Men Should Seek the Lord

Q: What does the Bible say about seeking the Lord?

The Bible commands men to seek the Lord, emphasizing that eternal life comes from knowing Him. The Bible teaches in Acts 17:27 that 'men ought to seek the Lord,' highlighting the importance of pursuing a relationship with the living God rather than mere religious practices. The true knowledge of God is essential, as articulated in John 17:3, which states that eternal life is knowing the one true God and Jesus Christ. This passage emphasizes that seeking the Lord leads to a more profound understanding of His character and purpose.

Q: How do we know God is sovereign?

Scripture clearly declares that God is sovereign over all creation, as seen in Acts 17:24-25. God's sovereignty is a fundamental doctrine within Reformed theology, captured in Acts 17:24-25, where Paul states that 'God made the world and all things therein; seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth.' This underscores God's ultimate authority and control over all creation. Additionally, passages like Psalms 115:3 and Daniel 4:35 further affirm that God does as He pleases, whether in heaven or on earth, demonstrating His supreme rule and governance over all events.

Q: Why is knowing God important for Christians?

Knowing God is crucial for Christians as it defines the essence of eternal life and true worship. The importance of knowing God cannot be overstated in Christian theology. Acts 17:27 emphasizes that God is not far from each one of us, and true worship stems from a genuine relationship with Him. John 17:3 further highlights that eternal life is defined by knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent. This relationship surpasses religious formality; it requires a heart connected to God through faith. True worship is not bound by rituals or traditions but is an intimate and spiritual engagement with the living God.

Q: What does Paul mean by the 'Unknown God' in his sermon?

Paul uses the 'Unknown God' to reveal the true God amidst the Athenians' religious confusion. In Acts 17, Paul refers to the 'Unknown God' as a means to introduce the Athenians to the one true God they were unknowingly worshipping. This altar, erected by them out of fear and uncertainty, symbolizes the limitations of their understanding and the multitude of false gods they were serving. Paul boldly declares that this unknown God is the Creator of the universe, urging them to turn away from their idols and embrace the true God who desires to be known. This act of declaring the true identity of God emphasizes His sovereignty and the call for genuine worship over mere religion.

I'm going to be speaking to you
today from the Book of Acts. Now, if you have your Bibles,
I'd like very much for you to take the Word of God and turn
to the 17th chapter of the Book of Acts. I'm going to be reading,
beginning at verse 22, and reading several verses, verse 22 through
31, and speaking to you on this subject, men ought to seek the
Lord. That's the title of the message,
Men Ought to Seek the Lord. Now here in chapter 17 of the
book of Acts, we have an account of a sermon that was preached.
And there's several things that should be noted as we look at
this particular sermon. I want you to get your Bible
now, Acts 17, and be following as I read these scriptures. But
I want to point out several things in regard to this particular
sermon. It's a very important sermon.
The first thing is this, by whom was this sermon preached? Well,
it was preached by the apostle Paul, the glorious God-ordained,
God-sent apostle to the Gentiles. Paul preached this particular
sermon. Now, secondly, where was this
sermon preached, this sermon you're looking at there in Acts
chapter 17? Where was it preached? Well, it wasn't preached in some
small town or backwoods community. This particular sermon was preached
in Athens. Athens, the city of learning,
city of philosophers, city of leadership, one of the world's
great cities. And this particular place where
it was preached is called Mars Hill, a very important place
where Men met from everywhere to discuss all the new ideas
and philosophy and education and things of this nature. Well-known
place in a well-known city. And then thirdly, to whom was
the sermon preached? Now, it was preached, first of
all, to the judges of the court. And it was preached to the wise
and learned philosophers. And it was preached to the different
sects and cults and movements that were assembled in that city
at that particular time and to all the citizens. It's a very
important sermon. And then I ask this question.
Why do I preach it to you today? Why am I insisting that you follow
in the Bible and that you listen as I preach and that you consider
this sermon that I'm going to bring to you from Acts 17? Well,
I'll tell you why. Tell you why I'm preaching this
sermon. Because it's so applicable to this particular day. In fact,
to me, it is as if the sermon had never been preached. It is
as if this sermon had been saved by God, written in the scriptures
and never preached and never read till 1989, this particular
day in which we live. It's so applicable to our day
And you'll see this as I read these verses, these statements
that Paul made on Mars Hill in Athens to these people. Now let's
begin at verse 21. Let's begin at verse 21 of Acts
17. And Paul says here in verse 21,
ye men of Athens, ye men of Athens, now he's standing before this
great crowd of people. on Mars Hill. And he says, ye
men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. Now, anyone who knows anything
about the Bible knows that that word superstitious there is religious. Look it up in your Greek lexicon.
You will find that out. Paul is saying, I perceive in
every way, on every hand, at every turn I make, walking through
your city, I perceive that you are most religious, your religion
is everywhere, your religion is so evident. In fact, they
had more gods and more altars and more temples and shrines
and religious holy days than most any other nation. It was
a religious, a most religious nation. Is this not true of our
day Is this not true of January 1989 in this country, in the
USA? In our state, your state, my
city, your city, religion's everywhere. Religion. I'm not talking about
godliness. I'm not talking about a true
knowledge of the living God. I'm talking about religion. Religion is everywhere. Religion
affects and influences almost everyone, from the White House
all the way down to the jails. We have hundreds of denominations. We have hundreds of religious
organizations. We have 24-hour religious radio,
24-hour religious television. We have churches on every corner. We have religious schools, holidays. 24 hours a day, we have religion
in this country through the night and through the day. Religion
of all types, forms, ceremonies, shrines, altars, tabernacles,
temples, everything, religion is everywhere. And Paul, if he
was speaking to you today and walking through Huntington or
Ashland or Barbersville or Parkersburg or Beckley, he'd say, I'll tell
you one thing is evident, you folks are religious. And that's what he's saying here,
you folks sure are religious. And then in verse 22, now listen
to him, and I passed along through the streets of your As I walked
through the streets of your city, verse 22, I observed all of your
shrines and your altars and your religious buildings, and I came
upon an altar with this inscription, To the Unknown God. Paul said
that I walked through your city and I saw all the shrines and
altars and religious buildings. I saw one altar that had this
inscription, To the Unknown God. Now I ask you, Why do you suppose
that these religious people of Athens would erect an altar with
such an inscription, to the unknown God? Why would they do that?
They all had their various types of religion, all had their various
beliefs, they all had their own gods, and here they've erected
an altar to the unknown God. Why would they do that? Well,
I'll tell you why. It was erected out of fear. This
altar to the unknown God was erected out of uncertainty, fear
and uncertainty. They were not sure of their gods. They were not sure of their ways
of worship. So they just raised an altar,
they erected an altar to whatever gods or whatever god there may
be. And they did it out of doubt,
fear and uncertainty. They weren't satisfied with their
religion, so they erected an altar to whatever god there may
be, an unknown god, to keep from offending anyone. And this is
the reason today, now you listen to me, you listen carefully,
this is the reason today why men and women tolerate all manner
of religious foolishness, and religious emotionalism, and religious
tradition, and religious form and ceremony. Today in America,
men and women accept all manner of religion, no matter how ridiculous
it is. And they condemn none. Now why
do they do this? Why do they do this? I'll tell
you why. Because of fear and uncertainty. They are uncertain
of what they believe, they are uncertain of their knowledge
of God, and they are fearful that whatever religious exercise
is going on around them, just They could be right. They could
be right. Don't talk about anybody, they
could be right. Don't condemn any kind of religious activity,
no matter how foolish it is, no matter how far out it is.
They could be right. So I'm saying this, religious
tolerance in this day and religious permissiveness is not out of
love. That's not it. Well, let everybody
do what he wants to. It's not love. It is born of
fear. It is born of uncertainty. It
is born of ignorance of God. Because if a man really knows
God, now listen to me, if a man really knows God, really knows
God's character, and really knows God's attributes and God's word,
he will not tolerate a false worship. If he really knows God
and he's sure of it, confident of it, He's certain that God
is who he is in his divine attributes and character, then he'll not
tolerate a false worship. If a man knows who Jesus Christ
is and what he did and why he did it and where he is now, he'll
not tolerate a false gospel. He'll not permit a false gospel.
He'll certainly not support a false gospel. If a man knows that salvation
is by grace alone, by the grace of God through the mercy of Christ
alone, he'll not tolerate salvation by works. He'll not put up with
it. He'll certainly not give any
agreement with it. He certainly won't support it.
If a man knows that God is spirit and God's worshiped in spirit,
he'll not tolerate idols. He'll not tolerate form and relics. Religious relics? Do you know
what toleration is in this regard? It's fear. And that's what Paul
said to these people. He said, you're very religious,
folks. Very religious. And I walked
down your street and I saw all your shrines and altars, temples
and cathedrals, and he said, I found one to the unknown God.
The unknown God. And I'll tell you why people
do that. It's out of uncertainty and fear and doubt. of their
own faith, of their own position. Because I tell you this, only
uncertainty and doubt will make room for religious confusion
and religious pandemonium like we have today. Only uncertainty
and doubt and fear. Now look at verse 23, and Paul
says here in verse 22 and 23, he said, this unknown God that
you ignorantly acknowledge I'm going to declare him to you.
I'm going to tell you who he is. I'm going to tell you who
the living God is. I'm going to tell you who the
unknown God is, the God of heaven and earth. I'm going to tell
you about him, this God you do not know." Now, here's what Paul
suggested. He is saying, back off from where
you are. Back off from all your religious
traditions and all of the old wives' fables that you learn
through the years and all the junk that's been accumulated
through the years. Let's just back off from it.
Let's back off from this form and ceremony that we followed,
all the emotionalism and superstition and the organizations and institutions
that we've created. Let's back off from these things,
and let's find out who God is. God's not who we think he is.
God's not even who we say he is. God is who he is. Almighty
God is who he says he is. Let's find out who he is. Let's
find out who we are. Let's find out how the God of
heaven can be worshipped, how he can be known. Why not just
back away from all this mad snowball that's rolling down the hill
and gaining momentum and picking up folks as it goes, all of this
scatterbrain, emotional excitement called religion, and let's find
out who God is. and how the living God is to
be worshipped. Do you dare do that? Verse 24, and now listen to Paul.
He's speaking here to these religious people with all their altars.
He said, I'll tell you who God is. God made the world and all
things therein. And he's the Lord of heaven and
earth. He's the Lord. God made the world. And this God is the Lord, the
sovereign, supreme, almighty Lord of heaven and earth. He's
sovereign. He's all-wise. He created all
things by the word of his power, all things in heaven and all
things on earth. They said to David, where's your
God? David said, our God's in the
heavens. He hath done whatsoever he pleased. Whatsoever the Lord
pleased, that did he in heaven, earth, in the seas, and in all
deep places. None can stay his hand, nor say
unto him, What doest thou? Nebuchadnezzar said, When my
senses returned to me, I realized that the Most High God ruleth
in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of this
earth, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. God is sovereign He
is sovereign in creation. He is sovereign in providence.
He is sovereign in salvation. God is God. That's what I'm saying. This is what Paul is saying.
He's saying, men, I'm telling you something. God made the world. And the living God is Lord, sovereign
King of heaven and earth. He rules supremely over all creation
and all creatures. And he says in the next line,
and he doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. We erect some
building and call it God's house. God has no house. God doesn't
dwell in a house or a temple or a church made with human hands. While Solomon said when he built
that temple, he said, how can I build a house for God when
the heaven of heavens won't contain him? Oh, how small and ignorant
must be our thoughts of God when we try to confine Him to a building,
to a church building, to a denomination. God's not a Catholic. God's not
a Baptist. You are, but God's not. God's
not a Pentecostal. God's not a Church of Christ
or Church of God or Nazarene. God is the living God. Whither
shall I flee from thy presence, David said? If I send into heaven,
thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, thou
art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, thou art there."
God doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. Where did this
start? Who concocted this mess that
we're in today? And God's not worshipped with
men's hands, whether they're working or waving. Look at it,
verse 25, God's not worshipped with men's hands as though he
needed anything. Almighty God is independent and
sufficient. He said to Job, he said, where
were you when I created the world? Where were you when I set the
bounds of the seas? Where were you when I established
the seasons? If you know, answer me, God said.
God has no hands, but your hands. You ever heard that? Are you
joking? I hear preachers say that all the time. God has no
hands, but your hands. God has no feet, but your feet.
Are you kidding? Heard one say one day, God wants
to bless you, but you won't let him. Now, are you serious about
that? You mean you have the power to
stop Almighty God from doing what he pleases when he spoke
and the world came into being? God stands outside your heart's
door knocking and you won't let him in. Which God are you talking
about? Which God are you talking about, your God or the living
God? Why, do you know what the hand of God would do to the door
of your heart if he touched it? If he touched it? He touched
eyes and they saw, he touched limbs and they walked, he touched
the dead man and he lived. And you talk about him rapping
on your heart's door. The God of heaven doesn't need
you or me or help from anybody. He said, if I was hungry, I wouldn't
ask you. He needs no assistance. He needs nothing from the creature.
That's what Paul is saying here. He's saying, let's find out who
God is. The unknown God. Why, he made
the world. He's Lord of heaven and earth.
He dwells not in temples made with hands. What's the next verse? He gives to all life, breath,
and all things. All things are from God, not
from you and me to God, but from God to us. My friends, true worship
is not external, it's internal. True worship is not with a hand,
it's with a heart. True worship is not a fleshly
form, it's spiritual knowledge. God dwells not in buildings,
God dwells not in organizations. God is not worshipped with flesh
and form in men's hands, God is worshipped from the heart,
he is spirit. And look at verse 26, and he
made from one blood, he made from one blood all nations and
all men. He made from one source, one
origin, One blood. Now, you may divide people into
nations and classes and colors and circles and cults and all
these things, but I'll tell you this, God says they all come
from Adam. We all have the same root. That's
Adam. Wherefore, by one man, Adam's
sin entered this world, and death by sin, so death passed upon
all men. By one man's offense, death reigned. By one man's offense, judgment
came upon all. For in Adam all died. God Almighty
created one man, and all the rest of us came from him. We
were in Adam. God set forth the nations. God
determined the times appointed for each one. God divided men
into nations. God gave them their different
languages to speak. God set the bounds of their habitation. God established their lands and
their lives. This is the true God. This is
the true God. Don't apologize for him. This
is the sovereign God, the sufficient God, the God who is spirit. This
is the fountain of life. This is the giver of every gift.
This is the Lord of heaven and earth who gives it to whom he
will. This is God. That doesn't sound a whole lot
like the God I hear preached today. No, it's not the God you
hear preached today. It's the unknown God, which is
the God of the Bible. It's the only one who can claim
the name God. God is almighty. God is all-powerful. God is all-present. God is all-knowing. God is God. And verse 27, Paul
said, and men should seek this God. Not going about their activities
of a self-imposed religion, but seek God. Turn from their idols
and turn from their religious ways and turn to God. I wish
I could get this across to my generation. Eternal life is not
in religion, it's in knowing God. Jesus Christ said that in John
17.3. This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. The Son of God
hath come and given us an understanding that we may know the true God.
This is eternal life, and this is the true, true God. Men ought
to seek the Lord, this God, the God who is revealed in his Word,
the God who is revealed in Christ. Don't seek the right doctrine.
Seek the Lord. If you have Him, you'll have
the truth. Don't seek the right church.
Somebody said, I'm looking for the perfect church. You won't
find it. But if you find Him, you'll be in His church. Don't
seek the right form and ceremony. To love Him is to worship Him.
To know Him is to walk with Him. Seek the Lord. Don't seek heaven. Seek him. He is life in heaven. And to have him is to be with
him. Don't seek the gifts. I know a lot of people seeking
the gifts. Seek the giver. If you have the giver, you have
the gifts. Men ought to seek the Lord. He
said, look at that verse, that they might feel after him, experience
him, and find him. Well, where'd I find God, preacher?
Well, look at verse 27 and 28. Men ought to seek the Lord. He's
not far from every one of us. For in Him we live, and move,
and have our being. You see that? You don't have
to go to a place to find God, or a priest to find God, or a
preacher to find God, or an altar to find God. God is. And He's
not far from you. He's not far from every one of
us. In Him we live. He gave us life. In Him we move. All motion. I just moved my hand. All motion is of God. All motion, internal and external,
is of God. In Him we live, move, and have
our being. He said He gave us life, breath,
and all things. And we're his offspring. Did
you hear that? We are his offspring. Will you
listen to me a moment? Don't get mad at me now, just
listen to me. And read right here. Now, if we're his offspring,
created in his image, look at that verse, verse 27, 28. Why
do you think God is like gold, silver, or stone? Huh? Or connected with man's
art and devices? We are his creation. Now, he
created us in his own image. God made man. God made man in
his own image. We're his offspring. Now, why
do you think God is a stone or a piece of sculpture or a picture
or a building? You're a person. You're a spirit. You have a heart and a will and
feelings. And God made you. What do you
have to do with statues and stones? and gold and silver and houses
and altars. You say nothing. What do you
respond to? Love? Kindness? Faith? Loyalty? Truth? Why do you think
God dwells in buildings and stones and idols? Why do you think God's
pleased when you kiss a stone's toe or rub the top of a head
of a stone statue? Why do you think that appeals
to God? It doesn't appeal to you. And you're his offspring. You
created his image. I tell you, all of our religious
tradition ought to be considered in the light of God is a person
and God is spirit. You look at this religious emotionalism
and tell me that that appeals to you. It does not appeal to
anyone with any intelligence and it doesn't appeal to God
who is far superior and higher than heaven is above the earth.
in intelligence and glory from you and me. And I hear people
calling it prayer and they scream and yell. Don't talk to me that
way. I don't want you walking in my
study or in my home yelling at the top of your voice and calling
my name ten or twelve times in every sentence and shaking your
fist in the air. I'm a person. Sit down and talk
to me intelligently. Sit down and talk to me with
some common sense. Sit down and talk to me in the
quietness of your spirit of love and kindness, and I'll listen
to you. Well, we're his offspring. Why do you think God is like
you think he is? Why do you think these things
appeal to Almighty God when they don't touch you and they don't
appeal to you? It's ignorance. Now, you stop
and think about that a moment. Stop and think. What impresses
you? What are you drawn to? You're
his offspring. Well, just consider he's so much
greater and so infinitely above you, then what would appeal to
God? What would reach the heart of
God? And notice this first. The time of this ignorance God
has suffered and overlooked, but he's appointed a day in which
he'll judge the world in true righteousness by that man whom
he hath ordained, Jesus Christ.

Men Should Seek the Lord

What does the Bible say about seeking the Lord?

How do we know God is sovereign?

Why is knowing God important for Christians?

What does Paul mean by the 'Unknown God' in his sermon?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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Men Should Seek the Lord

What does the Bible say about seeking the Lord?

How do we know God is sovereign?

Why is knowing God important for Christians?

What does Paul mean by the 'Unknown God' in his sermon?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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