The Gospel: The Cure for Ignorance

Text - Acts 17.29-31

Acts 17:29–31 NKJV

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. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 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 to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Intro

Ignorance is dangerous

When David was desperate because of his enemies - Psalm 73:22 “I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.”

Israel’s ignorance was rooted in her leaders - Isaiah 56:9-12 “All you beasts of the field, come to devour, All you beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind, They are all ignorant; They are all dumb dogs, They cannot bark; Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yes, they are greedy dogs Which never have enough. And they are shepherds Who cannot understand; They all look to their own way, Every one for his own gain, From his own territory. “Come,” one says, “I will bring wine, And we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; Tomorrow will be as today, And much more abundant.””

Israel was ignorant f God’s righteousness - Romans 10:1-3 “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.”

Main Subject

Ignorance of the truth will not excuse a person from judgment. That’s why God gave us the gospel. It is the the only source of true knowledge that brings back to God.

The gospel gives us all the knowledge we need for salvation.

Main Points

The gospel gives us the knowledge of the true God

Notice how Paul addressed the Athenians - Acts 17.22-25

Acts 17:22–25 NKJV

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 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: 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. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.

Fundamental to the knowledge of God is that He is the Creator

even in pantheism, there is at least one deity who is creator

BUT -

The true God cannot be contained by His creation - He transcends all created things

1 Kings 8:27 NKJV

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!

Isaiah 66:1–2 NKJV

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? 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.

The true God is not dependent on His creation

Psalm 50:7–15 NKJV

7 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you; I am God, your God! 8 I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices Or your burnt offerings, Which are continually before Me. 9 I will not take a bull from your house, Nor goats out of your folds. 10 For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine. 12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness. 13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? 14 Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High. 15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

note the mythological gods - they are dependent on human’s worship

The true God has made Himself known through the men and women that he called from every generation down through history.

the patriarchs

Israel, through the prophets

The gospel shows us that the Creator God - who transcends creation and does not the help from His creation - loves His creation so much that He reached down to His fallen creation and unveiled Himself - through the Lord Jesus Christ!

The True God is only fully known through Jesus Christ!

The gospel gives us the knowledge of God’s will

Paul continued his address - Acts 17.26-27

Acts 17:26–27 NKJV

26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 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;

God’s will is that we should seek Him

because He knows and understands our existence

because we need Him

God is not hard to find -

because He desires to show us His secret plans

Psalm 25:14 NKJV

14 The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.

The gospel shows us that God chose a nation through He which He could reveal His will to humanity by the giving of the Law.

The gospel shows us what and who we are

Paul then gives us the third point - Acts 17.28-29

Acts 17:28–29 NKJV

28 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.’ 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.

The statement “we are His offspring” was aquotation from a Roman poet

it is not a “prescriptive truth”, only a descriptive truth

man is God’s offspring only in so far as he was created by God.

But, Paul argued, those who are truly God’s offspring should not, and will not, think that the Godhead can be expressed by or compared to any material thing.

The Gospel shows us that man’s knowledge of God naturally leads to his knowledge of himself.

Man’s ignorance of God led him to his ignorance of his origin and purpose.

The gospel shows us why we should listen to its message

Finally Paul shows us the necessity of taking heed to the gospel - Acts 17.30-31

Acts 17:30–31 NKJV

30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 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 to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Why should we listen to the gospel?

Because God in His sovereign grace chose to “pass over” our times of ignorance! - Acts 17.30 “30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,”

Romans 3:24–26 NKJV

24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Because God now commands men everywhere to repent!

God has overlooked our “past” ignorance

but now, God desires that THIS KNOWLEDGE that we now have through the gospel will lead us to repentance and faith in Him!

Because judgment day awaits the sinners -

not for their past ignorance

but for their present rejection of the gospel, the knowledge of which brings us to salvation!

NOTICE - If knowledge of the gospel is the key to salvation, rejection of the gospel is the worst sin a man can commit!

Hebrews 10:26–31 NKJV

26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Conclusion

Every true believer is saved because he/she has received the knowledge of the truth - and embraced it in his/her life!

Everyone who is truly saved KNOWS -

that he/she is saved!

why he/she is saved!

how he/she was saved!

Everyone who is truly saved is NEVER IGNORANT OF THE SCRIPTURE!

he/she will not remain ignorant of the Scripture!

he/she will desire to know more about the contents of the Scripture!

SONG - Unto You