Text: Acts 17:26-28, Title: Musings of a Seed-Picker 3, Date/Place: NRBC, 10/26/08, AM
A. Opening illustration: maybe the quote from What is a Healthy Church Member re: knowing major biblical themes and storylines of redemption
B. Background to passage: Again this is the continuation of Paul’s evangelistic outcry rooted in the honor of Jesus being trampled by idolatry. Paul is speaking before the Areopagus sharing about the Unknown God of Athens. And after a brief introduction to his message, and a brief but weighty introduction of this God, Paul continues to share about this God and plans and purposes on the earth with men.
C. Main thought: In the text we will see how God has dealt with man in general terms
A. From one blood every nation (v. 26)
1. Now Paul has already mentioned that God created everything that exists, so why would he come back and speak about the creation of man and the common ancestry we share. I don’t know if Paul consciously thought to address sin, but I do believe the Spirit of God inspired Paul to speak conviction upon a group of pious men. You see, the Athenians particularly, and Greeks in general, thought of themselves as better than all the other nations. They called everyone who wasn’t Greek, a barbarian for the language that they spoke, and looked down on them as second-class.
2. Gen 3:20, Mal 2:10, 1 Cor 15:22, Gal 3:28, Rev 5:9,
3. Illustration: In the 1960’s the church deacon board mobilized lookout squads, and on Sundays these took turns patrolling the entrances lest any black “troublemakers” try to integrate us. I still have one of the cards the deacons printed up to give to any civil rights demonstrators who might appear: Believing the motives of your group to be ulterior and foreign to the teaching of God’s word, we cannot extend a welcome to you and respectfully request you to leave the premises quietly. Scripture does NOT teach “the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God.” He is the Creator of all, but only the Father of those who have been regenerated. If any one of you is here with a sincere desire to know Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, we shall be glad to deal individually with you from the Word of God. (Unanimous Statement of Pastor and Deacons, August 1960). When Congress passed the Civil Rights Acts, our church founded a private school as a haven for whites, expressly barring all black students. A few “liberal” members left the church in protest when the kindergarten turned down the daughter of a black Bible professor, but most of us approved of the decision. A year later the church board rejected a Carver Bible Institute student for membership, his name was Tony Evans, who later said, “Racism isn’t a bad habit; it’s not a mistake; it’s a sin. The answer is not sociology; it’s theology.” Go though the mental paths that we think when we go to a room with two tables with those “like me” therefore safe and beneficial, and those “unlike me” and therefore unsafe and unbeneficial. “Christ’s blood creates a deeper lineage that our genes.” Sinclair Ferguson, tell about the child in our SS the other day who said that he and his daddy call black people “monkeys,” I recently went to the Smoky Mountains with some friends to do some rock climbing. We came to a small town near Knoxville, Tennessee, and pulled into a little country store. I walked in. Three white guys sitting there gave me, a black guy, looks I’ve never seen before. One of them said, "You don’t belong around here--boy." At first I couldn’t believe he was talking to me. Then I couldn’t believe my ears when he said, "Stick around here after dark and we’ll hang you." I was thinking, Man, we’re sending rockets to Mars and there are still people living in this kind of blind racial ignorance. Suddenly, I was experiencing hatred, the kind of bigotry I’d only read about or seen on TV. I’ll never forget how I felt in that little country store. Less than human. –Michael Tait of DC Talk,
4. This is not unlike our own culture today. The rich look down on the poor. Management looks down on labor. Skilled look down on the unskilled. Legals look down on the illegals. Republicans look down on Democrats. Whites look down on blacks, Hispanics, and Orientals. When in reality, we are all from one blood. And God deals with us all equally, because of our unity in Adam. We are all sinners before God. We are all image-bearers of God. They need Jesus, just like you and I. We must jettison the idea of biological racism. So when you see one who is less fortunate as you, dressed not as nice as you, driving a car not as nice as yours, say to yourself, “JUST LIKE ME.” When you see one of another ethnicity, you can say, “JUST LIKE ME.” And we can welcome them into our fellowship and into our lives because they are JUST LIKE ME.” Jesus desires and has purchased men from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. Are we going to have a heart like his or not? And this doesn’t mean necessarily that we are to have an ethnically diverse congregation, although if the Lord willed, we should receive that. Here is the practical application for us: If those of you who persist in racism refuse to repent, and those of you who are not racist refuse to stand up and confront it, it will hinder our growth and progression as a church. This means racial slurs, attitudes, jokes, practices, and prejudices must be put to death in our hearts!
B. World events and nations as directed (v. 26)
1. Paul continues his thoughts about the oneness of man and nations, and speaks of the sovereignty of God and His design for nations and His using the nations to accomplish His purposes. Again this would have been degrading to the Greeks to think that anything other than men determined national boundaries. The gods may have had some hand in things, but never full sway and determination. This is Paul’s theology of providence—the fact that God superintends all events to bring about his ends.
2. Dan 2:36, Luke 21:24, Pro 16:1, 9, 33, Isa 46:10, Gen 50:20, Rom 8:28, Acts 2:23,
3. Illustration: Jim Key’s theology on God superintending really important lives, but letting others be more or less self-determining. "We cannot but admit that not even the least thing takes place unless it is ordered by God. For who have ever been so concerned and curious as to find out how much hair he has on his head? There is no one. God, however, knows the number. Indeed, nothing is too small in us or in any other creature, not to be ordered by the all-knowing and all-powerful providence of God." Zwingli, Huldryrch, when stuff seemingly happens by accident, it is really not an accident (books, things left,) ‘Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, humbly implore his protection and favor…” “Christian, if thou wouldst know the path of duty, take God for thy compass; if thou wouldst steer thy ship through the dark billows, put the tiller into the hand of the Almighty. Many a rock might be escaped, if we would let our Father take the helm; many a shoal or quicksand we might well avoid, if we would leave to his sovereign will to choose and to command. The Puritan said, "As sure as ever a Christian carves for himself, he’ll cut his own fingers;" this is a great truth. Said another old divine, "He that goes before the cloud of God’s providence goes on a fool’s errand;" and so he does.” -Charles Spurgeon
4. And God is still sovereign over nations today. He still predetermines where their boundaries are. He raises up and tears down. In the OT he raised up some nations that he might bring down others. He manages natural resources and natural disasters, both of which can altar world history. Also he works providentially in our individual lives. He orchestrates all things about your day big and small for His Divine purposes. This is not fatalism, but real choice with God ensuring that his decreed will will happen. And we can rest and trust in Him always. His faithfulness and power is from everlasting to everlasting.
C. One grand purpose (v. 27)
1. Paul uses a purpose clause to give us the reason of God’s dealings with man: so that they might seek God, grope for Him and find Him. One of God’s main purposes in having a relationship with man is so that men would seek the real treasure, that they would value what is most valuable. And that when and if they find Him know Him and love Him and have a relationship with Him as trophies of grace and children of God. And that we would live together in ever-increasing joy making much of the Lamb in His presence for eternity.
2. Ps 22:27, Acts 15:17, Isa 49:6, Mal 1:11, John 17:3, Amos 5:4, 6,
3. Illustration: C.S. Lewis, in his classic book, Mere Christianity, said, "The whole purpose for which we exist is to be taken into the life of God."
4. We must not turn the Christian faith into a do-better religion with a list of rules. We must not focus on minutia so that we miss the big picture. He does what he does so that you and I may know Him. God wants you and I to be called into a body, a bride of Christ that will put on display His manifold perfections now, and forever enjoy those perfections in eternity. He wants your personal intimate knowledge of Him to increase. God wants to know you. What an amazing thought! And regardless of what you accomplish in your life, you will be evaluated on how much you achieve the purpose for which you were designed, knowing God, and glorifying Him as God. And this grand purpose will not ever stop. For in heaven every desire that you have to know Him will be fulfilled, then the next day new desires will come and be fulfilled. You will never come to the end of God, and with every bit of increase, you will increase in your joy.
A. Closing illustration: There was a certain old recluse who lived deep in the mountains of Colorado. When he died, distant relatives came from the city to collect his valuables. Upon arriving, all they saw was an old shack with an outhouse beside it. Inside the shack, next to the rock fireplace, was an old cooking pot and his mining equipment. A cracked table with a three-legged chair stood guard by a tiny window, and a kerosene lamp served as the centerpiece for the table. In a dark corner of the little room was a dilapidated cot with a threadbare bedroll on it. They picked up some of the old relics and started to leave. As they were driving away, an old friend of the recluse, on his mule, flagged them down. “Do you mind if I help myself to what’s left in my friend’s cabin?” he asked. “Go right ahead,” they replied. After all, they thought, what inside that shack could be worth anything? The old friend entered the shack and walked directly over the table. He reached under it and lifted one of the floor boards. He then proceeded to take out all the gold his friend had discovered over the past 53 years – enough to have built a palace. The recluse died with only his friend knowing his true worth. As the friend looked out of the little window and watched the cloud of dust behind the relative’s car disappear, he said, “They should have got to know him better. I wonder, as we reflect on this Good Friday, as we watch the Lamb, Jesus Christ, who suffered and died a criminal’s death 2000 years ago that we too have missed out on the gold. Do we know our Friend’s (Jesus) true worth? Some quote about the transcendence, providence, and immanence of God.
B. Recap
C. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
• Is Christ Exalted, Magnified, Honored, and Glorified?
