← Back to sermon library

good morning everyone welcome to free grace Baptist Church a warm welcome to any visitors with us this morning it's always a delight to have you with us so hello just a few announcements before we begin worship this morning first off just a reminder that the Hutchings have applied for church membership those are our American friends down in Washington there who visit us often and who have come to church every Lord's Day so we can be in prayer for them and if you have not had time to meet them or speak with them please please do so as well just a note the fellowship luncheon is on the 25th of June so make a note of that mentally or with pen and paper that the fellowship luncheon is on Sunday the 25th of June and then lastly just a reminder that it is the Lord's Supper tonight so we will be observing that blessed ordinance of our Lord this evening well let's turn in our Bibles and as we begin our worship oh actually another announcement moving back from the sacred two things common but nevertheless wonderful Mike and Jessica Kirkpatrick are back from California so they're here with us you can swarm them after the morning service and catch up with them and keep them here till till 2:30 well let's turn in our Bibles now as we begin our worship to psalm 115 psalm 115 is our call to worship this lord's day morning psalm 115 beginning in verse 1 the word of god not unto us O Lord not unto us but to your name give glory because of your mercy because of your truth why should the Gentiles say so where is their God but our God is in heaven he does whatever he pleases their idols are silver and gold the work of men's hands they have mouths but they do not speak eyes they have but they do not see they have ears but they do not hear noses they have but they do not smell they have hands but they do not handle feet they have but they do not walk nor do they mutter through their throat those who make that are like them so is everyone who trusts in them Oh Israel trust in the Lord he is their help in their shield Oh house of Aaron trust in the Lord he is their help and their shield you who fear the Lord trust in the Lord he is their help and their shield the Lord has been mindful of us he will bless us he will bless the house of Israel he will bless the house of Aaron he will bless those who fear the Lord both small and great may the Lord give you increase more and more you and your children may you be blessed by the Lord who made heaven and earth the heaven even the heavens are the Lord's but the earth he has given to the children of men the dead do not praise the Lord nor any who go down into silence but we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore praise the Lord let's stand together and sing we're going to sing hymn number 50 in the larger Trinity hymnal that's him number five zero let's stand as a church and sing [Music] please be seated let us pray Heavenly Father we come to you now in prayer as the gathered saints of Christ rejoicing in you we're giving you praise truly Father Son and Holy Spirit we rejoice in this new day given to us we rejoice that it is the Lord's Day Sabbath that we can come in here from out of the world to worship Father Son and spirit and we would do we do pray yet again God that you would help us to worship you in spirit and in truth we would pray father that you would cause us now by your spirit in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord it's a hallow your most high name that we would give you praise and that we would give you honor truly we pray this each and every Lord's Day might it not be rote but might it be an earnest and genuine that we would come before you seeking seeking that you would help us to worship you to cast aside thoughts that would intrude and to be solely focused on your worship we do pray God that you would cause us as well to reflect with great joy upon the gospel of Jesus Christ we know that we have not been saved by our own deeds of righteousness but rather in your condescending loving kindness and your grace and in your mercy you have extended to us salvation great salvation graciously through Jesus Christ our Lord and we rejoice in those words of the Apostle Paul that this is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into this world sinners to say and truly we rejoice in this truth knowing that we were without hope and without strength in the world and yet you and your love and in your kindness and in your grace and that according to your accepted and appointed time made us alive in Christ Jesus by the virtue of his death and resurrection and we rejoice in him our Savior and we would pray Lord God that you would help us as we engage in worship to be singing from joyful hearts reflecting upon the amazing and the victorious grace of our triune God we do pray that you would forgive us afresh knowing that we do have that that ongoing as we heard this morning that irreconcilable war the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh we do pray that you would help us Lord God that you would wash us afresh the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ knowing that in him and in him alone we have Redemption the forgiveness of sins and we do pray that you would help us to to press on in this lower world seeking to put sin to death and to live unto righteousness we do pray now then that you would again help us in worship that we might be focused upon you a father son and spirit God in three persons Blessed Trinity and that you would receive all honor we do pray that you'd be with those unable to join us as we know this time of year brings much travel and vacation we pray that you would watch over those who are traveling that you would protect them Lord we we think of pastor Butler and and Rebekah we would just pray that you watch over them as they travel home this week we pray that you would guard them that you would protect them and we pray that they would have had a time of refreshing and a time of fellowship with others with both family and friends down south just watch over them and do return them safely watch over all our dear Saints Lord God protect them and guard them wherever they may be going and do return them back to us and in safety and in the kindness of your Providence we do pray Lord again that you'd be with all those who struggle with sickness with disease with illness as there are many in our midst we would pray that you'd strengthen them in body that you would help them that you would uplift them in spirit Lord God and we pray as many come under the the hands of caretakers and doctors and those sorts of things we pray that you would give to those who care for them precision and and help and aid and much diligence in their profession they might provide ultimately from your hand those things that are needful for the body we do pray that again all those who are afflicted that you would strengthen them in the inner man that in the midst of disease and affliction they would nevertheless be resigned to the will of the sovereign God and Lord God that you would give them much joy in the promises of the gospel we do pray again for those throughout the world who are persecuted for the cause of Christ as Paul said we are to be often in prayer too for those who are in Chains those who are persecuted for the Gospels sake and for Christ's sake we do pray Lord that you would be near to each and every one we know that you are a God who is near and we do pray that you'd be with those who are persecuted that you would uplift them and comfort them that you would strengthen them in the midst of hostility and an opposition and Lord just caused them to lay hold of the hope of their calling without wavering with much endurance provided by the Spirit of Christ we pray that you would deal with those who persecute them that you would save many of them bring them from the madness of their idolatry to life and light in Christ Jesus the Lord and Lord God that you would cause those who would remain in opposition to stumble like drunken men that you would remove them from out of the way even bring temporal judgment Lord God upon them that they may no longer bring violence upon our precious and our dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus the Lord we do pray God that you would vindicate your name throughout all the earth and so on to this end we would pray for those who rule over us those who govern over us it is a it is a grievous thing as we we cast our eyes upon the the political landscape as we see sins propagated as we see abominations before your eyes that are are propagated in the rank-and-file of government we would pray Lord God that you would do an act in this lower world that you would conquer the hearts even of those who rule and cause them to rule then in righteousness and equity and we pray that even in your in your condescending and in your your common benevolence to the to the sons of men Lord God that you would even deal with those who are unbelieving it caused them after a manner of righteousness and after that after a manner of of proper equity to rule enter and to reign in a manner that is befitting but we do pray that you would conquer hearts we pray ultimately as the gospel is the answer legislation is not the answer for what ails men but rather it is the gospel of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ and so we do pray that you would conquer hearts by spirit and word and you would bring many to a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and Lord God that we would see throughout the lands righteousness equity and justice being the order of the day and not the propagation of the madness of sin we do pray that you would then again now be with us we a long Lord God to know your presence in that special way in this place that you'd be with your people the you would condescend and that you would by your spirit arouse our spirits that we might be lifted up to high thoughts and the proper contemplations of father son and spirit and that we might rejoice in the gospel of saving grace the do be with preacher as he preaches be with hear Lord God as they take in the preached word we do pray that all that we do today and all that we do this evening would be to the praise of your glorious grace that father son and spirit would be exalted upon the praises of the gathered assembly here and Lord God that we would rightly return to you the praise and the honor that is due your name and so we pray all these things in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen let's stand and sing again as a church we're going to sing this time hymn number 15 that's one five let's stand and sing to God and to each other [Music] you [Music] Oh [Music] you [Music] please be seated and turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark chapter six mark chapter six and we read from verse 1 to verse 29 last time so this time we'll pick up in verse 30 so this is mark 6 beginning in verse 30 once again the word of God then the Apostles gathered to Jesus and told him all things both what they had done and what they had taught and he said to them come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile for there were many coming and going and they did not even have time to eat so they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves but the multitude saw them departing and many knew him and ran there on foot from all the cities they arrived before them and came together to him and Jesus when he came out saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them because they were like sheep not having a shepherd so he began to teach them many things when the day was now far spent his disciples came to him and said this is a deserted place and already the hour is late send them away that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread for they have nothing to eat but he answered and said to them you give them something to eat and they said to him shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat but he said to them how many loaves do you have go and see and when they found out they said five and two fish then he commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass so they sat down in ranks in hundreds and in 50s and when he had taken the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before them and the two fish he divided among them all so they all ate and were filled and they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish now those who had eaten the lobes were about five thousand men immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side to Bethsaida while he sent the multitudes away and when he had sent them away he departed to the mountain to pray now when evening came the boat was in the middle of the sea and he was alone in the land then he saw them straining at rowing for the wind was against them now about the fourth watch of the night he came to the walking on the sea and would have passed them by and when they saw him walking on the sea they supposed it was a ghost and cried out for they all saw him and were troubled but immediately he talked with them and said to them be of good cheer it is I do not be afraid then he went up into the boat to them in the wind ceased and they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure and marvel for they had not understood about the loaves because their heart was hardened when they had crossed over they came to the land of gana sûreté and adored excuse me and anchored there and when they came out of the boat immediately the people recognized him ran through the whole surrounding region and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever to wherever they heard he was wherever he entered into villages cities or the country they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might just touch the hem of his garment and as many as touched him were made well amen let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for the reading of your word we rejoice yet again that we have this word with us we thank you that we can carry your revelation to men in our hands that we have your full Bible we do pray that you'd help us to always avail of it and we thank you for this account of our Christ this Christ that is marked by compassion this Christ that is marked by divine power in this Christ who performed miracles after both of those things and for the glory of your name for the glory of God and for the good of his people that that many might come to a knowledge of he our Blessed Christ and we do pray that you'd help us to always reflect with great joy upon these Gospel accounts as they do not present to us cunningly devised fables but rather they present to us the Christ of truth the god of truth and we do pray that we would rejoice in these things we thank you that you have brought Mike and Jessica back home safely to us on that note we also would pray for the South Surrey Bible study that you would watch over this work that you would guide this work that you would bring many to this public location as we look forward to gather there in the at the end of June and we do pray Lord God that you'd be over this work and that in due time we would even see a church planted there that your Gospel Lord God would go forth in that area and that many would come to a knowledge of our blessed Christ be with us now as we continue in worship help us to worship you in spirit and in truth and Lord God that you might receive all honor we pray in Christ's precious name Amen our final hymn then before the preaching this time will be in the red Trinity Psalter if you'll stand with me we're going to sing Psalm 139 - a familiar tune that's Psalm 139 verses one to twelve [Music] you you please be seated you can turn in your Bibles to Acts 17 acts 17 if you were here last Lord's Day you remember that we began to look at the proclamation of the Christian God on the part of the Apostle Paul as he comes into Athens as he is in Athens waiting for Timothy and Silas he his eyes land upon the various stoah and temples of of Athens and his spirit is provoked within him his spirit is roused to a wholesome indignation against the madness in the darkness of the idolatry that plagued Athens at that particular time and so he begins to preach to them Jesus and the resurrection and these epicurean and stoic philosophers want to hear more remember we noted that they most likely are mistaking Jesus and their resurrection as two gods possibly as a male and a female deity not that Paul was somehow cryptic in his proclamation of the gospel but rather in the hardness of their hearts and an unbelief and plagued by their own reigning paganism they misunderstand what the Apostle Paul is saying and so they want to hear more and they bring him to the Areopagus and now we have then before us in verses 22 through 34 the sermon that Paul delivers at the Areopagus setting forth the glory the unrivaled majesty of the Christian God over and against all conceptions of pagan deities in all sorts of madness it will pick up reading in verse 22 of Acts 17 and will read to the end of the chapter then Paul stood in the midst of the areopagus and said men of Athens I perceive that in all things you are very religious for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship I even found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God therefore the one whom you worship without knowing him I proclaim to you God who made the world and everything in it since he is lord of heaven and earth does not dwell in temples made with hands nor is he worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything since he gives to all life breath and all things and he is made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth and has determined there are pre appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings so that they should seek the Lord in the hope that they might grope for him and find him though he is not far from each one of us for in him we live and move and have our being as also some of your own poets have said for we are also his offspring therefore since we are the offspring of God we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone something shaped by art and man's devising truly these times of ignorance God overlooked but now commands all men everywhere to repent because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained he has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead and when they heard of the resurrection of the Dead some mocked while others said we will hear you again on this matter so Paul departed from among them however some men joined him and believed among them dionysius the areopagite a woman named Damaris and others with them amen well let's ask God's blessing upon our time here in the preaching of the word let's pray God we thank you that we can gather now as we have been already gathered that we can observe now this act of worship the preaching of the word once again we plead for your aid we ask for your help as the preacher opens up the word we pray that you would give him words to speak and we pray that Lord God I would not rest upon my own strength whatever that may be or my own intelligence whatever that may be but rather resting upon the aid that a triune God affords we pray that this act of preaching would be unto your glory unto the strengthening of saints and Lord God unto the salvation of sinners might we know you and know you all the more by an examination by proclamation of this passage and Lord God might you be honored might you be praised might you be glory din we pray in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen well to frame our minds consider these words of Francis turret and he remarks that reflection upon such passages as these acts 17 22 234 reflections on these passages are given so that quote when we approach unto God we may elevate our thoughts above terrestrial and fleeting things and think nothing concerning God but what is great and lofty I think that's something that the Apostle Paul is wanting to do here remember his his eyes are scandalized if you will and his spirit is roused to provocation because of the the madness of the idolatry that he witnesses in Athens Paul isn't like a tourist with a brochure and you know with with the tropical button-up shirt and a camera around his neck marveling at the glory of architecture he casts his eyes and there is no Marvel in a positive sense but rather marveling that they have departed from the incorruptible God and he had heap to themselves all manner of in corruption or excuse me of corruption they have heaped to themselves all manner of idolatry all manner of of pagan conceptions of deities they had in a sense cast off the the knowledge of God that comes by virtue of creating being created in His image and they have heaped to themselves all manner of ungodly images all manner of stoah with respect to Zeus and and Hephaestus and all of these multitudinous deities of pagan madness so we are and hopefully by a reflection of this passage we are to frame our minds we are to fill our heads with the knowledge of the true God that one who is great and lofty and to cast off any intruding thoughts of any God that is lesser than Father Son and Holy Spirit we want to look at verses 22 to 34 under four headings and I'll give you those and hopefully we can proceed with with God's aid and with allowable time limits through all of these and though things are these we want to look first at the prelude to the proclamation of the Christian God we want to look at the proclamation of the Christian God proper and then the mercy extended by the Christian God and lastly the Athenian reception of the Christian God now when I say the Christian God hopefully you all know that I'm not saying the Christian God as you know an offering of a deity that you know can be considered along with other possible conceptions of God that are out there here I we offer to you our Christian God but if you're content with your own gods and that's fine we don't confess a God that is just the best God among other deities out there in the universe or we don't confess the Christian God as one among many other competing equals but when we say the Christian God we say the proper and the true and the the one that has been properly conceived and revealed and set forth and opened up in the scriptures in other words the only living and true God there is but one only living in true God and he is Yahweh of our revelation he is father son and spirit God in three persons Blessed Trinity so notice the prelude to the proclamation of the Christian God and we see this in acts 17 22 and 23 notice first what we find there the location of the sermon then Paul stood verse 22 in the midst of the areopagus and said what is this areopagus the the name itself is two words and two words one which is the god Ares the Greek God Ares now you perhaps might have a translation there Mars Hill it's commonly translated here as the Areopagus is as Mars hill and we you know we talk about Paul preaching at Mars Hill well it was the god aries who is the Roman god Mars and it is basically areopagus means the rock of Ares or the hill of Ares according to to the madness of Greek paganism the story goes that Ares was brought to this geological structure where juridical trials were were sort of carried out in the twelve gods judged him for having murdered for having murdered the the the Son of Neptune for raping his daughter and so it's called The Rock of Ares be because of that that myth because of that story it had been in classical antiquity and the the life and times of Athens a place where there would be a gathering for juridical for for judgments being made against criminals and usually charges charges of proclaiming foreign gods and and for the crime of murder now some have supposed that Paul is actually seen here or taken to the actual geological structure the rock and the place where those formal formal judicial trials were were carried out so he's actually at Mars Hill or the rock of Ares but more than likely he's not at that geological structure but was taken to a royal portico in the marketplace where the Council of the Areopagus met so if we have in our minds this picture of Paul standing on this rock standing on Mars Hill proclaiming the god of the God the Christian God that's a fine image that you can have in your minds but he probably wasn't there he is proclaiming the Christian God with great vigor and apologetic strength but it is in the midst of the Council of the Areopagus most likely in this royal portico historians note that Areopagus had been a word that was sort of shortened and applied to the council that met for juridical procedure so anyway Paul is standing in the midst of these of these this pagan council and as we'll get to he is proclaiming the riches and the excellencies of the triune God the occasion of the sermon we note in verses 22 and 23 we see here men of Athens I perceive that in all things you are very religious for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship I even found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God what what is the occasion of this sermon we'll hopefully you remember from last time the Epicureans and the Stoics bring Paul to the Areopagus and ask if they can hear more of this Jesus and resurrection and so Paul has this glorious occasion where he can open up Jesus and the resurrection the true proclamation of the Christian God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent to these Athenian idolaters we have Paul addressing the men of Athens and so no doubt what this what we have here wrapped up in men of Athens are those Epicureans those Stoics and perhaps others pythagorean's and and others who followed after the Homeric gods of ancient greece and they're all gathered before him they're all present they're all there waiting to hear as Paul opens up his god-inspired mouth to proclaim the riches of the triune God what is the introduction to the sermon then we're in the prelude to the proclamation of the Christian God and we want to move quickly through this so that we can get to the Proclamation proper but notice Paul's introduction to his sermon first we see Paul's assessment of Athenian religious devotion he speaks to them and he says men of Athens I perceive that in all things you are very religious now we ought not let our minds to think that Paul is actually giving them a compliment here that they actually are very religious perhaps in the in the way that we might understand that in our modern mindset you know we hear very religious today and and we think you know goes to church prays a lot reads you know reads his Bible is at every service is at the Lord's Supper he's out there at Wednesday Bible studies there it's Saturday morning theology study he's very religious never speaks an ill thing never reviles when he is reviled does not answer sufferings with threatenings those sorts of things well here Paul is not issuing a compliment to the Athenians these men of Athens when he says I perceive that you are in all things very religious it's not a compliment but it's also not necessarily an insult this is not intended by Paul as a compliment but rather we see if we know Paul we know that he would not be complimenting the Athenians and based on a historical witness it's actually forbidden for one who is brought before the Areopagus it's actually forbidden to engage in what's called complimentary eggs or dia according to Bruce introductory compliments to the council in order to garner their favor was actually forbidden by the Areopagus and Paul no doubt would have known that and so he's not issuing a compliment when he says you are very religious most likely and what this language carries the weight of is perhaps rather superstitious or too superstitious that might be too harsh because Paul is navigating navigating a measure of of respectability here it could carry the weight of somewhat superstitious some have contended for a harsher fearful of demons the word translated very religious if for those word nuts out there it's actually the second largest Greek word in the New Testament there is a larger word used in Acts chapter 10 I believe it is but it's the second long and it's a long one in nineteen letters and in the Greek language and it contains the word a root word that is included in it for demons and so some have contended for a harsher fearful of demons perhaps it means carrying your religious reverence very far or fears of the supernatural spirits the thrust of the message here is that not that Paul's giving them a compliment not that he's doing some sort of underhanded insult but rather that he is cutting at the heart of their ear religion cutting at the heart of their ungodly pagan idolatry and he is saying that it is rather superstitious or somewhat superstitious or carrying their religious reverence very far he says men of Athens I perceive that in all things you are very religious and notice the evidence of this religious devotion the evidence of it follows in verse 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects your worship I even found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God therefore the one whom you worship without knowing him I proclaim to you this is the evidence of really the evidence of their superstitiousness is that they have an altar to the unknown God perhaps what that was or what the backstory is there there's there's three approaches to what that might be and perhaps there's a while there's probably not a little bit of everything but perhaps a combination of two but the idea or some have thought that this altar to the unknown God this altar with the inscription to the unknown God is sort of a hat tip to the Jews that would have been there in Athens for quite some time remember Paul preached in the synagogue in Athens there were some Jews in Athens and and so the idea is is that these Jews have this unknown God this one who is incomprehensible this one who yes we can know but yes we can apprehend but we cannot fully enclose within the grasp of our comprehension because he is beyond comprehension he is immense eternal infinite and all of his glorious perfections the Athenian recognition of the God of the Jews Henry notes that the heathens called the Jewish God and uncertain God the uncertain deity of Moses so perhaps that in view that that's in view another option with regards to why is there this altar with the inscription to the unknown God another option is one of the poets that the Apostle Paul quotes epimers later on in the passage there was a time about 300 years prior to Paul's occasion here where there was a plague in Athens and so the the people of Athens came to epinet ease and and asked for his advice and he said release some black and white sheep into the city and wherever they stop there slay them and alt and offer them up on an altar to the god of that spot and so wherever they stopped they were slain and an altar was erected and that sheep was sacrificed to an unknown God perhaps if they had stopped at the at the the stoah of Zeus they would have sacrificed it to Zeus they would have stopped at the temple of Athena they would have sacrificed it to Athena but in this case it stopped at the Areopagus on the hill of Ares and so no God being there they offered it up to the unknown God having built an altar there and another option is simply to suggest that they erected these altars to the unknown gods of foreign nations but whatever it is whatever the case when we read here an altar with this inscription to the unknown God Paul uses this as an occasion to proclaim the true and living God who can be known who is known by Paul and whom he will now make known to these Athenian idolaters so that's the the prelude to the proclamation of the Christian God we want to now move then to the the proclamation of the Christian God Paul opens up this beautiful sermon where he discloses to these Athenian idolaters the glory of the living and true God hopefully you see as you read this passage and perhaps without the aid of the preacher as we navigate through this passage this morning our minds are to be drawn to the greatness of our God over and against any other God which are no gods at all that are propagated out there in the world this is a glorious occasion a victory for the fame of Yahweh here on this day at the Areopagus in Athens because Paul comes against he's all by himself remember he's all by himself here at the Areopagus before this council and before a multitude of idolaters of various flavors he says you're wrong and there is one and only living in true God he is Yahweh of Israel he is God in three persons Blessed Trinity he is this one that I now open up to you we want to notice four things in the proclamation of the Christian God and those four things are these the and this comes from the text I'm not just jumping now to a consideration of God on other matters or at other texts but rather this comes from the text the exclusive lordship of the Christian God the unbounded glory of the Christian God the all-sufficient independence of the Christian God and then the honor that is ooh the Christian God want you to listen to these words of a fellow named Marci anis Arista T's and for anybody who is interested this is connected to Athens Marci anis Arista T's was living in around 126 ad ad 126 is probably the proper way to say that he was an Athenian philosopher he's only two generations removed from the Apostle Paul no doubt he would have heard stories of this Paul who came to the Areopagus and proclaimed Jesus in the resurrection he might have been the the pupil of the son of dionysius the areopagite we don't know but what we do know is that he was an Athenian philosopher only two generations removed from the Apostle Paul converted unto Christianity by the grace of our God and he proclaims this with regards to our subject matter and as we read through acts 17 and navigate the passage listen how Arista T's is rehashing in a good way he's reiterating the blessed words of the Apostle Paul the heavens do not limit him speaking of God of course but the heavens and all things visible and invisible receive their bounds from him adversary he has none for there exists not any stronger than he ignorant and forgetfulness or not in his nature for he is altogether wisdom and understanding and in him stands fast all that exists he requires not sacrifice and libation nor even one of things visible he requires not anything from any but all living creatures stand in need of him see this this Athenian philosopher converted unto Christianity repeating the words of the Apostle Paul repeating the words of the Apostle Paul who had proclaimed the glory of this God so we then let's have a look first off at the the exclusive lordship of the Christian God notice in the passage here the Apostle Paul from the outset after saying therefore the one whom you worship without knowing him I proclaim to you says God who made the world and everything in it since he is Lord of Heaven and Earth the exclusive lordship of Yahweh the exclusive lordship of the Christian God you know this comes to to the the minds and in the hearts of the modern people in our landscape a time of religious plurality a time of your truth is your truth and my truth is my truth and this is offensive to the modern ear because we need to be tolerant we need to be open-minded we need to we need to just let everybody do whatever we just need to sing Kumbaya play a guitar in front of the fire and let bygones be bygones the Apostle Paul proclaims the exclusive lordship and it's not out of some of the Christian God and it's not out of some like we said last week curmudgeonly rejection of everything else that I don't like but it's unto the end of what the passage closes with that they would close upon the mercy and the glory of this living and true God this only God of heaven and earth and that they would find in him what is proper truth they would find in him what his only true mercy love and grace and all good things that they would cast aside the madness of the hardness and the sinfulness of their hearts and own the living and true God exclusivity is a good thing with respect to truth because there is only objective truth one truth God's truth there are no rivals there are no adversaries as a wristed he said and so he proclaims the exclusive lordship and he does so by doing this by noting that God is the only living and true God is the creator of all things he is the creator of heaven and earth if you've read your Old Testaments well you'll know this that very often when the prophets are coming up against the the heathen that the pagans of are the gods of the pagans all around them or when Israel herself falls after idolatry because of the nation's influences upon them the prophets often go to that point to exalt God over and above every other God who is no God at all and they do so by saying that he is creator of all things that he created the heavens and the earth and so the Apostle Paul begins there because he knows that Old Testament reality God who made the world and everything in it since he is Lord of Heaven and Earth you can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy as we try to navigate the landscape of the glory of this Christian God first with respect to his exclusive lordship notice in Deuteronomy 32 if you'll turn there and try to turn there quickly because we have much to work through want to rush anyone but Deuteronomy 32 and notice when you get there you can turn to verse 36 the confession of Israel and this comes in the context of the folly and the madness and the error of pagan deities of following after idols and notice the language of God by the prophet Moses here in verse 36 for the Lord will judge his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees that their power is gone and there is no one remaining bond or free he will say where are their gods the rock in which they sought refuge who are who are the fat of their sacrifices excuse me who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering let them rise up and help you and be your refuge now just pause for a moment you see the indictment of pagan deities and those who follow after them where are their gods the rock in which they sought refuge there is no refuge there is no rock in anyone save Yahweh and then notice the language in 38 who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering as often as anybody any idolaters places bananas before a Golden Buddha that offering will not be eaten as long as they put any sort of beverage before an engraved or a graven image there will be no libation drank who are the fat of who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering let them rise up and help you and be your refuge flee to them if you'll fight if you think you'll find mercy in these pagan gods run to them the end will be misery the end will be destruction the end will be colossal in everlasting disappointment notice then verse 39 now see that I even I am he and there is no God besides me I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal nor is there any who can deliver from my hand you see God proclaims the exclusive lordship of himself I even I am he and there is no God besides me more pointedly let's move to Isaiah 42 for a moment because in Isaiah 42 we probably have what is in the background of the Apostle Paul when he's proclaiming the riches of the triune God at the Areopagus remember we said last time that Paul does take a little bit of a of a different tact here a different track with the Gentiles the Gentiles were not familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures they didn't traffic in Moses they didn't traffic in the law the prophets and the Psalms and so while he doesn't openly cite or quote the Old Testament and refer to it as such the Lord says or the prophets spoke or just as it is written but nevertheless the Old Testament is in the back of his mind and revelation the revelation of God informs his Proclamation notice in Isaiah 42 verses 5 to 8 thus says God the Lord who created the heavens and stretched them out who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it I the LORD have called you in righteousness and will hold your hand I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people as a light to the Gentiles to open blind eyes to bring out prisoners from the prison those who sit in darkness from the prison house I am the Lord that is my name and my glory I will not give to another nor my praise - carved images behold the former things have come to pass and new things I declare before they spring forth I tell you of them you see this is the proclamation of the prophet Isaiah that is sort of a a pre Areopagus Areopagus sermon by Isaiah the folly of idols is brought in view by virtue of the fact that there is one God God the lord of verse five who created the heavens and stretched them out who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it you see the pagans had all notions of a multiplicity of gods who were the gods of various things yet the god of the sea you know the god of the sky the god of the Sun the god of blacksmiths the god of wine the God of War the God of weapons the god of potato chips you had all manner of gods being ascribed to things that were no God's at all and what the prophets of the Old Testament wanted to set forth and what the the apostles the Proclaimers of Jesus and the resurrection in the New Testament want to set forth is that there is only one God and he has testified as the only God by virtue of the fact that he created all things and that he upholds all things he can turn as well if you're still in Isaiah to Isaiah 45 Isaiah 45 and notice in verse 18 for thus says the Lord who created the heavens who is God who formed the earth and made it who has established it who did not create it in vain who formed it to be inhabited I am the Lord and there is no other you see what the Apostle Paul is doing here when he says as I observed the objects of your worship I noticed an altar with this inscription to the unknown God and then when he follows that up by saying him I proclaim to you the one you worship in ignorance him I proclaim to you he's not tacking on an additional God to their pantheon of deities I I know you get that but a wholesome reiteration he's not saying okay you've got your Zeus you've got your Hephaestus you've got your Athena you've got your Hermes you've got your Heracles you've got your Hera you've got all thirty thousand of your deities consider a little Jesus and resurrection in your life perhaps might give a little boost to your happens supplement your idolatry well no that's not what the Apostle Paul is doing you see the biblical pedigree here is such that creation of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them testifies to the reality that the one who did that is the only living and true God and testifies to this reality that I am the Lord and there is no other in other words cast aside all of these ungodly conceptions of deity and own the living and true God own the one that truly is the one and only God who created the heavens and the earth glory is due the triune God alone he alone is to be adored the Athenians had exchanged the glory of the incorruptible god for corruptible things you know what is probably in the back of the Apostle Paul's mind as he was writing Romans 1 what's probably in the back of the Apostle Paul's mind as he's writing Romans 1 is the Athenian episode is the Areopagus episode he's casting his eyes upon all of this madness of of corruptible things for footed creatures and crawling things the incorruptible God exchanged for corruptible things that's what he is casting his eyes upon in this Athenian episode and so it is God alone who is to be proclaimed the incorruptible God Father Son and Holy Spirit one more text before we move on you can turn to Jeremiah with me if you were already in Isaiah and you hadn't yet moved back to acts 17 you're not too far away Jeremiah 10 noticed the language in Jeremiah 10 beginning at verse 10 but the Lord is the true God he is the Living God and the everlasting king at his wrath the earth will tremble and the nations will not be able to endure his indignation you see the heart of the Apostle Paul here let's let's make no mistake yes Paul has a wholesome indignation against idolatry here but he also has a heart that those wrapped up and bound in darkness would be let free and liberated from that darkness to own the live in true God you see Paul will get to judgment call Paul will get to the reality that this God whom I proclaimed to you will judge the world by the man whom he has ordained and he's given testa fication witness to this by raising him from the dead and so he wants them to understand this god of jeremiah 10:10 the Lord is the true God he is the Living God and the everlasting King at his wrath the earth will tremble and the nations will not be able to endure his indignation notice verse 11 thus you shall say to them the gods that have not made the heavens in the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens you see what is in the background of the Apostle Paul's preaching here the gods you Athenians that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and you will perish with them so do not follow them do not bow down before them do not worship them because this God the God of verse 12 he has made the earth by his power he has established the world by his wisdom and has stretched out the heavens at his discretion the triune God Yahweh the Christian God the only living and true God notice secondly as we get then back to acts 17 notice secondly the Apostle Paul's next point is at this the unbounded glory of the Christian God notice the language in verse 24 God who made the world and everything in it since he is Lord of Heaven and Earth does not dwell in temples made with hands the unbounded glory of the Christian God what does it mean when we say unbounded kids you know what hopefully what abound is a boundary it's a you know limitation set a formal or informal limitation set confines set for a thing in sports you can't go out of bounds you have to you know in soccer you got to keep the ball on this side of the touchline if you kick it past or run past with it you're out of bounds so moving from low things to higher things the unbounded glory of the Christian God means that he cannot be limited he cannot be confined he cannot be circumscribed this is the language of the Apostle Paul here he does not dwell in temples made with hands this is a direct attack a direct blow against the Athenians who were listening because all of their gods dwelt in temples made with hands so the Apostle Paul wants to set forth the glory of the Christian God as the one who is unbounded the one who is limitless the one who does not dwell in temples made with hands you can turn with me to first Kings eight the reason we're navigating Bible is to understand that the Apostle Paul is not arguing from natural revelation though in a sense he appeals to the reality that the Athenians by virtue of being created in the image of God and yet having that image marred affected vandalized violated by virtue of sin have suppressed the glory of the incorruptible God and are following after many deities Paul's preaching from his knowledge of the Scriptures the scriptures being that revelation of God himself the one who is to be known adored loved worshipped and glory didn't notice in first Kings eight in the context here brethren is that Solomon is giving that the dedication Solomon is giving the dedication of the temple he's has he's casting his eyes perhaps on the splendor of this temple that has been made with human hands it's a beautiful structure it's a glorious temple that he has made as a dwelling place of the Lord will qualify that statement in a moment but notice here in acts excuse me in first Kings eight at verse 27 in the context we have here the the dedication of the temple his prayer to Yahweh the one for whom the temple was built and notice in verse 27 but will God indeed dwell on the earth behold heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you how much less this temple which I have built see that you see the language there first off but will God and we excuse me first verse 27 but will God indeed dwell on the earth you know some some point to Solomon here with a knowledge of the coming Messiah that he is marveling and the one who would fulfill the reality of the temple will God indeed dwell on the earth it's a marvel looking forward to the fact that yes God will dwell upon the earth God the second of the blessed triune will come assume man's nature and dwell among men in order to bring redemption to the the Fallen sons and daughters of Adam we have here a reality though a stress upon the greatness of God the bigness of God that's even the language that we can't use kids if hopefully that in this church you you get at least the slightest impression that we seek to preach a big God God is big and yet that language is not helpful to our conception of God because God is not marked by size he is sizeless he is not constrained by space he is immense eternal infinite but notice what the text says here behold heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you what's what's he saying here he's saying that if we we cast our eyes out upon the galaxy if we look up to the heavens and we see that the stars in the expanse and we consider for a moment does God dwell there we have to say no because the heavens cannot contain him is God there yes in the very immediacy of his being his nature in his essence but he's not confined by this by the space he's not confined by the expanse and he goes beyond that to say even the heaven of heavens cannot contain you even heaven itself though God does specially dwell there the Angels fly and they they praise and they sing holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts and yet God does not properly dwell there because even the heaven and of the heavens cannot contain him you know we need to we need to divest ourselves of a Saturday morning or Sunday morning cartoon God who has round eyes a gray beard has a staff and has this comical smile on his face and does whatever cartoon gods do the the universe and all that is in it the expanse of the heaven God doesn't dwell somewhere out there God isn't beyond Pluto in some size of his being just you know pouring benevolence out upon asking earth God is big and that languages even even fails to express the God that we have he is immense he is eternal he fills the heavens in the earth the Apostle Paul here in acts 17 wants them to know that the greatness of God isn't to be shrunk down distorted disturbed and violated so that he is represented on a six-foot tall a 20-foot tall a 30-foot tall stoah of Zeus he does not dwell in temples made with hands the glory of our God is being proclaimed by the Apostle Paul here and it is at the point that he is immense Eva for anybody who's who's read theology immense hopefully doesn't scare anyone away it speaks to an aspect of God's infinity if the infinity of God is seen in the fact that he has no limitations he is infinite nothing can contain constrain limit our God he is Lord of Heaven and Earth the creator of all things he constrains he limits he sets boundaries he is not limited and he is not bounded infinity it's not a number it's not the greatest number it's without limits well immensity pertains to the fact that God is limitless with respect to space you cannot confine him he does not dwell in temples made with hands if you know in efforts to cast away our notions of God as a big-eyed Sunday morning cartoon flea nobody sees him that way but that's the way the world presents them to us is this comical old man you know you think about the the largeness the bigness again those words fail but the the immensity of our God there's a but he lives in Abbotsford who has been there if you you drive down Whatcom road from the from my side there assume house mountain you wind around Whatcom road and there's a point where you wrap around the corner and you you depart from the obstruction of houses and trees and and all of a sudden you're presented with this majestic mountain mount baker on a clear day it's it's absolutely amazing you come around eyeball oftentimes wanted to stop and take a photo I'm not sure why the photo would stay on my phone and nobody would ever see it anyway it's just so it's so amazing you're confronted as you wrap around with the the the immensity of this mountain that's that's improper a predication of a mountain a mountain isn't demands but we can speak of it that way in our glowing poetry but this massive mountain Mount Baker now if we then mount up no pun intended to a larger mountain for those of you who don't know Mount Baker I think is about 10,000 or almost 11,000 feet high that's you'd still have to travel 4,500 feet to get to base camp for Mount Everest Mount Everest ascent and then Mount Everest is another fourteen thousand feet on top of that we're gonna cast our eyes upon Mount Everest we'd be casting our eyes upon a big thing and yet to say that God is bigger than Mount Everest is to do Everest a favor and to cast dispersions upon the triune God because he is immense he fills the heavens and the earth no place contains him he is located nowhere and yet he is everywhere because nothing bounds him nothing can finds him glorious Isaiah 66 can turn there with me to rehearse something of this reality Isaiah chapter 66 again the Apostle Paul is looking at these contained deities these temples made with hands he's looking at these things and he is grieved and provoked in his heart that these are casting aside the God of glorious immensity for creeping things and images made after human likeness notice in Isaiah 66 verse 1 Isaiah 66 beginning in verse 1 thus says the Lord heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool where is the house that you will build me and where is the place of my rest for all those things my hand has made and all those things exist says the Lord but excuse me verse 2 for all those things my hand has made and all those things exist says the Lord but on this one will I look on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at my word you see that language who where is the house that you will build me and where is the place of my rest you see there is an indictment by God himself against pagan deities that surround the nations of Israel in that time that the time of the Apostle where is the house that you will build me and where is the place at my rest you know it goes back to creation here for all these things my hand is made and all those things exist the Lord does not dwell in temples made with hands you to turn for it for a second to two acts seven and I want to make a connection a connection here at the point of Acts chapter seven with regards to the Apostle Paul in acts 7 we have near the closing of stephen's preaching of jesus christ we have in in acts 7 at verse 48 notice this language however the most high does not dwell in temples made with hands as the prophet says heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool what house will you build for me says the Lord or what is the place of my rest as my hand not made all these things in Stephens employ of the Prophet there he to press upon his Jewish audience that this temple is about to be destroyed and it only anyway was the shadow of the substance that is Christ Jesus himself you put to death this righteous one worship him follow him believe in him this temple is such that God no longer dwells there having departed his glory from that place by virtue of the reality that Christ the promised Tabernacle in Temple has come among men redeemed men and ascended to heaven but notice the language in verse 48 perhaps Paul here in acts 17 is reflecting upon his pre conversion listening to Steven you think about that for a moment remember this is probably twenty years after he heard Steven there is a day on which he is an unconverted Jew was watching over the garments of those who were crushing Stephens head they had disrobed themselves not entirely they disrobed themselves in order to be unconstrained to pick up rocks and and crush the head of Stephen Paul is watching that hearing that seeing that and he would have listened to these words by Stephen the most high does not dwell in temples made with hands as the Prophet says and so on that wonderful day in Athens Paul repeats the same and the glorious truth men do not determine the boundaries of God's dwelling he determines theirs in fact that's the point in verses verse 27 B and 28 notice at this point the unbounded glory of God verse 27 so that they should seek the Lord in the hope that they might grope for him and find him though he is not far from each one of us for in him we moot we live and move excuse me back to verse 26 at this point verse 26 and he has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell in the face of the earth and notice and has determined their pre appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings you know we very often and rightly go to this verse and we see Providence there we see God's divine providence because God had and we again we rightly do this God and he alone has determined the pre appointed times and boundary boundaries of everyone's dwellings you see there is force of the argument here that God is the one as the text says who determines the boundaries of us we don't as idolaters determine the boundaries in the dwelling places of God he does not dwell in temples made with hands you see he's coming against all these Athenians who are determining the dwelling places and the boundaries of their gods they shape them they formed them out of the earth out of wood out of stone they build an erect temples wherein they place their gods who are no gods at all and yet it is Yahweh alone who is unbounded who himself determines the boundaries of our dwellings one other text Psalm 139 Psalm 139 because brethren God is immense God is omnipresent what that means when we speak of his immensity we ought not to scare anyone away from believing then that God is not imminent that God is not present that God is not near to every one of us you know that God's omnipresence which means that he is everywhere hopefully kids as we study the doctrine of God and you're in your classes you come to know that God is omnipresent he is everywhere his omnipresence is not the omnipresence of his his power that dispatch beyond Pluto he has the ability to affect with his power things on earth but rather that he is everywhere he fills the heavens in the earth is the language of Jeremiah 23 23 and 24 he fills the heavens and the earth so while he is the transcendent God removed far from his creatures nevertheless he is the one who is immediately near by the everywhere presence of his glorious being notice in Psalm 139 he is a God who is present where can I go from your spirit this is 139 7 or where can I flee from your presence if I ascend into heaven you are there if I make my bed in hell behold you are there if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me if I say surely the darkness shall fall on me even the night shall be light about me indeed the darkness shall not hide from you but the night shines us the day the darkness and the light are both alight to you see the language there now this cuts with a two-edged sword this cuts with a two-edged sword where can I go from your spirit or where can I flee from your presence you know for the believer this is absolutely glorious it all this talk about immensity the greatness of our God the fact that he is unconstrained unbounded that he is located nowhere and yet is everywhere it might it might you know go over our heads and it might you might think that it smacks of of the high learning of theologians but it doesn't it is ever so practical God being immense and everywhere present comes to us and it brings glorious comfort and confidence you see kids when you pray to God it adults when you when you pray to God you're not praying to a god afar off you know our prayers don't go to God like a late 1980s early 90s modem it takes a minute and a half to connect and it has to travel through space and air somewhere to get to God he you know he D modulates it and and processes the prayer and then dispenses it but we have to wait a while when we pray to God we're not praying to a god afar off we're praying to a god that is near who fills the heavens and the earth God is near remember when we when we read that God you know the God comes down from heaven that's that's a special manifestation of his glory and his power and his condescension God's not absent from Earth when God comes down from heaven he's not coming to a place where he was absent God has every and so comfort and confidence comes with this blessed reality that our God is near for the believer this is to bring blessed comfort blessed confidence because God is immediately present in the perfection of his unbounded goodness when you pray to God you're praying to a god that is immediately present by His unbounded goodness so when you pray you pray with confidence because of this truth that God does not dwell in temples made with hands he is unconstrained unbounded and everywhere for his people but you see the other edge of that sword is the reality that God is everywhere the language of the text again where can I go from your spirit or where can I flee from your presence if I ascend into heaven you are there if I make my bed and hell behold you are there for the unbeliever out there you have to realize that God is near you can't close a door and block out God you can't hide in the darkness and block out God you can't call upon the rocks and the trees to hide you from the wrath of the Lamb because God is everywhere where can I go from you is David's Proclamation David's prayer David's declaration if you're an unbeliever and you're seeking to hide your sin you will be successful with respect to your parents perhaps with respect to those who are around you you can wait till night and go under the covers you can wait to pranaya and go wherever to commit all manner of iniquity but you cannot hide from God who does not dwell in temples made with hands the psalmist says if I ascend into heaven you are there if I make my bed in hell behold you are there make no mistake God is in hell his special manifestation of his unbounded goodness is not there but rather the absolute and abiding presence of His Holiness in his justice for all eternity you know the one the one who departs are the one who embraces or the one who seeks after death in order to somehow leave God is the one who is gravely mistaken he is everywhere notice the all-sufficient Independence of the Christian God as we move toward a close and as we move back to acts 17 notice the all-sufficient independence of God from Paul's Proclamation here verse 25 nor is he worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything since he gives to light gives to all life breath and all things now God is not saying that we are not to worship him with our hands or that we are not to engage in in a Christian and worshipful service to our God what the Apostle Paul is saying over and against the Athenian deities is that unlike those gods who are no gods at all who are served by men's hands men's hands make them men's hands serve them they gain their fame they gain their notoriety there they have a Lac that is filled up by the contribution of man God is not like that he is not worshiped by men's hands as if he needed anything he is all-sufficient he is independent the converse here is that the pagans give life breath and all things to their gods their gods depend upon them for their very existence and even if we grant the legitimacy of pagan religion for a moment in their own scheme their gods depend upon what they do towards them and for them in order to have Fame and in order to have vindication Isaiah 44 8 to 17 brings out this reality it's a wonderful scene that you can read on your own time I Isaiah 44 8 to 17 in that in that the Prophet is proclaiming the reality and the folly of idolatry where someone can go and chop down a tree you know the idolaters go up to the forest go up to a hill they cut down a tree and they manufacture their God from the tree he is a ax spends some time opening this up to see how mad it is they cut down their gods with an axe and form them out of the felled tree and then with some of that wood they put in the fire and they they start to cook their meat you know the madness that our God is like unto that which is fuel for meat cooking is absolute madness there's something at the end of that particular passage that I Isaiah says and not at the end but very close to the end in verse 21 of Isaiah 44 he says remember these Oh Jacob in Israel for you are my servant I have formed you you are my servant o Israel you will not be forgotten by me you see God is all-sufficient in his glorious independence and has no need of anyone in acts 17 at verse 28 this is brought out as well in acts 17 at verse 28 the Apostle Paul highlights this reality still having not departed from his subject matter but still proclaiming the Christian God the one and only living and true God the Apostle Paul who speaks these words in verse 28 he says for in him we live and move and have our being as also some of your own poets have said for we are also his offspring God is glorious in his independence and in his all sufficiency and you see this is one of the cruxes of the matter here that these idolaters are giving life breath and things to their gods and all the while forsaking the life breath and all things reality that the only living and true God provides you see to follow after idols is to forsake the one who gives us life breath and all things we see this close this therefore in verse 29 therefore since we are the offspring of God we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone something shaped by art and man's devising that pertains to the honor that is due the Christian God you see it is of the utmost dishonor to think that the divine nature is like silver or gold or stone do you see the fall event and the making of images perhaps you've thought and in some of your own you know in some of those moments of untaught Christianity well why was God so so harsh against the nation's you know for making you're actually more specifically why was God so harsh to his own people when they just manufactured a God out of gold that represented Yahweh what you know what's the problem it's the honor of God it's the glory of God the idea here is is that we being made in the image of God we aren't making statues or we aren't following after some sort of religion where we think that our nature our soul our immortality is that which is immaterial why would we manufacture out of material things an image of the one who gives us our immateriality why would we make images of the one who is pure spirit why would we make images of the one who is immense eternal and glorious and all of his perfections it is to dishonor God and the Apostle closes with the fact that this God is merciful the implication of following after a god of idolatry is that you forsake the the mercy of God Jonah spoke spoke these words in his prayer those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy so Paul says therefore since we are the offspring of our excuse me verse 30 truly these times of ignorance God overlooked but now commands all men everywhere to repent you see this comes as a mercy this comes as a glorious mercy to these Athenians the proclamation of this God wasn't to insult the proclamation of this God wasn't to engage in some sort of unwholesome boasting but it was unto the end that they would know this God in that in knowing this God they would know the mercy that he brings through Jesus Christ the Lord that's why he preaches Jesus and the resurrection that's why he unfolds and opens up the glory of God in His unbounded glory in his exclusive lordship in his efficient independence and the honor that is not to be imaged is so that they might know him and that they might find mercy in this one in whom and in whom only there is mercy and notice in closing the reception that this garnered the reception that this proclamation of the only living and true God received verse 32 and when they heard of the resurrection of the dead some mocked while others said we will hear you again on this matter so Paul departed from among them I know I've I've gone over and it's hot bear with me for about two minutes and 17 seconds you here this morning and you're found in verse 32 some of you mock you're not doing it openly you're not doing it verbally but in your in your heart you're you're mocking this notion of of this God I don't know how you could mocking mocking the notions of the pagan deities yes in a wholesome way the psalmist does it they have eyes but they don't see they have ears but they do not hear Elijah says your God perhaps is relieving himself in the in the in the outhouse but mocking this God the God who is unbounded the God who can be confined nowhere and yet fills the heavens in the earth the one who does not need the works of human hands but depends solely and alone in fact doesn't depend on anything he is independent that doesn't mean that he's self dependent God doesn't have an attribute of self dependence he's independent those aren't the same things but why would you mock this glorious one why would you mock this splendid one and perhaps some of you are saying we'll hear you again on this matter are you here this morning and you know we'll hear you again you know come back next week maybe or you know keep I'll keep coming to church but you know from Monday to Saturday I'll keep engaging and those devised wickedness --is that I plan when I awake from my pillow in the morning and maybe one day and the future all I'll consider this Jesus and the resurrection know that the acceptable time is now in fact Paul in essence says that when he says these times of ignorance God overlooked the time is now he commands all men everywhere to repent you know he's given evidence of this he's given testa fication of this verse 31 because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained he has given assurance of this by raising him from the dead again a two-edged sword comes glorious comfort to the to the believer the certainty of the resurrection testifying that this this God exists and will judge the world glorious comfort to the believer the testa fication the certainty that this Jesus Christ is raised from the dead and so judgment will take place and this mercy is real this grace this love but you see the other side of that sword cuts to the heart of the unbeliever God has given assurance of judgment by the resurrection of Jesus Christ and know that if you're here this morning outside of Christ he will come in glory with all his holy angels rendering vengeance upon those who did not know God and who did not obey the gospel of Jesus Christ believe on him and you will have everlasting life and you'll be found among those verse 34 some men joined him and believed among them dionysius the areopagite a woman named damaris and others with them we pray that you would be found in verse 34 and not in verse 32 you would be found of those among those few who followed after paul who believed in this god of unbounded glory and who believed in jesus christ in the resurrection and who will have comfort of comforts and joy of joy in the knowledge of that God in His Christ let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for the truth of your revelation we thank you for the glory we see in acts 17 as Paul combatted the madness of pagan idolatry and upheld the glory of the living and true God we do pray that you'd help us to glory in you and that we would rejoice in you alone that we would see in you the the only living and true God of heaven and earth who made the heavens in the earth who who is so glorious who was so unbounded that he certainly does not dwell in temples made with hands but rather is even above the heaven and the heaven of heavens and we thank you for who you are and for what you do in the midst of guilty sinners that you have set forth your Christ that you've given forgiveness of sins and everlasting life in him we thank you for the certainty of judgement by virtue of the resurrection of the Dead we thank you that for the certainty of judgment testified by the certainty of Christ's own resurrection and we do pray you would help us as Christians to glory in the truth of your word to glory and you are God and in Jesus Christ whom you have sent we pray Lord God that by your grace and for your glory you would raise dead sinners to life that by grace they would be saved and that they would sing along with all your saints hallelujah what a savior and it's in Christ's name that we pray amen let's stand and sing just in closing the doxology that's him not the doxology we're going to him sing hymn thirty five stanza one that's him thirty five stanza one as our doxology [Music] to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to God our Savior who alone is wise be glory and Majesty Dominion and power both now and forever amen please be seated we'll have a time of Prayer when the piano is finished you're dismissed you