Acts 17. Now let's go back a
little bit and get the background of this sermon. In verse 1 of
Acts 17, when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia,
they came to Thessalonica, where was the synagogue of the Jews.
We have two books in the New Testament, epistles written to
the church at Thessalonica. And this was Paul's first visit
there to Thessalonica. Now look at verse 2, 3, and 4.
And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three
Sabbath days he reasoned with them out of the Scriptures. What
was Paul's manner? I learned and patterned my ministry
after the Apostle Paul. His manner was he reasoned out
of the Scriptures. He didn't reason out of a book
he read somewhere or something he learned in the seminary. He
reasoned out of the Scriptures. That's all he preached was the
Scriptures. That's what he told Timothy to do, preach the Word
of God. He reasoned out of the Scriptures. And what's the next
thing? His manner, verse 3, opening
and alleging that the Christ must needs have suffered and
risen again from the dead. That's what the Old Testament
Scriptures teach. The crucifixion of the Christ,
of the Messiah. That's what it's... Back in Genesis
3, Genesis 2, 3, when God slew a lamb and clothed Adam and Eve,
He was saying, our substitute has to die to give us a covering.
When Abel in Genesis 4 brought a lamb and sacrificed it as a
sin offering, God is saying the lamb must die and the blood be
shed for the remission of sins. When Moses in Israel slew the
Passover lamb, put the blood on the door, God said, I see
the blood, I'll pass over you. So Paul went through the Old
Testament scriptures and showed them how that the Christ, the
Messiah who was to come, the Redeemer, must die. Not just
establish a kingdom, but he must die. He must be buried, he must
rise again. That's what Jonah's prophecy
tells us. As Jonah was three days and three
nights in the bed of the whale, the Son of Man shall be three
days and three nights in the... That's what Paul reasoned out
of the Scriptures. He preached who the Christ is, what he must
do, how he must do it, and why he must do it. And then the third
point he gave opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered
and risen again from the dead, and this Jesus, who was born
in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary, He is the Christ. This Jesus,
whom I preach unto you, is the Christ. Now, you can't improve
on that kind of preaching. Reason out a scripture, show
what the scripture says about the Christ, the Redeemer, and
then tell who He is, Jesus Christ. Well, what do they do about it?
Well, verse 4, some of them believed. Some of them did, and some will
now. And they consorted with Paul and Silas. They fellowshiped
with them. They inquired more and more and
more about this crash. And of the devout Greeks, a great
multitude, and of the chief women, not a few. A lot of those ladies
believed the gospel. The leaders in Thessalonica,
a great church was established there. But not everybody, listen
to verse 5, the Jews, who are these? These are those religious
fellows, the Pharisees and Sadducees and Levites and legalists, followers
of Moses and the law. They wouldn't receive grace and
a substitute and a sacrifice. They believed not, but they weren't
content to keep quiet and to study and to seek these things
out and to try to find the answer. No, they moved with envy. And they took on them certain
lewd fellows, they always get them a following, and they get
a following of the unlearned, and the lewd of the baser sort.
They stirred up these people that didn't know any better,
and gathered a company and set all the city in an uproar, fighting
the preaching of Jesus Christ and him crucified. And they assaulted
the house of Jason, a friend of Paul's, and sought to bring
them out to the people. And when they found them not,
they didn't find the apostles, they weren't there. They drew
Jason, they took him and certain brethren to the rulers of the
city and said, these fellows have turned the world upside
down. Now they come down and hit our town, whom Jason had
received. And these all do contrary to
the decrees of Caesar. That's exactly right. The gospel
is contrary to the decrees of Caesar, absolutely. And they
say there's another king, Jesus. And he is king of kings
and Lord of lords. And they troubled the people
and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. And
when they had taken security of Jason and of the others, they
let them go. And the brethren, verse 10, now
watch this. And the brethren sent Paul away and Silas by night
to Berea. Now this is his visit to Berea,
who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. Same
thing he did in Thessalonica. He went into the synagogue, into
the church, established synagogue, not church, but a synagogue,
temple, and preached, opening the scriptures, Christ must suffer
and Jesus is the Christ. Now, what did the Bereans do?
Well, these Bereans were more noble than those in Thessalonica.
These Bereans were more mannerly. They treated the apostles with
better manners. They were willing to hear what
they had to say. without contradicting and blaspheming
them. They were willing to search the
scripture to see if these things were so. Now read this verse
11. These were more noble than those
in Thessalonica in that they, number one, they received the
word with all readiness of mind. Number two, they searched the
scriptures to see if these things were so. Number three, many of
them believed. also of the honorable women,
which were Greeks, and of the men not accused." They believed. Now listen to me. These Bereans,
here Paul went to Thessalonica, and some believed, but they just
threw him out of town. But these Bereans were more mannerly
and noble, and they listened. Now let me ask this question.
Was their noble disposition and their willingness to listen and
to consider the message. Was that because they were better
people than these Thessalonians? Or more noble by birth and nature?
No, sir. Their nobility and mannerliness
and the noble disposition of mind and conduct because God
was with them. God was with them. God made them
different. They were different. But God
made them different. That's what Paul said in 1 Corinthians,
who made you to differ? What do you have you didn't receive?
A man can receive nothing except to be given him from heaven.
But these people in Berea, God was among them. And he opened
their eyes and opened their hearts. You know, the same thing happened
to them that our Lord said about the disciples. When he prayed
in John 17, he said, Father, I have given these men your word,
and they have received it, and they know that I came from thee,
and they believe me." Look at these Bereals. Verse 11, they
were more noble than those in Thessalonica. They received the
word with all readiness of mind. They searched the scriptures.
Verse 12, they believed it. They did exactly what the apostles
themselves did. They heard, they searched the
scriptures, they believed, and they received Christ Jesus. But
you know these enemies of the gospel are not through. Look
at verse 13. But when the Jews of Thessalonica
had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea,
they came down there also and stirred up the people. He stirred
up the people. Then immediately the brethren
sent away Paul to go, as it were, to the sea. But Silas and Timotheus
abode there at Berea. They stayed there, but they sent
Paul away. And they that conducted Paul
brought him to Athens. Here's another place. They'd
been to Thessalonica, been to Berea. Now God takes him to Athens,
Greece. And receiving a commandment under
Silas and Timothy, for to come to him with all speed they departed. These people took Paul to Athens,
and Paul sent a letter by them to Silas and Timothy and told
them to come down to Athens quickly, join him in Athens. Now verse
16, while Paul waited for them in Athens, waiting for Timothy
and Silas, while he waited for them in Athens, his spirit was
stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore he disputed with them. His spirit was stirred because
of the idolatry of that city. So he challenged them in the
synagogue. Paul went to the synagogue, and
he challenged these Jews. He disputed with these Jews,
these devout men, these leaders. He went to the marketplace daily
with them that met with him. He went to the marketplace. He
debated with these people over the gospel, reasoned out of the
scriptures. He took the scriptures and reasoned
with them. Now verse 18. Let me tell you
a little bit about Athens. Athens was a civilized and famous
city, as it is now, back then. Athens was well known for their
learning and they're ancient philosophers, lots of them. And
they had schools and universities in Athens where they taught these
philosophers and learned men and ancient wise men. They were all over that place.
Athens was known for its education and so forth. Verse 18, Then
certain philosophers are the Epicureans. I looked up that,
the Epicureans, and I'll tell you a little bit about them.
And the reason I'm going to tell you a little bit about the Epicureans
and the Stoics is because we have the same thing now in religion. The Epicureans were followers
of a man called Epicurus. He was the son of another philosopher
named Neoclus. And this man was born, Epicurus
was born in 342 years before Christ, B.C. 342 years. And he taught philosophy at Athens,
this Epicurus, of which these men are followers. Now, he didn't
deny the being of God. He believed in God. But here's
what the Epicureans believed. They believed in God, but they
did not believe God created the world. They believed the world
came into being by the concourse of atoms, which met and formed
the world. They did not believe that God
made the world. They did not believe God governed
the world by his providence, that he had anything to do with
the happenings of the world, like I read in the paper yesterday
or this morning. All sickness is of the devil
and all goodness is of God. Well, that's what these men believed
too. They believed God had nothing to do with sickness. The world
is full of sickness. That's what the world is made
up of, sin and darkness and death. And they believed God didn't
have anything to do with the world. It's in providence. It was belief,
His notice. And they believed the chief happiness
of man was in pleasure. Fun, entertainment, materialism. That's what that is. The chief
happiness of man is in pleasure. That's the Epicureans, those
philosophers. The Stoics are a little different.
They followed a man called Zeno. That's why these fellows are
sitting and arguing these things all the time. The Stoics believed
in God. They believed God made the world.
But they believed the world was governed by fate. And true happiness
was not in pleasure, but in the opposite. True happiness lies
in virtue. And virtue has its own reward.
And a really virtuous man, and a good man, and a wise man is
destitute of any passions And he's always joyful or peaceful
whether he's blessed or wounded. That's these fellas sit cross-legged,
you know, and stare off into space. But that's the philosophers. So listen to what they call Paul
in verse 18. Then these fellas encountered
Paul, the preacher of God. And they said, what will this
babbler say? That's what he was to them, a babbler. And others say, well, he seems
to be the setter forth of a strange God. You know, the living God
is a strange God to this world. Christ said that he was in the
world, and the world knew him not. He made the world, and he
was in the world, and the world knew him not. Strange God. This
is not our God, this is a strange God. And why do they call him
a babbler? Why do they call him a setter
for the strange God? Listen, because he preached unto
them Jesus Christ. That's why. He preached unto
them Jesus Christ, God's Son, our Savior, Jehovah God. God
manifested in the flesh, seen of the angels, preached to the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, crucified on the cross,
buried, and risen again, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
He was a babbler and a preacher of a strange God because he preached
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior of sinners, the Redeemer
of Israel, and the risen Savior. And that's what the philosophers
believed. that we're babblers and we set
forth strange gods. So they took him and brought
him to this place called Areopagus. And what that was, it was the
highest court where all the wise men, philosophers gathered to
discuss and debate their ideas of religion and philosophy. Let
me tell you something. These meetings where you sit
around and argue and discuss and philosophize and share and
all this sort of thing doesn't lead to anything but confusion.
You get together if you want to, but you have some designated
person of some wisdom, some understanding, some leadership and some gift
of God to teach you what the Word of God says. Now that's
so. God has ordained what we're doing
right now. He's ordained that apostles and
prophets and pastors, teachers and evangelists teach his people
his word. God's ordained that. And it can't be relegated
to the scrap heap. With music, won't get it. And
sharing and all this discussions. Well, we want to meet and ask
questions. Meet and teach. That's what Christ did. The Sermon
on the Mount, he went up on the Mount and sat down and taught
them. When Peter went to Cornelius, they said, tell us what God's
revealed to you. When Philip was sent to the eunuch,
the eunuch says, who's he talking about here? Tell me. I don't
want to give my opinion. I don't know. So that's what
they did. They sat around and that's the
reason they kept getting deeper in the mess. They kept sharing
with one another. And they took him and brought
him to Areopagus, saying, Now, let's know this new doctrine
wherever you speak. For you bring certain strange
things to our ears. We would know, therefore, what
these things mean. Now, here's their problem. All
the Athenians, Americans, too, and the strangers, and our folks
that we're bringing in on visas, which were there, spent their
time in nothing else but either to tell or hear some new thing.
We've got more new religions in this country. So they said, let's hear from
you, Paul. So what is this man going to say to all this crowd? Well, I love what he said. First
of all, he told them this. He said, verse 22, ye men of
Athens, I perceive that in all things that you are more religious
than most people in other places. You have more altars. I pass
by and beheld your devotions, that is, your gods that you worship.
You have more altars, more gods, more religious organizations,
more religious festivals than all other countries. What country
in the world has more, you know, more altars, more gods, more
religion? more festivals, more organizations. But right in the middle of all
these gods that you're recognizing, I found an inscription. I found an altar. I found an
altar with this inscription, to the unknown God. What they
were saying, they had all these different gods that all these
people had suggested, but they said, now we might have left
one out. It could be that we've overlooked some God somewhere,
so let's just put up an altar over here and say, this is to
the God that we haven't heard of yet, or don't know about,
or don't know. Paul said, that's the one I want
preached to you, one you've never heard of. The babbler's going
to tell you who he is. The setter forth of a strange
God is going to set forth a living God, because you don't know who
he is. And he identifies him. All right.
This is just number one. God made the world and all things
therein. God made the world. God's a creator. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. You believe that? I do. That's
my God. In the beginning was the Word,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God, and all things were made by Him, and without Him
was not anything made that was made. Don't leave a thing out.
And that Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He's our
God in human flesh. One does not believe evolution
and believe in God. No way. I'll say that again. You cannot believe in evolution
and believe the Bible. You cannot. You cannot do it. It's impossible. You cannot believe
in God Almighty who's revealed in the Scripture and believe
evolution. That's just so. Are you saying
everybody who believes evolution, doesn't believe God created the
world, is unsaved? Absolutely. Without a question. That's true. And everyone who
does not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God is unsaved.
Absolutely, unconditionally. That's where Paul started us
off with these philosophers. He said, God made the world,
and all things therein, everything, heaven and earth, are second.
And seeing he's Lord of heaven and earth. Here's my second point,
Paul said, he's king of kings, he reigns. Our God is in the
heavens, he hath done whatsoever he pleased. Whatsoever the Lord
pleased, that did he in heaven, and earth, and the seas, and
all deep places." Our God is a sovereign God. He's the Creator. He's sovereign over creation,
over providence, and over salvation. He said in Isaiah, listen, God
introduces Himself. Remember, He says, I'm God, there's
none else. I'm God, there's none like me.
I declare the end from the beginning. My counsel shall stand. I will
do all my pleasure. I've spoken. I'll bring it to
pass. I've purposed it. I'll do it.
I'll be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I'll be merciful
to whom I will be merciful. That's me. That's our God, absolutely
sovereign. Third point. This is Paul talking to all these
learned philosophers. And God dwelleth not in temples
made with hand. You can build your altars and
your cathedrals and your church buildings and your temples for
your gods. And then your gods can dwell
in these buildings. But the living God, heaven cannot
contain him. The heaven of heavens cannot
contain him. The earth's his footstool. Turn to 2 Chronicles. I want
you to look at this passage of Scripture. This is Solomon talking
about the Lord God. Solomon's just about to build
a big temple, a big temple, the temple of temples, the temple
of all temples, the most magnificent building ever erected, I suppose,
the most expensive building ever erected. And here's what he said
about it in 2 Chronicles 2, verse 5. And the house that I build
is great, indescribable is the word, for great is our God above
all gods. But who is able to build him
a house, seeing that the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot
contain him? Who am I, then, that I should
build him a house," what's this, key words, save only to burn
sacrifices before him. That's the only purpose for this
place, is to meet here and offer sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving
to God and preach his word. Just a house. Just a house. He doesn't dwell
in temples made with hands. All right, next, verse 25. God's the creator. God is sovereign. God is a spirit. They that worship
him, worship him in spirit and truth. Now, what's this? Neither
is he worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything,
seeing he give it to all life and breath and all things. Turn with me to Psalm 50. The
Lord speaks here concerning this thing of his being a spirit and
worship. Psalm 50. The Lord said to the
Samaritan woman, she said, We worship in the mountain, and
you Jews say, Worship in Jerusalem. The Lord said, You know not what
you worship. They that worship God's Spirit,
they that worship God, worship Him in Spirit and truth. The
day is coming when you shall neither in this mountain nor
in Jerusalem worship God. For God is Spirit. They that
worship Him, worship Him in Spirit and truth. The Lord seeketh to
worship him. Now watch this scripture, Psalm
50, verse 9. I will take no bullock
out of your house, nor he goat out of your foes. Don't bring
me goats and bullocks. Every beast in the forest is
mine. The cattle on a thousand hills are mine. I know the fowls
of the mountains. the wild beast of the field of
mine. If I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you. The world is mine,
and the fullness thereof." I just read that. Will I eat the flesh
of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Here's what you do. Offer unto God thanksgiving and
keep your word, pay your vows unto the Most High. That's the
way you worship God. Offer unto God a broken heart,
a thankful heart, of gratitude and praise, and keep his word,
and keep your word, and worship him in sincerity. If it's out
under an elm tree, or an apple tree, or on a creek bank, worship
God. Worship is not external, it's
internal. Worship is not with the hands
and the feet, carrying on, it's with the heart. My son, give
me your heart. My son, keep your heart out of
the issues of life, out of the heart of the mouth speaking.
The Lord is now to them of a broken heart, a broken and a contrite
spirit God will not despise. God saveth such as be of a contrite
heart. Worship is in spirit, not in
flesh and rituals. One does not worship God by giving
him anything. Since I was raised in religion,
since that day, I've never said, let's worship God with our tithes
and offerings. God's not to be worshipped with
anything secular material. No, sir, we don't worship God
by giving Him anything. We worship God, yes, we give
Him something. We give Him the glory, do His
name. That's what it says. Give God the glory, do His name. How do we serve God? By serving
one another. That's how we serve God. Our
Lord said, I was in prison, you came to see me. When did we say
you were in prison? Inasmuch as you've done it to the least
of these, you've done it to me. I was hungry and you fed me. When did
we say you were hungry? Inasmuch as you've done it to the least
of these, you've done it to me. When you were lonely, I was lonely
and you visited me. When? That's how you serve God. We worship God in spirit. He's not worshipped with men's
hands, listen, as though he needed anything. See, he gives life.
He gives. He's the giver. He's the owner
in all things. Oh, what a sermon. Isn't that
something? The babbler. God created the
heavens and the earth. God's Almighty. He does what
he will, when he will, with whom he will. Almighty God dwelleth
not in temples made with hands. The heavens won't contain him.
Fourthly, he said he's not worshipped with your hands, but you do. He's worshipped with the heart.
Now, the next verse, 26, he said, and he's made of one blood all
nations of men to dwell on the face of the earth. Now, this
is going to really rock these Athenians. They were proud people.
Proud people. But he said, every one of you,
proud or otherwise, old or young, rich or poor, learned or ignorant,
black or white, you came from one man, Adam. One blood, the same blood. It
might flow through an emaciated body or a beautiful body, but
it's the same old blood. It's a fallen blood. It's a sinful
blood. It's a corrupt blood. It's a
human blood. It's the flesh. You're dead in
trespasses and sin. That's right. God's made in one
blood. One blood. Now one man's sin
entered this world, and death by sin, so death passed upon
all men. For all have sinned, come short
of the glory of God. That's what he's telling us. And then he says, And God hath
determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.
Listen to what he's saying here now. God has appointed the birthday
of every man. God has appointed the boundaries
of habitation, where He's going to live, of all people, of all
empires, the beginning and end of all people, all empires, all
organizations, all men and all women. God's appointed their
beginning and their end, the bounds of their habitation, and
they'll not go one foot farther. Job 14. Do you think that we upset people
today telling these things? Think about how he upset these
fellas. He's an Athenian philosopher.
But Job 14 says this, Man that's born of a woman is a few days
and full of trouble, comes forth like a flower and cut down, fleeth
as a shadow, continued not. Lord, do you open your eyes upon
such a one? You even look on such a one.
You even care about them. You bring me into judgment with
thee? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one, but
seeing man's days are determined, the number of his months are
with the Lord, God's appointed his bounds, he cannot pass."
Paul knew that scripture, and so Paul said to these fellows,
God has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on the
face of the earth, and God has determined the times before appointed
the boundaries and the number of months and their habitation.
So here's what they ought to do, verse 27. He said you ought
to seek the Lord, seeing who he is, seeing what you are and
who you are. And seeing that you're a dying
creature and seeing there's life after death, he says that men
should seek the Lord. I wish I could convey that to
my generation too, that they should seek the Lord. Because
if they seek the Lord, look at the next line, happily they might
feel after him and find him. Seek the Lord, not the right
religion. Everybody wants to get on Larry King live and argue
who's got the right religion. None of them do. We're not seeking the right religion.
We're seeking the right Savior, Lord, God. If you're seeking
a what, you're seeking the wrong thing. I'm seeking a whom. Paul
didn't say, I know what I believe. He said, I know whom. We're not
seeking the right religion. We're seeking the living. Seek
the Lord. They should seek Him I've just described. Not the
right doctrine. If you find Him, you'll find
the right doctrine. Not the right church. If you find him, you'll
find his church. Not the gift, but the giver. Oh, Paul was so religious before
God saved him. He was so religious. He was born
in the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, touching the law
of Pharisee, a Sadducee, a member of the Sanhedrin, all these things,
you know. concerning the law, blameless, and he said, I met
Christ. I met the Lord Jesus Christ.
And when I met Him, I counted all these things but loss, but
dumb, that I might win Him, be found in Him, not having mine
own righteousness, that I might, by His grace, know Him, know
Christ. That's what Paul said here. Seek
Him. Heal after him, seek to find
him. Well, where I find him? All right,
listen. He's not far from any of you. Should I go to the Holy Land?
That's a waste of time. Mecca? Everybody's got some place
to go. But Paul says, seek him, heal
after him, find him. Well, where? He's not far from me. In Him,
you live. That last breath you took, He gave it to you. Where
is He? Out there. That last page you
turned, He lets you turn it. In Him, we live. In Him, we breath. He's given life and breath. In
Him, we move. I double-dog dare." That's what
we used to say as little kids. I double-dog dare you to take
one step without God. I double-dog dare anybody here
to say, I'm going to get up and walk down there without God.
Nobody's that big a fool. Then why would you go to the
holy land to meet God then? He's right there. He's right
there. He's right there. In Him we have
our being. In Him we have our being. Believe him. Lord God, thank you for that
breath. Thank you for my lovely wife
that sits here. Thank you for my children. Thank you for your
mercy. I believe you. Help my unbelief.
He's out there. And the church has fixed this
thing up where you've got to come down here and go through
some kind of ceremony to get saved. That's just getting away
from the truth. Old Brother Mews used to say,
come to Christ, but don't move a hand nor a hair. Read on. We're his offspring. Now, this is interesting. We're
his offspring. That is, he created us. He created
us in his image. God is a spirit. So are you. God has a will. So do you. It's
fallen. He can give you a new one. God
has a heart, the heart of God. We read in the Scripture, so
have you. God loves. God gets angry. God has feelings. We're creating his image. He's
a person. Then verse 29, Forasmuch then we are the offspring of
God, we ought not think God is like unto gold, silver, or stone.
Why would we think that God's in these symbols and in these uniforms and in
carrying around these posts with crosses on the end of them? God's
not a cross. God's not a cross. God's not
silver and gold, bill and stone, or nothing. God's a person! God's a person. So if we're his
offspring, old Adam, when God created him, he didn't have any
clothes on, either. But God made him in his image.
And they talked, and they conversed, and he instructed Adam, and Adam
worshipped him. And there wasn't any cross over
there. There wasn't any beautiful IHS written up here. And there
wasn't any choir back there with robes on. And there wasn't any
little boy running around with a candle. Just Adam and God. A person and a person. A person
and a person. A person made in the image of
this person. And yet we have gold and silver
and art and devices. That's ignorance. That's ignorance
of God. Why would you think that we're
the offspring of God, and we ought not to think that God is
likened to gold, silver, stone, graven by art and men's devices? When we built this building,
we didn't put a steeple on it nor a cross. You know why, don't
you? Because this is no holy building. This is just a building. God
doesn't dwell here any more than anywhere else. He dwells everywhere. He's a person. And why would we want to bring
in anything, any arts, graven by art and man's devices? Man
wants you to feel religious by what he does. I want you to feel
spiritual by who he is. I want you to feel blessed because
he blessed you. I want you to feel, to grow in
grace and the knowledge of Christ prayerful because you owe him
so much. and so dependent on him. Now, verse 30 says, the times
of this ignorance, God's winked at, God's put up with. Over there,
he talks about they worshiped birds and beasts and four-footed
animals and all these things. They built all these. Now, God's
put up with that. He told these fellows, all your
altars around here, God's put up with that. But now, the Redeemer,
the Son of Righteousness, the Son of the Morning, He's come.
And the issue is Him now. It's Him. And God commands you,
God commands you everywhere, oh, everybody, everybody everywhere
to repent. Repent of this false religion.
Repent of these works of righteousness. Repent of your deeds and duties
and alters. Repent of all these things. Worship
Him. Now when I look up, he's everywhere. Worship him. Because he's appointed
a day. He ordained Christ. He sent Christ. He bruised him. It pleased God
to bruise him. He raised him. He accepted him. He enthroned him. He sat him
on his right hand and has committed all judgment to the Son. He's
appointed a day in which he's going to judge this world in
righteousness. And I don't have any, except
in him. But I have that in him, and that's
the way God's going to receive me, based on his. And he has given assurance of
that fact to everybody in the world that'll listen. That everybody
who's died, they're still in the grave. And not anybody who's
ever died is not in the grave. But God's given assurance to
all men, He raised this man. Because this man was perfect.
And took him to glory and said, sit at my right hand till I make
everybody who doesn't believe you, who doesn't love you, who's
opposed to you, your footstool. You just sit right there. But
you know something? This pleases me. Doesn't it,
doesn't it? It gives me hope, gives me confidence. It just gives me peace. No matter
the what, it just gives me peace because I've got a mediator with
God, Jesus Christ the righteous, a great high priest, and we're
accepted in him.