Acts 17:22-25
22 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.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
24 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;
25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
I was setting at the urgent care last Friday talking to an old friend I hadn’t seen in a while. We were talking about the church, her kids, my kids, and a little bitty older lady setting close by interrupted. She had heard us talking and knew I was a pastor. She said to me, “You..know.. what .. you ..need to preach about? Breath......without it you don’t have anything.” She went on to explain that she had asthma and was having a hard time getting it under control. It was almost painful to hear her speak. It took such great effort.
The human body is an amazing machine that God has created. It can endure hot or cold, wet or dry. It can go 3 to 5 weeks without eating food. 3 to 5 days without drinking water. But only 3 to 5 minutes without getting a breath of air. There is nothing that is needed more for this physical body than a breath of air. The leading cause of death for premature babies is the lungs can’t function. You see, when they are in mama’s tummy they don’t have to breathe. Mama’s doing it for them. But when they are born they have to begin to breathe on their own. As I said a while back. I had the privilege to see all of my children born. When they are just first born they aren’t breathing. You wait for that moment when they’re lungs expand and suck in that first breath of air. You say come on kid, come on , BREATHE. And then you hear whaaa. It’s a beautiful sound for about.......... two seconds. Then they won't hush for the next 18 years.
This morning I want to take a few minutes and talk about when God Breathes on us.
LET’S PRAY
Genesis 2:7 says “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
I believe this scripture teaches us that God created this human being, the first human being, and I believe it lay there before him. Perfect in every way. A SPECIMEN OF MANHOOD. But that perfect specimen of a man would have laid there and rotted away if God hadn’t went one step further and BREATHED into him the breath of life. As God breathed into that mouth I believe the lungs of Adam began to expand and when He finished those lungs exhaled and so the breathing process began. Later on in Genesis chapter 2, we find where God put Adam into a deep sleep and removed one of Adam’s ribs to form Eve out of. After Eve was formed I believe God had to breathe into her the breath of life just like He had done for Adam. I’m just dumb enough to believe this literally happened.
Do you know who creates life even today? God does.
You see scientists can mix all of the components that make up a human cell but they can’t put life into it. Evolutionists tell us that some single celled amoeba crawled out of the mud, split and divided, mutated and changed, evolved and grew, quit hunching over, stood up on two feet, and now look how far we’ve come. We can cipher numbers and everything. But when you ask the Evolutionist where that single living cell came from they still can’t answer.
Can I give you another senario. “In the beginning GOD created the heaven and the earth.” That explains everything and it’s not that hard. I believe God creates and forms every little baby in their mama’s womb.
Psalms 139:13,14 “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
And then the day comes that they leave their mama’s womb and God breathes in them the breath of life. As it says in verse 25, He gives us life and breath.
II. There’s another breath I want to talk to you about. It’s found in John 20:19-22.
"Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:"
Jesus here was fulfilling His promise that He had made to them earlier. In John 16:7 Jesus had told them, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."
Up until this point the disciples, along with every other person, were DEAD in their trespasses and sins. God had given them the PHYSICAL BREATH OF LIFE. Now Jesus was preparing to go away and He BREATHES the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. A new day had dawned.
NO LONGER WOULD PEOPLE LIVE IN THEIR TRESPASSES AND SINS. Ephesians 2:1 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;"
Let me tell you something, you and I were DEAD in our trespasses and sins. You might say we were DOA. Dead on Arrival. We were given that PHYSICAL BREATH OF LIFE but we were born with a sinful nature. These disciples needed Jesus to BREATHE on them just the same as you and I need it today.
Later on in Acts 17, we find Paul standing on the top of Marrs Hill in Athens Greece. And he's looking around at all of these idols to all of these gods. He's probably thinking to himself, "What in the World?" And then he sees it. The idol to the UNKNOWN GOD. And he says to himself, "That will preach." He goes on to tell them he knows who the unknown God is and this is what he says in verse 28. "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." In other words, "HE GIVES US LIFE"
There are so many people in the world today who think life is just a party. I still remember a commercial on the T.V. back when I was a kid. A bunch of guys have been out working all day long and finally they are sitting around a campfire drinking MILLER beer. One of them says, "Man this is the life" Miller High Life Beer. "If you've got the time, we've got the beer." It made it look soooooo good. They don't show you the drunk driving accidents. The ruined marriages. The cost of alcohol on society. I want to tell you something. THERE IS NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, THAT CAN COMPARE TO THE LIFE THAT JESUS WILL BREATHE INTO YOU.
In Daniel 5 King Belshazzar throws a big party. He brings out the vessels that had been used in the House of God. They all get wasted and drunk and then a hand appears on the wall and begins to write. No one can interpret what it says until Daniel is called. And this is what he says, "God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."
That very night Belshazzar breathed his last breath. The party was over. That brings me to my last point.
III. Someday, each and everyone of us will breathe our last breath. Our chests will expand and draw in air and then we will exhale ONE LAST TIME.
Time will cease to exist. The things that we were so concerned about in this life won't mean anything. The only thing that is going to matter is our relationship with Jesus Christ.
You see, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. We will all be judged NOT by how good we were, but by whether we have accepted Jesus Christ and His plan of salvation. You see, Jesus wants to BREATHE upon you today. He wants to give you more than this physical life that you live. He wants to give you eternal life.
John 3:16-18 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
The other day I was reading one of the most interesting stories I've ever read. It was about a fellow by the name of Paul Alexander. He graduated Salutitorian of his Senior Class. He went on to Law School and passed the bar. He is 67 years old and lives Dallas Texas. He still practices law and gives speeches. These are all impressive but they are not his greatest accomplishment. His greatest accomplishment is……. He taught himself HOW TO BREATHE. You see, Paul Alexander is one of only seven people in the United States who still live in an IRON LUNG. He still lives in the very same IRON LUNG he was placed in in 1952. He came down with Polio two years before Jonas Salk developed the vaccine for the virus. He accomplished all of these things while living in an IRON LUNG. But as the years went by he would have them turn off the machine and he would consciously force his chest muscles out and then allow them to relax, drawing air in. He says, "Over the years, I've been able to escape this machine for a few hours at a time by teaching myself voluntary breathing," Alexander said recently as he lay in the iron lung at his home in Dallas, Texas. "I have to consciously push air into my lungs, something that's done involuntarily by just about everyone else. It's hard work, but it allows me to escape this infernal device, if only for a little while." So the question was asked of Paul, "How have you endured all of these years in an IRON LUNG? How have you been able to accomplish so much? How have you kept your sense of humor?" And you know what his answer was?
"It all starts with love," "My parents raised me in love. They taught me never to give up. They taught me the importance of relationships. They were always there for me."
"So, naturally, I had to reciprocate. And you know what? They were right. Anything is possible."
Let me ask you a question this morning. Do you know why God sent His only Son to die for the sins of the world? LOVE Do you know why Jesus was willing to come as a babe in a manger, why He was willing to face the same temptations that we face today? Do you know why Jesus was willing to die on the cross of Calvary? IT ALL STARTED WITH LOVE AND IT ALL COMES DOWN TO LOVE. He loved you and I enough to go through those things. There was NO OTHER WAY. God created you and I and gave us the breath of life. Now, today, He wants to breathe upon you the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Holy Ghost. He longs to give you eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ.
"For in him we live, and move, and have our being."
LET'S PRAY
