Evangelism - [Acts 17:16-34]

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We traveled to California not long ago, and we have a new evangelistic strategy. It's called
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ACDF evangelism not a CDC, but ACDF That is to say at the
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Shepherds conference We bring men there to learn and to be trained and to worship and so we set them in the seats a and C D and F and And so the people who are in between those folks in B and in E they are
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Simultaneously evangelized by our people It's a new strategy that I can see is going over very well
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I had a fly out a day early because of the hurricane and I just thought to myself
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Lord selfishly I hope no one sits by me Lord. Please let this whole aisle be for me
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But if it's your will I will sit next to someone and proclaim the gospel and So I sat down next to a lady and we began to talk and she said well, what do you do?
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I told her I was a Bible teaching pastor because these days you can't just say pastor. It's a Bible teaching pastor
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And she said well, how did you become a pastor? I? Thought we've got seven more hours.
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I would love to tell you and basically I did this. I know that man
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Mankind men and women are built because of the fall to accomplish salvation to earn salvation
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To do something maybe spiritually maybe religiously They want to accomplish something to get salvation.
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So I just began to talk to her about free grace forgiveness how God called me out of Los Angeles and out of a slave pit of sin and What Jesus Christ did by his work you are saved by works
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But by the work of another and how even though I was a very bad person I could experience forgiveness full and free in Christ Jesus well, then
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I flew back same flight except now from Dublin back to Boston and I sat next to a young man and he was
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A scientist and then he said to me four hours into the flight. What do you do for a living?
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I said I'm a Bible teaching pastor and then he looked at me like you Well, that's a good thing or a bad thing and he said how can you believe in the
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Bible when science and fossil records and and You just look out there.
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How could you believe the Bible? So I said to him you have a conscience, don't you how'd you get your conscience?
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I'm wondering what will happen is when you look outside this window and the God who made everything and he made you
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And you stand before him one day and now you're going to stand before him Hiding behind science.
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What will happen on that day? I said, here's what will happen on that day It will be worse than a nuclear winter for you because you'll have to pay for your own sins
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You need a substitute You need a Savior who's conquered sin and death and hell and then he gave me that look like wow
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And then he said that would be a bad day I said that would be a very bad day.
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So we exchanged some numbers and things like that and I thought to myself Christian don't we have a great privilege?
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Regarding evangelism. We have an awesome opportunity. We know the truth We know what happens when you die.
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We know what happens about forgiveness resurrection Substitution we have such a great privilege to preach the gospel
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We know the one who takes away the sin of the world We know the one who has purged our sins
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Hebrews chapter 3 we know the one who has put away sin Hebrews chapter 9
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Let's turn our Bibles to Acts chapter 17 this morning and continue to talk about Mars Hill Paul the
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Areopagus and evangelism Now if you're not a Christian today this message is a perfect message for you and Like that lady next to me on the way to Dublin and like that man next to me on the way to both
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Boston you need a Savior God has created you he is your sovereign
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King And he's your judge and knowing that you need to find refuge in him
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The only way to find refuge from him is in him and if you're a Christian today This is a good reminder before we get back into 1st
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Corinthians 15 that we have a privilege of evangelism telling people good news.
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That's what evangelism is I have good news. Don't you like good news turn on Fox in the morning turn on the
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Drudge Report turn on CNN Turn on Debka calm turn on something and you go.
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I'd like some good news, please Now I could guilt you into evangelism probably
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Listen to what Spurgeon said will the heathen who have not heard the gospel be saved It is more a question with me whether we who have the gospel and fail to give it to those
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Who have not can be saved? Oh, what about the person in Sri Lanka who's never heard?
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No What about the person like you who've heard the gospel? Experience salvation.
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Do you preach the gospel? So I could probably guilt you Kittredge said a love to Christ, which is so cowardly and Selfish that it is unwilling to proclaim by a public confession of faith in him who hung before all the world crucified for sinners is
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A love which is hardly worth the name, but here's the good news
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All our failures and evangelism Have been forgiven
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We worship the great evangelist And so while I can say to you you ought to evangelize more you ought to see say to yourself every person
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I see the male person The person at the bank the person at the butcher shop the dairy
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Wherever you go that person is a living person and that person is your neighbor and you're to love your neighbor
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But when you fail in evangelism Isn't it nice to know you have a representative and a substitute who's paid for your sins of failed evangelism
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Very happy for that that motivates me more than you know You it wins the last time you preach the gospel today.
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And so today when we look at this passage, I'm very very thankful That we have a
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Savior the great evangelist Christ Jesus Well Acts chapter 17 verse 15 to have a little bit of a review.
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Remember Paul went to this very famous Religious Center he went to a place that I could call the city
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If you're close to New York within three hours and someone says to you it's time to go to the city You know, that's
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Manhattan If you're in Northern, California, I don't care if you're in Sacramento I don't care if you're in San Jose if someone says to you did you go to the city today?
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They mean did you go to San Francisco and here the city was
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Athens Athens this great city verse 15 those who conducted Paul in Acts 17 brought him as far as Athens and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible they
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Departed and here is this home of Plato Adopted home of Aristotle home of Socrates.
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This was the moving and shaking religious cultural social center of the world
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And when you have smart people and their minds aren't bridled and corralled by gospel truth
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That smart intellect creates idols and look what happens verse 16 now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens His spirit was provoked
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He had a proverbial burning in his abyssum is what he had within him as he saw the city was full of idols
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They had these gross little idols called herms For Hermes and they were very gross and there's a herm here and a herm there for five miles
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Paul walks into this Up to this city from the port to Athens five miles, and he just sees all these and he is literally infuriated
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He wants the glory to go to God God a jealous God Exodus 34
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God who deserves the worship Was not receiving them and the city was full of idols see the text.
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They're full of idols It means it was underwater with idols. It was immersed. Okay, let's use the word baptized with idols
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What's the solution to a country full of idols is it a political solution is
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It to make the society a Christian nation Hardly Maybe something good did come out of the elections
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Christians need to realize that Making the society Christian without the gospel is a bad idea making the church political is a worse idea well the answer to a
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City underwater a culture underwater with idols is preaching its evangelism
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That's the solution One soul saved one at a time by the sovereign decree of God through preaching verse 17
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Look at what Paul did he could have complained he could have said let's Secede he could have said let's give more money next time to the political parties.
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Let's rock the vote so he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and Devout persons and in the marketplace every day and those who happen to be there
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I'm gonna go straight to where they teach the Bible I'm gonna go straight to where they have to buy bread and anybody in between I'm gonna preach the gospel of them too because there's
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Only one thing that forgives sins and that one thing is a person named Christ Jesus There's a lot of smart people there verse 18.
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What do you do when you meet the smartest people in the world? What if you don't have a high IQ and what if you don't have an education and what if you get thrust into Harvard?
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What if you go to Harvard and you have to you have one opportunity to stand up and what do you talk to them about?
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Milton Friedman and economic Theories some of the
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Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also converse with him some said what's this babbler wish to say?
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He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities Because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection
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Paul had two strings on that guitar didn't he Jesus the resurrection Jesus the resurrection Jesus the resurrection
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They thought he's preaching to God's because he was always talking about Jesus and the resurrection Not two gods, but Jesus the
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God man who was raised from the dead after God confirmed his death on the cross
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Not for himself, but for sinners almost every religion that says there's a
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God thinks this way If I'm just nice to God, I'll just be nice to me
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I'll do a few things for God He'll do a few things for me Show up on Christmas and Easter He shows up other days.
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I'll just placate this God. I'm in good shape. I'll give this God a sacrifice I'll go to church on Sunday Appeasement contracts
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Well these Epicureans they were materialists they thought that Just to be happy these other people the
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Stoics masters of oneself they thought the same thing Now it's time for them to examine
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Paul verse 19 of Acts 17 They took him and brought him to the Areopagus Mars Hill in Latin Or when we get
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Latin Areopagus May we know what this new teaching is that you're presenting for you're bringing some strange things to our ears
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We wish to know therefore what these things mean I Wish it was with that Cadence it was more aggressive
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You're bringing new things in like Socrates didn't we brought him to this hill and we killed him It's time for you to go there as well.
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We'd like to know what these things mean Now all the Athenians verse 21 and the foreigners who live there would spend their time
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Nothing except telling our hearing something new verse 22
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So Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus said men of Athens I perceive in every way that you are very religious
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Literally Paul said I perceive that in every way you fear deities hard You fear deities hard you run after demons with all your strength
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Here's what Paul wants Paul wants the name Jesus on every altar Right you go look at a false
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God That's a fascinating thing whenever I'm out of town or out of the country and they have these false gods I'm just attracted to them why?
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Because I want to worship them No But it reminds me that everybody's a worshiper and every time you see a false
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God in your heart for the sake of God You should be saying I want Jesus on that altar
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Not that he needs to be on an altar But I want the person that that thing on the altar that they worship to be in fact the living
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God that they worship Christ Jesus 2nd
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Corinthians 4 says the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers So that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ Now we've got to quickly go through this or else this is gonna be just a repeat of two weeks ago three weeks ago sermon
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This passage is so rich verse 23 as I passed along Paul said observe the objects of your worship
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I found also an altar with this inscription To the unknown God, maybe we missed one.
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So let's make just one extra kind of a catch -all What therefore you worship as unknown this
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I proclaim to you You think you're failing to give proper worship.
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So you put up an altar I'll tell you the person that you're failing to worship the God who created you
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I'm gonna tell you what you don't know. I'm gonna give you the good news God has made himself known in Revelation and now
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Paul says the horrors of idolatry need to be replaced with the wonders of the gospel
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You're gonna try to put God in a little tiny creature Restrict him to this little dead piece of wood or stone or bronze or brass or gold
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You're gonna localize him. You're gonna kind of put him in this little area code. Oh god This is the God of 0 1 5 8 3
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That's what idolatry does. I wonder how many were those we could sell the little goddess of zip code 0 1 5 8 3.
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I Don't know if we could sell very many of them Are a God who who's a domesticated
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God? That's what idolatry does it domesticates God? It makes God a kind of a dog sit stay come roll over give provide heal
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Idolatry likes to say this about God God you're not really quite as holy
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You say you are you're actually unholy So Paul starts off with his message
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That's specifically about God. God is a creator one God is sovereign to God is judged three.
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That is the best way to evangelize people who are enslaved to Idolatry and who don't know about Scripture one in review
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We saw last time God is creator. You must believe that God is the sole creator of everything
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The God who made the world and everything in it act 1724 being Lord of heaven and earth does not live in temples made by man
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Nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything bringing a basket of oranges over to some square piece of marble
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Since he himself emphatically gives to all mankind life and breath breath rather and everything
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Isaiah 42 says the God who created the heavens and stretched them out He gives breath to the people on it and to the spirit and spirit to those who walk in it
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You can't give to God because he gives everything to everyone he's not some domesticated
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Localized idol, he's a creator of the world and if he created you he made you for a reason to worship him
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John 1 says all things came into being through Jesus Christ Say I don't believe that.
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Yes, you do. If you're an unbeliever here, you say no, I don't believe that God created everything. Yes you do Romans chapter 1 for since the creation of the world his invisible attributes his eternal power and divine nature have been
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Clearly seen being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse
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If you're an unbeliever here today, you have no excuses You look outside and you see the power of God and the wisdom of God in creation
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For even though they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks But they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened
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God is a creator Secondly, what did Paul tell them and I tell you what Paul told them and if you're a believer
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You can tell your unbelieving friends when you meet them on the plane Or you're married to them or you're their parent or their grandchild
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God is your creator. God is your king verse 26 Related.
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Yes, and he made from one man every nation of mankind from Adam Greeks aren't at the center of the universe to live on the face of the earth having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place
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God created everything in nature and he also created you you're a created being
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And he determines allotted periods and boundaries God controls
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You God controls nature God controls history If I was going to sing you a children's song
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I would sing you what? He's got the whole world In his hands.
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I remember singing that with my kids. He's got you and me Gracie I owe you a dollar in his hands and this kind of language
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Should stimulate in you. I have a responsibility If God made me
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God gave me breath God gave me life. God gave me taste buds God gave me this mind that I I've been using to construct something
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So God doesn't exist so I can sin with a clear conscience and whether it's evolution or hedonism or anything else
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I've been using the mind God gave me to worship him Precisely to kind of come up with my own little paradigm so I can just be the center of the universe
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It's amazing. I could talk to the scientist on the airplane and he hasn't ever considered
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Well, wait a second if there's no God there's no morality Why do
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I have a conscience and I feel bad if evolution is true? How do
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I explain that if my blood is any thinner I? Get cut and I bleed to death or if my blood is any thicker.
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My heart can't pumping through my body How did evolution come up with that? How many millions of years did that take?
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He told me he said well Just a lot of billions of years so the solution to the problem is
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Billions of years and then something will figure it out No, God Deuteronomy 32 says set the boundaries of people
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God made the summer and winter Psalm 74 and why did God do all this?
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Because he wants to play hide -and -go -seek. I'm gonna do all this and then God's gonna go and I'm gonna hide Can't catch me can't find me.
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No, he did all this so you could find him Look at the verse verse 27 that they should seek him.
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God is the goal of all humanity God is the source of course But he's also the goal that you should seek him and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him
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If he is actually not far from each of us Yes, sin has broken mankind
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Man has fallen in Adam consequently. We have a nature of sin and we do sin.
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That's all true But if God says seek me before the fall
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After the fall he says seek me as well When I was younger, I thought I'm gonna read that HG Wells the the history of the world
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That they'd be kind of nice in one small volume. I could learn the history of the world With that same mentality we understand why there are abridged books
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Never buy an abridged book. I Just got Matthew Henry's new commentary abridged in one volume
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When you read the history of the world HG Wells gets it all wrong because the history of the world is to show you
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God Exists and you are made for his pleasure That's why people cannot find happiness in this world
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I'm telling you because they think happiness is found within themselves and until they're sold out to worship the
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God who made them Happiness will be elusive Fleeting vanity
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He's not far from us. God Providentially arranges the world so that you might seek him
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God's not trying to hide man hides in his religion man hides in his sin
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You have a responsibility if you're not a Christian to seek God Psalm 145 the
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Lord is near to all who call upon him to all who call upon him in truth
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Jeremiah 23 am I a God who is near declares the Lord and not a God far off Can a man hide himself in hiding places?
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So I do not see him declares the Lord Do I not fill the heavens and the earth declares the Lord? God can be found seek him look for him and then
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Paul quotes a couple of secular philosophers
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Epimenides and Eretus both talking about Zeus and Paul Redeems the discussion about Zeus and says this isn't about Zeus.
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This is about God In him we live verse 28 and move and have our
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Being you are dependent upon God.
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He provides for you. He sustains you. That's true But Zeus doesn't do it
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God does as even some of your own poets have said and We are indeed his offspring
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By the way, God made you to have a relationship with one another family relationship friends
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Associates you were made to have relationships. I guess the cool way to say it in evangelicalism Now you are cool.
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You are made to have you're let's see. How would I say it to be cool? I don't know how to do it. That's obvious.
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You just keep going. I Am in relationship You were made to have relationships and we are
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God's offspring and we come from God and God has relationships in his own self called the
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Trinity and So it shouldn't strike us as odd that God wants a relationship with us that we were made by God to enjoy him and have fellowship with him and Commune with him and to talk to him and have talked to him talk to us if we like this
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We're his offspring if children act a certain way. What does that tell us about the father our mother and so Paul just uses these
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Secular philosophers to point them to God so that you realize Everything that you have points to you.
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Oh God as creator By the way that first quote there Epimenides in him we live and move and have our being that's just the end of the quote
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Let me give you the whole quote. Just I think you'll find it interesting. Here's the whole quote from Epimenides the
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Cretan Cretans always liars evil beasts idle bellies, but thou art not
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Thou livest and abidest forever for in thee we live and move and have our being that's right from Titus Being then
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God's offspring verse 27 Paul is an excellent preacher. He goes for the jugular So what?
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Being then God's offspring. We ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone
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Or stone an image formed by the art and imagination of man
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False ideas about God that's idolatry God is king you can't make
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God And then Paul gives the last Description of God God is king
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God has been seen as creator and now God is seen as judge verse 30 and 31
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God is your judge if you're here not as a Christian today It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living
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God God is going to judge you And your only hope is going to be
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God judges you Know that God judges Christ in your place
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You have to come to reckon with the idea that God is sovereign
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King and that means he's your judge verse 30 the times of ignorance God overlooked All that Idolatry making idol after idol after idol after idol and God still being patient Think about your own life for 29 years.
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My heart was an idol -making factory. God was patient He still was just he still was a judge but here the times of ignorance
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God overlooked specifically here Paul says but now he commands all people everywhere to repent
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Yes, there's a time God holds back there's a time that God delays his judgment There's a time he's forbearing but one day there's that day and then you stand before God And in light of Christ coming to earth
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Those times are over he says to the Greeks Because he has fixed a day verse 31
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On which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed and of this he has given assurance to all
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How do we know it's all true? By raising him from the dead now
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Paul reverts back to what he was just saying earlier You're ignorantly worshiping God You were ignorantly doing things now and God was very patient but now the response to God as judge creator sovereign is
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Repentance We live in a society today where let's not talk about repentance because repentance means
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I Don't just do wrong things I'm wrong. I Think about God wrongly.
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I think about myself wrongly and I am wrong what we've had to have today is a
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Therapeutic model a blame model a disease theory model. I have a disease.
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I can't control myself I have this I can't control myself. I have that I can't control myself
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There's a judge waiting for you on that day and your response is not well, you know what?
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I I just I just can't help myself. I I have I need therapy No You need to repent
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Repentance not blame -shifting Not the disease model Judgment is coming
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That's the best thing you could do is if you're not a Christian is to say
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God. I am the problem help me I don't have problems. I am the problem.
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I Don't have a problem with illicit sex. I am the problem Psalm 9 says he will judge the world in righteousness.
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He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity Psalm 96
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The Lord is coming he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness
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Psalm 98 the Lord is coming to judge the earth He will judge the world with righteousness and the people's with equity
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God must judge sin run flee Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point has become guilty of all
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Confess it run Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them repent
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Think differently Therefore you are to be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect God, please
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I Need to change my thinking and instead of thinking I just I just need therapy and blames and diseases and everything else
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There's not a God. I need to think rightly and to think my only hope is in the substitute Christ Jesus Why is
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Paul hammering on sin so much because who needs a Savior and you don't think you're a sinner
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That's why friends never walk up to someone and they're unbelievers. They say yeah, how are you?
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Oh, my name is Mike What do you guys do? Oh, you know, we've been living together for 10 years blah blah blah Oh, you know what
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God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life What does that tell the people who are in a state of sin
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That tells them that God just loves you right where you are now God has a general love for people doesn't he gives them food and son and enjoyment
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But you need to preach to them sin law who God is in light of that in his holiness so they realize society might say living together is
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Appropriate but God judges unrighteous behavior Whether that's drunkenness or immorality or greed or covetousness or anything else
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No Savior is needed from sin unless there's a need to deal with sin And if God is the judge you need to have sin dealt with Jonathan Edwards said it has often appeared to me that if God should mark iniquity against me
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I should appear the very worst of all mankind Of all that have been since the beginning of the world
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That I should be by far in the lowest place in hell now.
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We are so wrapped up in Therapeutic narcissism that we hear someone like that and we go
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Paul. I think you're too hard on yourself I think you've got a bad self -image Paul John sin is true
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Sin is ugly sin defames God And so we have to be honest
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God knows all about our sins. So why do we have to try to run? If you know you're a sinner and God is going to judge you then what do you need?
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You need forgiveness We have good news for you. There's forgiveness to be found. But if you think you're already good
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You don't need a doctor. You don't need a physician R .c.
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Sproul said sin is cosmic treason Addicts need recovery sinners need forgiveness
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God is so holy the unsinning seraphim angels
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Blush and cover their faces Job said I abhor myself
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Isaiah said woe is me for I am undone Habakkuk said your eyes are too pure to approve evil
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So what's your response it's either flee to Christ through faith or it's well, maybe
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God will just forget Maybe I'll just try to be good. Maybe I'll do more good than bad
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Do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience?
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Not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance But because of the your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelations
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Of the righteous judgment of God who will render to every man according to his deeds
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The wages of sin is death now the way
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Paul is evangelizing friends is the exact way you should evangelize And you say well, that's not gonna earn me too many brownie points
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That's not gonna get me too many friends. This is gonna be a long Thanksgiving dinner. You have to talk about sin
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Because if men and women are rich in sin Then little
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Nicotine patches of forgiveness aren't going to do it You need a
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God who's rich in mercy, don't you if you're rich in sin? You need a God who's rich in mercy Ephesians chapter 2, but God being what rich in mercy
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Now, okay Christmas makes sense Matthew 1 she will bear a son and you will call his name
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Jesus for he will save his people from their Low self -esteem he will save them from their addictions.
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He will save them from their Sins That's good news
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Luke want to give his people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.
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Don't you need your sins forgiven? don't you need your sins as it were placed on the scapegoat and Then pushed out in the wilderness ran far away
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No longer having to pay for your sins as far as the East is from in the West behind your back in the deepest sea
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It's good news when you realize I mean think about it. This is how you should preach to unbelievers
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That God is so holy and just as your creator judge Sovereign King that you deserve hell you've earned hell.
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You've merited hell. You were a son of hell You'd fit perfectly at home in hell, you're gonna die and go to hell and by the way, there's not anything you can do about Rescue you are dead in sins and you can't even rescue yourself.
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You're hopeless You can't do anything. You are going straight to hell and there's nothing you can do about it
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Now what kind of message is that? well That's a message that honors God and admits the fall and then tells them by the way, there's a
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Savior who's done it all Luke 19 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost
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We've been learning with from Pastor Steve whoever believes will in him have eternal life even so the
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Son of Man must be lifted up for God loved the world in this manner that he gave his only begotten
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Son that Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life Jesus is a friend of sinners who realize that they have sinned and they can't do anything about it
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At the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue
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Should confess Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
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Father See, here's the thing These people back in Greece.
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They really knew judgment was needed Because they put up all these altars and they gave all the sacrifice and they wanted the sacrifice to be sacrificed
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So they wouldn't have to be sacrificed They realize it's built into your fabric justice,
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I Was just reading the other day in the news. They're letting people out of prison now because we don't have the room anymore
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So you can commit these heinous crimes and then go out free and even unbelievers go Something's not right with that because deep down because you're an image bearer of God you realize
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I want justice What do you think of a God a? Judge rather a human judge who just says yeah raped murdered pillaged all this kind of stuff and free
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Go you say that person needs justice? The Athenians knew it the
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Epicureans knew it the Stoics know it knew it and if you're an unbeliever here today You know it too you like justice now the good news is act 1730 says
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The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent
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You're alive. You're not in hell right now Repent you realize
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I've thought wrongly about God God grant me right thinking about you To turn from this way of thinking to that way of thinking of saying you know what
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God really isn't that holy Turn from that God's really not gonna judge me you turn from that I can kind of get to heaven on my own through baptism and confirmation and all these other things and to turn from that Faith in Christ Jesus says this
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I Contribute nothing, but I'm trusting with my entire life what God said about what his son did at Calvary I'm gonna take
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God's Word for it If you meet me sometime, and you've never met me and and I say to you a few things
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And you just say I don't believe you Knowing who you are I couldn't trust you
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I could never honor what you said at face value That would be an insult.
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I've had greater insults But when you don't repent and believe here's what you say
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God. I'm not taking you at your word I don't care what you say God because what comes out of your mouth.
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I'm gonna twist it somehow Not taking a person at his word
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Shameful Not taking God at his word is continued evidence that you're sinful run to the cross
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Think well, there's more God than the gods than one more way to say heaven than one repent There is salvation and no one else acts 412
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Maybe I can just kind of be good to get to heaven repent He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness
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But according to his mercy By washing regeneration and renewing by the
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Holy Spirit Take a look at verse 31 again, please. I just want you to notice a few things about that I don't want to go too quickly
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One he's going to judge the world that means you too the living and the dead the rich and the poor the famous and not so famous He's going to judge
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Secondly do you notice he's going to judge the world in righteousness or with righteousness? Every Secret will be revealed every skeleton from the closet will be exposed.
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No miscarriage of justice. No hung Juries and lastly take a look at that verse.
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Do you notice it's a fixed day? It's already on the calendar It's not going to be scheduled.
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It has been scheduled. It's a fixed day There's a fixed day of righteous judgment through a man
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Christ Jesus How do you know that's obvious because Jesus was raised from the dead to confirm everything that God said?
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the first Adam sins the last Adam judges and By faith he can be your
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Savior as well Time is limited judgment is imminent You need a substitute just to saying that to my family last night.
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What's the most important word about Jesus? Substitute you need a substitute to have a
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God die on your behalf That's that's that is love to God have a
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God die in your place You deserve death. He didn't he dies for you anyway That is merciful
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First Peter says for Christ also died once for all the just for the unjust you need a substitute
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First Peter to he himself bore our sins You need a substitute
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Galatians 3 he became a curse for us You need a substitute on that judgment day either you are going to be judged our
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Jesus 2nd Corinthians 5 He became sin on our behalf
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You need a substitute Hebrews 9 to bear the sins of many
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You need a substitute Well when you preach like that, what happens surely no one believes it's too hard Let's water things down So at least some people can believe at least we can feel good about ourselves because we've got a few tick marks in the front of our
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Bible Not too long ago a president of the
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United States in his Easter message said Let us recognize that in Jesus's resurrection
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We see both the promise and proof of love's capacity to triumph over the forces of misunderstanding
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Fear and hatred what would Paul say in Areopagus?
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Paul would say here's the Easter message God raised
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Jesus from the dead to prove that you're going to be judged He to the
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Savior run by faith to the Savior God by nature is a Savior.
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He's merciful Look at the responses verse 32 now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead somewhat mocked
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Others said oh, we'll hear you again about this Maybe when it's a little cooler when judgments a little trendier kind of hip
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I Judgment kind of thing then maybe we'll talk to you Some are mocking.
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Can you imagine? Who do you think you are? That's absurd. That's first Corinthians chapter 1
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Foolishness, it's moronic Probably the Epicurean said that the ones that said later were probably the
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Stoics And so here comes Divine abandonment.
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This is what you don't want to have happen Because people don't believe Paul leaves the city
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God's messenger leaves the city The judgment of God by removing the spokesperson so Paul verse 33 went out from their midst
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Judgment as far as we know no church was organized anytime soon in Athens Leaves acts 18 one gone, but Here's the good news
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But some men joined him and believed you mean to tell me you can talk about creator
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King judge Substitution exclusivity of Christ mercy of God and some will actually believe
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Yes, God will cause them to be born again, and they will with their own will Freely believe because God will change their nature through regeneration and look at this some men joined him and believed
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Maybe a couple prominent people too. We don't know exactly among also were Dionysius the
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Areopagite Maybe one of the judges of that Areopagus and a woman named amorous and others joined them
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Men and women both who recognized the heinousness of their sins and the graciousness of God fled to him through repentance and faith
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Psalm chapter 2 verse 12 says do homage to the Son that he might not become angry and you perish in the way
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For his wrath may soon be kindled How blessed are all who take refuge in him?
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Friends that's your only hope if you're a Christian today you preach the only hope people have is Christ Jesus the only refuge from him
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Is in him? You preach that time is running out you preach that his wrath may soon be kindled you preach that that they're cursed
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Because your goal in evangelism isn't how many people get saved is it your goal is I'd like to be faithful God I'd like to talk a lot about Christ Jesus.
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I Want to talk about him and not me and if you're an unbeliever your response to God as creator judge
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Sovereign Savior It's to believe God grant me belief
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Most of you know I love bicycling and so if ever I find a story about bicycling it really hits home
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George cutting was a man who authored a very well -known track back in the day
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It's called safety certainty and enjoyment, and he was just a regular Christian person. He loved to preach the gospel and He liked a bicycle through England and preach the gospel
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Now I love I don't do this very often anymore because I think they're all converted, but I might not be sure I like to drive past Scott and Cindy Ferris house on my bicycle
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And I always give indicatives and imperatives, and I always say repent for the kingdom of God is at hand
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I like to shout that out. I Hope they have dreams about that The pastor's on his bike again repent the kingdom of God is at hand
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And then I was so happy to find this story because I realized I'm not as crazy as you think
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I am I was very happy It's early in the morning.
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He's a businessman. He's riding his bicycle And he just thinks you know what I just have good news
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And I'm on my bicycle, and it's just time to start preaching behold the Lamb of God what takes away the sin of the world
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By the way, that's my new bike theme verse That's what I'm saying from now on behold the
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Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world He said it And he just went a little bit farther than he thought I'm just gonna have to say it again behold the
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Lamb of God who? Takes away the sin of the world Six months later true story he's visiting in that village
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And he would just knock on the doors And he always asked the first question in a direct way he'd knock on the door
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They'd open up the door, and he'd say are you saved? Direct approach we call that Knock on the door a woman answer the door you saved.
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Oh, yes about six months ago I was in great distress of soul. I pled with God to help me and even while I was calling upon him
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I heard a voice cry out Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world
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I Was startled I wondered if I had really heard it right So I prayed to the
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Lord Lord If that is your message, please repeat it again And I heard it again and trusted
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Christ, and I am saved Behold the
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Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world? Let's pray our
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Creator Sovereign King judge and merciful
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Savior Father we thank you today that you have recorded in your word this message from Paul I pray that you would encourage us with that as Christians that you would strengthen us
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Even though we fail so many times You see us in Christ Jesus the great evangelist
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Help us to be motivated to evangelize more because we are forgiven even of our poor evangelism when we're
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Cowardly when we're not bold when we're afraid Father help us to be like your son who was not ashamed of the gospel
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Father for those who are here today who don't know you who aren't saved who are hiding behind Philosophy Therapeutic disease models blame works righteousness, whatever it might be
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I pray that you would take the veil off their eyes and Let them see
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Let them see repentance and faith in Christ Jesus the risen
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King and grant them today a sweet conscience cleansed conscience
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Forgiven conscience, I pray that they would repent and experience great eternal life that you give
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Father I pray for every other person here today that you would give them an opportunity this week To tell people about how great you are in Jesus name.