over in England many years ago, who planned to paint a picture. And to make that picture complete,
it was necessary for him to find and paint a beggar, a dirty, ragged, needy, beggar. So he left his home and walked
through the run-down sections of London hunting such a character. And he found one. Holes in his
shoes, ragged coat, beard, hair messed up, fingernails dirty,
brittle and broken, long hair, just right for his picture. So he said to the beggar, he
said, I've got a job for you, I want you to do something for
me. And he said, here's my address,
wrote it on a piece of paper, I want you to be there in two
hours I want to use you in a picture." And he gave him a little money.
He said, to make sure you come, I'll give you half of it now,
and when I finish with you, I'll pay you the other half. So he
left him, went on back home, got his easel and canvas and
brushes and paint, got ready to paint the picture. And the
beggar thought, now, if I'm going to pose for a picture, I ought
to look better. So he went to the barber shop,
and he got a haircut. He had the money. And he went to one of the town
baths, and he took a bath. And he shaved. And he had a little
money left over, so he bought him a coat. And he looked pretty
good. And he went to the home of the
artist, knocked at the door. And the artist came to the door,
opened it, and there stood this fairly nice looking gentleman.
And the artist said, and who might you be? Oh, he said, I'm
the subject for your painting. But you're not the man that I
hired. You're not the man that I called.
You're not the man I invited. I cleaned myself up. Don't I
look better? Well, you look better, but you
won't do for my work. I wanted you just as you are. That's the way you have to come.
Somebody said to Mr. Spurgeon one time, he said, you know, he said, what stands
between us and the Lord is our unrighteous self. Oh, Spurgeon
said, no, no, it's not Our unrighteous self that stands between us and
God, it's our righteous self. Your sins don't keep you from
Christ. Your righteousness will. Just
as I am, thou wilt receive. Welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve. Because thy promise I believe. Lamb of God, I come. Acts 17. I don't know why that
I felt especially attracted to this particular passage of Scripture
when I prepared this message for tonight. But I've had people
say to me after I preach a message, you know, you answered my questions. I've been thinking about Maybe
coming to you and asking you about certain things, and if
I just wait, it seems like in the message you answer the questions
that I have on my mind. Maybe I'll answer some questions
tonight. But here in Acts 17, I'm going
to begin with verse 22, but there are several things I need to
point out to you and call to your attention before I comment
on this message. The first of which is this, By
whom was this message preached? I call this a great sermon. This
is a great sermon. This is one of the greatest sermons
ever preached. But by whom was it preached?
Well, it was preached by the Apostle Paul. Paul is preaching
this message. And it's preserved by the Holy
Spirit for us today. Secondly, where was it preached?
Well, this message was preached in Athens. City of learning. City of philosophers. City of
so-called wise men. One of the world's great cities.
And this sermon was preached, it says in verse 22, Paul stood
in the midst of Mars Hill. Actually, this was what they
called a court of the Areopagus, a place or a court where the
wise men gathered. They gathered there, teachers,
philosophers, wise men, they gathered to discuss things, to
hear people speak and teach and present their views of philosophy
and religion or whatever they desired. They came together at
this particular place and that's what it was all about. And Paul
is there, and it says back in verse 18, they weren't very complimentary. My third statement is, to whom
was this message preached? It wasn't preached to the church.
It wasn't preached to an assembly of friends like people to whom
I'm preaching tonight. It was preached to some fellas,
and this is what they said about Paul in verse 18. Then certain philosophers of
the Epicureans and of the Storics, they encountered Paul, and some
said, what will this babbler say? That's not very complimentary. What will this babbler say? We're
going to hear him out. We're going to listen to him.
But we'll see what this babbler has to say. Others said, well,
he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods. because he preached
unto them Jesus Christ and the resurrection. Well, here's the
last question. By whom was it preached? Paul?
Where? Mars Hill? Athens? To whom? These fellows
that had gathered together there to discuss all their mysteries
and earthly wisdom. Why preach this message today?
Well, It's so amazingly applicable to this day, this message. This
message is applicable anywhere you go. Because everywhere you
go, you encounter religion, religion, religion. And it especially fits
our situation today. Actually, it reads like it was
written to Ashland, Kentucky this morning. in the morning
paper. So let's see what Paul says here.
Verse 22, Acts 17. Then Paul stood in the midst
of Mars Hill, and he said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that
in all things ye are very... What's that word there? Religious.
Write it down in your Mark. Religious. Religious. It's evident to me, he says,
on every hand, at every turn, in every place of this city of
Athens. You're religious. Athens, somebody
said Athens had more gods, more altars, more temples, more shrines
than any other city. And isn't that not true of this
city? Is that not true of most cities
in America? Religions everywhere. We have
hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of denominations, organizations,
religious institutions, churches. Do you know that in the South
there are over 35,000 Southern Baptist churches alone? 35,000. We have preachers everywhere,
on radio, television. Witnesses knocking on our doors,
religion is everywhere. And Paul could stand and say
today, ye men of Ashland, I perceive that you are very religious.
Oh, how religious you are. In verse 23 he says, and I passed
by, I walked your streets, I walked your streets and I beheld, I
observed your devotions." That word is the gods you worship,
your shrines. I saw all these shrines and altars
and religious places. I saw all these, these
edifices and things that had been erected in the name of religion
and different gods. And I found an unusual one. I found among all these different
religious altars and shrines, I found an altar with this inscription
written on this altar in your city, I found, to the unknown
God. To the unknown God. I ask myself
this question, why do you suppose that these people, that all these
gods, everybody had their gods and their altars and their shrines
and their buildings and their places of worship, why do you
suppose that these people would build an altar and write on that
altar to the unknown God? Why? It seems like all the altars
Shrines they had would cover all the gods. But here they wrote
to the unknown God. Well, I'll tell you why. Now
listen to me carefully. Fear and uncertainty. Fear and uncertainty. They had
many gods. They had many idols. They had
many ways of worship. But they were not sure that this
God that they owned was the right God. They weren't sure that this
way was the right way. They weren't sure that this God
was the real God. So they raised an altar to whatever
gods may be. If we missed any, this will cover
him too. To whatever gods may be. I thought,
when I wrote that down, to whatever God or whatever gods may be. When I was just a boy, I used
to love poetry. And I read a poem and memorized
it called Invictus. I think we had to read it in
our literature classes, I'm not sure. But it kind of appealed
to me at first because I didn't know what it was saying. Very
boastful. It says it was written by a man
named Henley. He said, Out of the night that
covers me, black as a pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever
gods may be for my unconquerable soul. You remember that poem?
It matters not how straight the gate, how charged with punishment
the scroll. I'm the master of my faith. I'm
the captain of my soul. They acclaimed that poem around
the world. And the thing that caught my
attention as I went back and thought about that poem was this
statement. whatever gods may be. There's bound to be one. So whoever
He is and wherever He is and whatever He is, and that's what these people
are saying here. They had all their gods and their altars and
their shrines and these things, but they went out there and on
purpose erected, raised up, built a shrine to the unknown God. And I'll tell you, now listen
to me real carefully here. This is the reason why men and
women today will tolerate all manner of religious nonsense,
emotionalism, tradition, accept any religion, condemn none. Why? Fear, uncertainty, and ignorance
of the true God. Most religious tolerance is not
because of love, You say, well, let them worship like they want
to, you know, and this is what they ought to say, they may be
right. That's what they're thinking,
they may be right, we may be wrong. Religious tolerance is not always
because of love, it's born of fear, uncertainty, and ignorance
of God, just like these people in Athens. I'll tell you this,
if a man truly knows God, the character of God, the glory of
God, the attributes of God, he'll not tolerate an idol. He'll not
tolerate a false god, if he knows the true God. If he knows the living God. If
he knows the God who is wisdom and righteousness and holiness
and truth and almighty and sovereign in all that He does, in providence
and creation and salvation, he won't put up with a false God.
He won't tolerate it. Now, for democracy's sake, he'll
say, well, those people have a right to do what they're doing. They have that privilege because
it's a free country. But I don't believe what they're
doing. I'm against it. He condemns it. And I tell you
this, now think about this. If a person knows Christ, who
Christ is, the Son of God, the Son of Man, what Christ did came
from Heaven's glory, robed Himself in human flesh, made of a woman,
made under the law to redeem them that are born under the
law to set us free from our sins, what He did, why He did it, that
God may be just and justify the ungodly, and where He is now,
at the right hand of God, as our only intercessor and mediator,
that man will not tolerate a false gospel. He won't do it. He's not afraid of what they
say. I know whom I have believed. He'll be dogmatic. He'll be fanatical. He'll be radical. Other foundation
can no man lay, the apostle said. There's no other name unto heaven
given among men. Give it whatever name you want
to. You turn on this religious television
station that we've got here in Ashland, and that station was
started by Baptist people, Baptist preachers, Baptist deacons. But
they ran short of money, so they had to bring in a whole lot of
other folks, and they put up with all that. Why? Uncertainty. Fear. They really don't know
what they blame. They may be right. Those guys
may be right. That's their thought. I'll tell
you this, if a man knows that salvation is by grace alone,
grace alone, plus nothing, minus nothing, God chose us God redeemed
us, God called us, God keeps us, and God will glorify us.
He will not subscribe to salvation by works under any name, doesn't
matter. Any name. No. And if a man knows God is Spirit,
he will not tolerate crosses, no sir. Shrines, no sir. Idols, no sir. Relics, no sir. I want nothing to do with it.
And this is what Paul is saying here. He is saying, I passed
by all of your devotions, and I saw this altar, this shrine,
to the unknown God. And then he said this, watch.
Whom you, whom therefore you ignorantly worship, Him, I declare
unto you now, I am going to declare unto you, the one God, the living
God, The Almighty God. The God whom you do, by your
own confession, do not know. So forget all the old wise fables
and superstitions. Forget the customs and forms
and ceremonies and traditions. Forget the organizations, institutions,
or whatever. Forget the emotionalism and wildfire. And let's discover who God is. who God is, and how God's to
be worshipped. Now boys and girls, especially
you listen. Listen to the Apostle Paul. I'm
going to declare to you, he said, the one only true God. Now here He is, watch. Number
one. God that made the world and all things therein. God made
the world. He created the heavens and the
earth. David said, when I consider the heavens, the sun, the moon,
the stars, the things that thou hast made. Our God created all
things by the word of His power. He said, let there be light,
and there was light. Turn to Colossians chapter 1.
Colossians chapter 1. Without apology, publicly, plainly,
we declare, we believe that God created the heavens and the earth
and all things therein. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things
were made by Him. That's just God. He made all
things. In Colossians 1 it says this, verse 16, For by Him were
all things Created that are in heaven, now listen, that are
in earth, visible and invisible. We're talking about not only
the trees and the clouds, the things you see, but the things
you do not see. God created. Spirits, angels,
all these things, atoms. God made all things, everything,
visible and invisible. whether they be thrones, or dominions,
or principalities, or powers, good angels and bad angels, elect
angels and fallen angels. All things were created by Him,
and all things were created for Him, for His purpose, for His
glory. He's before all things. And by
Him, these things are held together. I want you to turn to the book
of Isaiah a moment. This is the God we are talking
about. Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. This is our God. And when you
know Him, eternalize to know Him and believe Him, you don't have that uncertainty
and that fear and that tolerance for idols and false gods. Isaiah 45 verse 5, listen, I'm
the Lord and there's none else. There's no God beside Me. I girded
thee, though thou hast not known Me, that they may know from the
rising of the sun and from the west there's none beside Me. I am the Lord. There's none else. I form the light. I create darkness. I make peace. I create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. Drop down, ye heavens, from above.
And let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open. Let them
bring forth salvation. Let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it. Creation, providence, and salvation
by His power. Turn to Isaiah 46. Let's read
this. Isaiah 46 verse 9. Remember the former things of
old. I'm God, there's none else. I'm God, there's none like me.
I declare the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand. I'll
do all my pleasure. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executed my purpose, my counsel from a
far country, yea, I've spoken it. I will also bring it to pass. I've purposed it. I'll do it.
Now listen to me. That's our God. And when we know
Him and believe Him and ascribe all praise and glory to Him,
we will not tolerate the preaching of or the worship of a lesser
God. Won't do it. You meet Him. You
will not tolerate any lesser God. impotent God, powerless
God. You don't want to even listen
to it. That's the reason some of you drive. One lady said to
me, we drive past 30 churches to get here. Why do you drive
past 30 churches? There's another God preached
there. That's why. We come in here to hear about
this God. And that's what Paul said. I'm
going to tell you about this God. He made the world and all things
therein. Now watch. The second thing,
verse 24. seeing that He is the Lord of
heaven and earth. He dwelleth not in temples made
with hands. And God is not a Baptist. And
He is not a Catholic. And He is not a Pentecostal.
God is God. And He doesn't dwell in these
cathedrals and temples and buildings that we built for Him. They can
build those places and put their gods in those places and they'll
stay there, but not this God. Somebody said, this is God's
house. How can you build God a house?
Turn to 2 Chronicles 2, how foolish it is to talk like that. In 2 Chronicles 2, listen to
this. Could God be confined to a building? To an organization? How many
denominations feel like they've got a corner on God? That God
belongs to them? The Jews thought that. Here in 2 Chronicles 2 verse
5, Solomon was going to build the temple. And he said in verse
5 of 2 Chronicles 2, And the house which I build is great,
For great is our God above all idols, but who is able to build
Him a house? Seeing the heaven and the heaven
of heavens cannot contain Him. Who am I then that I should build
Him a house?" Watch it now. Save only to burn sacrifice before. We've built a place here, and this is not A place to which
God is confined or where God especially dwells. This is a
place we have built so big enough for the church to come together
and worship Him and preach His gospel. That's right. This is the place where the church
meets. God dwells in His church and
this is not a church. We're not in the church, we're
in a building. The church is in the building. Sitting out
there in the pews. He dwells in the hearts of his
people. Whither shall I flee from thy
presence? Ascend into heaven. I just read
it. You're there. If I make my bed in the uttermost
parts of the universe, you're there. Everywhere. That's what
Solomon is saying. He doesn't dwell in temples made
with hands. And this is one of the things
they do today. They build these monstrosities. and put these
special windows in them and special edifices and put crosses all
over them and steeples and spires pointing to the heavens and all
these things. Make them look religious. Make
them look like... and people pass by and take their
hats off and stick their thumbs in their mouth and make a cross,
you know, and touch their chin and their nose and all this sort
of weird stuff going by God's house. God's not there! God's
not home. I'll put a sign out in front,
God's not home. He's not there. That's what Paul
is saying to you. He doesn't dwell in these places.
Burn them down for all the good they are. Now, I've got to move
on. Let's read God. Verse 25. God is not worshipped with men's
hands as though He needed anything, seeing He give it. He give it. It's not He receive it. He give
it. Christ said, I didn't come to
be ministered to by you. I came to minister and to give
my life a ransom. Seeing He give it, He give it
to all life and breath and all things. God's not worshipped
with men's hands as though He needed anything. God is independent
and sufficient. All things are of God. Turn over
to Psalm 50. Listen to this psalm. The psalmist
says here in Psalm 50, Beginning with verse 9. All things are from God, not
to God. He giveth. People say, well,
give God your time. Give God your talent. Give God
your time. Listen to what he says in verse
9 of Psalm 50. I'll take no bullock out of your
house. I'll take no he-goat out of your
foals. Every beast of the forest is
mine. And the cattle upon a thousand hills is mine. I know all the
fowls of the mountains. That beautiful eagle that's soaring
over the mountain, that's my eagle. We buy a piece of property and
put a fence around it. God doesn't put a fence around
His property. He owns everything. We buy cattle and we brand them. He doesn't brand His cattle.
They all belong to Him. We write a song and copyright
it. God never copyrights the songs of the birds. That's right. The praise of His angels and
people. It's mine! It's mine. You're just a sharecropper. And I am. That's all. I know
the fowls of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field
are mine. If I were hungry, I wouldn't
tell you. For the world is mine. and the fullness
thereof. That's pretty plain, isn't it?
I love that. That's pretty plain. God is not
worshipped with men's hands, seeing He giveth. Worship is
internal, not external. Worship is with the heart, not
the hands. Worship is spiritual, not fleshly
formed, not formed. I thought when Dan was playing,
And all of us know that song, What a Friend We Have in Jesus.
And I was able to worship. Not saying a word, just listening.
When they were singing, Just As I Am, didn't you worship? I think sometimes when we need
to come together and nobody is saying anything, just sit and
worship. Worship. Worship. God's not worshipped
with men. It's like a parent and child
relationship. I'm not going to pick anybody
in particular, but you have children That parent-child relationship
is the same at all times, in all places, under all conditions. Whether they're in the house,
or in the park, or in the school, or on the street, or separated
by miles, that relationship is there. And you love that child,
that child loves you. And he doesn't have to come to a
place to love you, and to think of you, and to respect you, and
to love you. and to give thanks for you. God's
not... He doesn't dwell in temples.
He's not worshipped with men's hands. He gives. He gives. And watch this next. In verse
26, He's made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on
all the face of the earth. We all came from Adam. All came
from Adam. There's one source, one root.
It doesn't matter whether you're Jew or Gentile, whether you're
white or black, red or yellow, we have one origin. God made
one man, Adam. And Adam is the federal head
and representative of this whole human race. And I can't explain
how we all came from Adam. And yet we're different colors
and cultures and appearances? I can't answer that. Secret things
belong to God that reveal things to me. But I do know it's so. And I do know God confounded
their languages and God sent them off in different places
speaking different languages. There was a time when they all
spoke the same language, came from the same man. When that
man sinned, we sinned. When that man died, we died.
But that's what he's saying here. He hath made of one blood. One
blood. All nations of men to dwell on
the face of the earth. One blood. Brother Scott Richardson
called a man, Brother so-and-so one time, said, Brother Smith. And a fellow said to him, said,
Scott, he said, maybe he's not a Christian, maybe he's not your
brother. Scott said, well, if I don't get him in Christ, I'll
get him in Adam. So we're brothers. We can't be
the same daddy. both fallen creatures. And listen,
and God, what says now, God hath determined the times appointed
and the bounds of their habitation. Now listen to me, God has fixed
the period of time and the boundaries, you say, I know of everybody,
but of every nation. Nations rise and fall at His
decree. Rulers are enthroned and fall
at His will. It's appointed unto me and our
boundaries and the number of our months are with God. But
I'm telling you this, that's what he's saying here. God's
made of one blood all nations to dwell on the face of the earth,
and He determines the times before appointed and the bounds of the
habitation, not only of those men and women, but nations and
people. You Babylonians, you Egyptians,
all of those back yonder, the Hittites and the Amorites The
Philistines are powerful. Gone. The Roman Empire, the Grecian
Empire, maybe someday the American Empire. He sets the balance. That's right. He'll draw the
curtain. He's God. Now then, verse 27, should men
seek such a Lord? You know Isaiah wrote and he
said, why do you pray to a God that can't say? Why do you pray
to a God that can't hear? Why do you pray to a God who
has no hands but your hands? And no feet but your feet? And
no eyes but your eyes? And is altogether such a one
as yourself? This is the God men ought to see. The awesome, awful, almighty
God of heaven and earth, who made all things, whom the heavens
cannot contain. who creates light and darkness
and good and evil. I, the Lord, do all, who declares
the end from the beginning. That's my God. You say, boy,
they're not preaching that today. I know that. And that's what
Paul says here, the unknown God. I'm going to preach Him. He can
save. He's able to save. All that come
to Him, He's able to keep that which I've committed to Him.
He's able to keep us from falling. He's able to present us holy
and faultless without blame. He's able to raise up our bodies. He made them. People ought to seek Him.
Verse 7, they should seek the Lord, if happily they might feel
after Him and find Him. Where is He? He's not far from
every one of us. You just took a breath, He gave
you the breath. You just heard His Word, He gave
you this. You just read, you got eyes and
you read, He gave you the eyes. It ain't far away, is it? I tell
you what, you do this sometimes. You take one step without God.
If a preacher says that's impossible, then he's not very far from every
one of us. Reach out and touch the Lord.
He's not very far away. That's right, because verse 28
says, "...in Him we live, and move, and have our being." You
know, certain also of your own poet said, we're His offspring,
He made us. Now here's something I want you
to see, and I'll close. We're His offspring. Then, for as much then as we
are the offspring of God, if God made me, this God of heaven
and earth made me and you, then we ought not to think that
He's liking to go. I'm not gold. I'm not a statue. I'm not a cross. I'm not a candle. I'm not silver. I'm not an object
graven by art and man's device. I'm a person. Then who made me
as a person? I was made in His image. I'm
a poor replica and likeness now, but I was made in His image.
I'm a person and He's a person. I have love and I love trust
and loyalty. and faith and truth, then God,
the God of heaven and earth, infinitely more powerful, infinitely
more righteous, infinitely more holy, infinitely more wise, is
still akin to the creature that He made. That's right. So why do people think that God
is moved by all this outward demonstration when it doesn't
move me? It's repulsive. It's repulsive. I like to be touched and loved. I like to be believed. I like
to have a friend. I like to walk and talk with
somebody. I don't want somebody to say, oh, Henry, Henry, how are
you, Henry? Whoop-de-doo, Henry. You're a nut. I don't want to
walk with you in the park no more. That doesn't appeal to me. Why
do you think it appeals to God? See what I'm talking about? We're
His offspring. And if we're His offspring, why
do you think that He is gold and silver and statues and stones
and all this sort of thing? I don't want my children and
grandchildren to go kiss a statue of me. I want them to kiss me. Oh, I don't want them to go to
a building and kneel and crawl around on the floor of that building.
I want them to come and get up on my lap and put their arms
around me and say, I love you, Dad, Granddad. That's God. I want them to talk to me in
a sensible fashion. I don't want them just to pop
off, you know. They don't even have to say anything. Just walk along together and
hold hands. Understanding each other. That's
worship. I've learned some things in 69
years. And that's worship. That quiet,
inward love, respect, awe, fear, of a holy God. His rightful place
and power and position and prestige. And I'm so glad He's who He is,
aren't you? That's my God. He's real. He walks with me and talks with
me and I talk to Him. He speaks to me through His Word.
I speak to Him. That's important there. Now verse
30. Now, the times of this ignorance,
and if you'll turn to Acts 14 and 16, it will give you a little
clue here. Acts 14 and 16. Acts 14 and 16, look
at it. Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their
own ways, their own religious ways, idolatry, the Gentile,
heathen, pagan. You see, He suffered. He permitted. He put up. with this ignorance. Are you with me? Now go back
to the text. And the times of this ignorance, God didn't, you
know, we use the word winked at, He tolerated it. He put up
with it. Isn't that what it says? He put
up with it. He let it go. Now listen. But now, but now,
why? God spake in our times past,
our fathers were the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
by son. And now, we have no reason to be in darkness. We have no
reason not to understand. The Son of God has come and given
us an understanding that we may know Him that is true, and that
we are in Him that is true. And this is the true God, and
this is eternal life. And now God commandeth all men
everywhere to repent because He hath appointed a day in which
He is going to judge this world. He's going to judge it in righteousness
by that man, Jesus Christ, whom He hath ordained, whereof He
gave assurance to all men, and that He raised Him from the dead.
There it is. And some of these fellows said,
they laughed, mocked. But some of them said, I believe
we'll hear that again. I believe we'll hear that again.
Oh, may God give us that desire to hear that again. Hear that
again. Aren't you thankful that the
Lord is pleased to reveal to us who He is? At least some. I know we see through a glass
darkly. We know in part. We preach in
part. But in whatever limited knowledge we have and understanding,
We worship Him, give Him the glory. Our Father, we thank You. Thank You for Your Word. Thank
You that when we read this great sermon by Your Apostle, that
we're not mocking, we're not laughing, we're not ridiculing. We'll hear it again. We believe
and assure that Thou art God. And that Jesus Christ is our
son who loved us and gave himself for us. And our confidence and
hope is in him for your glory. Bless us as we go from this place
tonight. Thank you for this day and your
mercies.