The Unknown God

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. Grace, mercy, and peace to each one of you that has gathered here this morning. What I'm about to say is an old message. But let me just say this. There are people this morning that would have loved to sing with us, but it's too late. [00:00:31] It's too late. They had their chance. They had their chance, but they didn't take it. So let's pay attention. Today, we have a chance. If everything is not clear between you and God, you have your chance today. Tomorrow might be too late, but let's be ready. I was reminded of a young man, and this probably happened 25 years ago, maybe a little bit more. [00:01:03] And this young man spurned his opportunity. He, his father died. He was a couple years older than I am. His father died and he was bitter. He turned bitter because of it. And he, his mom and his family tried to speak to him, but he left. He said, I've had enough of it. I don't need to hear it anymore. He heard that old message. [00:01:36] And one beautiful evening in the summer, him and his friend went swimming and that was the end. I've titled my message this morning, The Unknown God. And I think probably all of us know where this message comes from. Acts 17, probably Paul said this, preached this message and it's an old message. It's been expounded on many, many, many times. Take a look at this passage here, Acts 17. [00:02:12] And I know when you speak, when you preach, it does distract a bit when you read a lot. I felt like reading the whole chapter. I think I'm not going to. Let's just get a brief overview of what Paul was doing, what was happening. Paul had been at Thessalonica and he was in essence chased out because of the envy of the Jews and I'm not, I'll just give a brief overview of this the Jews were envious because of the change that came to his followers [00:02:50] these were not a bunch of rabble rousers as you would think We think about, well, they had the name of being the people that turned the world upside down. They had the name of doing that. How did they do it? Now, we think of somebody that's turning the world upside down. We think of mobs. We think of people that are loud. These people were probably the quiet of the land, but they had something. [00:03:23] They were bringing change. Through the power of the Holy Spirit as they ministered to the people at Thessalonica, what is our reputation this morning? Church at large this morning, what is the reputation? Think about that. And Paul, because of this, some of the brethren, I think it was in this instance that they moved him to the church at Berea, And we're all aware of the Bereans, they were more noble than those at Thessalonica because they searched the scriptures daily [00:04:00] And it wasn't long until he was chased out of that town, as it were And then we come to the message that Paul had at Athens, that is where he went from there And I think I'm going to begin reading chapter 17, beginning to read at verse 16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. [00:04:31] Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him, and some said, What will this babbler say? and other some he seemed to be a setter forth of strange gods because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection and they took him and brought him unto Aeropagus [00:05:02] I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that right saying may we know what this new doctrine may we know what this new doctrine whereof thou speakest is for thou bringest certain strange things to our ears we would know therefore what these things mean For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or hear some new thing. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. [00:05:38] For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God, God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him I declare unto you, God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things, and hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times [00:06:14] before appointed and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being, as certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring. For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. [00:06:49] And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, Whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter You may be seated, I think that's as far as I'll read [00:07:20] Now remember back in verse, I think it was in verse 16 I don't know if Paul was simply at Athens to just to hide from the Jews, but it says that while he waited, he observed the city of Athens. Now the city of Athens was the world's, at that time, was the world's intellectual thinking center, if that's my own term. [00:07:55] There were philosophers there, there were people there that were learned in philosophy and thinking. And as he sat there, as he observed, he noticed that this city was engulfed in idolatry. There were idols, there were people, there were idols galore everywhere he looked. I don't think it had been Paul's original intent to evangelize this city, But it seems to me that the Spirit pressed on him to say something. [00:08:29] He had to say something because he met with the Jews in the synagogues as seemingly was his custom. And it says that he disputed with the Jews. And it was there that he met these Epicureans and Stoics. And these people had their own philosophy about life. It's interesting. We could get into some history this morning. I did some research where this comes from, and I don't think I'm going to take time for that. [00:09:01] But there was a time when one of the kings at Athens said that he would, he captured a city and he had said that he would give freedom or at least allow the people to be slaves under his rule if they laid down their arms. Well, he had captured them and then he turned around and slaughtered them. And because of that, the people at Athens thought or there was a plague there. And because of that, they brought in these epicureans, a philosopher to pray. And that is where the unknown God came from originally. Now, that's a very brief story. You do your own research. [00:09:43] But what about this Epicurism or whatever, the school of Greek philosophy? It emphasized, the Epicurans emphasized remoteness of gods, uncaring gods, a world governed by blind chance. And I don't know if it's important to notice that or not. The absence of afterlife and the pursuit of pleasure while living was their philosophy. [00:10:16] Now, on the other hand, the Stoics, they emphasized a world determined by fate where human beings must pursue their duty, resigning themselves to live in harmony with nature, however painful that might be. And I'll just leave it at that. Again, you can do some research on your own. So you'll notice soon that the Stoics were disciplined and the Epicureans were not. These people were curious. [00:10:47] They were curious. Because it says, verse 21 says, For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or hear something, something new, or some new thing, as King James says it. The Athenians, even in my study I found that even the Romans at Rome wanted to go to Athens to study because there were supposedly some smart people. [00:11:18] And I'm saying this because these were the people that Paul was speaking to. And Paul was trained well to speak to people that had this mindset. Now where he was speaking was Areopagus was a hill overlooking Athens, Mars Hill. That was their court. That was their the place where they held their philosophical discussions. And that's where Paul addressed these people. [00:11:51] And it was here that Paul spoke to them about the unknown God And he said, and this is, I think this is a different rendering You worship a God that you don't know and this is the God I'm telling you about But it's as closely in my own words telling what Paul was saying This is the God, you worship a God that you don't know and this is the God I'm telling you about Well, Paul used the opportunity, the idol that they had, to direct them to the true God. [00:12:26] And as I pondered this, I surmised that there are people that worship an unknown God, don't fully understand who God is and what he expects of his people. Could the question be raised that we, at times, don't understand fully what God wants of us? We don't fully understand who God is and what He expects of me. Now, let's look at some of this terminology. [00:12:58] What does it mean to know God? What does it mean? Now, there's a lot of different definitions for the word know, K-N-O-W, know. But in the context, this was the closest that I could come up with To have encountered somebody or something before To be acquainted, associated, or familiar with somebody or something And of course, unknown means the opposite [00:13:28] But unknown has a lot of meanings too And again in context Have you heard somebody say that Yeah, I've heard of so-and-so. Maybe you're talking about an actress in a movie, but he's basically an unknown. You know about it, but he's an unknown. And that's, I think, what we're talking about this morning. Have you encountered God, or is he unknown? Have we encountered God, or is he unknown? [00:13:59] And how important really is it that I really know who God is? You know, sometimes we talk about attributes and we have a nice little package here and this is God and we talk about this attribute and this and that's about all our frail human minds can do. Because God is God. I am who I am and we cannot comprehend all about God. But do we know God? And the thing that burdens me is if I say that I know God, does he know me? Does he recognize me as his son or daughter? Does he know me? And is it important that he knows me? Absolutely. Absolutely important. Absolutely. [00:14:49] Matthew 7.23 talking about the judgment. Jesus said, and this is just a part of a verse, they were talking about judgment day. He says, I never knew you. In past tense, I never knew you. And in that passage, I think, he was talking to people. And if you study that, you'll see that there were people, there will be people there that have done much for him. [00:15:22] Or so they say, but I never knew you. I wouldn't want anyone to hear those words at the end of life. And there's something else about knowing somebody. Now, I know my wife in every sense of the word, and I know what she wants most of the time. I think you understand what I'm saying. Knowing somebody is a relationship, and if you friends know each other, and they know that this friend has a tendency, this is what this friend wants. [00:16:05] And so we try to satisfy that need if we want a good relationship. And do you know God to the extent that you understand what he wants from you, from all of us, is a question I would leave with us. Now, having said that, I noticed Paul's message. I've never noticed this message before, but there are three foundational principles in this message, and I don't know if Paul spent half a day preparing for this like I do sometimes when I preach, I don't know what he did, or if it just flowed from his own experience, but as we look at this, this is why I said this is an old message, it's an old message. [00:16:57] Now, let's shift gears just a bit. The first thing that he pointed out to them as he was speaking about this unknown God, what was it? Let's put it this way. I'll give you a little test this morning. I hear this sometimes when we have a council meeting I support the 18 articles of faith and what are the 18 articles of faith what's the first article talk about somebody tell me not the ministry what's a foundational principle that and I don't know if our Anabaptist forefathers looked at this or if it was I don't know if it matters all of them are foundational [00:17:47] But what's the first thing? If we don't get this, we probably won't get much else either. What is it? Amen. That's the first thing that Paul confronted them with. God is the, he's the God of creation. He pointed them to creation. And why is it necessary to have that as a foundation to stand on? And I'm saying that there's at least three foundational principles in Paul's message. [00:18:21] Maybe I should have preached three messages. I don't know. I'm not going to do justice to maybe all of them. Probably not. But let's get to the point. If we don't believe in creation, we probably won't believe much else of what God's Word says. And we could look at some scriptures. Maybe I'll just read Psalms 19.1. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. And Romans 1.20 says, [00:18:52] For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Now, if we understand, if we accept creation as fact, And maybe I'm sticking my neck out, but as a literal six day creation, and I know that Bible scholars are divided on some of this, but I believe, I believe that our God was big enough to do it in six days, just as he said, just the way it is. [00:19:31] And I think it's important that we get this principle in our head. Maybe we've heard it since we were a little child. Maybe we see we're amazed, but we need to recognize the creator behind the creation. We have to. And I think Paul stressed, emphasized that. I don't know if all of Paul's message is recorded, but if we are able to take the Bible and open it to Genesis 1-1 and believe by faith that that is our God, I think the rest of it should fall in place. [00:20:15] And now he goes on, and I'm just going to focus on several of these. The one in verse 30, the next thing I'd like to talk about is repentance. He said this, and at the times of this ignorance, God winked at, and I'm not sure what that meant. There were probably some ignorant men and women there. I'm not encouraging that we claim ignorance. [00:20:45] It will not get us into heaven. It will not. But then he says this, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. And the Amplified says, to change their minds for the better and heartily to amend their ways with abhorrence of their past sins. I went on a little journey and I studied repentance as I studied for this message. Repent was the message of Jesus Christ when he started preaching. [00:21:19] In Matthew 4, 17, he says, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. But if you want to study repentance, stick to Acts. No, don't stick to Acts. But there are many, many verses about repentance in Acts. Acts 2.38, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And from this passage, we understand that we're not to baptize anyone into the church of Jesus Christ without repentance, without repentance. [00:21:54] Acts 3.19, repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. If you want your sins blotted out, repent, he says, repent. Repentance is many, well it's not many things, it's just simply repentance. But let's look at some of these. Repentance is a stepping stone to confession and forgiveness of sin. Acts 26.20, and this is NIV, says this, and this was where, I think he was in front of King Agrippa. [00:22:35] You might check me out there. But he said this, first to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea and to the Gentiles also I preach that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds And it reads a little different in the King James So, his message was repent It should be the message today It needs to be our message [00:23:07] Preach, repent, repentance. And I wondered, as I studied this, if we are weak in preaching repentance and in practicing, in making sure that repentance, we clearly have repented before we become a part of the church. Now let's look at some of the meaning of repentance and I don't know, maybe it is important that we understand what we're talking about. So it is important that we look at the meaning of the word. [00:23:40] I thought Strong's, typically Strong's has a short and to the point meaning in the original Greek. So I found a Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and they had more of a longer meaning to it or dialogue and there's different things that enter in here. But to repent really, in the New Testament sense, is to change one's mind. To change one's mind about God and sin. [00:24:14] The way I look at things, the way I look at my life. Okay, to change one's mind about something with the probable implication of regret. To change one's mind and to think differently. And then there's another one, and I'm not going to pronounce the Greek word, but these are forms of the Greek word. A change of mind that leads to a change of behavior. It leads, we cannot say that I have repented unless I have changed. I want you to remember that. I cannot say that I have repented unless I have changed. [00:24:49] Now, to change one's life, way of life, as the result of a complete change of thought and attitude with regard to sin and righteousness. To repent, to change one's way, repentance. And the importance of these definitions is that while the primary emphasis is repentance, and on the change of mind that leads to this behavior. We cannot, we can't divide it from the emotional part that feels sorrow for what I once was, what I once did, what I once loved. [00:25:31] We, if we don't have sorrow for that, have we repented? I leave that question for you to ponder. Now, who needs to repent? What did Paul say to these men? He said, all men everywhere, everywhere. He did not say, he did not single out a group at all. You know what? That includes me. That includes everyone in this room. [00:26:03] All of us. All of us. And because of my sinful nature, you've probably heard me say it, and you'll probably hear me say it again. It's not a once and done thing. Repentance is something that I do when I fall. And I fall. There are times when I have to confess and repent. Now, you may be different. I doubt it. I think we're all, we all have a sinful nature. Repentance. [00:26:35] Repentance moves beyond being challenged Now I was challenged this morning But repentance is being changed It is being a different person than I once was And by the grace of God that can happen Now we talked about who should repent And a lot of times, and I'm not faulting anyone for this I do the same thing We can sit together and have a discussion. [00:27:08] Who should repent? Well, it's that drunk, that gut, he needs repentance. It's the drug pusher or those people involved in gross immorality and they need repentance. Yes, they do. They do. That's what they need. But you know what? That's a tactic of Satan to get me to focus on these people. [00:27:41] What about the more acceptable sins that we just kind of wink at? Do they need repentance as well? What about rebellion against the church? What about that little piece of gossip that was just rather unkind? And you know, we pull up our suit And we say, well, you know, we're justified. We're trying to help this person. Let's be careful. There is nothing like a little sin in God's economy. I know I'm not leaving a lot of room and I know that God's grace is sufficient, but let's be very careful. God knows the intents of my heart and your heart. Let's be careful. [00:28:25] That needs repentance from as well. What about that angry response that I had to a brother in the church, or to my spouse, or my children? Does that need repentance? Yes, it does. Yes, it does. It's easy when you've grown up in a church setting, you've come up through the system, and you were kind of, I don't know, grandfathered in this thing to not see how desperately I need a repentant lifestyle. [00:28:59] Now there are many examples in scripture and we don't have time for all of this. But think about the Philippian jailer in Acts 16. He's a popular example if we want to talk about repentance. He changed. Paul did not just challenge him and Silas by what happened or God He wasn't just challenged, he changed He was the man putting the stripes on the back and there he was washing them down [00:29:33] What about you and I? Have we put stripes on Jesus' back? Have you washed them off? Have you washed them off? It's important You know, it doesn't even say that the Philippian jailer repented. It just said that he believed with his house, all his house. But believing, obeying, and repenting are the three things that go together. Believing, and I don't know if I said them in the right order. [00:30:05] You can maybe put them in better order than I can. But it's impossible, I believe, in God's eyes to accept me in saying that I believe when I have not repented. It doesn't work. It always brings action. Now Jesus said this when he was talking about the prodigal son in Luke 15. I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. [00:30:42] There is joy in heaven for every sinner that repents. And oh, I hope that there's joy in heaven because of Rosewood, because there are people that have a repentant spirit and maintain that repentance. Maintain it. Now the third thing I want to notice, and this is probably why I said what I did at the beginning. And we had the last, we studied the last article in the Dortheck Confession of Faith this morning. [00:31:15] Does anybody know what the last article is about? Aside from the instruction class and the ministry? I know I'm putting you on the spot. The resurrection and the second coming of our Lord. And Paul said it, because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. Talking about Jesus, I believe. Why did Paul find it necessary to preach this? You know, in our day, one of the things that bothers me is we don't hear it anymore. [00:31:49] We're careful. We have this misconception that we have only a loving God. We only have a loving God. And we do. I don't think Brother Daniel would mind at all if I would just repeat what he said. What does John 3.16 say? For God so loved the world, oh He loved each one of us, that He gave His only begotten Son, but then He didn't leave it there, That whosoever believeth on him [00:32:21] You know what? We get to the part Where we have to make a commitment And then we stop Let's not do that We have responsibility I think Brother Tim had the same thing in mind You know, God is a rewarder of them that Diligently seek him It's not a matter He doesn't reward us if we don't diligently seek him It's impossible to please him. We can't do it if we don't seek him. [00:32:53] Now, those are all things that we've heard before. And I think as human beings, it's easy and we like to do this. Just, you know, we just think that God just loves me the way I am. I like it, so he must like it. But it's not true. It's not true. I hope we're not influenced by the Jehovah's Witness. 2 Thessalonians 1.8, Paul takes another firm stand for judgment. He says this, In flaming fire taking vengeance upon them that know not God, that know not God, [00:33:30] and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, preaching about judgment and Judgment Day makes people uncomfortable. And it brings us to the point where we have to make a decision. Am I going to serve or not? It does. You know, many people say that when we preach about judgment, we are only a performance-based Christianity, and there is nothing like that. But my friends, there has to be something like that, or the Bible isn't true. [00:34:04] Now, I know that there's grace. I understand that. There's faith and there's grace. But you know what? There is coming a day when all of us will stand and give account for what I have done. My friends, let's make sure we have our house in order this morning because we don't know what tomorrow. We don't know if we'll get home today. We don't know. What does the Bible say about grace? Paul says it well in Romans 6.1. [00:34:36] What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? And then he says it. God forbid. What does the German say? Das sei fairne. How many of you understand that? Probably not very many. But far from it. It's not true. It won't work. Now I'm not saying that there's not grace. But you know what? Again, in 2 Thessalonians 1.8 He will take vengeance on them that know not God [00:35:09] We have to have a relationship with God With our Lord Jesus Christ If we are to see Him in glory Have we lost that awful realization That hell is a real place I was reminded last night My wife was reading a Bible story Or telling a story of the rich man in hell that wanted a drop of water, but he didn't get it. He didn't get it. [00:35:40] Have we lost the awfulness of hell? Have we lost the teaching? Well, I need to wrap this up quickly. Paul had a well-balanced message, I think, and it's an old message that we've heard many, many times, foundational message. But in the end, what was the response? We will hear this matter again some other time. Some of them said that. We will hear it again some other time. In verse 34, there were several people that clave unto him and believe. [00:36:17] A few people, or at least a man and a woman, I believe. What are you going to do with Jesus this morning, today? Okay, what will you do if there's something that's hidden from man's view, but God knows about it? Well, we just leave it set, and we'll visit it some other time. You know, there are people that have waited until it was too late. It was just too late. [00:36:49] Or, the opposite is just as positive. We can accept that call. And I want to say this. This is not a scolding from me this morning. I hope that you understand that we do have a loving God. But did you know that judgment is a positive thing? It's a positive thing. If there would not be judgment on earth, there would be violence here beyond our imagination. [00:37:24] What will you do with Jesus this morning? With those thoughts, let's kneel for prayer.