Run tell that! (Acts 17.22-29)
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Run tell that!
Title -
Text - Acts 17.22-29
Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way.
Paul says....
"You are very fearful of many gods....."
Very religious...........
Paul is speaking to a people who are influenced by two main philosophies....
1. Stoics
A. Materialistic
B. They had a system built on pride and personal independence
C. Believed all nature was moving gradually to an ultimate climax. Nature was their god.
2. Epicureans
A. Desired pleasure
B. Had a philosophy built on experience versus reason
And so Paul stands in their midst........and says........
"I perceive that you guys are.........very religious....."
(pause)
It is with this customary compliment in his introduction that Paul is stepping closer to the hearts of his listeners....
And what I admire about Paul here in the text is.......the fact that he.........only has one story to tell.........
And is ready to share "The Gospel"........right in the middle of two different philosophies...
(pause)
And what the text is helping us to see is that............
Key - Every now and then..........you've got to be willing to sound different........in the crowd!
(pause)
When a Pastor's daughter takes the purity challenge.........and is celebrated for her commitment to God and her parents........
We don't expect the world to understand.........
(pause)
But...........I'm glad it made the headlines because of the haters..........
(pause)
Look at it now.........
For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
As Paul is standing.......before this crowd.......he says....
"I have walked by all of the places where you worship various gods....."
I found an altar with the inscription.....
"To the unknown God"
- they were so afraid that they would leave out a god that they built one altar that would be dedicated to this god that they may have missed......
And Paul says......
"This God that you are afraid to leave out......is actually the true and only God"
And you don't realize it, but this is the God that I'm getting ready to tell you about!
(Pause)
The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands,
God is Creator of everything....
Of heaven and earth!
And so the God who designed heaven and earth could not possibly turn around and be designed by the hands of humanity.......and then placed in the temple.....
- God cannot be placed.........but God is a placer.......
And it is here.........that Paul begins to prove how the foundation of the Gospel......is drastically different from the philosophies of ancient Greece....
(pause)
Because there is no connection more authentic then the gospel............that shows us a God..........who enters......space and time into form............out of concern for who was created....
And so what Paul is doing in the text..............is making God known.......
(pause)
When was the last time.........you helped somebody see God?
(pause)
You.............saw that they were off track..................
And out of love..............and because of your faith............
You...........helped them know who God is.....
(pause)
They were discussing something that had no power...........and you spoke up..........to tell them about a God........who is!!!!!!
(pause)
Look at it now..............
nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.
Paul says......
(Pause)
Since God has created everything...........there is nothing humanity can do for God from a provisional perspective.....
Because God does not have a need!
(Pause)
And surely a God that gives all of the necessary things..........will not turn around and need from those who have received.....
For it is God........who giveth........
(pause)
And everyone of us in here........can testify to the fact that........God has given us something...........we needed!
(pause)
From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live,
From one man - Adam......
God made all........races......and spread them all over the earth....
And God had already prepared the garden of Eden for humanity.....
Paul is saying...........here
It is the governance of God...........that we understand........
The sovereignty of God that.......has reached backward.........at the same time it has reached forward.......
(pause)
There is no other God..............that can declare............
"I controlled............what got out of control...........before it even was!"
(pause)
Every idol god...........is playing catch-up with our lives...........
But Paul is saying................This God..........is a God that is known.............and is all knowing.....
(pause)
Look at it now......
so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us.
In other words.......
God created all of humanity out of one Adam so that.......
The connection would be so strong through the blood..........that if humanity......
......ever started feeling around for God like a blind man......they could find God.....
(Pause)
Because what becomes realized is that God isn't even far away in the first place!!
(Pause)
For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,
‘For we too are his offspring.’
After all......
God is the reason we live.......
God is the reason we move.......
God is the reason we have our being.....
(Pause)
We got the hookup!
-For unto him who is able to keep me from falling........
(Preach Baker...........I'm trying)
It is.....because of the Gospel...........
That we are also his offspring.........
And Paul says.....
That even some of your poets here in Athens have said this......
(Pause)
The greek countryman......Aratus.....and others.........
And even though they were speaking from a pantheistic mindset.........
The truth.........is they didn't really know who they were talking about.........
(pause)
But.............that's why i'm here.......
(pause)
I wonder how many people in your life........think they got it all figured out.........but dead wrong......
(pause)
And............all God is saying is..........when is somebody going to help somebody..........know who I am!
(pause)
And I don't know about you...........but my joy..........is wrapped up in telling somebody who God is........
(pause)
Look at it now......
Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals.
Paul says........
So if we are indeed the children of God..........and we are living and breathing......
(Pause)
How can God..........be reduced from someone to some.......thing...........?
Gold, silver, stone,.............
Because our connection is not a dead connection........
But there is a blood source..................that proves if you can place god............in one place and expect God to stay there.............that ain't god.....
(Pause)
Because our God is not a connection that we can control!
And thank God for this!!!
Because even when we are in trouble.....
God is on the move!!!
And Paul is saying.........
Let me set the record straight!
And sooner or later.............some of you are going to have to walk up to somebody..........and set the record straight.....
(Pause)
And tell somebody........
You don't even know what you doing......
But let me tell you about...........
The Hookup!
The Gospel!!!