1 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,119 This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark 2 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:12,240 Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:16,400 County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,720 continues teaching through God's Word. 5 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,080 The Bible tells us faith comes by hearing and hearing by the 6 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:43,400 word of God. Even today, despite listening, 7 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:47,760 Holy Spirit will increase your faith because the power of of 8 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:49,840 faith comes from the word of God. 9 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:54,720 And so this group of people in Berea are just amazing and 10 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,160 fascinating people. Therefore many of them believed. 11 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,440 Why did they believe? Were they found in the 12 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:03,160 Scriptures that the things he was teaching were true? 13 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:05,920 That's why they were able to have the confidence to believe 14 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:08,840 in what it was they were hearing and what was being taught. 15 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:11,800 What are the most important things to bring when you visit a 16 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:14,880 new place? Well, a map should be close to 17 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,040 the top of your list. Whether you're in a new city or 18 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,600 exploring a National Park, having a map or a compass is a 19 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:24,720 good way to make sure you can find your way when your 20 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:28,760 surroundings become unfamiliar. Today, Pastor Clark reminds you 21 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,400 that God's Word is the map you need to find your way through 22 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,400 life. And becoming intimately familiar 23 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,480 with that map will help you grow your faith in the Lord. 24 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:42,560 Now here's Pastor Clark in the book of Acts Chapter 17 with 25 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,360 today's edition of Living Waters of Grace. 26 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:50,560 Jason is being accused here as harboring them or giving them a 27 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:54,800 safe place to be, and these are all acting contrary to the 28 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,160 decrees of Caesar. So they're basically saying that 29 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:02,320 Paul and Silas are causing a rebellion against Caesar as a 30 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:04,760 king, and that was never the case. 31 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:09,199 Jesus was accused of causing problems in the political arena. 32 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,720 Jesus could care less about the political arena, he said. 33 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:18,960 My Kingdom isn't of this world. Politics isn't what gets the 34 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:20,760 Kingdom established here in the earth. 35 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,600 Jesus Christ is the only one that can establish the Kingdom, 36 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:27,800 and the Kingdom isn't of this world. 37 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:31,880 It's not of America or Russia or China or Saudi Arabia or the 38 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:36,440 Mideast or Africa or whatever. It's a supernatural Kingdom that 39 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,800 Christ is going to bring forth when he returns again. 40 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,920 And that's what our eyes need to be on, not what happens 2 years 41 00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:47,760 from now in Washington. Now I have my desires and you do 42 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:49,480 too. But whether they come to pass or 43 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:51,880 not is immaterial to the Kingdom of God. 44 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:54,960 Because Christ said He will build His church and the gates 45 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:56,560 of hell will not prevail against it. 46 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:02,720 His church isn't dependent upon Republicans or Democrats or 47 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:07,280 communists or socialists. His Kingdom is rooted in 48 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:12,080 supernatural power. He said His Kingdom will come 49 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:14,800 and when his Kingdom comes, it'll last forever. 50 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:19,720 There will be no war, no nation, no person, no leader that can 51 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:23,960 tear or destroy or circumvent the Kingdom of God. 52 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:29,920 And so all this upheaval that's happening throughout the ages in 53 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:33,360 the book of the Acts to the day that we live now, people are 54 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:39,240 paranoid about people like us that have a stand for the Lord 55 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:44,400 Jesus. And so they were saying that 56 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:48,640 there's another King Jesus. Well, yeah, King Jesus, he is 57 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,360 the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. 58 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,600 He's been that before the foundation of the earth. 59 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,920 And that's his throne. And he's on the throne in spite 60 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:01,680 of what we see happening in this world today. 61 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:07,000 His will will be done as it is in heaven. 62 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,360 It will be done on earth. He promises that in his prayer, 63 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:16,240 the Lord's Prayer. And so they're having to listen 64 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:21,959 to this nonsense of this crowd, these authorities at the time 65 00:04:21,959 --> 00:04:23,960 and these comments that are being made. 66 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,960 And as they're saying this, it says in verse 8, and they 67 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:31,640 troubled the crowd and the rulers of this city when they 68 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:33,720 heard these things. So they're really getting 69 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:35,640 uptight. We got a problem here. 70 00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:38,320 There's an insurrection going on there. 71 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:40,840 They want to bring down Caesar and they're thinking mentally, 72 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,920 if Caesar is diminished in the eyes of the city of 73 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:48,240 Thessalonica, they'll lose all the benefits of being part of 74 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,280 the Roman Empire. It was all self-serving 75 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,320 politics. So when they then took security 76 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:57,680 from Jason and the rest, they let them go. 77 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:00,280 So the whole deal was Jason had to give them a certain amount of 78 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:04,680 money, promising them that he would get Paul and Silas out of 79 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:07,200 the community and then he get his money back. 80 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,320 So verse 10. Then the brethren immediately 81 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,760 sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. 82 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:15,760 So I don't want to lose any money here. 83 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,360 Paul and Silas, you know you, I mean, we're glad you're here, 84 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:20,640 but you're probably better off going on down the road now, 85 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,560 going somewhere else. So when they arrived, they went 86 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:28,080 into the synagogue of the Jews and now they're in this place 87 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:33,200 called Berea, this other city, these people in Berea it says in 88 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:37,360 verse 11, very powerful. A comment made about these 89 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:41,120 people, may it be said of us, these were more fair minded than 90 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:45,080 those in Thessalonica and that they received the word with all 91 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,600 readiness and search the Scriptures daily to find out 92 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:54,520 whether these things were so. We need to be Bereans. 93 00:05:55,520 --> 00:06:00,280 I'm thankful for the focus that Calvary Chapel has around the 94 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:03,200 world and their churches to go through the Bible 95 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:07,320 systematically, verse by verse, line upon line, precept upon 96 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:09,960 precept. I don't have the right or the 97 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,800 privilege to make it up as I go or to go somewhere that the 98 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:18,880 Bible doesn't tell us to go. You know, we're locked into a 99 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:23,280 responsibility as teachers to teach the whole council of God. 100 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:28,480 And the privilege of being able to do that is we learn things 101 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:31,760 like we're learning today. And I hate to say it, but in 102 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:37,080 most churches a day you will not hear this kind of teaching. 30 103 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:40,040 years ago, a lot of the Bible churches taught this way. 104 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:43,600 Nowadays there's less and less. It says in the last days there 105 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:46,120 will be a famine for the word of God. 106 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:52,280 Men will be lovers in themselves rather than lovers of God and 107 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:55,560 it'll be hard to find places that teach sound doctrine. 108 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:00,720 And so these Bereans were already developed by the power 109 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:04,280 of God to does not take anything they heard lightly and say, 110 00:07:04,280 --> 00:07:08,000 well, this guy taught this. He seems to know the Bible. 111 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:12,240 So I guess it's true. You have to know the Bible like 112 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:15,240 I'm responsible to know the Bible. 113 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:20,400 All of you guys are responsible to know the Scriptures so that 114 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:24,480 when you're listening, if something's going the wrong way, 115 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:26,560 you're going to know right away it's going the wrong way. 116 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,520 It's going to convict you, it's going sideways, it's not true. 117 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:34,760 And you're going to hold the teacher accountable to something 118 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:37,840 that they taught that isn't founded in the scriptures. 119 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:44,120 It's fascinating. And in Second Timothy chapter 1, 120 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:49,680 he talks about this importance of preaching of, of the word of 121 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:55,480 God and of sound doctrine. It's important to not make it 122 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:57,440 up. It's important to, to stay with 123 00:07:57,440 --> 00:07:59,960 the truth. You know, whenever we don't stay 124 00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:03,000 with the truth, we're going to, we're going to be in falsehood. 125 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:08,280 You know, Second Timothy 113 hold fast the form of sound 126 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:12,440 words which thou has heard from me in faith and love, which is 127 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:16,480 in Christ Jesus. That's being spoken to Timothy 128 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:19,680 and the church. And this is your responsibility 129 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:24,480 as well as mine to hold fast to the form of sound doctrine. 130 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,520 And so as we're studying this, these Bereans understand the 131 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:31,440 importance of sound doctrines. They're searching. 132 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:35,280 They're just not listening. They have the ability to read 133 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,640 these manuscripts or how the scrolls, whatever they had at 134 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:41,039 the time. He's talking about Isaiah. 135 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:43,840 What did Isaiah really say in chapter 53? 136 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:48,800 I want to see it for myself and they probably found it and 137 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:53,480 underlined it or whatever memorized it to find out whether 138 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:57,640 these things were so it's really important for you and I to know 139 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:02,800 that these things are so the Bible tells us faith comes by 140 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:04,720 hearing and hearing by the word of God. 141 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:09,200 Even today, just by listening, Holy Spirit will increase your 142 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:13,200 faith because the power of of faith comes from the word of 143 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:16,960 God. And so this group of people in 144 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:19,720 Berea are just amazing and fascinating people. 145 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:22,960 Therefore many of them believed. Why did they believe? 146 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:25,520 Were they found in the Scriptures that the things he 147 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:28,080 was teaching were true? That's why they were able to 148 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:31,360 have the confidence to believe in what it was they were hearing 149 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:35,560 and what was being taught. Therefore, many of them believed 150 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:38,720 and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well 151 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,880 as men. So again, a move of God and 152 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:46,920 people getting saved, women in the synagogue and influential 153 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:49,360 women. We're also coming to faith in 154 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:52,320 Jesus Christ. Verse 13, the troublemakers 155 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:53,600 again. But when the Jews from 156 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:57,360 Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul 157 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:00,760 at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowd. 158 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,800 So there's this group of people. We're going to shut these people 159 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:07,960 down. Let's let's inflamed these 160 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,320 troublemakers and pay them money to cause anarchy in the street 161 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:14,560 so that we can dissipate this energy of this movement. 162 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,840 Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away to go to the sea. 163 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:22,200 So they've learned enough now that every time this crowd 164 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:25,000 comes, get out of town and this goes somewhere else. 165 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:28,360 And I believe this is one of the ways the Holy Spirit stirred 166 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:31,800 Paul's heart continually to go to the regions beyond. 167 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,880 He never wanted to build upon another man's foundation. 168 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,040 He never got like, hey, I'm comfortable here. 169 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:38,920 He was an apostle, a church planner. 170 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:41,960 He wasn't called to be in one place his whole life. 171 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:44,480 He was itinerant. He was a tent maker. 172 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:47,720 He made his living by making tents. 173 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:51,120 And in the interesting, in this particular chapter, you'll find 174 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:53,600 when you study Philippians of the Philippian believers 175 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:58,040 provided revenue or financial support so that Paul and Silas 176 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:01,560 had the ability to really concentrate on the ministry that 177 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:03,880 they were doing in these missionary journeys. 178 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:08,640 So they send Paul away to go to the sea, but both Silas and 179 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:12,520 Timothy remained there. So those who conducted Paul 180 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:15,400 brought him to Athens. So now he's going to Athens. 181 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:19,600 Exciting place and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to 182 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,480 come to him with all speed. They departed. 183 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:26,920 So Silas and Timothy are hanging out in these places to help 184 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:28,840 these new churches develop for a while. 185 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:32,400 They'll eventually catch up with Paul, but Paul now is going on 186 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:36,600 his own to Athens now. Athens, Greece back then as 187 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:42,200 today, is a incredible city. It's a city of influence. 188 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:47,000 It's a city of intellectualism. It's a city of philosophy. 189 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:53,040 This is a place of Socrates and Plato, these philosophers, 190 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:56,440 Aristotle. This is what caused people to 191 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:58,720 think about a lot of things in life. 192 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:02,320 And whether they were true or false, they were, their minds 193 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,080 were stimulated by the the brilliant people that lived 194 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:07,280 there. It was a city of idolatry. 195 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:10,760 To this day, there's the Parthenon and the Acropolis and, 196 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:13,720 and all these kind of places that you can go and actually see 197 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:16,760 these buildings that have stood the test of time throughout the 198 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:20,920 centuries of history of some idol and just every street 199 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,960 corner but a memorial to some God or goddess who lived at one 200 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:28,240 time that the people were influenced to worship Pagan 201 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:31,720 idolatry. And so Paul, he's, he's here in 202 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:33,320 Athens now. Verse 16. 203 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,920 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was 204 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:40,640 provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to 205 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,640 idols. So he's there like a Taurus 206 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:46,680 maybe initially, but he knows why he's really there. 207 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:50,920 He's fascinated by what he sees, but he's like, I can't believe 208 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:59,240 that these people are so deluded into worshipping all these false 209 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:01,560 gods. These beautiful buildings 210 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:05,240 they've built. They're void of truth. 211 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,600 They're void of God. There's no evidence of Christ 212 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:12,240 anywhere here. He sees and he saw that the city 213 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:14,800 was given over to idols. That broke his heart. 214 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:18,120 He wasn't judging them. He was like, these people are 215 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:20,080 messed up and they need to hear the truth. 216 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:24,640 Therefore, verse 17, he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews 217 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:26,760 and with the Gentile worshippers. 218 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:32,720 So again he has this privilege and this opportunity to go into 219 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:36,680 the synagogue and get some things going. 220 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:42,440 He also has this opportunity to deal with the Gentile 221 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:44,880 worshippers. So you had Jews and Gentiles in 222 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:48,200 the synagogue and and it says he didn't end there. 223 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:51,440 And then the marketplace daily with those who happen to be 224 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:53,520 there. That's interesting. 225 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:55,440 St. Ministry, how do you do that 226 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:57,880 Nowadays? Anytime I see St. 227 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:00,600 Ministry, it's never real attractive because it's some 228 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:04,360 wacko out there with signs saying God hates fags or he 229 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:06,000 hates this and you're all going to hell. 230 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:08,920 And it's not like endearing. I go to State College lots of 231 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:12,600 times on business, and there's the Willard preacher there who's 232 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:16,080 very gracious and how he stands outside the science building and 233 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:20,760 tries a dialogue with people about spirituality and that kind 234 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:23,800 of stuff to build a bridge to be able to have a conversation with 235 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:27,480 someone who's reasoning out of philosophy versus the truth of 236 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:30,240 the gospel. But sometimes you'll see people 237 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:33,760 out there screaming with a microphone telling all the Penn 238 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:35,920 State students that they're on their way to hell. 239 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:39,280 You know, that's not the way. I think you start with the 240 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:44,000 communication of the gospel. I think you best start with 241 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:48,840 God's love, because that's what softens the heart. 242 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:52,360 A God who's going to send me to hell. 243 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:54,120 I don't want to even know who he is, right? 244 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:55,800 Because I don't even think he loves me. 245 00:14:56,680 --> 00:14:59,200 And when you tell people first about the love of God and what 246 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:02,880 he did for them, then all of a sudden the message of the need 247 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:07,240 for repentance to be saved from hell begins to sink in and make 248 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:10,880 good common sense. So as they're preaching here, 249 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:14,680 these other philosophers, verse 18, certain Epicurean and Stoic 250 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,600 philosophers encountered him. Some said, what does this 251 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:22,120 babbler want to say? The Epicureans were developed 252 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:26,160 about 300 years before this incident took place. 253 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:28,760 They were the people that believed in the good life, the 254 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:32,960 best wine, the best food, the best entertainment, the best 255 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:38,360 buildings and property, the ability to have, you know, the 256 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:43,560 best sensuality or whatever sin they might be able to experience 257 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:47,520 in their flesh and their body. It was all reasoned on. 258 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:50,680 This is how we're to live and enjoy all this good stuff. 259 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:53,360 They didn't want to deal with any negativity, nothing. 260 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:55,280 It was painful. Anything that had to do with 261 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:58,360 suffering. Their whole focus was your best 262 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:02,400 life now, right? You know, someone that proclaims 263 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:06,680 that the best life now that's Epicureanism, multimillion 264 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:10,600 dollar mansion, expensive jets, the best clothing, one of the 265 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,840 most influential churches in our country today. 266 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:17,960 And it's all rooted in Epicurean spirituality. 267 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:21,720 It's it's sad, it's tragic. And then the Stoics or the other 268 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:25,400 group where they were like real hard nosed kind of people. 269 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:31,520 They believed in this idea that God was in everything and good 270 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:35,160 and bad and evil whatever, and different, and they didn't want 271 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:39,320 to participate in life like these Epicurean kind of people. 272 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:43,120 Both of these philosophies are very warped and distorted, but 273 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:46,960 they had their followers at the time, and so they're calling 274 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:50,160 Paul a babbler now in that community. 275 00:16:50,160 --> 00:17:01,080 At the time, this was known to discuss heady spirituality, new, 276 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,840 new stuff. So when someone came into the 277 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:09,160 community, they would go up on Mars Hill and they had the Agora 278 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,440 marketplace on the bottom. And as you went up, there was 279 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:15,880 these rocks these brains would sit on and they would talk until 280 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:19,760 midnight, I'm sure about their philosophy of what they think 281 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:22,760 truth is. And up on the top was a 282 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:25,240 Parthenon. It was very influential in the 283 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:29,000 in the wisdom of of Greek mythology, whatever. 284 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:35,640 And so they're here to have a conversation with him, with 285 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:38,320 Paul. Others said this is about Paul. 286 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:41,720 He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods because he preached 287 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:43,520 to them Jesus in the resurrection. 288 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:45,960 They never heard anything like this before. 289 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:50,440 And so they took him in verse 19 and brought him to the Areopagus 290 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,040 saying, may we know what this new doctrine is of which you 291 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:58,240 speak for you're bringing some strange things to our ears. 292 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:02,520 So they're, they're sort of inquisitive here. 293 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:06,320 Therefore we want to know what these things mean for all the 294 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:08,720 Athenians. Verse 21 And the foreigners who 295 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:12,960 were there spent their time and nothing else but either to tell 296 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:16,880 or to hear some new things. So this was a cool place to go 297 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:20,000 to. You got an idea of philosophy, a 298 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,840 new religion, a cult, a false teaching. 299 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:24,680 They're all weird. They want to hear what you have 300 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:27,480 to say. This because it fascinated them. 301 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,800 So he goes up there and addresses them in verse 22. 302 00:18:31,120 --> 00:18:34,360 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Aeropagus and said, men of 303 00:18:34,360 --> 00:18:38,160 Athens, I perceive that on all things you're very religious. 304 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,320 So he starts with a compliment. He doesn't condemn them about 305 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:43,680 their idolatry and put them all down. 306 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:48,000 He's saying, like you guys seem to be involved in spiritual 307 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:52,240 things, that in all things you're very religious. 308 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:53,800 That probably puffed them up a little bit. 309 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:56,440 Well, this guy's pretty cool. He thinks highly of us. 310 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:59,520 Yeah, we, we got our act together here, for as I was 311 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:03,760 passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I 312 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:07,320 even found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God. 313 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:13,000 Very intriguing way of dialoguing with people about 314 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:18,000 their need of Christ. Try to find common ground with 315 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,440 someone when you're talking with them to see if there's any 316 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:24,720 ground that you can have to have a conversation about the gospel. 317 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:28,720 If there's not a foundation of some kind of place of ground 318 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:31,320 that you can communicate, you're not going to get too far with 319 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,040 people. But if you're able to listen and 320 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:37,680 thank and ask God for wisdom to, to get into their minds and 321 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:40,240 their hearts a little bit, the Lord will show you how. 322 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,760 And Paul is an ultimate specialist in this kind of 323 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:45,920 communication. Of course, he's gifted and he's 324 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:49,280 apostle and the Holy Spirit's in him and all through him and on 325 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:52,120 upon him. But nonetheless, he says God who 326 00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:56,440 made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven 327 00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:59,320 and earth does not dwell in temples made with hands. 328 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:02,600 So right away these people have these facilities, these 329 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:07,160 structures that, you know, convey spiritual atmosphere. 330 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:09,840 You go in and you can say, oh, this is so beautiful. 331 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:13,440 The gold, the silver, the the artwork, whatever. 332 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:17,640 This is like really special here, very majestical, whatever. 333 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:22,160 And maybe that made them feel like there was some sense of a 334 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:27,560 God that was in the building. And then Paul gradually begins 335 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:32,360 to explain to them that this Lord of heaven, this Creator 336 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:34,560 does not dwell in temples made with hands. 337 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:39,120 Now, how many people in our culture today think that God's 338 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:42,000 only in the in the house? We come here. 339 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,040 This is where God is. When we leave, he's not here 340 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:46,240 anymore. I mean, he's not with us 341 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:50,240 anymore. He's at the house, nor is he 342 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:53,280 worshiped with man's hands. So they make all this great 343 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:55,560 stuff. And I'm not putting down, you 344 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:58,560 know, artwork or beautiful structures and that kind of 345 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:01,000 stuff. He's educating them here that 346 00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:05,360 that God doesn't get excited about everything you built or 347 00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:11,000 made or spent to give people this atmosphere of worship as 348 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,880 though he needed anything. God doesn't need anything. 349 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,400 We can be out on the hillside, we can be out in the 350 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:21,000 countryside, we can be at the ocean, we can be in the woods, 351 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:23,280 whatever. You can worship God really 352 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:25,000 anywhere. If you know who God is, you're 353 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:26,600 going to be able to worship anywhere. 354 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,000 The benefit of the church is we get to worship God together, 355 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:32,800 which we're called not to forsake the assembling of 356 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:36,360 ourselves together as a man or some, but exhort one another so 357 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:37,920 much more as we see today approaching. 358 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:40,200 So we get together and we encourage each other through the 359 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:44,640 Word and worship and praise, but God doesn't need anything. 360 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:48,680 We're providing for Him in the sense of our human ability. 361 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:55,240 It's all what He's given to us. And so the most you can give God 362 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:59,400 in a way that would honor Him is to be thankful and to follow the 363 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:04,320 truth of His Word. It says He gives to all life, 364 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:06,800 breath and all things. It's like you might want to 365 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:10,440 underline that in your Bible. He gives to all life, breath and 366 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:14,760 all things and he has made from one blood every nation of men to 367 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:18,120 dwell on the face of the earth and is determined to purported 368 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:20,520 times and the boundaries of their dwelling. 369 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:25,480 So the sovereignty of God, evidence in these scriptures. 370 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:30,480 God created us from one blood. We're all descendants of Adam, 371 00:22:31,120 --> 00:22:34,600 every nation, doesn't matter what color of skin or what 372 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:38,000 ethnic background or what culture people have been from. 373 00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:43,280 We all come from this one God, one blood, every nation of men 374 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:45,240 to dwell on all the face of the earth. 375 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:48,400 God knows the time that you and I have. 376 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:53,040 He knows before we get here and He knows the time and when we're 377 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:57,400 going to go. So he says in verse 27, so that 378 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:00,920 they should seek the Lord and hope that they might grow for 379 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:05,160 him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 380 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:07,920 And that's the picture of of someone in darkness. 381 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:12,160 It's, it's tragic. Where's the answer to life? 382 00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:17,120 I'm feeling here, I'm touching this, I'm experiencing that, I'm 383 00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:20,200 trying this. I still can't find an answer. 384 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:23,640 People grope. People groped all day long, all 385 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,400 night long, bottles of alcohol by the bed. 386 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:28,240 They're trying to find an answer to life. 387 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:30,480 They're depressed. People take their lives because 388 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:33,520 they're groping. They can't find the truth. 389 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:40,040 Jesus is the truth, He's the way, He's the life, and the only 390 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,440 way they're going to know is by you and I and people like Paul 391 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:48,440 and Silas and Timothy telling these people the gospel so they 392 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:52,160 don't have to grope anymore. They can find the Lord because 393 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,200 faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 394 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,240 We're so glad you joined us today on this edition of Living 395 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:03,240 Waters of Grace. Pastor Clark is teaching through 396 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,560 the Book of Acts, which is the only book that chronicles the 397 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:10,440 history of the early church immediately after Jesus 398 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:13,560 ascension. It gives us a front row seat to 399 00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:16,800 how the Gospel began to move outwards, starting in Jerusalem 400 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,760 and reaching into the heart of the Roman Empire. 401 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:24,200 In just three decades, a small group of frightened ordinary 402 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,960 believers became a bold, spirit empowered movement that 403 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:32,120 transformed the known world. Acts is not just a history 404 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:34,440 lesson. It's a reminder of what God can 405 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,720 do when His people are surrendered, obedient, and 406 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:41,920 filled with the Holy Spirit. Their perseverance still 407 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:46,040 inspires us today. May we follow their example and 408 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:48,640 live faithfully for Christ in our own time. 409 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:51,200 We hope today's message encouraged you. 410 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:55,160 Living Waters of Grace is a ministry of Calvary Chapel, 411 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:58,480 Westmoreland. If you're in the Greensburg, PA 412 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:00,960 area, we'd love to have you join us in person. 413 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:06,720 Our Sunday service begins at 10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St. 414 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,720 Unit 6B. Be sure to visit 415 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:13,680 calvarychapelonline.com to confirm times and learn more. 416 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:17,400 If you are in the Greensburg area, you can listen to Grace FM 417 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:22,400 on the new 91.7 frequency. Please pray about supporting 418 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:26,400 this outreach. Gifts can be sent to Grace FMPO, 419 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:33,480 Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601. Stay connected through Facebook, 420 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:37,000 YouTube, or our Calvary Chapel Westmoreland app. 421 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:41,920 Join our e-mail list, submit prayer requests, and give online 422 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:47,120 all at calvarychapelonline.com. Thank you for tuning in and 423 00:25:47,120 --> 00:25:48,720 spending this time in God's Word. 424 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:52,040 Be sure to join us again for Living Waters of Grace.