The Truth of Jesus | Acts 17:16-34

• Sermon Transcript

  Ah Good morning. If you were not in the Christmas spirit before you came in, we you better be now. We got any Lottie Moon videos which were amazing see testimonies, we got greenery everywhere. So we are getting ready to be celebrating Christmas here for next month as we go through Scripture and worship. So glad you're here today, we've been trying to teach at the house, a four year old John David been trying to teach him trying about sin, and forgiveness. And since they are abstract concepts, we know it's a little difficult for him to wrap his mind around I know, just from my mom being a teacher educator that, you know, children really can't understand abstract concepts about a second or third grade or something like that. So I know he doesn't understand and we've been trying to talk to him about it. And, you know, he sends regularly. It's kind of what he does sometimes worse than others, especially if he's not feeling well. And so he did something the other day, and I tried to talk to him about it, and let him know that I wasn't really mad at him, but I had to discipline him. And that I forgave him, so I forgive you. And he said, No, you don't. What? I don't know what to say to that, right? No, I do. No, you don't? Yes, I do. I forgive me. No, you don't forgive me. So I don't know what that means. I'm not sure what that's about. So he still hasn't quite grasped the concept. Yesterday, our dog Sandy jumped on him or something the other day, and maybe slightly scratched, and I'm not sure what exactly happened. And he came to me and said, Dad, Sandy send our dog. And I'd say Well, yes and no, because he's a dog. And I said, in the best way I could explain to him and I remember what I said that the dogs and animals are not morally or not held morally responsible for breaking God's law. They don't know how I've said it to him. I just said well, Sandy's dog, it doesn't matter that she doesn't sin. She just acts, you know, he said, Sandy sinned, said, Well, you can forgive her. He said, I don't forgive her. So just because something is true. Like the truth of forgiveness, and sin, doesn't necessarily mean that it's easy to explain, doesn't necessarily mean that people will accept it, even though it's true. And that's what we're looking at today. As we look at the truth of Jesus. We are in Acts chapter 17. And we have a long passage. I'm just going to read starting in verse 22, through 31. Verse 22, so Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said, Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way, you are very religious prize that passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, to the unknown God. What therefore you worship as unknown. This I proclaim to you, the God who made the world, and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples, made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since he himself gifts to all mankind, life, and breath and everything. And he made from one man, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods, and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him, and find him. Yet, he is actually not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, from we are indeed, his offspring. Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver Stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance got overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere, to repent, because he has fixed the day, on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. And of this, he has given assurance to all by Ray teasing him from the dead. Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. What I pray that as we hear Your word today that Lord that you speak through me my words reflect yours that our hearts receive it today, and that we understand the truths that you're trying to give us today, fathers we enter into this Christmas season. We understand the truths of your gospel, Lord, we love you. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen. I want to give you the three realities of the truth of Jesus three realities of the truth of Jesus. Number one, the truth of Jesus is unique. The truth of Jesus is unique. Verse 16, says that while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him, as he saw that the city was full of idols. Terry kind of read up leading up to this give some background, Paul was in Athens waiting for Timothy and Silas to join him. They had been run out of Thessalonica, for preaching the gospel. Athens was a, what we would call a pluralistic city. It accepted all faiths, which is good for the gospel, because of the gospel can grow there. So it's a Paul made his way there. And while he was waiting, in this culture and talking to the culture, the Bible says that his spirit was provoked. And this word has the idea of being angry, agitated, his, his spirit was burdened, it was agitated as he looked across the culture, and saw all this foreign gods all these untruths. He was stirred for this culture. And even though Athens wasn't his primary mission, he just found themselves displaced there. It seemed like a detour. Paul is not one to sit around and moan about his circumstances. He used it as an opportunity. Good verse 17. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there, lucky them right. as was his custom, Paul would go into the local synagogue. And he'd go through the Old Testament scriptures, you'd make a case that Jesus was the Messiah spoken of by the prophets, and Despit, depending on the synagogues, with Jews there, sometimes he'd be heard and listened to. And sometimes you get run out of town. But he would do it no matter what, no matter what. And he never knew what the reaction would be. He never knew just what he was getting into. But his desire to speak the unique truth of who Jesus was compelled his actions. But there are others who weren't Jews, who had heard about Paul probably overheard these conversations as he was there, I realized that he was a good lawyer, a good argue or a good philosopher, verse 18. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And Epicureans basically taught a philosophy of live and let live, don't worry, be happy, just enjoy the pleasures of life. But the stoics were very different. They talked about harnessing self control to overcome emotions and and things like this, and today we would call the Epicureans hippies or New Agers. We would call the stoics your your self help her self growth gurus. And some said, it says verse 18, what does this bachelor wish to say? Other said he seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities because he was preaching Jesus, and the resurrection. See, Christianity is is neither hippy, new age, it's not self growth. It's not the hippy life. It's not the self help growth life. It is simply the message of how the good news of Jesus Christ changes you for your good and for God's glory. Paul's message was so unique, that they asked him to speak in the public forum, verse 19. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus saying mid May we know what this new teaching Is that you are presenting, for your brain some strange things to our ears, we wish to know therefore what these things mean. Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who live there would spend their time in nothing except tip telling or hearing something new. This is what they love to do. They wanted to hear about these experiences, and some people, that's all they did. I guess I didn't need to work. I don't know what it was. But they had a lot of free time, this is what they did. Because the gospel was so unique. The educated learned demand of the area wanted to hear these ideas. It's the definition of a truly pluralistic society where a place where a person can can have a conversation, about a way of life. And people will consider it that's one of the things that makes has made America so great. And that needs to continue to be allowed in our country. So we can converse about these things and consider it because the gospel is unique. And the Gospel says that God, the Creator of the universe, sent his son Jesus, who is a person of the Godhead to the earth he created. And this Jesus lived a sinless life and died on a cross, so that those who would believe in Him would be made right with God, that all people have broken God's moral law that with the Bible calls sin, and the only way we can exist with God after death, when he makes a new heaven and a new earth is by the death of Jesus. And when he was resurrected, He proved that he had the power over death, purchasing eternal life, salvation, redemption and forgiveness of sins for those who would believe this is the message Paul was preaching, and you cannot find that any where else. You can find perversions of it. distortions of it. But it is unique. And it is often is not often heard. So I want to give you quickly if you what I'm calling false forms of Christianity that we hear, perversions of the gospel. Number one, the false form of Christianity that Jesus died. So you can be wealthy, we hear this from time to time. As you follow Jesus, your decision making changes. You will view money differently. It's possible that God may bless you financially as you follow him. But he will not bless you, just so you can be wealthy. It's not what he does. The love of money is a trap that has ruined many. If God blesses you with money, he is entrusting you not to love it is entrusting you to be a good steward of it. And he wants you to help people and use it to build His kingdom. Secondly, another false for Christianity is that Jesus died. So you can be healthy. If you're a Christian, and does not mean now that you have the power to be healed from anything and everything. Jesus can certainly heal you and he does, and he wants to heal you. But it's for a bigger purpose than just making you healthy. It's for a bigger purpose, just so you don't have a backache. It's so you can be a living testimony to others, to show just how good he is. None of us will escape death unless we're here when he comes back. Which is what sickness leads to. He didn't die just so you can be healthy. But if you are healthy, and if he does heal you is for a greater plan. And you can even think of third, another false form is that Jesus died so you can be comfortable. Salvation solves your biggest need that is being made right with God. And you can live a very content, a very peaceful life as a Christian, indeed God wants you to. But he did not say to be comfortable. He did not save you to not have any challenges in life. He did not save you. So you can just put your life on cruise control and go out to pasture and just disappear. He saved you for your good and his glory. And that doesn't always mean you'll be comfortable. For another false form is that Jesus died so you can be entertained. We very much live in an entertainment driven culture. How else can you splane across the aisle across the country yesterday, multiple stadiums filled with 80,000 people cheering 18 to 21 year olds? How can we explain that? How else can we explain the obsession with phones and television shows and movies? Now, in a little entertainment is fine, right? But we live in an entertainment driven culture and this seeps into the church. And the worship service is not a place for entertainment. Or you might be entertained to being here. But that's not our goal. That's not what we're trying to do here. It's a place for spiritual growth. It's a great place for soul fulfillment. It's a place to turn from your sins and trust in Jesus. It's a place to to commune with the one true God and spirit. It's a place to hear the gospel week, after week, after week after week, so you can be reminded of the goodness of God. Number five, Jesus died. So you can be miserable. That's another belief that we see sometimes. There's an element of sacrificial Christianity where some people think that life in Christ should always be a struggle, and they should always suffer. And that's not right, either. Jesus died to give you abundant life, and eternal life. And if you choose to live a miserable life, in Jesus, that is your choice, not his. And finally, number six. Another false form is that Jesus died. So you can be successful. Some of the men and women that God used more than anyone, were not successful in the eyes of the world. They were successful in that in their calling and their faith in Christ. But they weren't what the world would consider success. In fact, if you show me a create a Christian leader, who is deemed successful by the eyes of this world, the eyes of our second world, they deem them successful, there's probably some compromise along the way, if they are successful, by the world standard is probably not by the grace of God. These are some of the perversions of the gospel. They're all wrong. Jesus died so you can be saved, and redeemed. And this is a very unique message so unique, and we have to be sure we don't pervert it. Or we keep it what it is. Secondly, the truth of Jesus is transcendent, transcendent, verse 22, which I read earlier, Paul starts this conversation with finding a commonality. He says, Hey, you're religious, I can tell by looking at your culture. So mine, finds a common ground to talk to them on. He says in verse 23, that, that I passed along, and I observed the objects of your worship. I even found this altar that said, to an unknown god, and I'm here to tell you that this unknown god, I know who he is, there were so pluralistic, they wanted to cover all their bases, says, I know this God. And so he tells in verse 24, the God who made the world and everything in it, does not live in temples, nor is he served by human hands. He says, he says, you have the spot for God to be placed. He says that God transcends this little spot. And he's larger than this little spot you have for him over here. He's larger than the temple, He gives life to those who make the temple. He transcends your little box of where do you have this unknown God? Verse 26. And he made from one man, every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined a lot of periods in the boundaries of their dwelling place. God is so transcendent, and that he transcends space and time that he determined where you would live and where you will be born. God determined what time of history you would live. He determined where in the world you would live. He determined the boundaries where the ocean start and stop where the mountains rise. God is not just an idea. He's not just a way of life. He is the truth. And he created all this world. For one reason versus one Isn't that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find in every heart is a knowledge of the transcendent. Because God has created this atheist or just suppressing it, a true atheist, who really says there's no God, they're just suppressing this. He says that we all should seek out for God. Everything we see, and feel, and experience through creation. Is God beckoning seek me, find me, worship me, and he says, he is actually not far from each of us. And then he quotes one of their poets. He uses their own culture to prove his point, it'd be like in the 60s, quoting the Beatles or something. Now quoting Taylor Swift, he was about to take over the world apparently, he quote someone they understand, hey, your favorite poets has even admitted to this. And then he draws the net verse 29. He says, Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Divine Being is like gold, or silver or, or stone, an image formed by the art imagination of man, he says, we did not create God out of our imagination. He's always existed. He transcends our imagination. Then he says in verse 30, the times of ignorance, of this truth, God overlooked. But now, because Jesus has come, he commands all people everywhere, to repent, because he is fixed the day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he is appointed. And this he has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead. Now is the day to repent, he tells them, now is the time to come to the Lord. Today is the day of salvation. The truth of Jesus transcends every bogus religion and philosophy that exists and Paul is telling them very clearly, this is what you've been missing. I am proclaiming it to you today. The truth of Jesus is Tran sin. And number three, the truth of Jesus is divisive. is divisive. This is why we will always struggle as believers in this world. We don't share the gospel to be popular. That's not gonna work. We don't preach the gospel, to be accepted by people. We don't follow Christ, so that everyone will like us. Now we don't try to be divisive, it just naturally is a verse 32. Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some marked that happens today. People will mark the Christian faith that that someone was resurrected. Some people will just respond this way. It's not your job to force them to believe you can't anyway, but others said, we will hear you again about this. So marked, some listened and this is the pattern we see throughout acts. Some will perceive it. Some will laugh about it. Verse 33. So Paul went from their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were the easiest, the Areopagus and a woman named Maris and others with a film Majan if Paul was not sideline to Athens, for DNS says the Maris never would have heard the gospel that we know of at least at that point. And they would never would have heard of a cause Paul was faithful to his calling, and didn't worry about the results. Then worry about what people would react. Good old boy DNS and Mr. Maris. They were saved a Then there'll be in heaven one day, we'll get to meet them. See the truth of Jesus is too much for some to handle. But for the grace of God, we'd all be there. First Corinthians tells us that so we can't be prideful that we're believers. If you're a believer that for some, it's too much for them to handle. Some will laugh. Some will poke fun. Some will joke. And unfortunately, the laugh all the way to hell. But we can't do anything about that. You're not responsible for their eternal destination. Your job is to honor God. Make disciples and pray for the last and pray for the ones who have rejected the Gospel. But make disciples of people like the Genesis, the Maris that's what we do as a church. We make disciples, you know, we, we have mission statements and vision statements. Churches come up with these long things, and they're not necessarily bad, understand what we're doing. But you can boil down the mission statement of the church into two words. Make disciples, were always being made into a disciple. And the minute you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior to the day you die, or the day Jesus comes back, you're being made into a disciple, being made more and more like Christ. So we disciple, the ones that God saves. Even if they don't quite understand everything. If you don't quite understand sin, and forgiveness, even if they tell you, you don't forgive me. We teach them the truth. But the truth of Jesus is divisive. But to those who are being saved, it is the power of God. Heavenly Father. As we close our time together today, we thank you so much for being able to worship here in this sanctuary today, in spirit and truth. If there's one in here that's never placed their faith in you that today they would hear this truth and do so that today, this would be their day of salvation. For the rest of us, Lord, as we enter into this busy Christmas season, that we don't lose focus of our calling in life. To make disciples, it starts with us. It starts with us being humble, to continue to grow, and who you are. And it's not comfortable sometimes isn't as difficult. But you give us the grace to persevere as we follow your Spirit. Lord, I thank you again for for being able to be here with these people this morning. The Church of God, the community of believers, that that the one thing we all have in common that those who are saved here today, Lord, the one thing we all have in common is Jesus Christ, your spirit. indwells Our hearts are bind us together today as we leave. We love you Father. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.