Sermon notes from 1 April 2018 pm
Luke 24 verses 1 - 8, Acts 17 verses 32 - 34
I want us to turn our attention to those verses in Acts 17 verse 32 "and when they heard of the resurrection of the dead." Think of the attitude to the resurrection and the effect that the resurrection has had and will have on men and women`s hearts as they heard the gospel message.
Athens was a city of great culture and learning. The architecture was magnificent. Paul came here on his own and he was waiting on the others to catch up with him. His heart is moved as he waits there because the whole city was given over to idolatry. In verse 21 we read that the people of the city would gather together to talk and discuss things of interest including new things that were happening all around them. Here on this day they came face to face with something new. A Saviour who died on a rugged cross, was buried in the tomb and on the third day he rose again from the dead. That was the point of stumbling. There were 3 effects to the story of the resurrection. Some mocked, others said we will hear thee again of this matter and the third believed on the words spoken to them. Is there a stumbling block in your life that keeps you back from coming to Christ? It`s a real mountain they cannot get past or over it or around it. What did this message mean to the preacher?
Here was a message that was developed. Paul came with this wonderful message of a resurrected Saviour, he is living and alive for evermore. In Acts 17 verse 1 Paul travels to Thessalonica alone and doesn`t stay there too long because he has trouble there. He moved on from there to Berea verse 10. In verse 16 Paul waited on Silas and Timothy in Athens and he saw something that made him very sad. His soul stirred within him. He saw the whole city given to idolatry. They had their own religion. Verse 22 you are so religious he tells them. He has been watching the people coming and going. His very heart is touched. Whenever our hearts are touched it is amazing thing to witness even when we see it among our family and friends. They were so religious in their ways. Verse 23 he does something for them. An altar has been built for the worship of God. Paul says he found it. We are not told what it was built of. This one was very special - it had an inscription on it - "to the unknown god." Each of them had their idols and images, all the things they bowed down to, prayed to, worshipped. Now they were saying in case there is another god we have forgotten about we will build one to him. Paul said "you are too religious." Sadly we have them in our own families today. "Don`t talk to me about your religion, I have my own, I have been to my own place of worship today already." If that is the case then the church has taken the place of Christ. Now it is an idol. Doesn`t it prove one thing to us - religion does not satisfy. Here were people worshipping, praising all sorts of images and idols but they were still looking for another god. They were still not satisfied and hungry. Some people would criticise Paul`s message. They say he watered it down when he came there. They said he never mentioned the cross nor Christ`s resurrection. But how could he get to the resurrection if he didn`t speak of a death first? It was only when they reached the resurrection that the hands went up. He developed a message that would meet the hunger they had. These people had religion, were fervent in their religion but still had an altar to the unknown god. You will hunger unto the day you bow your knee at the cross and take Christ as Saviour. The rich young ruler who came to Jesus had everything he wanted but there was a hunger in his heart for something more. He kept all the commandments but they didn`t fulfil his hunger. That could only be filled with the gospel, that Jesus died for his sins. Remember at the feast of the Passover in John 12 verse 21. The Jews were there but there were also some Greeks. They came to Philip asking "that we might see Jesus." Ritual doesn`t fill the soul, only Christ can do that. It tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 verses 3 and 4 "Christ died according to the scrptures; And that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." Paul had a complete message. He had Christ as died, rose again and in heaven even now. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 14 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."
It was a message that was despised - verse 32 "and when they heard of the resurrection of the dead". They listened well, their ears were opened but when he started to tell them of an unknown God, when they considered it, thought about it, they couldn`t believe it and walked away. At what point will you wander away from the message of the gospel? Pilate asked "what shall I do with Jesus which is called Christ?" (Matthew 27 verse 22). Will you either accept Christ as Saviour or reject him as your Lord? Paul gathered with the people wherever he could - sometimes it was in the synagogue with the Jews, or in the marketplace with the Gentiles. Notice in verses 19 and 20 that they were curious. They came to the meeting with their minds so closed to start off with. The devil does that - he will do all in his power to close our minds to Christ. Either accept it or reject it. The people who despised that message left, some mocked it while others thought it was utter nonsense. Paul takes up the message of God as the creator in verse 24 and then he moves on to tell them what they are in the sight of God - verse 25. We are sinners in the sight of God. There are others who teach a different message - that man is his own boss and can do his own thing, reach whatever height he wants to but there is one he can never reach - the mark of God. We have all come short of the glory of God. He took his very best, his only Son and sent him into the world to die on an old rugged cross but it was all God`s plan that we might be saved. Maybe you have never been saved or maybe you are in a backslidden state. God wants you to come to him. Paul points to what God expects. He had another day in mind when he sent his Son to a manger. He had another day in mind when he sent him to the cross. He had a day in mind - when he will come again as a judge. This world will come to an end one day. The Lord will come back that you might stand before him. Paul says to this people God created you, you are a sinner before him and one day God will come to judge everyone for their sins. Now he says God calls everyone to repent before God and have faith in the Lord. This message was despised by the people because they were hungry for God. What makes young people try something for the first time? For satisfaction to their hunger. As soon as they try it once something else kicks in, the mind begins to blur everything. All that once worried them is gone now. Why do they do it? Because of a hunger. They want to see what it will do to them. When that hunger is filled with Christ they despised it.
The effect on others - "some mocked and others said, We will hear you again of this matter." Not all rejected the message though. There were a number who listened very carefully. One turned to the other and asked each other "what do you think of this message?" This is the first time we have heard of a Saviour who came in the world, who died and rose again. We could have new lives, we could be changed forever. Maybe a bit of doubt creeps in. Maybe we should think about it, count the cost of it. Don`t put Christ off by thinking you will get saved another week. "Behold now is the accepted time." Maybe tonight you want to be saved, would love to be saved but just not tonight. Felix of old trembled as Paul stood before him. Paul spoke of the gospel, righteousness before God, temperance, self control and the great judgment day of God. When Felix heard this he trembled. He told Paul "go thy way when I have a convenient season I will call for you." Joshua in the Old Testament said "choose you this day whom you will serve." For the last group of people it was a message that delighted because it filled their hearts and souls and changed their lives. They "clave" unto the message he preached. This message culd change your life for eternity. They listened with intent. When they did that it struck a chord . They had placed their sins upon a sacrifice who had died and risen again. You can have your sins laid on that same Saviour and accept him in the beloved today.
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