1 00:00:07,630 --> 00:00:11,390 Open your Bibles to the Book of Acts, chapter 17. 2 00:00:11,710 --> 00:00:17,150 Book of Acts, chapter 17. Paul is on his second missionary 3 00:00:17,150 --> 00:00:24,990 journey. He's in Macedonia, Greece, we 4 00:00:24,990 --> 00:00:28,190 call it. Although the Macedonians, you 5 00:00:28,190 --> 00:00:32,040 can't say that to a Macedonian, they go, no, I'm Macedonian and 6 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,840 there's the Greeks and it says verse one. 7 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:41,720 Now when they had passed through Amphibolos and Apollonia, that's 8 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:46,200 in central Macedonia and northern Greece, they came to 9 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:51,200 Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews 10 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:55,040 everywhere. There was more than 10 men, ten 11 00:00:55,040 --> 00:01:02,280 families, they gathered together and it was their responsibility 12 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:04,640 then to build and form a synagogue. 13 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:09,280 So, as was Paul's custom, he heads to the synagogue. 14 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:14,440 Why then Paul, as his custom was, went into them and for 15 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:24,240 three Sabbaths reason with them from the scriptures explaining. 16 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:30,120 Scriptures need to be explained and demonstrating what that the 17 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:36,880 Christ Messiah had to suffer, rise again from the dead and 18 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:43,240 saying then OK, to be a Messiah. The Messiah according to the the 19 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,920 scriptures, the prophets, he would come, he would be cut off, 20 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:52,560 he would die, but then he would also rise again from the dead 21 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:58,240 and then stop. He says, okay, that's how you 22 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:03,680 identify the Messiah. Well, this Jesus who I preached 23 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:06,480 to you, he's the Christ, he's the Messiah. 24 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:09,680 He's the one you're looking for. Now remember he's in a 25 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:11,920 synagogue. They know the scriptures. 26 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:15,800 They know the scriptures off by heart and while he's in there, 27 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:19,320 all these scriptures, if the Holy Spirit is working upon 28 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,480 their hearts, that is, if their hearts and minds open to the 29 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:28,640 leading of God, what's happening is then all the domino pieces 30 00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:33,000 begin to fall in place. They go, Oh yes, yes, and now I 31 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:37,560 see it. And some of them were persuaded, 32 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:43,200 and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, not a few of the 33 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:47,440 leading women, joined Paul and Silas. 34 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:52,440 Some said yes and a great multitude belief. 35 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,760 I find it fascinating. You know, today you go to 36 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:58,800 churches, they're always looking for the the next new thing. 37 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,280 You go to a Christian bookstore and this is the latest thing you 38 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:04,720 gotta read. But you know, when I read the 39 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,600 Bible, I don't see any of the latest thing. 40 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:12,880 I see the same same repetitive message from Christ. 41 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,320 Repent and believe, repent and believe. 42 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:20,000 And then when he died and rose again, all that his apostles did 43 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:23,800 was say Jesus died, he was the Messiah and he rose again. 44 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:29,680 Seen by 500 / 40 days and and then they would say the same 45 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:32,760 thing. I kind of wonder these days in 46 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,680 many churches if the gospel is not good enough. 47 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:38,920 I mean, we, we want more. No, you don't. 48 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,880 You want something to soothe the itch. 49 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:45,760 You want something to to play with. 50 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:51,280 Because when we get the gospel and we take it to heart, then we 51 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:54,760 live according to the gospel. We don't need any more. 52 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:59,160 It's like they did remember the the Jerusalem Council that we 53 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,120 dealt with back in Acts 15? They get yeah, yeah, that's all 54 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:04,000 good, this Jesus stuff. But you're going to be 55 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,760 circumcised and churches have this thing or you've got to be 56 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:11,600 baptised a certain way. I remember we did a baptism down 57 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:15,360 on the beach here and I remember someone running up and going, 58 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:19,640 oh, the person's elbow didn't go in under the water, the person's 59 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:21,800 elbowing. And they were very serious. 60 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:26,400 I'm thinking you're missing the point. 61 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,880 You're missing the point. Somewhere along the line, you're 62 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:33,760 missing the point. And so he was resurrected. 63 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:36,960 Jesus was crucified, resurrected. 64 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,960 Guess what? That covers everything. 65 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:43,880 An evil and adulterous generation. 66 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:47,480 Jesus said what seeks after a sign? 67 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:52,760 But there is one sign and then Jesus spoke of the prophet Jonah 68 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:56,360 being 3 days and three nights in the valley of a great fish. 69 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:03,000 Now it says, but the Jews who were not persuaded. 70 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:07,440 So here's the interesting thing and you and I see it today. 71 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:12,720 There are people hear the gospel and go, Nah, not interested, I 72 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:17,480 don't want it, I don't care. But the Jews who knew the 73 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:24,760 Scriptures, knew the scriptures, lived religiously, kept the 74 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:29,800 Sabbath, were not persuaded. And what happens? 75 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,400 And here's the fruit of a religious life. 76 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:40,640 They got jealous, it says. They became envious envious 77 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:45,120 because they saw the people going and turning to Christ, 78 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:50,320 though we're going to lose power and control over the group that 79 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:55,720 they previously had power over. And So what did they do? 80 00:05:56,080 --> 00:06:01,280 They took some of the evil men. This is what the Bible says from 81 00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:05,280 the marketplace and gathered a mob. 82 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:09,640 That's the we have it today. You're you're a professional 83 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:15,840 protest hires the antifa. You know, those that just have 84 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:21,480 and continue to be Greta Thunberg, they're paid by Iran. 85 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:26,120 They get, they get they don't work, they travel all over the 86 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:28,200 place. They get bused, they get their 87 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:31,520 signs made up. Here's a here's a free, you 88 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:36,160 know, keep forget the kiefar or whatever they call it, you know, 89 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,720 from the Palestinian movement, wrap that around you. 90 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:40,160 They don't buy any of that stuff. 91 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:44,640 They provided all that stuff. And here same thing happened 92 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:50,040 back here, a gathering mob set all the city in an uproar and 93 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:54,160 attacked the House of Jason. Now who's Jason? 94 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:59,320 Well, Jason's a Christian and Jason is, is part of the church 95 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:03,240 that's already there. And so they take their their 96 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:08,800 their malice out upon Jason sought to bring them out to the 97 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,880 people. But when they did not find them, 98 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:17,320 Paul and Silas aren't there. They're not at Jason's house. 99 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:21,840 So they grab old Jason. He's connected and some brethren 100 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:25,640 part of the church to the rulers of the city, crying out the 101 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:30,000 magistrates, those these who have turned the world upside 102 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,360 down have come here too. Now here's the deal. 103 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:37,200 The book, the book of Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah says in these 104 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:42,200 last days there'll be those who call evil good and those will 105 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:46,120 call good evil. And this is the same. 106 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:50,720 The church turns the world the right way up. 107 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,800 God gets our lives, which we are before Christ. 108 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:58,240 We are upside down. We're we're living for 109 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:00,080 ourselves. We're not serving God. 110 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:04,720 We're not interested in God. Here they accuse the Church of 111 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:08,800 turning their their world, how they wanted to live upside down. 112 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:13,520 Jason has harboured them, He's had them staying at his place. 113 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:19,840 And these are all acting contrary to the decrees of 114 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:21,840 Caesar. We heard those words before. 115 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:26,360 Remember this Jesus, he's making himself king. 116 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:29,720 That was the same. He said the devil never comes up 117 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:32,960 with anything new to attack us with. 118 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:36,360 It's the same old stuff, saying there is another king, his name 119 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,240 Jesus. And they troubled the crowd and 120 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:42,120 the rulers of the city when they heard these things. 121 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:46,920 So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they 122 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:50,480 let them go. In other words, Jason's on bail. 123 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:58,640 OK, here's the deal, Jason, as long as nothing goes wrong, 124 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,080 you're free. They've had to pay some money, 125 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:07,680 but if Paul and the others and you play up, your bail will be 126 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:10,240 forfeited and you'll end up in gaol. 127 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:18,080 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by 128 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:24,400 night to Berea. When they arrived, they went 129 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:27,480 into the synagogue of the Jews. He is the same custom. 130 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:35,680 These were more fair minded then those in Thessalonica. 131 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:41,680 Why one in that they received the word with all readiness. 132 00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:45,200 It's funny how people can come to church, sit there, be bored 133 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,480 out of their brains as the Bible is taught, and the person 134 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:51,160 sitting next to them or behind them or in front of them can go. 135 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:55,960 And God just spoke to me today and I was just so convicted and 136 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,480 it was wonderful what the scriptures, how they spoke to 137 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:02,160 me. In other words, I didn't get 138 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:09,600 anything, you see, and that's why the Bible says, pray that we 139 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:13,160 hear what the Spirit, he was wise. 140 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:16,280 Here's what the Spirit says, pray that our hearts are, 141 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:21,520 remember, there's four soils. Our hearts are soft, ready to 142 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:25,920 receive the word of God that it may bear fruit, that we're the 143 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:30,520 wise man who when he heard the word of God, obeyed, not the 144 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:34,760 foolish man who heard the word of God and build his house on 145 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:40,040 straw on sand. These were more fair minded than 146 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:43,720 those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all 147 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:51,520 readiness and search the scripture just on Sundays, no 148 00:10:52,680 --> 00:10:56,480 daily to find out whether these things were so. 149 00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:00,840 Here's the deal. These were people of the Bible. 150 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:05,920 And so as Paul's teaching, they have their Bible open. 151 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:08,640 They're checking out everything that he's saying. 152 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:12,040 I often wonder about seeing churches where there's not a 153 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:15,040 Bible open on anyone's laps. And people just sitting there, 154 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:17,320 I'm thinking, you don't know whether you're getting fed 155 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,160 poison or whatever. You have no idea. 156 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:26,920 And here these people went, oh, well, that's, yeah, that's what 157 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:29,120 the Bible says. Yeah, that's what the Bible 158 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,440 says. Search the scriptures daily to 159 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:35,240 find out whether these things were so. 160 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:41,680 And thirdly, therefore many of them believed also, not a few of 161 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:47,320 the Greeks, prominent women as well as men, they searched the 162 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:51,520 Scriptures for these things. So they received the word gladly 163 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:57,680 and they believed now. But when the Jews from 164 00:11:57,680 --> 00:12:02,440 Thessalonica learned here they Come, that the Word of God was 165 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:07,400 preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also. 166 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,560 And what stirred up the crowds then? 167 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:15,960 Immediately the brethren sent Paul away to go to the sea. 168 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:19,000 But both Silas and Timothy remained. 169 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:21,080 That's a bit of courage there by those two. 170 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:26,080 So those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens and 171 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:32,080 receiving a command from for Silas and Timothy to come to him 172 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:33,880 with all speed and they departed. 173 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:35,800 Good question. Why didn't Paul stay? 174 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:42,960 Paul, Silas, I mean, Silas stayed, Timothy stayed. 175 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:48,080 Because you see Paul's ministry, he would go, he would preach, 176 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:51,920 he'd plant a church. His job was done. 177 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:55,520 Then he would go off. Paul would preach, plant a 178 00:12:55,520 --> 00:13:01,960 church. Silas and Timothy, their job now 179 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:07,040 was to equip and build up, encourage the church that Paul 180 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:10,880 had planted. Now, while Paul waited for them 181 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:15,080 at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him. 182 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:19,440 And that is Paul's spirit was grieved, man, every time I read 183 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,320 the paper and I read letters to the editor and I get the paper 184 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:24,040 every day. I don't know why I do, but I 185 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:29,520 read the letters to the editor and our country and the way 186 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:33,200 people's opinions are, it's we're so ungodly and so foolish. 187 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:38,040 It's terrible. Paul's spirit was provoked. 188 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:41,160 My spirit is provoked when I see our nation within him. 189 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:47,720 When he saw that the city was given over to idols, in other 190 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:52,520 words, they were swamped. There was an idol anywhere, 191 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,240 everywhere. Therefore, he reasoned in the 192 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,440 synagogue. Third time you've heard this, 193 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:00,200 isn't it? What's he doing? 194 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,480 He's in the synagogue and he's going, let's look at the 195 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:07,680 Scriptures now. He's only doing this in 196 00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:11,200 synagogues because these are people of the Word. 197 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:15,680 The Jews are the people of the word with the Jews and then the 198 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:19,920 Gentile worshippers in the marketplace daily with those who 199 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:24,480 happened to be there. Then certain Epicurean and Stoic 200 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:28,560 philosophers encountered him that has confronted him, and 201 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:32,400 some said, what does this babbler want to say? 202 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:40,040 So Athens is filled with statues and we have these groups, two 203 00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:42,360 groups of people, Epicureans. Who are they? 204 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:45,520 Followers of Epicurious, That's the fellow's name. 205 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:53,960 He lived 340 to 270 BC and Epicurious, his religion was 206 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:57,120 this. The chief end of man was 207 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:00,560 pleasure and happiness. It's called hedonism. 208 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:06,640 That is, you avoid excesses and you just live to please 209 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:10,400 yourself. You don't have a fear of death 210 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:14,160 because it's just life now. Eat, drink and be merry. 211 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,840 You seek to be free from pain. So anything that's confrontive 212 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:21,440 and I think that's painful, well, I'm not dealing with that. 213 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:24,080 I'm out of here. I'll I'll leave that, I'll walk 214 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,920 away. That by seeking tranquilly 215 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:32,280 sounds a lot like Buddhism where it's all about just seeking 216 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:34,000 tranquilly. A friend of mine who used to 217 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:39,200 surf with, he went to Queensland to become a Buddhist monk. 218 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:45,880 And while he was there, he said he was, he was starving, he was 219 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:48,360 ill. And he would sit in front of the 220 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:53,040 monk and the monk would slap him in the face, just slap him in 221 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:55,960 the face saying no, no, you're not thinking right. 222 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:58,480 You're not thinking. It's like you can't read my 223 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:02,960 mind. And he was so, so forlorn. 224 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:06,840 He thought Buddhism was, you know, the life of tranquilly, 225 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,480 you know, just here we are, just one with everything. 226 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:14,800 And he was walking out of the temple where he was staying down 227 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:17,520 the street and he came across a rubbish bin. 228 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:20,160 And he was going through the bin because he was starving. 229 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:23,160 And in the bin was a Jesus tract. 230 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:28,560 And he read the Jesus tract, gave his heart to the Christ. 231 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:30,280 And today he's a pastor in the church. 232 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:40,160 The Epicureans also said the gods, well, if they exist, they 233 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:44,240 got nothing to do with humanity. Bette Midler, remember, she 234 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:48,800 wrote that song, Sing it. It was a big hit from a 235 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:49,800 distance. God. 236 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:53,120 In other words, it's like, there you are, I'm watching you. 237 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:55,440 I don't have anything to do with you, but good luck. 238 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,560 That's the opposite. That's many of the gods that we 239 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:01,920 deal with. You know, the Stoics, the other 240 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:07,280 crew, they were like the Oxford and Cambridge crew. 241 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:10,760 They were followers of fellow called Zeno. 242 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:14,040 Zeno sounds like a magician. No, no, today we have folks, the 243 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:20,079 prophet, the magician Zeno, he lived from 3:20 to 2:50 and he, 244 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:22,720 they were pantheists. Now, what's a pantheist? 245 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:25,280 A pantheist sees God in everything. 246 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:29,760 That's a lot like Hinduism, pantheism. 247 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:32,560 There's a God in the in the elephants and the monkeys and 248 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:35,480 the rats, and they have a temple for the rats, a temple for the 249 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:38,360 monkeys, and they take their food there and give it to them. 250 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:43,320 They're just covering all bases. And their purpose in life was 251 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:47,040 just guided by history. It's a lot like why do you see 252 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:51,160 beggars in the streets of Calcutta and Mumbai and places 253 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:52,920 like that? People just carry on because 254 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:58,080 they go well, in the previous life that they lived, they lived 255 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:02,360 and now what's happening to them is a result of karma of how 256 00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:04,600 they're living now. So we don't touch and have 257 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:06,360 anything to do with them because they're getting what they 258 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:11,360 deserve. So that's why people just ignore 259 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:18,160 beggars, etcetera. Where Mother Teresa came in and 260 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:20,920 began to look after these people, bringing the Christian 261 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:26,240 faith to them. So the Stoics were full pride, 262 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:35,690 self sufficiency. So he's dealing with these two 263 00:18:35,690 --> 00:18:38,570 groups. So this is the the those that 264 00:18:38,610 --> 00:18:41,610 confronted Paul. Some said, what does this 265 00:18:41,610 --> 00:18:44,690 babbler want to say? Other said he seems to be a 266 00:18:44,690 --> 00:18:48,880 proclaimer of foreign gods. You can just imagine, because he 267 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:51,760 preached to them. What did he preach here again? 268 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:55,600 Jesus in the resurrection. Paul didn't come up with 269 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:57,840 something new. Hey, folks, didn't work down 270 00:18:57,840 --> 00:18:59,240 there. I want to tell you about 271 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:01,520 something else. Something woo, something cool, 272 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,360 something will get you excited. You know, Jesus in the 273 00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:07,440 resurrection. You see, if the gospel is not 274 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:09,600 good enough, then you can't get saved. 275 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,360 Nothing's good enough. And they took him and brought 276 00:19:13,360 --> 00:19:19,040 him to the Aeragopias or Arapaegus. 277 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:25,600 That's simply means a Rocky Hill and the Rocky Hill of Paris, who 278 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:27,880 was the God of War. The Romans used to call him 279 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:32,080 Mars. It was 370 foot high. 280 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:35,680 May we know what this new doctrine, this new teaching is 281 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:38,600 of which you speak? For you are bringing some 282 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:42,320 strange things to our ears before we want to know what 283 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:45,520 these things mean. For all the Athenians and the 284 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:51,600 foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but 285 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:53,960 either to tell or hear some new thing. 286 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:57,880 Pontification. Well, you know, I've read 287 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:01,760 through the Scriptures and I have a view, my view on the book 288 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:06,600 of Moses and not my view on the resurrection and my view and all 289 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,720 that's interesting. So let me share you what my view 290 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:11,080 is. It's nonsense. 291 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:16,160 Nonsense. Then Paul stood in the midst of 292 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:22,280 the Arabocus and said, men of Athens, I perceive that in all 293 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:25,360 things you are very religious. Now, this wasn't a compliment. 294 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:30,360 He was saying, man, you're religious in a bad way. 295 00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:33,520 You, you, you, you just got every, you're, you're confused 296 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:37,360 about everything. For as I was passing through and 297 00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:40,560 considering considering the objects of your worship, the 298 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:44,480 idols that you worship, I even found an altar with this 299 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:49,280 inscription to the unknown God. Well, we just in case we got all 300 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:54,880 our bets covered, you know, the unknown God. 301 00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:01,160 Now Athens as a says and I, I've been to Athens and I went 302 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:04,840 through the museum just down from the Parthenonism. 303 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:07,200 Now figure what they call it up on the on the top of the hill 304 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:13,640 there in Athens and it's revolting Athens and the Greek 305 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:18,960 culture was as immoral as you can get, just wicked. 306 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:26,760 Now they have statues to all the gods. 600 years before Paul 307 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:29,800 arrived in Athens, a plague hit the city. 308 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:36,240 And a fellow called Epimendes, not Mexican, he's Greek. 309 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:42,480 To try and stop the plague, he said bring a flock of sheep. 310 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:44,360 And they ran them through Athens. 311 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:50,840 And wherever that a sheep would lay down and rest, they then 312 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:55,320 would sacrifice that sheep to the God that had the nearest 313 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:58,480 shrine or temple. Oh yeah, that would to him. 314 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:01,920 This one. I used to that one, even to the 315 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:03,880 unknown God. They just covered everything. 316 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,560 And so Paul says, do you even have one to the unknown God? 317 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:10,400 Now we have another one of Paul's sermons. 318 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:15,160 But notice this, Paul doesn't go back to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, 319 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:19,640 because he's dealing with people who have no knowledge of the 320 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:23,240 Scriptures. So what does he do? 321 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:26,960 Again, like you and I can do, and in Australia, you know, 322 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:29,480 previously we could probably talk to people about Jesus. 323 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:33,960 I remember talking to people about Jesus Christ that at the 324 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:38,000 football club that I am the chaplain at, and some had never 325 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,960 even heard of him, never even heard of him. 326 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:46,760 And so Paul says, therefore, the one whom you worship without 327 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:50,120 knowing him, that's the one I want to talk to you about. 328 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:53,400 He's the God who made the world. What's that? 329 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:58,640 Genesis 11 In the beginning, God, God created heavens and the 330 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:01,280 earth. I want to talk to you about the 331 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:04,000 God who created everything, including you. 332 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:07,800 Notice where Paul's coming from to these people. 333 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:14,320 He's the Lord of heavens and Lord of earth, and everything in 334 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,080 it He created. Since He is Lord of heaven and 335 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:22,360 earth, He does not dwell in temples made with hands. 336 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:24,360 He's not a God that sits in the temple. 337 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:27,280 You can go out and worship Him. You can't make one of him 338 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:30,680 because He made the world. You can't contain him. 339 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:37,080 Nor is he worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed 340 00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:41,520 anything. God doesn't need anything since 341 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:47,440 He gives to all life, breath and all things again, Paul's 342 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,320 drilling down, He says you only breathe. 343 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:53,360 You're alive today because of him. 344 00:23:54,080 --> 00:24:00,200 He created you and he keeps you living and he has made from one 345 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:02,200 blood. And notice this what he's going 346 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:06,480 to talk about every nation of men to dwell on all the face of 347 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:11,440 the earth and that's determined their pre appointed times and 348 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:13,000 the boundaries of their dwellings. 349 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:17,240 He says God created man and the first man was Adam. 350 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:19,360 We all come from him. Do you know that you come from 351 00:24:19,360 --> 00:24:22,040 Adam every time you bag Adam, just think you're talking about 352 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:24,480 great, great, great, great great grandfather giving him a hard 353 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:27,040 time. But also we all come from 354 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:29,960 because after the flood, who do we come from Noah? 355 00:24:30,360 --> 00:24:34,360 So we're all related to great, great, great, great grandfather 356 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:40,880 Noah, so that they should seek the Lord. 357 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:47,120 God has placed with all of us an ache, a desire to seek the Lord. 358 00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:52,160 Romans chapter 1 and 2, Paul deals with what you do with that 359 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:55,960 is how you try and fill it. Some people fill it with 360 00:24:55,960 --> 00:25:00,240 alcohol, some people fill it with drugs, some people fill it 361 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:04,280 with immorality. But there's only one person that 362 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:08,360 can fill the the void that God made you to. 363 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:13,720 He made you to seek the Lord in the hope that they might grope 364 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,680 for him and find Him. Though He is not far from each 365 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:20,320 one of us now. Why? 366 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:27,680 Because in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some 367 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:31,880 of your own poets have said. For we are also his off 368 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:35,880 offspring. In other words, God controls 369 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:37,600 everything. This God controls everything. 370 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,760 He's the one that guides your your everyday. 371 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:43,160 He's the one in charge of your life. 372 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,280 Now notice OK, when you see it, therefore you ask, what's it 373 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:49,880 there for? You go back. 374 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:55,320 Therefore, since he's the Creator, he created you, made 375 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:58,920 you. Since we are the offspring of 376 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:03,920 God, we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold 377 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:06,920 or silver or stone. In other words, that the thing 378 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,720 of God, the the, the character of God, is something that you 379 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:15,280 can make bashed together, something shaped by art and 380 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:17,720 man's dividing. No God's outside of that. 381 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:25,880 Truly these times of ignorance, that's man's sin God overlooked. 382 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:29,400 Now we can stop there and go, well, how come you know, the 383 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:34,080 kids the other day at the youth said, why didn't God just kill 384 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:35,960 all the evil people? Why doesn't he just get rid of 385 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:38,120 all the evil people? It was interesting that 386 00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:43,200 statement and I said, well, OK, we're all dead then because the 387 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,400 Bible says there is none righteous. 388 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:51,400 No, not one. We're all sinners who fall short 389 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:57,800 of the glory of God. So God has allowed man to go on. 390 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:01,880 Then God sent His Son. Why? 391 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:10,080 To save us from ourselves. So truly these times of 392 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,800 ignorance God overlooked. But now and that's today. 393 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:18,920 He commands, He doesn't suggest, all men everywhere. 394 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:22,240 Notice. Isn't this the very same old 395 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:24,880 message? You know, we should hear about 396 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:29,080 repentance every Sunday, probably every time you want to 397 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:30,840 talk to someone about leading them to Christ. 398 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:35,040 You can't lead someone to Christ, you can't have them come 399 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,200 to Christ unless there is repentance. 400 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:42,640 You can't get saved on your wrist unless you you say 401 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,360 yourself I need saving, I'm a Sinner. 402 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:47,520 You're going to realise that first. 403 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:53,240 And so he says everywhere, men, all men everywhere. 404 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:59,080 And that covers everyone, doesn't it, to repent because, 405 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:04,160 and he's the reason that we need to do that now, because God the 406 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:10,240 Creator, he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world 407 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,760 in righteousness. How is God the Father going to 408 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:19,440 judge, bring judgement upon this world By the man capital M 409 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:24,760 Jesus, whom he has ordained, selected, appointed. 410 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:31,880 So Jesus Christ is going to either be to every man, woman, 411 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:34,360 boy or girl in this world. He's either going to be your 412 00:28:34,360 --> 00:28:37,440 Saviour or he's going to be your judge. 413 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:43,520 You'll all see Jesus. The book of Hebrews says 927 is 414 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:45,880 appointed men once to die and then what? 415 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:50,320 Judgement. And this is what people, this is 416 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:53,720 what? I cannot fathom why churches are 417 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,760 so weak today. We don't realise we've escaped 418 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:01,920 judgement. It's not like it's all good now 419 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:05,120 you know we're good. We escaped judgement, eternal 420 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:07,960 damnation, eternal separation from God. 421 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:12,720 And because what's happened in churches today is there is No 422 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:16,400 Fear of God. There is no awe or reverence of 423 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:20,920 the God who created everything. People call him the man 424 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:24,280 upstairs, the big guy or something like that. 425 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:29,560 Churches do that. But I tell you, we are moving 426 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:35,880 towards the time when as the church is taken and everyone 427 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:41,080 that's left, the judgements of God begin to be poured out upon 428 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:47,520 the earth. In Revelation chapter 6, the 429 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:52,520 people run into caves and ask for the rocks to cover them. 430 00:29:52,520 --> 00:30:02,280 From the judgement of the Son of God, it says whom he has, He has 431 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:06,440 given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead. 432 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:10,280 In other words, yes, Jesus saved us, but you know what? 433 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,520 You know how true judgement is going to come, that the 434 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:17,440 tribulation is going to come and that will all stand before God. 435 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,240 You can tell because Paul says because Jesus rose from the 436 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:24,080 dead, it's happening. This is what's going to happen, 437 00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:30,040 the resurrection. Paul doesn't give a soft gospel. 438 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:35,120 He's not there to make friends and you know he's there to give 439 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:36,720 them the gospel. You got to repent. 440 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:41,520 You worship all these statues and these idols, they do you no 441 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:44,680 good. The unknown God, you've ignored 442 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:47,720 him. And he sent his Son Jesus. 443 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:51,280 He rose from the dead, and unless you receive him, you'll 444 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:54,680 be judged by him. Jesus is the judge now. 445 00:30:54,960 --> 00:31:00,520 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, OK, 446 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:05,400 here's the one sign. Some mocked, you're kidding 447 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:07,760 someone back from the dead. What a joke. 448 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:12,040 While others said we will hear you again on this matter. 449 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:15,200 So Paul departed from among them. 450 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:18,720 However, some men joined him and believed. 451 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:25,600 Among them, Dionysies, the our Apagite, a woman named Damaris 452 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:32,200 and others with them. Here's the deal, I one of the 453 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:37,480 most frustrating things about being a pastor of church is 454 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:43,920 preaching to a brick wall or is seeing people. 455 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:47,480 You know, they're living, they're coming to church, but 456 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:52,840 they're living ungodly lives. You just know you don't have to 457 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:58,160 be Sherlock Holmes. And here's here's the thing. 458 00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:01,520 We wish that everyone would get saved. 459 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:05,040 Our desire has all come to Christ. 460 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:08,720 But you know, we have this free will choice. 461 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:12,160 Some said, yeah, that's a lot of rubbish. 462 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:16,800 We've heard that. Some said, yeah, let's talk 463 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:22,640 about this a little bit more. And others said I'm on to this. 464 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:27,360 You know, the neat thing about each one of you here tonight is 465 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:34,400 that somehow God has enabled us and allowed us to be called, and 466 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:38,760 by His grace we've received Christ and we've been saved. 467 00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:43,840 You sit here tonight, those watching at home who have 468 00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:49,920 received Christ. You've moved from judgement. 469 00:32:51,040 --> 00:33:00,560 You've moved to blessing and it's by the grace of God, it's 470 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:04,280 by you going simply. I accept your forgiveness. 471 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:08,560 I accept your Son Jesus, and he died for me on the cross. 472 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:11,560 I repented. He died for me on the cross. 473 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:15,480 He rose again on the third day. And I believe he's coming back, 474 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:17,680 not to judge me, but to Take Me Out.