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Acts 17:16-34

The One True God

Introduction

“Our situation on this earth seems [rather] strange. Every one

of us appears here, involuntarily and uninvited, for a short stay,

without knowing the why and the wherefore…”

It was the great mind of the 20th century Albert Einstein who

would say these lines in his personal writings titled…My Credo:

“Every one of us appears here, involuntarily and

uninvited, for a short stay, without knowing the why and

the wherefore…”

What do you say to someone like Einstein?

What do you say to someone as smart, and as intellectual as a

man like Einstein who is making these kinds of statements?!?!

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How should we approach people in the world asking such deep

philosophical questions about life and the meaning to it all?

Why we are here?

What the point of all this is?

And why should it matter?

See this fascination of Einstein and his inquest to the meaning of

life, is a fascination that I must say is somewhat,

unoriginal…somewhat repetitive…

For you see, many people long before Einstein have been asking

these very questions about life… countless philosophies,

worldviews and imaginations have been speculating for

centuries over these kinds of questions and answers…

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And in fact it was a small Jewish tentmaker from the city of

Tarsus in the first century A.D. who sought to engage people in

the world with answers to these kinds of questions…

What is the meaning of life?

What is the purpose to it all?

Why are we here?

And the answer that Paul gives is found here in Acts the 17th

chapter…

Paul the Apostle tells us that the answer to the question of it all

is Jesus Christ crucified, buried and raised…

Main Point:

And so the main point that we’re going to see s we come to Acts

17 here this morning is this:

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The world will mock the Gospel, but God saves sinners; so

preach Christ crucified

Outline:

Verses 16-21 – The gods who do not have the Gospel

Verses 22-29- The God who gave us the Gospel

Verses 30-34 – Our response to the God who gave us the Gospel

Context

Now, if you are familiar with the book of Acts, you would

know that Paul is on his second missionary journey… and

here in Acts 17, the Gospel goes to several different kinds of

people.... in Thessalonica (at the start of the chapter) it went to

those who had the Old Testament Scriptures but they did not

know their bibles all that well…and so they get angry, form a

vicious mob, and set the city in an uproar....

In Berea it went to Jews in the synagogue who had the Old

Testament writings, but these men actually knew their bibles

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and examined the Scriptures to confirm what Paul had said to be

true!

And in verses 16-34 (in our text here this morning) the Gospel

goes out to those who do not know have the Old Testament

Scriptures and to those who do not know Jesus Christ…

3 different groups… 3 distinct reactions… 1 message of the

cross…

And it is here in verse 16, that our story begins for us here

today… It begins with Paul waiting for Silas and Timothy to

meet him in the city of Athens.

Paul Was Provoked

Now right off the bat, we as readers of this passage have great

insight of what was going on in the heart of the Apostle while he

was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Greece… Verse 16 tells

us:

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“While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was

deeply distressed when he saw that the city was full of

idols…”

Friends…Paul knew what idolatry was, Paul had preached in

idolatrous situations before, Paul had travelled in places that

were renowned for their idol worship … but Paul never became

jaded or apathetic by the idolatry that he had found in the world,

the bible says that “it provoked Paul”

It angered Paul!

There is a fire in Paul’s bones, there is a rage in Paul’s heart; He

is provoked!!!

This distressed him that men gave their lives to such foolishness

and immorality, when the living and true God was so clearly

known to all men (Romans chapter 1)…

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One ancient writer said: “It was easier to find a God in the city

of Athens than it was a man.” This gives some insight into what

Paul was dealing with when the text says that the city was full of

idols.

And one of the first things that we can learn from our passage

here this morning, is that we as Christians must never become

jaded, we must never become apathetic by the unbelief and

idolatry we find in the world today.

When the day comes that we are no longer tormented and

provoked by the unbelief around us and the effects of unbelief,

then we had better get on our knees and ask God for a Spirit like

Paul’s…. May that day never come when our hearts are no

longer provoked by the idolatry that we see in our day and

age…

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And so this fit of rage, this anger that Paul has, it provoked him

not to sit back and say “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will

Be)…”

What’s true for you is true for you, what’s true for me, is true

for me… isn’t life grand!

Que Sera, Sera

He doesn’t do that!

Rather, this anger that Paul has, drove Paul to the synagogue

and the market place to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

It was Paul’s custom to do this… Paul would go the Jew first

and also to the Greek…

THE BEST OF THE BEST

Now you need to understand something friends!!! The people to

whom Paul goes and speaks to are the best of the best!!!

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There really is nothing to compare to in our day and age to that

of the grandeur and the brilliant philosophical minds found in

the city of Athens back in Paul’s day…

Athens was the Cambridge, the Oxford… if you would!!!

It was were the best and brightest minds went to talk and to hear

deep, intellectual, scientific, religious, philosophical thoughts

and ideas about life and the meaning to it all!

It was home to the Academy of Plato, the Lyceum of Aristotle,

the Garden of Epicurus, and the Painted Porch of Zeno.

Now why is it important to know this?!?!

Well I tell you this, to say that these men were the brightest and

best minds in the world! X2

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These men spent their time in nothing else but telling and

hearing new ideas!!! (verse 21)

This was their stage! This was their home ground! This was

their advantage!

And none of these worldviews were in favour of the Christian

way of life; all of these schools were hostile toward Paul, his

way of thinking, and His message!!!

But Paul is provoked! He is provoked… and so he goes and he

reasons with them!

PAUL REASONED WITH THEM

Notice! Paul reasoned with them!

Paul was not simply content on sharing with these people what

Jesus meant to him; he didn’t invite people to try Jesus or to

give Jesus a try, or to see if Jesus is the problem to your

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financial debt… He’s gonna heal you, He’s gonna make your

life great… none of that!!! But instead Paul reasoned with

them and engaged the highest philosophical minds in the ancient

world with one thing; Jesus Christ crucified, buried, and raised!

Brothers and sisters you don’t need to be a brilliant

philosophical mind to impact the culture around you…you

don’t need to be smart, to be brilliant, or intellectual…

You just need to tell them about the Gospel!

So simple, yet so provocative is the message of the cross, that

the response Paul gets is no different to the world today:

BABBLER

Verse 18:

“Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also

debated with him. Some said, “What is this ignorant show-

off trying to say?” Others replied, “He seems to be a

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preacher of foreign deities”—because he was telling the

good news about Jesus and the resurrection…”

Now who were these epicurean and stoic philosophers, you may

be asking?

EPICUREANS

Well the Epicureans taught that the world came into existence

by mere chance! That the gods of this world were remote and

disinterested in human affairs…that there was no life after death

– that nature & fate rule the world… and that happiness was the

highest goal of human achievement!

STOICS

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The Stoics on the other hand; did believe in a supreme being but

in a very Pantheistic sense; that is, that nature itself was divine,

and that every living thing had a spark of divinity within it…

They believed in the rational ability of mankind, they believed

that humanity was self-sufficient, dependent on no-one and

nothing, we give ourselves everything necessary for life… we

give ourselves breath in our lungs… we give ourselves

everything to live…

One school lives by self-indulgence and the other by self-

discipline

One believes in chance the other believes in fate

One pursues escape from the world, the other endurance in the

world

FOR US

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Now… we may not have these same schools around today

(epicurean and stoics), but their belief system and the hostility

they bring are still very much in effect today!

For us it’s the university professor who says: No Christian in my

class will ever be allowed to promote Christian values!

It’s the schoolteacher who says: No student in my class will ever

be allowed to promote the idea of a Creator!

For us it’s that intellectual work colleague who loves to quote to

you Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and the latest

Atheistic hatred toward Christianity…

For us it could be that next door neighbor who’s continually

angry and upset at life because they think, that the world came

into existence by chance…that there is no meaning to it all…

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For some it is our family, those who we love deeply…who

continually reject the God and Saviour that you so dearly love!

These are the people and this is the world, that Christ has

commanded us to speak truth and life into!

No one said, that it would be easy…

BABBLER

And again; so simple, yet so provocative is the message of the

cross, that the response Paul receives is no different to what

we get here today:

“What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?”

The ESV puts it like this:

“What does this babbler wish to say?!?!” X2

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Now you can’t see it in the English, but in the Greek the word

babbler (or ignorant show-off) here means gutter sparrow;

literally a “seed picker…”

And when you consider what was in the gutters back in those

days namely human dung (human poo) you soon come to realize

what these philosophers thought of Paul’s theology; it was

equivalent to the sparrows in the city of Athens that would go

around and sort through the human dung and pick the seeds out

from amongst the excrement to feed on.

Paul, your theology is garbage and you have no idea what

you’re even talking about!!!

He was preaching foreign divinities

Still others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign

deities”—because he was telling the good news about Jesus and

the resurrection…”

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Now again, the English isn’t clear on this… but the word

Jesus in Greek is masculine…. And the word Resurrection in

Greek is feminine…

And so some of his hearers (these big and bright minds) thought

that Paul had brought a new divine couple to their attention;

male and female gods Jesus and resurrection and so they

accused Paul of preaching foreign divinities…

Utter foolishness to those who are perishing is the Gospel of

God!

Brothers and sisters not only should you NOT be apathetic

toward the idolatry of this age… but you should not be

discouraged when people mock you for your love to Christ…

Don’t ever expect that because you reasoned with someone

about Jesus Christ, then all of a sudden they are going to listen

to you and believe…

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The world is going to mock the Gospel, but God will still call

sinners home to Himself…

And so, in the divine providence of God they take Paul and

bring him to the Areopagus and say:

“May we learn about this new teaching you are

presenting? 20 Because what you say sounds strange to us,

and we want to know what these things mean…”

2. THE GOD WHO GAVE US THE GOSPEL

And that leads us into point 2 here today; The God who gave us

the Gospel…

Now for those who don’t know, the Areopagus was a giant

piece of rock where men would come and meet, and they would

discuss philosophy, religion, worldviews, belief and reason…

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And it was also a type of law-court where men would be tried

and tested before a council…. the name most likely comes from

Ares (the Greek God of war) and Pagos which simply means

“big piece of rock”

So it was literally Ares Rock (not Aires Rock; that’s

Australian… but Ares Rock)

Now it was called this because in Ancient Greek Mythology,

Ares was supposed to have been tried here by the gods for the

murder of Poseidon’s son…

So it was called the Areopagus…

And for those who know their history, know that, the Romans

came along & called this place… Mars Hill

But whatever your understanding of this place, whatever you

know about Greek mythology or Greek history… philosophical

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discourse and Roman tradition…the point that is made here is

this!!!

Paul had the stage… Paul (the Christian) had the stage for the

greatest and highest platform in philosophical history!

The highest thoughts, the grandest philosophies, the greatest

messages ever to hit human ears was found in this very place…

Dead center, in the midst of a large crowd of the greatest minds

ever to live… and I imagine, that the silence of anticipation that

day would have been deafening…

[PAUSE]

What is he going to say?

VERY RELIGIOUS

Verse 22:

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“People of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious

in every respect. 23 For as I was passing through and

observing the objects of your worship, I even found an

altar on which was inscribed: ‘To an Unknown God.’

Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim

to you…”

Calling out sin in love

Extremely religious? Extremely religious says Paul?!?!

Meh just a few idols – nothing to it right?!?!

Or has he forgot that the city was full of idols! X2

They weren’t just religious Paul… they were slaves to their

idolatry…

They were slaves to their superstition!

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I mean this scene is equivalent to a group of guys worshipping a

manger scene in one corner – Hanukkah lights in another – a

winter solstice flag – and a statue of Buddha on the lawn!!!

In fact so religious, so superstitious were these men… that they

even had an alter of worship set up for a god that they

conveniently called “the unknown god”

Just in case some other god were to show up that, and says to

them: “Hey! Why aren’t you worshipping me?!?!

And they say: “Oh you’re the unknown god… sorry we got it

guys – we figured out the mystery!

And so they were trying to cover all of their bases to such a

degree that Paul cordially calls out their idolatry using a

certain form of tongue in cheek…

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“Religious” here is a double entendre in the Greek; it could

have easily been translated “superstitious.” in Koine…

And so what I think Paul is doing here, is he’s being very

winsome in calling out their sin to grab their attention!

He doesn’t compromise; he calls out their sin….but he does it

in love!

Look at me! Paul is not a jerk when he tells people about

Jesus!

That’s really important! – Paul is not a jerk when he tells

people about Jesus!

He doesn’t jerk-it-up when he speaks to non-Christians about

God!

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I just feel like someone needed to hear that here this morning –

Paul preaches in love! He doesn’t preach to humiliate others!

He does it in love… he always does it in love – NOT out of

pride!

The Greek gods of Athens

And so very religious was the claim…but just how religious

were these men?

Well verse 16 does say “full of idols…”

But to give you even more of an idea…Athens had a god for

every single event under the sun…

The Athenians had thousands and thousands of gods…

They had gods of the:

Sea

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Earth

Sun

Night

Day

Freshwater

Saltwater

Sleep

Hate

Love

Fear

Death

Wind

They had the:

Olympian Gods - Zeus - Poseidon – Apollo – Artimus

They had gods:

Of the stars

They had gods of:

Constellations – how many stars are there?

They had the Demi-gods

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And they even had what we would call; the monster gods – the

Cyclops – the minotaur – the Medusa

And Paul says:

“Don’t you see! Don’t you understand?!?! !” It is the One

God over all of creation!” It is this one God who does all

things!

What therefore you worship as unknown this I proclaim to

you:

That this One True God is:

1. God the Creator (vv 24)

2. God the Sustainer (vv25)

3. God the Ordainer (vv26)

4. God the Relater (vv27-29)

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GOD THE CREATOR

Verse 24 – he begins with God the Creator:

“The God who made the world and everything in it, He is

Lord of heaven and earth— (He) does not live in shrines

made by hands…”

So Paul gets up and he immediately destroys the pantheism

philosophy that God is the world and the world is god… that

spark of divinity is utter foolishness because God created the

world; He does NOT need the world!

Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God Created…

And so if God created the world, then there must be two

different levels of existence… Creator and creature… Creator

and creation… God and everything else!

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Brothers and sisters, when you tell people about a God who

created them, you’re telling them that they have a Creator who

gives them:

A Purpose

A Meaning

And Value

That their life is not some abstract meaningless existence of

biological star-dust and fish like genetics… That Darwinian

Evolution is absolutely false and that there is a Creator God…

And therefore they have purpose, they have meaning, they have

a hope beyond this life…

This world is not all there is… there is a God, who created you

to know Him and to enjoy Him!

That’s the first thing Paul tells them! That there is only One

true God and this God is powerful!

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He is God the Creator!

GOD THE SUSTAINER

Secondly, Paul says that not only did God create all life but He

also sustains all life in verse 25:

“Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed

anything, since He himself gives everyone life and breath and

all things…”

The God who made the world and everything in it does not

dwell in your puny little temples that you made with your

human hands! He does not live there and he does not dwell

there; in fact He’s God!

He cannot live there and He cannot dwell there!

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He doesn’t need the world to operate or to live… rather! The

world needs God to operate and to live!

You philosophers as smart as you think you are, God doesn’t

need you and your puny little man made temples that you so

desperately desire…

God doesn’t need you to exist! He doesn’t care for your

arguments against Him and His existence… He’s God….

He exists whether you believe it or not!

He is independent of all things in creation – God doesn’t need

you – YOU NEED GOD!

[PAUSE]

You are not self-sufficient, You are not the sustainer of your

own life… God is!

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He gives you life, and breath, and all things!

And so…brothers and sisters, when you tell people about a God

who not only created them but a God who sustains their life…

you’re telling them that this God is gracious, merciful, patient,

and long-suffering…

That because you have air in your lungs, a beat in your heart,

blood in your body, and life in your soul… then you have a God

who is wonderfully patient in calling you to come to Jesus

Christ!

A God who is wonderfully patient to give rebellious, people life

and breath and everything…

There was not one god in Athens that was ever described like

this!

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So that’s the second thing Paul tells them; not only is this God

all powerful, but He is gracious and long suffering toward sin…

He sustains the world!

GOD THE ORDAINER

Thirdly, God the Creator, who is God the sustainer, is a God

who ordains every human affair in this world!

He is God the Ordainer!

Verse 26:

“From one man He has made every nationality to live over

the whole earth and has determined their appointed times

and the boundaries of where they live…”

What we in the church today attempt to gloss over and forget

about because it’s awkward for us to consider a God who is in

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total control of all things, Paul unrelentingly declares this truth

here in verse 26…

He boldly proclaims: that creation is the grand stage, we are the

broken actors, the bible is the script, and God; the director…all

of human history, all of reality, this entire universe being one

grand display of God’s beautiful design and work in this

world…

Watch says Paul… as this God paints the greatest story ever to

hit the ears of humanity!

We do not live in a universe where God sits back and helplessly

watches us fall into ruin and misery… but rather He is a God

who has the whole world in His hands…

SALLI ON A PLANE

I was on a plane coming back to Brisbane from

Newcastle (several years ago), just visiting family down there

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with my wife and brother in law. And we get on the plane and

we do the whole sit down, buckle up, watch the flight attendants

(like anyone actually does that), all that jazz...

And those of you who know my wife know she hates flying!!!

She hates flying…

And I know my wife… I proceed to do the husband thing, I give

her my heads phones, I put on the Getty’s – He will hold me

fast… and so Salli is squeezing the life out my hand while lip

syncing He will hold me fast as the plane is taking off...

Now I had been writing this sermon in the airport while waiting

to board our flight home... and so my head was deep in Acts 17

and deep in this part of Paul’s speech… God the Ordainer

And so, I was sitting there on the plane thinking to

myself... Salli is terrified of this plane going down… (I mean

who isn’t right?!?) I’m usually terrified of the plane going down

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We’ve all got those thoughts going on in our minds... we all sit

there on the plane (don’t look at me like I’m the weird one)…

we all sit there on a plane saying to ourselves “well, this is

probably it, I’m dead… this captain does not know what he’s

doing… that flight attendant looks sketchy as anything… and I

forgot to turn my phone onto aeroplane mode! We’re all gonna

die!

And so, what I would usually be thinking while sitting on a

plane… that is, well…insta-death is coming to kill me…

I was rather, sitting there thinking: God has allotted times and

boundaries, He has allowed the dwelling place of all people

everywhere for all time...including the people on this plane…

and so if this plane goes down, and we all die tonight, it is only

because God, in His sovereign wisdom has determined for us to

do so...

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And by God’s grace I was at peace! I wasn’t worried, I wasn’t

frightened… I sat back and thought about a God who has the

whole world in His hands!

And so, when you tell people about a God who is the Ordainer

of all things, a God who is sovereign and in control of this

world, then you’re telling them that:

They are not the authors of their own lives! They are not the

captain of their own ships… they are not the kings of their own

kingdoms…

There is only 1 God who rules the world… and His name is

Jesus Christ…

That’s the third thing Paul tells them; God ordains all things!

GOD THE RELATER (Verses 27-29)

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Lastly, not only is this God who is all powerful, long suffering,

in control of everything in this world! He is also a God, who is

undeniably relational!

Verses 27-29:

“He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps

they might reach out and find him, though He is not far

from each one of us. 28 For in Him we live and move and

have our being, as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we are also His offspring.’ 29 Since we are God’s

offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is

like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human

art and imagination…”

Can you imagine that! Hearing for the very first time about a

God who is utterly beyond comprehension in power and glory,

and yet He makes Himself knowable to us!!!

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A God who is utterly transcendent – Yet utterly knowable!

And to think of God in this kind of a way is a distinctly

Christian way of thinking – that God is above us – He is

beyond us – He is outside of us – He doesn’t need us – and

yet!!! He is among us – He is with us – He is for us – He is

near to us!

These men in Athens had thought that the gods of this world

were aloof, they were distant, and they were remote from

creation, that they didn’t care about human affairs, and they

didn’t care much for the suffering and the pain going on in the

world…

And then Paul gets up and he says that this God (the One True

and living God) is not aloof, He is not distant, and He is not

remote from our suffering in creation… Paul says that this God

knows each and everyone of us down to the heart beat level…

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What your own poets and philosophers have said about false

gods… is only true with this One God!

And so brothers and sisters, when you tell people about a God

who desires to have a relationship with them, you’re telling

them that:

They are His creation, made in His image! That they have value,

and worth, that they are made for a relationship with Him!

That God is a relational God who desires to know us and meet

us where we are... in our brokenness, in our distress, in our

suffering!

He’s taken the time to learn us, to relate to us and to understand

us!

He is not distant, He is Not remote… He is Not withdrawn from

our situation…

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That’s the fourth thing that Paul tells them; God is a relational

God who knows us, and we can know Him!

This is a God who is utterly unlike any god these Athenians had

ever met or heard about that day!

This is the God who gave to us the Gospel!!!

This is our God brothers & sisters – the Thrice Holy Lord of

Isaiah 6 – we have a God who is both above us – yet among us;

dwelling with His people!

OUR RESPONSE TO THE GOD OF THE GOSPEL

(Vv 30-34)

And so after exposing to these Athenians who the One True and

living God is, and what He is like… Paul then explains what

this God requires of us!

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Given the nature and the character of God and Who He is; how

then shall we live?!?! X2

Verse 30, and our final point here today – Paul says this:

“Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance,

God now commands all people everywhere to

repent, 31 because he has set a day when he is going to

judge the world in righteousness by the man he has

appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by

raising him from the dead.”

[PAUSE]

PAUL’S GOSPEL

Paul takes his shot… Paul stood before the best … the

brightest… the smartest… and out of all the things Paul could

have said that day…. out of all the topics he could have touched

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upon that day! Out of all the things he chose to finish on; he

chooses the message of the cross; he chooses the Gospel!

Paul knew, that there was only 1 message that could save

souls… there was only 1 Person who could take sins… there

was only 1 Man worthy of proclamation in the areopagus that

day!

Jesus Christ crucified and raised from the dead!

The times of ignorance God has overlooked, but now He

commands all people everywhere! To repent!

Turn from your worthless idols… turn from your dead and

lifeless gods… turn from your wicked and evil sin and come

home to the one True God who has made Himself known in and

through the Person and work of Jesus Christ!

Why?!?!

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Because He has fixed a day when He will judge all people

everywhere for their sin, through His Son; Jesus Christ who He

has raised from the dead!

This is the message that we are called to proclaim to the world!

THE IDOL OF…

Now… just so we’re clear an idol doesn’t necessarily have to be

made of wood, or stone, or gold or silver… an idol doesn’t have

to be a physical object but as Alistair Begg says:

“An idol is simply a substitute for the living God,

something we worship other than the God whom we were

made to worship…”

And so idols can come in all kinds of different shapes and

forms… it could be the idol of money… the idol of sex…the

idol of marriage… the idol of health…the idol of escape from

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the world…the idol of anger…the idol of lust…the idol of

work…the idol of hobbies…the idol of food…the idol of

career…the idol of self…

You think Athens was full of idols… take one foot out the door

and step into Western civilization!

You’ll see that our city – Brisbane city is full of idols!

VERSES 32-34

And so we read in verse 32:

When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some

began to ridicule him, but others said, “We’d like to hear

from you again about this.” 33 So Paul left their

presence. 34 However, some people joined him and

believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman

named Damaris, and others with them.

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Luke (the writer of Acts) feels that it is necessary to name at

least 2 people who had believed that day!

Now Damaris was probably a prominent woman in the city of

Athens, and most likely Luke’s original readers, may have

known this woman… and perhaps Paul had seen her name

around the place… she seems important enough to mention!

THE AREOPAGITE

But I want to draw our attention to Dionysius… Dionysius who

was the Areopagite!

He was an Areopagite (from the Areopagus)

This wasn’t just a man who would occasionally spent some time

in the Areopagus, who would occasionally go and visit and

listen….this was his life… his profession... this was all he ever

knew!

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This was a man who lived his life in pagan culture and

idolatry... and through the preaching of the gospel, through

Paul’s spirit being provoked leading him to proclaim Christ

crucified, God sovereignly called a man home to Himself that

day… a man who had been a slave to false idols his entire life!

Brothers and sisters, the world may mock the Gospel, but you

had better believe that God still sovereignly calls sinners home

to Himself!

[PAUSE]

Who is it in your life… that you think is beyond God’s saving

grace?!?!

G.K CHESTERTON

Many years ago there was man by the name of G.K

Chesterton… some of you know that name… some of you may

not…Chesterton was frustrated with his own non-Christian way

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of life, he did not have any joy in Christ, he did not know God,

He was constantly frustrated with the world, frustrated with

others…frustrated from a lack of joy!!! He was a slave to sin,

and a slave to the idols of his own heart... and as he came to the

point of despair, and began to wallow in his own shame and

misery…Someone came into his life and they got beside

Chesterton and they said this:

Chesterton…the one you’re looking for is the God of the

Bible – Yahweh. The One true God Who has made

everything you see… Who’s kindness is manifested in the

world… who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ…

Chesterton, this God in Christ is the One you are looking

for… He is the Saviour of those who despair of their sin…

And then the person said this to him: “Chesterton... come

home... come home to God...”

CONCLUSION

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Dear congregation…what are the idols that are festering in your

heart here this morning?

What are the things that you hold dearer to your heart than Jesus

Christ?

You know some of you are walking through this world – lonely

drifters – going from diol to idol – sin to sin – looking for hope,

joy, peace, and satisfaction in all the idols this world can ever

offer!

But see every single human sitting in here, was made in God’s

image… was made with an inborn desire to worship something!

Our souls were made for worship! We were created to know, to

love, to obey, and to enjoy something!

And until that something becomes Someone; namely the God

who made you! You will continue to pursue worthless idols in

this world, and live for the pleasure that will NOT satisfy!

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Acts 17 shows us (here today) that there is only 1 God worth our

time and our worship, only 1 God who has the ability, to satisfy

our souls!

It is the living and true God who has made Himself known to us

in and through the Lord Jesus Christ….

Who has brought us the good news that God became man in

Christ, lived the life that we should have lived in perfect

obedience to His Father in heaven, and died the death that we

should have died on the cross… He not only took on humanity

but He took on sin and paid the price for the wrath of God in our

place… 3 days later rising from the dead proving that He is the

Son of God and offering salvation for all who repent and turn

from their sin to embrace Jesus Christ because He has fixed a

day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the

God-Man Jesus Christ!

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Dear congregation if you hear any message of hope or

importance here today – please I beg you; hear this:

Come home – come home to Christ – you were made to know &

enjoy this One true God who has been raised from the dead for

your sin!

This is the message of the cross, this was Paul’s message in the

Areopagus, and this is the Gospel of the One True God…

Come home to taste & see that the Lord is good!

Let’s Pray.