All right, open back up with
me to Acts 17. Our text tonight, it tells us
about Paul going to Athens, Greece. And it tells what he noticed
about the people of Athens. He got there and he noticed something
about these people, and then Lord willing, Next week, we're
going to see that he pointed out their error and he preached
the truth to them. But tonight, in looking at their
error, I was trying to decide, I was studying over this and
where's our stopping point. And in looking at their error,
I saw some wonderful truth for believers. And I have been enjoying
this for the last few days. So let's read over this text
here, and then I'll show you what I saw. Verse 13, Paul just
finished preaching in Berea, and they were noble. They searched
the scriptures daily whether these things were so, and many
of them believed. And then verse 13 says, But when
the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God
was preached of Paul at Berea, They came thither also and stirred
up the people." The Jews over in Thessalonica heard Paul is
now preaching in Berea, so they came over there and they started
stirring up the people. And when the Word of God is preached,
when the Word of God is preached, if a man will actually preach
what is in the Word of God, line upon line, precept upon precept,
it stirs up people. It does, every single time. When people finally understand,
they think they know what the Word of God says, but then one
of these days they start to hear what it's actually saying. And
when they finally understand what it actually says, not just
their catchphrases, everybody has some catchphrases, and they
got one verse of scripture here and there. John 3.16. When they finally understand
what this says, they get stirred up. It stirs up people. Verse
13 says, When the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of
God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also and stirred
up the people. And then immediately the brethren
sent away Paul to go, as it were, to the sea. But Silas and Timotheus
abode there still. And they that conducted Paul
brought him unto 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. Athens, Greece, completely given
to idolatry. You know what idolatry is? It's
worship. That's what it is. It's worshiping
something that is not God Almighty. It's worshipping anything that
is not God Almighty. Verse 16 says, Now while Paul
waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when
he saw the city wholly given to worshipping things that were
not God Almighty. And that's the sad case for man
today. Lord, keep us from idolatry. keep us from idolatry, keep us
from worshiping anything that is not God Almighty. The dollar, another person, our own selves,
calls us to bow the knee to Jesus Christ, God Almighty, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Paul was stirred when he saw
the city wholly given to idolatry. Verse 17 says, 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 encountered
him, And some said, what will this babbler say? Others some,
he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods, because he preached
unto them Jesus and the resurrection. The Epicureans, that was a group
of the Jews who followed a man that taught there is no God,
there was no original creator. There is no afterlife. Eat, drink,
and be merry, for tomorrow we die. We have plenty of those
in the world today, don't we? The Stoics, they believed that
there was a God There was an original creator. There was an
afterlife. But ultimately, everything was
in their hands. All the power finally rested
in their hands. Eternal life was up to them for
the taking. We have plenty of those in the
world today, don't we? That pretty much sums up everybody that God
has not opened their eyes to the truth. Everybody. That is
the world. It covers everybody in the world. And here a man comes preaching
the truth about God, and what they all said was, what does
this babbler have to say? He's preaching something strange.
And it is, isn't it? When this world finally hears
what God has said in His Word, that's strange. Nobody ever told
me that before. Nobody ever read that verse to
me before. Strange. because he preached unto them
Jesus and the resurrection. That message is the power of
God unto salvation. That's amazing to me. That message,
that declaration, a man stands up behind a pulpit, people sit
down, A man says something, people hear it, and if it is God's Word,
the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified, that's the power of
God unto salvation. Isn't that amazing? Paul told
Timothy, preach the Word, didn't he? Preach God's Word, verse
by verse. Tell men and women what God has
written about His Son. Paul did not tell Timothy, preach
Calvinism. He didn't tell him that. There's a lot of people preaching
Calvinism. You know that? Week after week
after week they preach Calvinism. Paul did not tell Timothy, preach
the three R's. He didn't say that. He said,
preach this word. Preach this word as God wrote
it and you will be preaching Christ and Him crucified. God
wrote it that way. He wrote it that way. You preach
the word as God has written it and you will be preaching all
five of the points that Calvin noticed. It didn't take long
to realize we are totally depraved. This whole city was given to
idolatry, right? You preach the word of God as
God has written it and you will be preaching that man was plumb
ruined by the fall. Absolutely ruined. You will be
preaching redemptions by the blood alone. That's all this
word says. Regeneration is by the spirit
alone. Preach the word and we will be
preaching the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who He is. Who is He? Look at verse 23.
The big letters. They say, the unknown God. That's who He is. The unknown
God. You tell people what God, the
unknown God accomplished here for His people. And you tell
them what they have in Him and then you turn around and walk
away. It's the power of God. It's applied
by the power of God. It's perfected by the power of
God. Paul preached unto them Jesus
Christ and the resurrection. Now look at verse 19. And they
took him and brought him unto Areopagus. That means Mars Hill. It was the highest court in Athens.
They took him and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, 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, all the
people who were in Athens, all the Athenians And strangers which
were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell
or to hear some new thing. That's all they wanted. That's
all they were interested in. Some new thing. They were intrigued
by some new thing. And most people are. Most people
are. For a little while they're intrigued
by some new thing. That's what this flesh wants.
Something new. A new God, a new way. This flesh does not want the
God of scripture, does it? This flesh does not want to hear
Christ say, I am the only way. Flesh doesn't want to hear that.
It says, give me something new. But what about us? What about
us? What about us really? Those of us whom God has sent
a spirit to, the Ephesians 1 us, chosen by God. Those that God
has given a love and a heart for Christ. Are we here to hear
something new? Are we here to hear something
new? A woman named Fanny Crosby wrote
a song, listened to what she wanted, and let's see if this
is us. She said, tell me the story of
the Lord Jesus. Write on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious,
sweetest that ever was heard. Tell how the angels in chorus
sang as they welcomed his birth. Glory to God in the highest,
peace and good tidings to earth. Every time I go to Luke chapter
2, I think it is, I love that story. I love that story. I love the story of when the
Lord, when the angel came to Mary and said, you're going to
have a son, and your cousin Elizabeth is six months before you, she's
going to have a son named John. And Mary went to visit Elizabeth,
and as soon as she walked into the house, John leaped in Elizabeth's
womb, soon as the Lord entered inside Mary. Don't you love hearing
about those things? She wrote, fasting alone in the
desert, tell of the days that are past. How for our sins he
was tempted, yet was triumphant at last. Tell of the years of
his labor. Tell of the sorrows he bore.
He was despised and afflicted, homeless, rejected, and poor. God Almighty. Tell of the cross
where they nailed him, writhing in anguish and pain. Tell of
the grave where they laid him. Tell how he liveth again. Love
in that story so tender, clearer than ever I see. Stay, let me
weep while you whisper, love paid the ransom for me. You know,
if the heart ever gets a hold of that, that's all it wants
to hear. That's all it wants to hear.
You tell me who he is and what he has done for me. That's us,
isn't it? Do we say, give us the old paths
wherein is the good way? Do we say that? That's all a
believer wants. Don't give me something new.
Give me the old paths. Just give me Christ. Tell me
the old, old story. All right. That's my introduction. I promise the body is shorter
than the introduction. That's my introduction. You ready
for the message? Let me give you the title of
tonight's message. Seven New Things Believers Get in Christ. Seven New Things. Why am I contradicting
myself? Did I just hear everything I
just said? Seven new things believers get
in Christ. When I read this back in my study,
I was so, those Athenians, you know, it's
just colleges all over the place, just Greek gods and the Olympics
and all that kind of stuff and philosophers and I don't care
for that stuff. All they cared about was just
hearing something new. So I set out to condemn every
new thing. That's what I was going to do.
Give me the old paths, wherein is the good way. Don't give me
anything new. So I started turning to scriptures
and turning to scriptures and we're going to condemn everything
new. And in the process, here's what
I found. There are some new things for
believers in Christ. There are some brand new things
for believers in Christ. In this old way, in this one
and only way, I found seven things that I want to share with you
tonight that are brand new for believers. And there's more,
but I just want to give you seven of them. Seven new things believers
get in Christ. These seven things are not new
to God. They were, every one of them,
purposed from the foundation of the world. They are not new
to God, but they are new to us. Brand new. The first one is in
Psalm 40. Turn with me over to Psalm 40. Psalm 40, I pray that the Lord
will let us enter into these seven things, because they're
wonderful. Psalm 40, verse 1 says, I waited
patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me and heard my
cry. He brought me up also out of
an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet up on a
rock, and established my goings, and he hath put a new song in
my mouth." He's put a brand new song in my mouth. Every soul in Christ gets a new
song. A brand new song. Do you know
what our song used to be? I'm my own man. I do my own thing. I'll save myself, thank you. I don't need anybody but yours
truly. Is that the song we sing now?
Was there not a time that that's all we needed? I am not my own
man. I don't do my own thing. You're
my only hope of salvation. The only person I need is Christ
alone. It's a brand new song. It is
literally a brand new song. Every soul in Christ gets a new
song. Look at Psalm 98. Psalm 98 verse
1 says, Oh, sing unto the Lord
a new song. For he hath done marvelous things. His right hand, who is that?
That's Christ. His holy arm, who's that? Hath gotten him the victory. John said, I saw the holy city. And every person there sang a
new song. You know how it goes? Thou art
worthy. Every one of them used to sing,
I am worthy. You know how many people are
going to go stand before the judgment throne and this is going
to be their song? I'm worthy. But every sinner in Christ gets
a brand spanking new song. Thou art worthy. Alright, now go to Proverbs 3. Proverbs 3 verse 5. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy
ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Be not
wise in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord, and depart from
evil. It shall be health to thy navel
and marrow to thy bones. Honor the Lord with thy substance
and with the firstfruits of all thine increase. So shall thy
barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out
with new wine." Brand new wine. Every soul in Jesus Christ gets
a cup of new wine. You know what wine does? It makes
the heart glad. That's what it does. It makes
the heart glad. Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help. Truly happy. It's the cup of
rejoicing. That's what it is. The cup of
rejoicing. Christ took the cup of sorrow,
didn't he? He bore our sorrow. He carried
our griefs. He tread the winepress alone. So what's left over for us? Rejoicing. That's it. When we observe the
Lord's table, we have a little cup of wine. And that represents
His blood, doesn't it? This old tainted blood inside
this body This polluted blood. This is vile blood inside this
body. The life is in the blood and
this is dead blood. This is all dead blood. But every
sinner who is in Christ Jesus gets new wine. New blood. His blood. And seeing the result
of that blood makes the heart glad. It really does. Total rejoicing. Every soul that hears, welcome
in thou good and faithful servant is going to say, oh to him that
loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Total
rejoicing. I cannot imagine how happy heaven is. I just can't imagine. So happy. Total rejoicing. Every sinner in Christ gets a
new song and a cup of new wine. Every single one. Alright, now
go to Isaiah 62. Isaiah 62. Man, I hope the Lord will let
us enter into this. Verse 1 says, For Zion's sake will I not hold
my peace. I'm so glad he didn't hold his
peace. He told us. For Zion's sake will I not hold
my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until the
righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation
thereof as a lamp that burneth, and the Gentiles shall see thy
righteousness, and all kings thy glory, and thou shalt be
called by a new name, a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall
name. Thou shalt also be a crown of
glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand
of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed
forsaken. That was your name before. But
thou shalt no more be termed forsaken. Neither shall thy land
any more be termed desolate. But thou shalt be called Hephzibah. You have a margin in your Bible.
My delight is in her. And thy land, it's going to be
called Beulah. Married. For the Lord delighteth
in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth
a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee. And as a bridegroom rejoiceth
over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. I have set watchmen upon thy
walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor
night. Ye that make mention of the Lord
keep not silence. and give him no rest till he
establish, until he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." Every
sinner in Christ gets a new name. Every single one. You're not
going to be called forsaken anymore. You're going to be called married.
You're going to get a new song. You're going to get a new cup
of wine, and you're going to get a new name. Go to Isaiah
65. Verse 17 says, For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth. You looking forward to that?
The former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. This one
that we're standing on right now, it's going to be so, this
is so much lower than the earth we're going to be on. We're going
to forget all about being there. But be ye glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem
a rejoicing and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and joy in my people. And the voice of weeping shall
be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall
be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath
not filled his days. For the child shall die an hundred
years old, but the sinner, being an hundred years old, shall be
accursed. And they shall build houses and inhabit them. And
they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall
not build, and another inhabit. They shall not plant, and another
eat. For as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and
mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall
not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble. For they are
the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with
them. And it shall come to pass that
before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking,
I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed
together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, and
dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy
in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." Is that not wonderful?
In Christ, every child of God receives this new heaven and
this new earth. Peter said it's a place wherein
dwelleth righteousness. That means God is there. God
is there. He's there to feed his people
and lead his people. And he just said, I'm going to
wipe all tears from their eyes. No more crying. This old wicked
world, all it's brought forth is death and sin. That's it. Death and sin. He said, I'm going
to do away with this. I'm going to scoop up all my
people. I'm going to put them on a brand new one. Lamentations
3. It's after Jeremiah. Lamentations
3. Verse 22 says, It is of the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed. Because His compassions fail
not, they are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Every sinner in Christ gets new
mercy And new compassion every single morning. Brand new. Every single morning. That makes me want to sing a
new song. That feels like I just drank the cup of rejoicing. New wine every single morning.
I don't care how badly I messed up yesterday. I woke up this
morning with a brand new slate. Yesterday was buried in mercy. Today has risen to compassion. What's coming to you all day
long? God's compassion. He pities them. He knows their
frame. He remembers we're dust. Every single morning. Go to Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel 36 verse 26 says, A new
heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within
you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh
and I'll give you a heart of flesh. Wouldn't you love that
to happen? You know this old cold stony
heart, this old mean sinful dead heart that does not love Christ
as it ought to and does not love his word as it ought to and does
not love his people as it ought to. Wouldn't you love for him
to reach in and just take out that old stony heart and put
in the heart of Christ? How badly do we want that new
heart, that new spirit, his spirit in Christ? That's what we get.
That's what we get. We get a new song. We get a cup
of new wine. We get a new name. We get a new
heaven and a new earth. We get new mercies and new compassions
every morning. We get a new heart and a new
spirit. And every bit of that culminates
in number seven. Here's the last one. Go with
me to 2 Corinthians 5. 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 17 says, Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. That is really glorious. That's
truly glorious. A brand new creature. I am ready for that. I am ready
for that. Every one of those new things
were promised in the old way. Every one of them. Every single
one. Every bit of that was promised
to us before the foundation of the world. This is the old way.
But they're all new to us. His promise is living. We read these promises and they
are living. They're living. His promise is
fresh. It's new every morning, isn't it? Every single morning.
Seven things believers get in Christ. Seven new things believers
get in Christ. Okay, let's stand together.