the Lord. May God enable you to believe
and trust in Christ. That's what Paul's message was
that day on Mars Hill. He said, the unknown God to you
is the God of heaven and earth. He's a just God and a Savior.
He's worthy of our worship, friends. May He enable you to come to
Him that you might have life. And may God add His blessings
to my feeble attempt to preach His word.