Now you have your Bible open
there, I trust, to Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17, and I want
you to follow along with me today as we consider this message from
Acts chapter 17, the words that Paul preached in the court there
in Athens, commonly known as his Sermon on Mars Hill. Notice verse 22 and verse 23,
and then Paul stood in the midst of Marseille and said, You men
of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are most superstitious. You are too religious. For I passed by and beheld your
devotion, or all the gods that you worship, and I found an altar
with this inscription, to the unknown God. Whom therefore you
ignorantly, ignorantly worship. Him! The God you do not know. The true and the living God.
Him! I declare unto you. Now I've entitled this message
this morning in a form of a question. And I want all of us to consider
this personally. Are you too superstitious? Or are you most religious and
yet ignorant of a true and living God? Paul accused those Jews there
in Romans chapter 10, you remember he said, you being ignorant of
God? And being ignorant of God who
is righteous, and being ignorant of the righteousness that's provided
in the gospel, you go about to establish your own righteousness? And have not submitted yourselves
unto that righteousness of the gospel that is Christ? For Christ
is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone that believeth. I
realize it's offensive to call someone ignorant, but you read
the record of Holy Scripture. The word is used repeatedly,
those who are ignorant of the gospel of God's grace. Paul declared
that these most educated, most religious folks were involved
in idolatry. Not knowing the true God, therefore
they went about to whittle out of God of their imagination.
Not knowing the true God, Jesus Christ, who God has sent, they
went about ignorantly bowing down to statues of stone and
gold and idols. Our Lord declared this in John
17. This is life eternal. Here it
is. This is life eternal. This is
salvation. That they might know Thee, the
only true God, Jesus Christ. whom God has sent, the Lord Jesus
Christ. I think Paul's description of
the city of Athens is a good description of our country, our
city. our county in which we live. Paul said in verse 16, while
he was waiting on his preaching brethren Silas and Timothy to
come to Athens, his spirit, his heart was stirred in him as he
walked about the city and beholding all these different idols. The whole city given to idolatry. I think it's a good description
of the religion we have in our day. what I call man-made religion. Idolatry in our day, in our generation,
is everywhere. It's everywhere. It's on TV. Flip it on. I can't watch those
religious programs, but they're all over. Television, in the
newspaper, on the radio, nearly every street corner, In any town,
there is a building or building set aside and dedicated to the
gods that men have created in the vain imagination of their
wicked heart. And nearly everybody that is
zealous for his cause, his denomination, considers himself a preacher."
I run into preachers all the time. My pastor used to tell
us, he said, being a preacher is nothing. He said the woods
are full of them. There's preachers everywhere.
There's not many true servants sent of God. Idolatry is everywhere. Those who go about in the vain
imagination of the religion and philosophy of men, they pray
unto a God, as we read earlier in Isaiah 45, they pray unto
a God that cannot save. And they preach a God that cannot
save. It's a common saying among man-made
religion, among the religions of men, among the denominations
of men, the mainstream denominations in our day. They say things like, God is
trying to save you, but He's hindered by your will. Why don't
you let God have His way? Poor God! My friend, that's not
the God of Scripture. That's not the God of the Bible. The God of Scripture is not a
beggar. He's a king. He's not a peanut God waiting
upon the puny, wicked will of the creature to make His plan
work. As they say, God's got a wonderful
plan for you. Why don't you just let Him do
it? Why don't you just... You know,
He's knocking on your heart. Why don't you let Him in? Poor
God. My friend, the God of Scripture
is God Almighty. Beside Him there is no other
God, neither is there salvation in any other. He worketh all
things after the counsel of His own will. God is God! That's what this book teaches.
Turn back to Isaiah and find Isaiah 46 this time. Let's read
the record of God. How does God describe Himself
in His own Word? His own testimony. His own witness. Isaiah 46, look at verse 9. Isaiah 46, verse 9. Remember
the former things of old, for I am God and there is none else.
I am God, there is none like Me, declaring the end from the
beginning, from ancient times to things that are not yet done,
saying, My counsel shall stand. I will do all My pleasure. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executes my counsel from a far country.
Yea, I've spoken it. I will also bring it to pass. I've purposed it. Well, maybe
it'll come to pass if you let him. Is that what it says? I'll
also do it. God is purposed. He will do it. He works all things according
to His purpose, my friend. And I know this. His purpose
cannot be frustrated. His decrees cannot be changed.
His purpose cannot be altered. He said, I am the Lord. I change
not. Now, you look back at Acts 17
again. As Paul went about the city waiting
for Timothy and Silas, his heart was stirred. He was grieved in
his heart. The religious philosophers encountered
him and discredited his person. They said, Paul, you're a base
fellow. When they heard him declare and preach the Lord Jesus Christ
and salvation in him, and he is the glorious, victorious Savior
enthroned, they questioned his teaching about the resurrection. By the good and wise providence
of God, Paul was able to preach the gospel to the highest court.
in the land in his day. They accused him of preaching
a strange God. As it says in verse 18, he seemed
to be a setter forth of strange gods. They've never heard someone
tell out who God really is. Certainly the God of the Holy
Scripture is a strange God to the natural land. Sad but true,
in our day, the sovereign power of God over all things is denied
in most religious circles in our day. Our God is in the heavens,
David said, and He has done whatsoever He has pleased. God is sovereign
over all things. You know, that is strange to
most people in religious circles today. When you talk about the
sovereignty of God, what's that? You talk about the almighty power
of God? Well, I thought it was limited. They accuse Him not only of preaching
a strange God, but they accuse Him of preaching new doctrine.
You see in verse 19, and we know what this new doctrine is, wherever you speak. The Gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ, my friend, is not new. It's not
new. It's as old as God. It's older
than the fall of Adam. The gospel of God is an everlasting
ancient gospel. God's election unto salvation
is not new. It's not a new doctrine. God
has from the beginning chosen you unto salvation. God's redeeming
grace in the Lord Jesus Christ is not new. He's a lamb slain
before the foundation of the world. God's saving purpose in
the Lord Jesus Christ is not new. It's from old eternity. God's
purpose shall stand. If these things were preached
in most places today, they would say the same thing that these
Epicureans and Stoics said of Paul. When you set forth God
as God, they would say, well, that's a strange God. Or as someone
said in years past, well, your God's a monster. To which the
preacher replied, well, get ready to meet a monster. God is God. Beside Him there is no other. And if you went in most places
today and preached God's elective purpose, God's eternal grace,
particular redemption, effectual call, the successful work of
the Lord Jesus Christ, they would say, well, that's a new thing. I've never heard that before.
Sad, but it's true. Those blessed truths that have
been preached down through the centuries by God's servants in
this day are unknown. by most people in what we call
mainstream religion today. Well, let's listen to Paul as
he preaches the gospel to this crowd of elitist religious fanatics
in Acts 17. What's he going to say to this
crowd? What's he going to declare unto this crowd? Well, the first
thing he establishes is that men are sinners. Men by nature
are most religious, but yet they're lost, unsaved, and ignorant of
a true and living God. For he says in verse 22 and verse
23, Whom therefore you ignorantly worship. Men by nature don't know the
true and living God because they're sinners. They're dead in sin,
shapen in iniquity. Ignorant worship, now listen
to me, ignorant worship is idolatry. Ignorant worship is idolatry.
True worship is based upon the word of truth, based upon Christ
who is truth. He seeketh such to worship Him.
Turn to John chapter 4. He seeketh such to worship Him
in spirit and in truth. Is there any true worship, spiritual
worship apart from the truth? Christ who is the truth, the
way and the life. Look what our Lord says to this
woman at the well. She was most religious as well. In John chapter 4, the woman
said, I perceive that you're a prophet. Well, she had religion. She didn't have salvation. Our
fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem
is a place where men ought to worship." John 4, 20. Are you
with me? And the Lord said unto her, Woman,
believe Me, the hour cometh when you shall neither in this mountain
nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship you know
not what. We know what we worship, for
salvation is through the Jews. Salvation has come by The tribe
of Judah, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lord Jesus. I'll
read on. But the hour cometh and now is
when true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship Him. God is spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Read on, the woman saith unto
him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. When
he is come, he will tell us all things. And the Lord said to
her, I do speak to thee, I am he. Now look back to Acts chapter
17. So the first thing he declares
unto them and unto us, men are sinners. Men are sinners in need
of salvation. May God help us. May God reveal
unto us the true and the living God. God, help us not to be ignorant
in these most vital issues of salvation, of eternal life, of
forgiveness of sin in Christ Jesus. Now, the next thing he
says is this. Look at verse 24, Acts 17. He declares that God is God. God that made the world and all
things therein, saying that He is Lord of heaven and earth.
He doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. He declares that God, who is
the true and living God, is sovereign over all things. He is Lord. He's the sovereign Creator. He
created all things by the Word of His power. He upholds all
things by the Word of His power. He speaks and it's done. He commands
and it stands fast. He's the sovereign Creator of
all things. He's Lord. He is Lord of heaven
and earth. He does according to His will
in the army of heaven and among the habitants of His earth, and
none can stay His hand. He's the Creator of all things,
and being the Creator of all things, and the Sustainer of
all things, He's the Owner of all things. Do you know what
that means? That means He's Lord over all things. Lord of all
things. He is Lord in providence. Things
that come to pass in our lives, things that come to pass in this
life, things that come to pass in our day are not by accident,
not by fate. They come by God's decree and
God's purpose. For of Him and through Him and
to Him are all things to whom be glory. both now and forever. He's Lord of all things. You
see that? Lord in creation, Lord in providence,
and He is Lord in salvation. He will save whom He will, and
He will harden whom He will. He's Lord in salvation. The Father
has given Christ power over all flesh. He's Lord over all that
He should give eternal life to as many as the Father has given
to Him. He's Lord of heaven and earth. He declared the Lordship of Christ
in all things. Something else He declares here,
also found in verse 24, this God who inhabits eternity is
not confined to dwell in a certain place. He dwelleth not in temples
made with hands. The true and the living God is
not confined by our buildings, our doings. He is the ever-present
God. Turn back over here to Acts chapter
7. He is the everywhere-present God, ever-present God. Stephen preaching here to the
Jewish people. He says in verse 48 of Acts 7,
Howbeit the most high dwelleth not in temples made with hands,
as saith the prophets? Heaven is my throne, earth is
my footstool. What house will you build me,
saith the Lord? Or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hands made all these
things? You see what he's saying there?
God doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. One of the early
preachers of God's church, his name was Augustine, said this,
Our great God, our great God, our God is a great God whose
center is everywhere, whose circumference is nowhere. Isaiah 57 declares,
Thus saith the Lord, the high and lofty One, who inhabits eternity,
whose name is holy. God is everywhere present. He
does not dwell. Now listen to this. God does
not dwell in the universe. The universe dwells in Him. He's
not in our hands. We're in His hands. And none
can stay His hands. Read on. Look at verse 25. Acts
17 verse 25. Neither is worship with men's
hands. as though He needeth anything, saying that He giveth to all
life and breath and all things. God is not dependent upon us.
We are dependent upon Him. He doesn't need us. We need Him. What can we possibly add to God? What could we possibly give to
God? He doesn't need anything from
us. What could any sinner possibly contribute to the true and living
God? We desperately need Him. For
it says in Scripture, without Him we can do nothing. We are dependent upon Him. It
says here in the text, He giveth life, physical and spiritual
life of His own will beget He us. with the Word of Truth. He
giveth life. Giveth life. It's a gift of God. He giveth breath. My first one
when I was born, and my last. That breath. Take a breath. God gave you that. And one day,
He'll take that. He giveth breath. He giveth all
things. Every good gift and every perfect
gift cometh from God. Look at verse 26. God created
all men from one man, Adam. You see verse 26? Hath made of
one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on the face of the
earth, and hath determined the times aforeappointed, and the
bounds of their habitation. God is God. Here we see that
God created all men from one man, Adam. It's what we call
Adam was a representative man. Adam stood as a federal head
for all his race. All men issued from that one
man, Adam, that was created of God. He was created in the image
of God. He was created untainted by sin. But we know the rest of the story.
Sin entered in. What did that bring? Turn over
here to Romans 5. You need to mark this in your
Bible if you haven't. Romans chapter 5. When Adam sinned,
you see, when Adam stood, when Adam was created, We were created
in Him. When Adam stood, we stood. He was a federal head. He was
the representative man of his whole race. So when he sinned,
what happened? We sinned. We fell in Adam. Romans 5, look at verse 12. Have
you got this marked in your Bible? Wherefore, as by one man, sin
entered into the world, death by sin. So death, so sin passed
upon all men, for or in whom all have sinned. Now stay right
here in Romans 5 a minute. All have sinned in Adam. All
men came from one man, one fallen and sinful man. And when we're
born in this life, we're not born innocent. We're born guilty
before God. Guilty before God. In Adam, what happened? Death. Here's another man. A representative man. The God-man
mediator. Now find Romans 5 verse 19. God's going to deal with this
whole human race in these two representative men. These two
federal heads. They both represent a people.
In Adam, all die. In Christ shall all be made alive. You know, that's the good news
of the Gospel. You mean God's going to bless
me on account of what the Lord Jesus Christ did? That's true
for everyone who trusts Him, all of His people. Romans 5,
look at verse 19. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, there's that first man, and here comes
a second man, He's the Lord from heaven. So by the obedience of
one, shall many be made righteous in Christ Jesus. That's the good
news of the gospel. The good news of the gospel.
In Adam, all died. Yes, that's true. But in Christ,
shall all be made alive. God has decreed our time here
and our time to leave here. It says He has determined the
times. Look back at the text. The times
aforeappointed and the bounds of their habitation. It's by
His appointment. It's by His decree that we're
here today. That we're assembled here today
as we are. He has also decreed not only
the time of our first birth, but the time of our second birth.
When it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me. by His grace. God has determined
the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation. The day of your death, the day
of your birth, your natural birth, the day of your death, that is
already set by God Almighty. They're determined. The number
of our months are determined of God and we cannot past that
time. Not only that, God has determined
the time of our second birth. The time in which we are begotten
of God and born from above. Now look at verse 27. God has
determined, seeing that we are His creation, seeing that God
is the absolute sovereign over all things, and that salvation
is in Him, God has determined that sinners should seek salvation
where it's found. That they should seek the Lord. Seek the Lord while He may be
found. Call upon Him while He is near. Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That they should seek
the Lord if perhaps by His grace they might feel after Him. have feelings for Him. By nature, we don't. By His grace,
we have feelings toward God. And that by His grace, we might
see Him and find Him, though He be not far from every one
of us. That they should seek the true
and living God in Christ Jesus. not seeking salvation in idols,
not seeking salvation in man-made philosophy, not seeking salvation
by ceremony or traditions of man, but seeking salvation in
Christ, in His gospel, in the Savior. I tell you this, my friend,
wherever you find a sinner truly seeking the Lord, you will find
the Savior who is irresistibly drawing the sinner to Himself. Whenever you find a sinner cruelly
seeking the Lord, you'll find the Shepherd, the Savior, who
is drawing that sinner to Himself. For our Lord said this, No man
can come to Me unless the Father which hath sent Me draw him. He says in another place, All
that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me, and those that come
to Me I will in no wise cast out. Do you remember from our
study in Song of Solomon chapter 3 about the seeker that went
about the city seeking the Lord, seeking that lover of her soul? I found him whom my soul loveth,
and I held him, and would not let him go. I tell you what,
those who seek the Lord, truly seek the Lord, they'll find Him. They'll find Him. Those who are made to seek the
Lord do so because they've been made to love Him in their heart. Look at verse 28 in our text. Acts 17, 28. Paul declares in
Him, in Him we live and move and have our being. Salvation
is in the Lord. In Him we have life. In Him we
have redemption. In Him we move toward Him. In
Him we have our very life breath of salvation. Only in Him. Even certain of their own philosophers
acknowledge that God indeed is God of all things. Look at verse 29. For as much
then as we are the offspring of God, We are the creation of
God. He made us in His own image. We ought not to think that the
Godhead, that God Almighty, is like unto a golden statue, or
silver, or stone, graven by art or man's device, man's imagination. Being God's creation. We owe all things unto Him. All things. We should not worship
anything or anyone but the true and living God. God is due all
credit and glory. Every believer recognizes it
and is quick to give all the honor and glory of salvation
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 30. And he says,
the times of this ignorance, this time of idolatry, God overlooked, but now. But now, there was one time,
in time past, God passed the Gentile nations by. They had
no prophet. They had no priest. They had
no revelation. They had no Savior. They had
no word given to them. All the Gentile nations, the
Amalekites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, all those other nations,
for the most part, God passed them by. Left them in their sin,
in their blindness, in their ignorance. But now, verse 30,
Right now. Now. Now. God suggests... What's that word? God commands
all men everywhere to repent. You know the king who is king
does not invite his subjects to do certain things. The king
who is king commands the subjects of his kingdom. And God who is
God doesn't speak by suggestion. He commands all men everywhere
to repent. Does that include you? All men
everywhere to repent. Bow to Christ. Change your idea. Change your thinking. about how
God saves sinners. God commands all men everywhere
to repent, to bow to Christ, to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ. He has commanded His church to
go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,
not to the Jew only, but also to the Gentile. And the message
is, bow to Christ. Turn back to Acts chapter 2.
Isn't this how Peter started? John the Baptist came preaching
repent. The Lord Jesus Christ came preaching
repentance. And it says here in Acts chapter
2 verse 36, Therefore let all the house of Israel know it surely
that God had made that same Jesus whom you crucified, God had made
Him Lord and Christ, Lord of heaven and earth, salvation is
in Him, Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart.
Salvation is a heart work. He denied them of a broken heart.
And they said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, here
are some true seekers. What shall we do? Isn't that
what the jailer said? What must I do to be saved? Believe
on Christ. And Peter said unto them, repent.
Repent. God commands all men everywhere
to repent. Bow to Christ. Repentance toward
God is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repent and confess Christ
as your only hope. Be baptized, every one of you,
and do it in the name of Jesus Christ. Because for there is
remission of sin only in Christ. And you shall receive the gifts
of the Holy Spirit. Plural. For the promise is unto
you and your children to as many afar off, even as many as the
Lord our God shall call." Repentance toward God and faith in the Lord
Jesus. Turn to another text here, familiar.
Luke 24, turn there. Luke 24. God commands all men
everywhere to repent. Our Lord said this in Luke 24,
His departing words. Verse 45, "...then opened he
their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures.
And he said unto them, Thus it is written, thus it behoove Christ
to suffer, to rise from the dead to the third day, that repentance
and remission of sin should be preached in his name, beginning
at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these
things." God commands everyone to bow. to Christ. You know repentance
is the command of God, but you know we're commanded to believe
on Him as well? Let me show you that. Find 1
John. We're commanded to believe on Him. To trust Christ for all
of salvation. 1 John. Turn over there. 1 John chapter 3. Look at verse 23. This is His commandment. This
is His commandment. That we should believe on the
name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as He gave
commandment. Commandment. God has through
the merit and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, He's been pleased
to grant repentance and faith unto His elect. Among the Jews,
Stay right here in the book of Acts. Turn to Acts chapter 5.
God has granted repentance unto His elect among the Jews. In
Acts chapter 5 verse 30. Follow with me now. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus whom He slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted
with His right hand to be a Prince and Savior for to give repentance
to Israel. Repentance is not something that
blooms in our heart naturally. It's the gift of God. For to
give repentance to Israel, His elect among the Jews, and the
forgiveness of sin, God has granted repentance to His elect among
the Jews. Now find Acts chapter 11, and also to the Gentiles. Acts chapter 11, look at verse
18. when Peter told of the conversion
of the Gentile named Cornelius and those of his house. When
they heard these things, they held their peace, verse 18, and
they glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles
granted repentance." Repentance toward God and faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. These things are given of God. And He gives these things by
commandment. Therefore, all men everywhere
are commanded to believe Him and bow to Him. And those who
are His elect will. As many as were ordained to eternal
life, they do believe the gospel. Now, back to Acts 17, verse 31. God commands all men everywhere
to repent, to bow to Christ, to believe the gospel, because,
because, because judgment is coming. For those who do not
bow to Christ, those who are not in the Lord Jesus Christ,
God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world, the
unbelievers in righteousness by that standard of Christ, by
that man whom He has ordained, whereof He has given assurance
unto all men, unto all, that He raised Him from the dead.
God has appointed a holy judgment by the Lord Jesus. It's appointed
unto man once to die, and after that, judgment. Judgment. All judgment is relative
to Christ. John 5.22 says, For the Father
judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. To those who are in the Lord
Jesus Christ, no condemnation. to those who were not found in
the Lord Jesus Christ in that day? Oh, I tell you, judgment,
judgment, judgment. The standard of God's judgment
is perfect righteousness by that man. The standard of God's judgment
is perfect holiness. He will not lower the bar to
let us sneak under. His bar is holy. God requires holiness. to enter into His presence. How
righteous must a sinner be to stand before God justified? He
must be as righteous as God. Well, sinner, that just slammed...
Preacher, that just slammed the door on this sinner. Slammed
it on me too. I can't produce a righteousness
before God. But how can this sinner stand
before God justified? Being found in that man in that
man, in Christ. Find Philippians 3. The standard of righteousness
and the standard of judgment is that righteousness found in
Christ. Philippians chapter 3. No wonder
the apostle says, I count everything else rubbish, dung, that I might
win Christ. and be found in Him." Be found
in Him. Not having my own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ. The righteousness which is of God by Christ. You see, my hope of salvation
is Christ and Him crucified. And that righteousness that's
found in Christ Jesus. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord will not impute sin. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth righteousness in Christ Jesus. He's given assurance
unto us. Look back at the text again.
He's given an assurance unto us in that He raised Him from
the dead. How do we know what He did was sufficient to put
away our sin? He's delivered for our offenses
and raised again because He justified us by His blood. Who can lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is He that condemns? Christ
has died. Yea, rather, is risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. God made Him sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ. Now, in closing, Paul preached
a God-centered, Christ-exalting, man-abasing message, and he pointed
sinners to Christ, to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, three things
happened. Three things happened. Verse
32 says, When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some
mocked, others delayed, said, We'll hear thee again of this
matter. Some, verse 34, believed the gospel. Some got mad. No doubt the Epicureans got upset. Others remained indifferent.
No doubt the Stoics said, well, you know, we'll tell you later,
Paul. Some sinners were granted faith
and repentance. God's elect heard the gospel
and believed. So then, my friend, I ask you,
Go back to our first question. Are you most religious and yet lost? Are you most superstitious
and yet don't know the true and living God and ignorant of God's
saving mercy to sinners in Christ Jesus? Have you counted all but
loss? All things lost but Christ? Have
you bowed? and submitted to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Are you a lover of the Lord Jesus
Christ? Are you believing? Are you repenting? Are you coming? Those are continuous,
ongoing, living things in the lives of the believer. I have
repented. I am repenting. I am believing. I am coming to the Lord Jesus
for all of salvation.