Verse 22 was that he perceived
that they were superstitious, religious. Verse 16 gives you
a clue. While Paul waited for them at
Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, upset, grieved, when
he saw the city wholly given to idolatry, religion, false
worship, worship of false gods. Like America, they were very
religious people. Someone said there were more
gods, more shrines, more altars, and more temples in Athens than
any other nation. And I expect that to be said
about our country. There are more churches and religious
organizations and shrines and altars in this country
than any country in the world, which I've been to, and I've
been to several. And they can't hold less a candle
for the number of religious organizations and churches. But here in verse
23, Paul said, while he was walking through the city and beholding
all their shrines and altars, he found an altar with this inscription. to the unknown God. Now these were religious people,
superstitious people, always looking for something new. But
why? Don't you wonder why they would
erect an altar to an unknown God? In case they had so many
gods, they erected this altar in case they missed one. And is this religious tolerance? Is this democracy in action?
Is this a demonstration of love? Let everybody have his own God.
Let everybody worship whom he pleases to worship. Why would
a religious people erect an altar to an unknown God? I think there's
three reasons. I think I can come up with three
reasons. why they'll tolerate most any
religion, why they'll tolerate most any creed or cult, and not
speak against most any type of worship and belief about God.
Do we not have that here? We have it here in this country.
We call it democracy, freedom of worship, which fine. But yet
people are afraid to speak against anything that goes by the name
of religion. They're afraid to lift their
voices. They just let it. They just excuse it. They never
say anything against it. And I think there's three reasons.
Number one has got to be ignorance. Now that's what Paul said here,
whom you ignorantly acknowledge. They didn't worship anybody whom
you ignorantly acknowledge. And people do not know God. They do not know the living God.
You can't worship whom you don't know. That's what Paul said in
Romans 10. How shall they believe in Him
whom they... How shall they call on Him in
whom they don't believe? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they haven't heard? And how shall it hear without
a true, God-sent, God-called, honest picture? So it's ignorance. We tolerate any kind of religion,
anything that goes by the name of religion, a God or Jesus,
and the reason is ignorance. Ignorance. John said in 1 John 5, we know
that the Son of God has come and given us an understanding
that we may know the true God and Jesus Christ whom he had
sent. This is the true God. This is
eternal life. Now, a man who knows the true
God will not tolerate idolatry. A man who knows the true God
will not recognize any other God. Doesn't matter who it is. Doesn't matter whose God it is.
A man who knows the true God will not tolerate another gospel.
He will not do it. Paul was unbending in that on that subject. He said, if
any man preach any other gospel, let him be accursed. I'll say
it again. He said, if any man, if it's
an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel than the gospel
I preach, the gospel of God's sovereign, redeeming, effectual
grace in Christ, let him be anathema. Now if a man knows the true God,
he won't tolerate another God. He won't even give credit to another gospel. He won't do it. He will not participate. A man who knows God will not
participate in any kind of false worship or form of worship. if it does not prove the Word
and magnifies his God. Now that's just so. It's strongly
illustrated in one of Brother Walter Gruber's children. They were here in the States
several years ago. on a trip from Mexico. And this
young lady, Walter's daughter, little girl, went to church with
a relative. And they had a big cross in the
church and the pastor had everybody come and kneel before the cross.
That little girl stood like she had a board in her bag. And the relative with her took
her by the hand and put her down and she turned and said, we don't
worship idols in Mexico. Out of the mouth of babes. But
that's ignorance. Anybody who recognizes any other
god, any other gospel, any other form of worship than from the
height You see, worship's not external,
it's internal. Worship's not with the hands,
it's with the heart. Worship is not emotionalism and
a display of the flesh. It's a crying out of the heart
to God for his mercy and grace. That's right. And the person
who really knows God will not tolerate any preacher violating
his word. It's like Spurgeon said, if you
go to hear a false preacher one time, that's his fault. You didn't know what he was going
to preach. You were there, just happened to be there. You go
back here twice, that's your fault. If you go to hear more than twice,
that's your condemnation. That's just so. I'll tell you
the second reason why people tolerate false religions and
false gods and false preachers is an uncertainty. They're uncertain about what
they claim to believe. It's like Elijah on Mount Carmel. He said to the people, how long,
how long Halt ye between two thoughts. If God be God, follow
him. That's right. If God be God,
if the Lord be God, follow him. If Baal be God, follow him. What was the response? And the people answered him,
not a word. Some of you, I saw you say amen.
When I said God be God, I saw you say amen. These people didn't.
They didn't know. Uncertain. And that's the way
it is out yonder. The reason they're fearful about
condemning anything anybody believes, they're not sure that what they're
hearing is so. That's right. If you were sure, you wouldn't
hesitate a moment. You wonder why I preach so dogmatically? Because I know whom I have to
lead. Paul said that. I know whom I
have to lead. I am persuaded beyond a shadow
of a glimmer of a doubt that he's able. He's able to do all
that he promised. He's able to save them that were
most that come to God by Him. He's able to keep us from falling.
He's able to present us faultless before His presence with exceeding
joy. And He's able to raise these
vile bodies and make them like His. I believe that. He's able. And here's the third reason why
people tolerate false gods. Unbelief. That's right. Paul said, I know whom I have
to leave. I'm persuaded he's able to keep
that which I've committed to him. My soul's well-being and
welfare is not in the hands of a preacher, not in the hands
of a denomination. It's not in the hands of a church.
It's not in the hands of any man. It's not in my hands. I've
committed it to him. That's what he said over there
in John 10. I didn't go on and read the rest of that, I'll just
read it to you. He said, My sheep, verse 27, hear my voice,
I know them, they follow me, I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish, and nobody's going to take them out
of my hand. My father gave them me. He's
greater than all, and no man can take him out of his hand.
Paul said something here. He said, Him whom you tolerate
and call the unknown God, I want to tell you about Him, the God
that people by nature do not know, but people by revelation
do. The Son of God has come and given
us an understanding that we may know Him. That is truth. the true God and Jesus Christ
whom he has sent. This is the true God, this is
eternal life. Now, here it is. He's talking
about Christ here now. He made the world and all things
therein. He made the world, our God did.
Turn to John 1. That's the first thing Paul said
about him here, and John did too in his book. He made the
world. It says in chapter 1 of John,
in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word
was God. The same was in the beginning
with God, and all things were made by him. Without him was not anything
made that was made. Our God made the world. And he
said in Revelations he made it for his pleasure and his glory. Colossians 1. I tell you, if you could read
this over and over again and rejoice, talking about our Lord
Jesus Christ, Colossians 1, verse 14, in whom we have redemption
through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of
the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. By him were
all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible,
invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions. or principalities
or powers. All things were created by him
and for him, and he's before all things, and by him all things
consist. And this mighty one is the head
of the church, the body of the church. He's our Redeemer. He's the beginning, he's the
firstborn from the dead, and in all things he might pray for
you. Let's move on. What else is there?
Our text, Acts 17, he made the world and all things therein. The earth is the Lord's, and
the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein.
He founded it upon the sea, and he established it on the flood.
He's Lord of heaven and earth. We don't make him Lord. We don't permit him to be Lord.
We don't let Jesus be Lord. Let Jesus be your Lord. Now,
I'm silent. He is. He is Lord of heaven and
earth. God made him Lord. Turn to Philippians
2. Him declare I unto you. He's Lord. Verse 6 of Philippians
2, "...who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. He
came into the world in human flesh, took on him the form of
a servant. He was made in the likeness of
men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself,
became obedient unto death." The ignominious, humiliating, suffering death of the cross
died for his people. All right, verse 9. Wherefore,
God also, God the Father, hath highly exalted him, and given
him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every name, every name, every knee shall bow in heaven, angels,
seraphims, cherubims, believers on earth, demons under the earth,
and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father. He's Lord. Paul said in Romans he died that
he might be Lord of the dead and the living. That's what it
said, because he died, God made him Lord. And when he prayed in John 17,
I want you to look at this, John 17. I want you to turn here. I'm declaring him, that's what
Paul said, him I'm declaring unto you. Him declare unto you.
John 17, verse 2. Now verse 1, that's John 17,
these words speak Jesus. Lifted his eyes to heaven, said,
Father, thou has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
may also glorify thee. Now watch it. As thou has given
him power, authority, unquestionable authority, over what? All flesh. All flesh. all flesh, that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal,
that they might know thee the only true God, only true God,
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. He's Lord. Notice the third thing now in
Acts 17. And he dwells not in temples
made with hands." I want you to read what Solomon
said about this, 2 Chronicles. I think this is without much
comment from me. You know, our Lord said to the
woman at the well, you worship you don't know what. She said,
our fathers worship in the mountains, you Jews worship in the temple
in Jerusalem. He said, you don't know what
you worship. God is spirit. God is spirit. God doesn't dwell
in temples made with hands, and churches, and cathedrals. God is spirit. They that worship
God, worship Him in spirit. Listen to Solomon talking about
the temple he's building. 2 Chronicles 2 verse 4. Behold, I build a house to the
name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to him, to burn before him
sweet incense, for the continual show-breaking, for the burnt
orphans morning and evening on the Sabbath. on the new moons
and the solemn feast of the Lord our God. This is back in the
Old Testament, Passover and all these things. This is an ordinance
for him at the Israel. And the house which I built is
great. He didn't build a shanty. How many years it took him to
build that thing? A temple? And it's great because great
is our God above all heathen idols. But who is able to build
him a house? Seeing that heaven and the heaven
of heavens can't contain him, who am I then that I should build
him a house? Save only for one purpose, to burn sacrifices before him.
A place to meet, a place to preach, a place to offer sacrifices of
praise and prayer. But this is not God's dwelling
place. No church, no cathedral, no temple,
no building is God's dwelling place. The heaven of heavens
can't contain him. The earth is his footstool. Where two or three are met in
my name, they may meet under in a cave somewhere. They may
meet in a living room somewhere. They may meet out somewhere under
a tree. They may meet in a nice place
built here for us to meet in. But this is not God's house. God doesn't dwell in temples
made with hands. A man wrote me this week trying
to get me to join a campaign. to keep from overpopulating the
world. But he said, you understand,
I'm a Catholic. Well, God isn't. God isn't a
Catholic, a Protestant, or a Jew. God's not a Baptist. God's not
a Methodist. God isn't God. That's like spirit. He doesn't dwell in temples made
with hands. doesn't dwell in organizations. I wouldn't doubt if what happened
to these great revivals under Luther and Knox and Whitfield
and others, when God was pleased to move in unusual power, refreshing
and revival, I wouldn't doubt but what they
lost, their blessings when they organized,
when they made denominations. These men, God sent these men,
with Peale and Luther and Hess and Knox. And there was
a movement of God, a reformation, visitation of the Spirit of God.
People, not by names and persuasions, but by the Spirit of God, recognized
the living God, called on and worshipped. And then they organized
them and drew up some articles of organization, some bylaws,
elected some officers. And that's what all the denominations
now have gone down the road. Because God doesn't dwell in
temples made with hands. And verse 25 says that he's not
worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything. He's
not worshipped with men's hands. as though he needed anything,
seeing he gives to all life, breath, and all things, as though
God needed anything from us. He's not served with human hands
as if he lacked anything. Turn to Psalm chapter 50. Listen
to this. Psalm chapter 50. Let's read
verses 9 through 15. Psalm 50 verse 9. We have our religious slogans
today. We don't, but the world does.
God has no hands but your hands. God has no feet but your feet. We can't spell church without
you. I saw that on the billboard one
time. C-H-R-C-H. It says you can't spell church
without you. He spent a long time without
me. Give God a chance. Listen to the Lord speak. Now
listen to this. I'll take no bullock out of thy
house, nor he goats out of thy foes. Every beast of the forest
is mine, the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of
the mountains. I call them by name. Every little
bird, God knows them. The wild beasts of the field,
they're mine. If I were hungry, I wouldn't
tell you. The world is mine and the fullness
of it all. But I eat the flesh of bulls
and drink the blood of goats. Offer unto God thanksgiving. That's what you offer to God.
We don't give God anything but praise. We give to one another. We help the missionaries to preach
the gospel. You help your pastor to study
and teach the word. You keep the program on television
so people can hear the gospel, hear the word of God. We help
folks who are in need. But we don't give God anything. Don't give your offering with
any thought that you're contributing to God. You're serving the Lord and serving
one another. He said, inasmuch as you've done
it to the least of these, you've done it to me. But he says, if
I needed anything, I wouldn't ask you. Brother Barnard, when
he passed it out, that Barnard of Texas, He wasn't but about
25 years old and had, I think, 21 saloons and 21 gambling halls
in the town, oil town. He was the only preacher in the
whole town. There wasn't another preacher.
Thousands of people just converged on that oil town, big boom, you
know, and Barney was the only preacher fresh out of seminary. And a group of people brought
him there to to organize a Baptist church and build a building and
worship, preach the gospel. No other church in town, no other
preacher, he was there. And he met with them, preached
to them, and they were going to try to build a building. So
he went downtown and called on all the saloons to get a contribution. Young man, you know. He went
in and asked the They had money in those places, where the money
was, in the saloon in Gambler. So he went to pick up an offer
to build a church. He went to one saloon and the
fellow said, are you a preacher? He said, yes, I am. He said,
well, roll out that barrel and let him get up there and preach.
He said, wait a minute, let's see if you're a preacher. Byron
said, one of the first sermons I preached in that town was in
a saloon standing on a whiskey barrel. I told him who God is. And they gave him money. He had
his pockets full of money, he told me. Just full of money. And he met one of his parishioners,
one of the fellows that helped start the church. And he said, Preacher, what are
you doing? He said, I'm going around taking up money to build
a church. He said, Pastor, you can't build
a large church with the devil's money. Ross said, I didn't know
the devil had any money. God said that all the gold and silver
is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills is mine. But he said, I
tell you what, if I run into any of the devil's money, I'll
give it back to him. Our God's too mighty and great
and majestic and wonderful to confine Him to a place. And depending upon these hands, I'm so dependent I can't even
explain how dependent I am on Him. I can't breathe. He told Job
that. Let's read that. I'm not going
to keep you long. I want you to read Job 38. Job 38. Now let's look at this. Just
a few minutes. Job 38. You know Job was a godly
man. He loved God, but he's a pretty
arrogant fella. He's pretty self-righteous. We can't speak too strongly about
that now, can we? He was defending himself while
he was doing it. He had some fellows giving him
a hard time. But the Lord didn't excuse him.
Verse 38, The Lord answered Job out of whirlwind, saying, Who
is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Granted
up now your loins like a man, I'll demand of thee, and you
answer thou me. Where were you when I laid the
foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have any understanding.
Who laid the measures thereof, if you know? Who hath stretched
the line upon it? Wherefore are the foundations
thereof fastened? Who laid the cornerstone thereof?
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted
for joy. Who shut up the sea with doors
when it broke forth, as if it had issued out of the womb When
I made the cloud the garment of, and thick darkness a swaddling-bed
for it, and break up at my decreed place, and set bars and doors,
and I said to the sea, Here thereto shalt thou come, but no farther,
and here shall thy proud way and ways be stayed. Have you
commanded the morning since your days? Have you caused the day-spring,
the dawn, to know his place, that it might take hold of the
ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it? Look
down at verse 19. Where is the way where light
dwelleth? That's the darkness. Where is the place thou? That
thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou
shouldest know the path to the house thereof. Knowest thou it,
because thou wast then born? Where were you, because the number
of your days is great? Have you entered into the treasure
of the snow? Have you seen the treasures of the hail? which
I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of
battle and war. By what way is the light parted
which scattereth the east winds upon the earth? I want you to
read also, turn over to chapter 41. This is, I love this chapter. Just for a moment, chapter 41
of Job. I know it's talking about the
whale here. Leviathan, that's a whale. Verse 41, Can you draw
out Leviathan with a hook, or his tongue with a cord, which
thou lettest down? Now, I thought about this the
other night, and I watched a whale out at sea, and I had a picture
of this giant, long as it had its face hidden in it. And God's
talking about the whale. Can you put a hook in his nose,
or bring his jaw through with a thorn? Will he make many supplications
to you? Will he speak soft words to you? Will he make a covenant with
you? Will you take him for a servant, make him do your will? Will you
play with him like you play with a bird? I love that, don't you? Will you bind him for your maidens? Shall the companions make a banquet
of him? Shall they part him among the
merchants? I tell you, verse 8, he said,
lay your hand on it and remember the Bible, and you won't do it
again. Oh, my! Well, let me get on with this
Acts 17 and quit. Verse 25, he's not worshipped
with men's hands, as though he needed anything. He gives to
all life and breath and all things. Now, pause here a moment. He
gives life and breath. natural life and breath. Everything
that breathes, everything that walks, breathes and lives, God
gave it life. That's right. Verse 26, And he
made of one blood all nations of men, to dwell on all the face
of the earth, that determined the times before according to
the bounds of their habitation. All men came from Adam, All came
from Adam. And I want to ask four questions
and then I'll close. They had natural life in Adam.
What happened in the garden? What happened in the garden?
God made that one man and everybody came from him. That man sinned
and fell and died, spiritually died. And that death passed on
all men. So we're born with natural life,
but no spiritual life. God gave him natural life. God
gave him spiritual life, and he sinned and died. He lost spiritual
life. And all men come from him, dirty
and sin. That's the condition. Now then,
the second question I ask is, what happens in the heart of
a sinner when he's saved? Well, he receives life. Spiritual
life. Well, who gives it to him? Who
gives him spiritual life? Well, the scripture says this,
that we're born of God. We're born of the Spirit of God
and the Word of God. We're born, not of the will of
the flesh, not of the will of man, but born of God. That's
what scripture says. The Son quickens whom he will.
You have to quicken who is dead and trespasses and sins. So a
man receives life. A man is convicted of sin. Well,
who convicts him of sin? Let's turn to John 16. Who convicts
him of sin? John 17 says, verse 8, And when
he is come, he will convict the world of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment. So it's God who convicts him
of sin. Who gives him repentance? That's
the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. he receives life, he's convicted
of sin, repents, then he believes. But where does he get the faith?
Well, faith is the gift of God, not of works, as any man should
pose. And then he perseveres, but who
keeps him? We're kept by the power of God
through faith. So this verse here in When Apostle
Paul says in verse 25, he's not worshipped with men's hands as
though he needed anything seeing. He gives life. He gives to all
natural men life. And he gives to all believers
life. And breath and all things. It's the gift of God. Sovereign
Lord. And that brings us to verse 27. So, me and all to seek the Lord. Bartimaeus did. He cried out,
Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me. The publican did in the
temple. He said, Lord, be merciful to
me. The leper did when he came down from the mountain. He said,
Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. The Canaanite woman
did. She said, Lord, have mercy on
me. All men should seek the Lord.
If haply they might see it after Him and find Him. He's not far
from every one of us. In Him we live and move and have
our being. Where is God? You want to find
God? Don't go to a place. Don't go
to an altar. Don't go to a shrine. Don't go
to a place. Don't go to a preacher. He's
everywhere. He's not far from every one of
us. In Him we live and move and have
our being. God is God. Omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. Call on Him. Wherever you are,
call on Him. In Him we live and move and have
our being. There's a Romans 10, and let's
close with this. Romans chapter 10. Romans 2. And I would say to
the young people, to those here who have never come to an understanding
of the gospel and knowledge of Christ, come on in. Seek the
Lord. Where do you go to seek the Lord?
Well, get in touch with a preacher. Don't do it. Come to an altar. Don't do it.
Come to the front. Don't do it. Come to God. He's not far from every one of
us. In him we live and move. He gave us life. He who gave
me physical life can give me spiritual life. We sang a while
ago, the hearing ear and the seeing eyes of God. Man can't
do that. Romans 10, you listen to this. Verse 5, Moses describes the
righteousness which is of the law, that the man that doeth
these things shall live by them. That's if you want to finally
accept what's with God by what you do, then the law is your
best place to go. But I warn you, don't go there,
because he'll only condemn you. But the righteousness which is
of faith, now listen, this righteousness by faith speaks on this wise.
Don't say in your heart, well who's gonna send him to heaven,
let him bring Christ back, he's already come. We need to make
a pilgrimage to heaven, or to Jerusalem, or to Mecca, or to
somewhere, to nowhere. He's already come. Or who should
ascend into the deep? That is to bring up Christ again
from the dead. Signs and wonders. No. He's already
risen. What does it say? The Word of
God is nigh thee, it's even in your mouth. You sang it just
while ago. Marvelous grace of our lovely
Lord. Grace, grace. You were singing
the very words that say, Grace, Lord Christ. It's in your mouth. It's in your heart. You're thinking,
you're thinking, I'm a sinner, but he's a sinner Savior. You're
thinking, but I've done so many things wrong. that he's able
to say to the uttermost of them to come to God by him. This is
what it is. It's not going somewhere, it's
not doing something, it's not... I don't believe it. The Word is now the... Seek the
Lord. He's not far from any of us. Where shall I flee from thy presence?
If I sit in heaven, I'll dare. If I make my bed in the grave,
I'll dare. If I go to the uttermost parts
of earth, he's there. If I stand right here, he's here.
If I get out on the highway this
afternoon, he's there. Believe him. Believe who he is,
what he did, why he did it, where he is now. Believe him. It's
in your mouth, in your heart. It's the word of faith which
we think. But here it is, if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth, Jesus to be Lord. Well, he is. He is. Whether you confess it
or not, it would be awful good for you if you did. Awful good. And believe in your heart. God
raised him from the dead. Well, you can be saved wherever
you've got a mouth and a heart. Then that's been a building.
Then that's been an altar. It doesn't say anything about
these things. It's in your mouth. It's in your heart. My mouth
says he's Lord. My heart believes him.