Justin Peters Open-Air Preaching at Mars Hill

Justin Peters

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Spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new. That's how they that's how they spent their time

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Just listening to different philosophers something new So Paul stood in the midst of the

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Areopagus and he said men of Athens I observed that you are very religious in all respects so Paul was doing here that what his sermon here is a classic example of of Apologetics done rightly with the cross the

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Christ being the center of everything But he he gets a little bit of common ground with him he says men of Athens I see from your idols your statues that that you're very religious and that's the normal state of Everybody there are people who claim to be atheists, but there is no such animal as an atheist

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The fool has said in his heart There is no God not in his head in his heart because in his head everyone everyone

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Christopher Hitchens Richard Dawkins Stephen Hawking, I don't care how committed an atheist they are their head hits the pillow at night and they're left to their own thoughts

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They know They know that there is a creator. They know that they they do what

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Paul says in Romans 118 They suppress the truth and unrighteousness. They push the truth

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Down they suppress it. It's it's here. They know it, but they don't want to be accountable to God.

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So they suppress that Suppress what they know to be true. There is no such thing. There's not an atheist anywhere around here

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No one no one here's naked. There's not an atheist on the face of the planet Paul says for while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship

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I also found this inscription to an unknown God So in one of these idols they had the inscription this is this is to the unknown

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God this God didn't have a name like Xerxes or Zeus or Hermes or whatever.

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It's to the unknown God Paul says therefore what you worship in ignorance This I proclaim to you what you are speaking in ignorance.

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I'm about to tell you who this unknown God is The God who made the world and all things in it since he is

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Lord of heaven and earth Does not dwell in temples made with hands all begins with creation

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Genesis and anyone who would tell you that Genesis is not important It's not important how we take

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Genesis chapter 1 and 2. It's not really important If God really created the world in six days, it's not really important.

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If you take Genesis literally, I would beg to differ Paul would beg to differ he begins with creation

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Nor is he well, excuse me He is Lord of heaven and earth does not dwell in temples made with hands

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Nor is he served by humans hands as though he needed anything Since he himself gives to all people life and breath and all things

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As a slight aside, there are those people who would say that God needs things

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Does God need anything? There is a term to what God needs he does need something in the term that we give to what

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God needs is diddly -squat As though he needed anything since he himself gives to all people life and breath and all thing all things and he made from From one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth

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Having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation

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Notice here that Paul He begins with this with the Genesis account and he even engages their false worship

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He says your your IE references the idols and the temples made with hands

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He engages their false worship and you may have heard it said that it's not really important for us to Know anything about false movements calls various heretical cults

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Quote unquote Christian calls. We don't really know it need to know anything about it. We just need to know the truth Well, we do need to know the truth

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But we also need to have at least some working knowledge of the various False religions that are out there so we can know how to engage them.

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That's what Paul did here He engaged their false teaching and so it's important that we have some knowledge of the of the cults and the false doctrines

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So we can answer We can give an answer for the hope that is within us a

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Couple months ago. I had an extended witnessing encounter with Jehovah's to Jehovah's Witnesses husband a white team

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He was an elder in their church And they thought they were gonna come convert me and we sat down for two and a half hours and I knew their arguments

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They're gonna say and I answered from Scripture and this is what we see Paul doing the answers from Scripture all the objectionable doctrines and the heresies

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Verse 27 Paul continues that they would seek God if perhaps they might they might grope for him and find him though He is not far from each one of us

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For in him we live and move and exist and as even if some of your own poets have said for we also are his children

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Being then the children of God we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone again

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Here you see him engaging their false teaching And the image formed by the art and thought of man

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Engages their idols Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance.

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God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent

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All was one who believed in the sovereignty of God Sovereignty of God and salvation and yet he said here and he said in Acts chapter 26 before King Agrippa He said

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King Agrippa I kept preaching I kept declaring that all men should repent and turn to God performing deeds appropriate to repentance

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We preach the gospel to whoever will listen It's not up to us to convert anyone or or change anyone's mind

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You preach the gospel because that is the power of God unto salvation Romans 1 16

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Paul says for I am NOT ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation

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For everyone who believes for the Jew first and also to the three Paul continues

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Because he is fixed today in which he will judge the world in righteousness Through a man whom he has appointed

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Having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. All here is talking about Christ He's talking about Christ This man whom

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God appointed Whom God raised from the dead this must be the heart of every gospel presentation that Jesus died on the cross

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That Jesus was raised bodily from the dead that Jesus on the cross bore the wrath of God so that you and I would not have to and God bodily raised him from the dead and Jesus proved himself to be who he said he was

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God in human flesh and the only way to Have forgiveness of sins to have the wrath of God removed is to repent of sins turn from sins and place our trust

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In the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross Salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God Verse 32

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Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead So Paul gives them the gospel

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Here's their response in verse 32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead some began to sneer notice this some began to sneer

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But others said Others said we shall hear you again concerning this So Paul went out of their midst, but some men joined him and believed

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Among whom also with Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Tamarus and others with him.

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So here you have The three responses that you will always get from preaching the gospel

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You will have those people who will sneer at it who will reject it Who will mock it?

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Then you have people that will say We're not convinced But we're interested.

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We're not convinced, but I want to hear some more. Well, we'll hear from you on this again And that's a good response.

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That's a good response. If somebody is completely close to the gospel They say I don't care what you preach. I don't care what you show to me through the scriptures

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There's nowhere you can go from that remember God opened Lydia's heart and it must be God who opens people's heart

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And someone who will say well Well, I'll hear you again concerning this we want to hear it some more

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How many of us can give testimony that we ourselves heard the gospel? twice three times four five seventy a hundred a thousand times

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Before God finally opened our hearts. I know I heard the gospel at least a rudimentary presentation of it.

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Oh Gosh, I don't even know how many times before God opened my heart the way God opened Lydia's heart And I say this as an encouragement to you

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If you have unsaved friends if you have unsaved family members You never know.

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You never know when the light will come on Never know when God will open that person's heart.

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So every opportunity you get continue to share the gospel with It is the power of God unto salvation.

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You don't have to be clever in your speech You don't have to make the gospel attractive. You don't have to dress it up The gospel is not about having our best life now

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You present the gospel as Paul presented it as Jesus Jesus presented as John presented it

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And you trust God to do what only he can do and you wait on him to open someone's heart

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Never know when that might happen and it might happen at the most unexpected of times