Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] We're going to be in acts chapter 17.
[00:00:02] And I want to look at the subject of the. The famous passage in acts 17 about Paul's visit to Athens. Paul's visit to Athens, starting in verse number 16 of acts chapter 17.
[00:00:21] Now, we won't read the whole passage because. Because I'll just skip around. We will, lord willing, tonight we'll be looking at Paul's sermon, which starts in verse number 23, 22, rather. And so we'll just read a portion here. We'll skip the sermon and look down at the bottom for the conclusion of this event here. So, acts 17, verse 16. The Bible says, now, while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore, he disputed he in the Synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. And certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him. Now, you probably heard of an Epicurean as we use it today. It refers to someone who's like a foodie, right? Someone who likes food and knows about food. I found this out while I was studying it, believe it or not. And then, of course, you know, a stoicism is something we use, but we use in our day. But the Epicureans and the Stoics were actually a group, a sect of philosophers. And this is a little history side note to our Bible. Listen, Luke was there when this was happening, all right? This is contemporary history in the first century with what was happening with Paul. And he actually met these people that we read about in classical literature or that you read about. I don't read about it, but some of you probably read about it.
[00:01:57] But I did read about the Epicureans and the Stoics and what they believed. And it was just another version of eastern religion.
[00:02:06] And so they encountered him. And some said verse 18 in the middle. What will this babbler say? Others. Some, he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. Notice Paul doesn't change what he says or alter it. His Core message was always the exact same. Okay. Verse number 19 says, and they took him and brought him unto eropagus, saying, may we know what this new doctrine whereof thou speakest is? Now, eropagus is just a greek word. It's a place in Athens to this day. You can go there. It's a rock. It's a big rock formation. And the word eropagus just means the hill of Mars. Mars hill. All right. That's all it means. The hill of Ares, which is the greek equivalent of the roman God Mars. So verse 20 says, 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 to hear some new thing. I would not say they were occupying their time profitably.
[00:03:24] They were not people who were given to very much labor. They liked to talk, to sit around and talk. And you know what that itself can be? Advice. The talk of the lips, the Bible says, tendeth only to penury, which is poverty. Verse 22. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, you men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription. To the unknown God, him, whom therefore, ye ignorantly worship him. Declare I unto you. Skip down, if you would, to verse number.
[00:04:06] Verse number 32. Paul finishes his sermon. And verse 32. And we call it a sermon on Mars Hill. Really, he was just preaching basically on the street corner. This is one of the many, many times Paul probably did this.
[00:04:22] And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked and others said, we will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them.
[00:04:35] And howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed among the which was Dionysius the eropagite, and a woman named Damaris and others with them. All right. Let's pray together.
[00:04:50] Our lord, thank you once again for the time to come to your word. Help us, Lord, to focus. Help us to have hearts that are inclined and to your word that are ready to hear. Ready to receive it not as one voice among many, but as your voice. That we would receive, as the Thessalonians did, the word.
[00:05:12] The word of God. Not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God. I pray for each and every person here that your grace would be upon them, that you would give them tenderness in their hearts to receive your word. Help us, Lord, and give me wisdom to know what to say to help your people. Strengthen your people, Lord. If there be one among us who is not yet converted, I pray that you would prick the heart of that person.
[00:05:39] And, Lord, I pray that your will would be done in everything we look at this morning. In Jesus name. Amen.
[00:05:47] So Paul is Athens now, and Athens is an enormous city. I have a friend. Well, sort of a distant friend, who lives in Athens. He's a greek man who lives in Athens. My wife calls him my Internet friend because I've never met him.
[00:06:02] So, hey, don't say that. I know all of you have Internet friends. Well, we're friends on facebook. As if that matters, right? As if that's a real thing.
[00:06:11] So he lives in Athens. Athens is a huge city. It's a huge metropolitan area.
[00:06:18] But as it was in this day, it wasn't nearly as big as it is now. In fact, the whole city surrounded, basically, the eropagus, the rock, Mars hill, and the Parthenon, which is a temple on top of a taller hill. And all of the city basically surrounded that area. And this was a place of learning. They had universities and education, as you could see here. But by this time, it had dwindled. This was the roman period, not the greek period, and so it had dwindled down substantially to where it was now.
[00:06:54] As we read in verse number 16, Paul's there by himself. Paul is there by himself. And as he was going around and looking at everything, walking through the agora, which is the market, that's a word you'll hear as he's walking through there. He sees all these idols. In fact, one person said, it's easier if you walk down main street of Athens at this time. It's easier to find an idol than it is a man. They're everywhere. Gods are everywhere in Athens at this time. Paul saw that. And notice in verse 16, the Bible says, his spirit was stirred in him. His spirit was stirred and in him. You know what this is? This is a godly man's response to seeing wickedness.
[00:07:39] It is a godly man's response to seeing wickedness. When we go about our lives to some degree or another, I feel like that we live in a place that is largely padded, sheltered from some of the uglier parts of human nature. Those things are outlawed, and they're hidden, they're shamed, and they should be. They should be. Those things should not be out for everyone to see. They shouldn't exist at all. But they do. But if they do, they shouldn't be out for everyone to see. And so we don't often interact with gross wickedness, but we do interact with wickedness. The question is this.
[00:08:21] What is our response when we observe wickedness, where we stand with our relationship to the Lord, whether it be wickedness we see in front of us at our work or school or whatnot, or whether we see it on tv or on the Internet, which is oftentimes where we run into it because it's piped in without ceasing. It seems where we stand with our relationship to God will determine if we are stirred by wickedness that we see or if we are vexed by wickedness that we see. Now, hold your place here and look at second Peter, chapter two, if you would, very quickly.
[00:09:07] Second Peter, chapter two, right before revelation. Second Peter, chapter two, verse number, verse number, six.
[00:09:24] Second Peter, two, six, says this, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow. Now, we all know the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. It was not in hospitality.
[00:09:40] The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is on the rise around us today.
[00:09:44] And the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah, as cities are set forth by God the almighty as examples of judgment. Not just he judged them, but he judged them. And then told us about it in the scripture, in perpetuity, so that it would be a monument of judgment.
[00:10:05] All right. The Bible says he turned them into ashes with an overthrow, making them an ensemble unto those that should live, that after should live ungodly.
[00:10:17] And delivered just lot. Now, he was a citizen of Sodom and delivered just lot. Now, here's the thing. Lot was a citizen of Sodom. Now, even in one of the most wicked cities in the scripture, you have a just man, a man who is righteous, a man who believes in the Lord right in the midst of that city.
[00:10:40] But it says he was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. And when you read Genesis and you read the account of Lot being in Sodom, you do not see a man who is bothered or stirred because of the wickedness that is around him. You see a man who is being vexed. In other words, it is harming him. It is affecting his mind and his heart. It says here, verse eight. For that righteous man, dwelling among them in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. So he was hurting himself with everything he was seeing and hearing because his heart was not stirred against it. It didn't bother lot that he lived in Sodom and all the wickedness that went on in Sodom. He just stayed there. And we know Lot's downgrade started way before it actually started. With what? The love of money? He was covetous. And so he went to a place where he thought he could prosper, casting aside every consideration of the reputation of Sodom. And he decided to go to a place where he could make money even if it was vile and wicked. And as a result, the vileness and wickedness affected him, not the reverse. Sodom was not bettered by lot being there. The only thing it was spared is a little bit of time and judgment. That was it. Rather, Sodom affected lot. He was vexed. But what you don't see in acts 17 is Paul vexed.
[00:12:14] Lot was not right with God. Paul is. Lot was not walking with God. Paul does. And so when he sees this wickedness before his eyes, he's stirred up. It bothers him. And does wickedness bother you? Because whether it does or whether it does not is a testimony to where we are with the Lord.
[00:12:38] You think of Moses with the golden calf. When he came down from the mount, he threw the ten Commandments down. Why was Moses so stirred that he threw, cast down the ten Commandments and broke them? You know why? Because Moses was a man who loved the God. The Bible says, ye that love the Lord, hate evil. You can't love God and embrace wickedness. You can't.
[00:13:03] It's inconsistent, it's contradictory. And I know that in the moving these days in churches and among christians, Christians are embracing the sin of sodom. Christians are embracing every other kind of sin and excusing it and pardoning it under the veil of judgment and non judgmentalism and all that kind of stuff. Listen, just look at the scripture. Moses threw down the tables of the ten Commandments. When he saw the wickedness. Elijah was stirred in his heart in one kings, chapter 19. When he saw the worship of the Lord forsaken and all the idolatry in Israel, even our Lord, even our Lord himself, he said, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. In other words, when the Lord went into the temple and he saw all the wicked things that are being done, how that God himself and his worship was being made merchandise.
[00:13:57] The Lord was so stirred that he drove them out and he said, get these things hence. Make not my father's house a den of thieves.
[00:14:09] What do you say? That's judgy. Yeah, it's judgy.
[00:14:13] But see, our response to unrighteousness and wickedness is a reflection of our own desire for righteousness and our own love for the Lord. It is when our heart is unstirred that we should be concerned about ourselves, because that's where lot was.
[00:14:36] See, this is a good measure, a good way to judge a thermometer for where we're at with the Lord. Are we close to him? Are we stirred at what he has stirred at. Look at verse 17, therefore disputed he in the synagogue. You saw. Because he saw the wickedness. He was moved to do something. And what did he do? He didn't protest and he didn't send out flyers and try to change the laws. No, he went straight. He did what God had called him to do, which was give the Gospel to people. Because it is by the Gospel that men are turned from righteousness, from unrighteousness to righteousness. And so that's what he did. Now, notice in verse 17, he has three principal hearers, types of hearers. It says, he disputed in the Synagogue with the Jews. And with the devout persons. And then the market daily with them that met with him. Now, we've already come across these two of these three groups. We've already talked about the Jews, which is Paul, as his manner was, always went into the Synagogue of the Jews. And then in the Synagogue, often he would meet people who were not Jews. But they had decided that they were going to honor and worship the God of the Jews. Even though they weren't Jews, the devout persons. But then you have this last group which we're meeting for the first time, which is the Athenians. Just the average guy in Athens. The average guy in Athens.
[00:16:02] And here's the thing. As we look at this, we're going to see that the response in Athens. Is totally different than in Thessalonica and in Berea, as we've already studied last week.
[00:16:17] Totally different. And in verse number 18, says the certain philosophers of the Epicureans and stoics encountered him. And some said, now, listen to this. This is an insult to Paul. What will this babbler say? Others. Some, he seemed at thee be a setter forth of strange gods. They called him a babbler. That is, one who just runs his mouth. In fact, this word, translated babbler. Is actually a reference to birds that just pick up random things they find on the side of the road, seeds and such. As if Paul didn't really know what he was talking about. He was just passing on what he had heard, and he's just running his mouth. In fact, we know that Paul was a very intelligent and a learned man.
[00:17:00] He had evidence and proof for what he was saying.
[00:17:04] But from the very beginning. Look at verse 18 from the very beginning. I want to ask you a question. What is the attitude and disposition of the people who are hearing Paul at this moment?
[00:17:15] Are they coming at Paul with the right kind of curiosity? No, there's some curiosity from some of them. Some of them have just open mockery. And, of course, that didn't bother Paul because he, he was not one who was going to be moved by that.
[00:17:34] But note how much different the response is here from these. Let's just keep reading, and you'll see it more thoroughly. And they took him and brought him unto eropagus, saying, may we know what this new doctrine whereof thou speakest is?
[00:17:53] So they put him up on top of Mars Hill. It says, verse 22, he stood on the midst of Mars Hill. Now, let me show you something here.
[00:18:01] The hearers took Paul, and they put him on top of this prominent place. This is a prominent place in the judicial. The court of Athens was here, okay? On top of this hill.
[00:18:14] And this was an important place where things would be discussed. So here's what I want you to see. Paul had liberty.
[00:18:22] Paul had liberty. As I was reading acts 17, this part about when Paul's in Athens, what it reminded me of is Greenville.
[00:18:33] It reminded me of Greenville.
[00:18:37] It reminded me of the United States of know. We've read about Thessalonica and Berea, and in Paul's first missionary journey, we've already read all of that. How much persecution there was at Listra Stone to know. And all of those things, we've seen all of that. You know what? We can't relate to that at all, because there is no persecution to speak of like that in our country, and certainly not here in Greenville. Like, there might be little, minor things where people oppose what you say or whatever, but that is a nothing burger compared to the things we read about that Paul endured and the things that are endured in parts of Africa, North Africa, and in various Middle eastern countries and things for people who trust in Christ.
[00:19:17] But we get here, and all of a sudden, it's relevant in Athens, it's really relevant.
[00:19:25] You see, the reception is totally different now. He has liberty in Athens. That's what we've got, right? We've got liberty. We go out yesterday, and we knocked on doors, and we talked to people there in Berea, and we talked to a few people and got a chance to meet a few people, and nobody threw stones at us. Nobody tried to shoot us. Nobody know. Most people, if they didn't want to hear it, they just said, no, thanks, and they shut the door and went on, that's liberty, right? That's what we have. But here's the thing.
[00:19:55] Liberty has another side.
[00:19:58] The Lord said in revelation, chapter three, he said to the church in Laodicea, he said, I would, I want you to be cold or hot. But what were they? They weren't cold and they weren't hot. What were they? They were lukewarm, so they weren't outright rejectors of Christ, nor were they outright, like, zealous for the Lord. They were somewhere in the middle.
[00:20:27] And that's exactly. That is the byproduct of liberty. Because when you have liberty, you know what happens. All these different viewpoints are heard and allowed, which we're glad for because we prefer liberty. Know, getting shot or executed or stoned or banished or whatever. Right? Does everybody agree with me on that? We prefer liberty to that, right, Seth? He's raising his hand.
[00:20:53] You're almost three. You can make a choice.
[00:20:58] So we prefer liberty. But the downside of that is everybody has their own view, and they view all things as all views as basically the same.
[00:21:10] You see, these people held to the idea of pluralism. Now, what do you say? Pluralism. I don't mean to use a ten cent word, but this is exactly what we find in Athens. Pluralism is this. It's the concept that acknowledges a diversity of coexisting perspectives, beliefs or values within a society, and it promotes tolerance and acceptance of different views. Now, you hear this all the time. If you pay attention to the news, this is all diversity and all know. That's all that's talked about these days. All that's talked about these days.
[00:21:40] And that's what the Athenians believed. They believed in Pluralism. They wanted to hear new things all the time from this Group and that Group and this person, that person. And PAUL comes along, and here's something they maybe not heard of in full. And so they want to hear it, and so they want to listen. But let me ask you a question with that perspective.
[00:22:00] Do you think what they're going to hear is going to profit them with that sort of curiosity? It's not.
[00:22:08] You see, they have a list of doctrines and ideas and philosophies that they have looked at and are considering, and they're chewing on those things and they're weighing them against one another to see which one suits their philosophical perspectives.
[00:22:26] But they want to be free and open, to allow everyone to give their Philosophy and give their point of view, and they're going to stand in judgment of each one and take the good things from it and leave off the rest and all that stuff, and so that they can edge ever closer to the truth. The problem is that God's word is not to be put next to things that are not true.
[00:22:52] God's word stands unique and exclusive.
[00:22:59] Why because he is God.
[00:23:02] He is the Almighty, and it is an offense to God when you take what he says, which is the truth, for he cannot lie, and you set it with the others so that a bunch of arrogant men can look at it and stand in judgment of what God says.
[00:23:23] That is a non starter to the Lord. And when a person. Listen now, when a person comes to God, comes to his word with that attitude, where they are going to stand in judgment, they are going to determine whether it should be received. They are going to determine whether it's right or whether it's wrong, whether it's good, whether it's bad, whether it's acceptable or unacceptable. That is a non starter with the Lord.
[00:23:53] The Lord will not be judged.
[00:23:57] He is the judge.
[00:24:00] We do not stand in judgment of what he says.
[00:24:05] He stands in judgment of what we do.
[00:24:09] But this is exactly what they're doing. Yes, they're curious, and you might think, well, hey, he's got liberty. He's talking, he's giving the Gospel. And we say, that's all good. Right? That's good.
[00:24:20] But their curiosity is not the variety of curiosity that bears fruit. Their curiosity is actually harmful because they have no intention of submitting to it. You see, they're coming at the Lord totally wrong.
[00:24:38] Some are mocking, which is obvious, but to the others who are curious, they're just lining it up with all the rest of the ideas, all the rest of the philosophies that they've heard. And ultimately, they are the judge. You see, in pluralism, like these people had, they held to everything, which means they hold to nothing. Everything is true. So nothing is true. Everything is true. So there is no actual truth.
[00:25:05] And I think this probably invaded Pilate's mind as well. He's a Roman, but being a Roman, probably a european Roman, Pilate said to Jesus, what is truth? In other words, it's all good, which means I don't believe anything. It is to truly believe that no one thing is true.
[00:25:33] And that means you question the truth.
[00:25:37] The fact that they had an altar to the unknown God demonstrated that they were willing to be open to the idea that maybe everything they had just missed it entirely. And maybe there's something they didn't yet know. You see, the truth is eluding them.
[00:25:56] They are certainly not yielding to and submitting themselves to what the Lord says. And I know, listen, I know from an american perspective, as an american constitution and all that stuff, listen, I know that we look at that and we think, well, everybody's opinion should be heard. But see, listen, this thing has actually turned into pluralism in our country where all viewpoints are considered equal. But they're not. All viewpoints are true, but they're not.
[00:26:28] Pluralism like this, like in our country. It's tolerant, yes, but it also excludes the uniqueness and what we call the exclusivity of the gospel. What do I mean by that?
[00:26:44] It's this simple. John 14, verse six. Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life.
[00:26:55] No man cometh unto the father, but by me it is exclusive. The Lord Jesus Christ is exclusive. The gospel is exclusive. And if you or I or any other human being on the face of this planet does not come to God through Christ, they will not get to him.
[00:27:20] Well, that offends other points of view.
[00:27:24] This is exactly the issue.
[00:27:26] If all points of view are given equal treatment, equal value, the truth is what is sacrificed.
[00:27:35] John 336. John the Baptist, speaking here, says this.
[00:27:39] He that believeth on the Son, Ari. We sang this song, right? He that believeth on the son hath everlasting life. You think, well, that's good for those that want to believe on the Son, who have examined that philosophical point of view and have come to the conclusion that that's the most consistent with their perspective of philosophy and religion, that's good. But it goes on to say this, and he that believeth not the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
[00:28:12] Acts 412.
[00:28:14] Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
[00:28:25] One Timothy, chapter two, verses four and five. Listen to this. It says, God will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. Now I want to tell you something.
[00:28:38] The Lord has love and compassion and mercy upon all men. He desires all men to come to Christ. He desire all men to be in heaven. He wants all men to be reconciled to him. He wants all men to be saved. But listen, just because God wants all men to be saved does not mean he has provided as many paths and ways to be saved as we have imagined.
[00:29:04] He has not provided many ways to be saved.
[00:29:09] He has provided, and at infinite expense to himself.
[00:29:15] One way.
[00:29:18] One way.
[00:29:20] It's not a baptist way. It's not a presbyterian way, a methodist way. It's not a catholic way or an episcopalian way or a muslim way.
[00:29:31] It is God's way as he has spoken in his word.
[00:29:38] There's only one.
[00:29:42] First, John 223 says this. Well, I didn't even finish my verse. Let me finish. One Timothy two. For who will have all men to be saved and to come into the knowledge of the truth? Listen to this. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. In other words, there's only one individual that can stand between me as a sinner and God who is holy. And that one person is the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:30:12] One John 223 says this, whosoever denieth the son the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledge the son hath the Father. The Father also.
[00:30:27] Listen, these are exclusive verses, right?
[00:30:31] That means they exclude any other way.
[00:30:35] And here I just want to be frank with you.
[00:30:38] If that offends you, if that offends you.
[00:30:46] The problem is not with Christianity, for that's what it's always been.
[00:30:51] That's what the word of God has always said.
[00:30:55] There is but one way to God.
[00:30:58] This is exactly what Paul is telling them.
[00:31:01] See, the Athenians wanted to hear Paul's doctrine, but they did not want to hear it from the perspective of faith, but rather from the perspective of skepticism.
[00:31:12] And that slight difference between curiosity type one and curiosity type two is what made all the difference.
[00:31:24] That was the difference between heaven and hell for those people.
[00:31:31] And for people that stand in judgment of the gospel.
[00:31:36] They will never receive the gospel because the person that comes to God must first yield to him and submit to him. You don't come to God and say, well, Lord, if I think I like it. No, you don't. Do you come to the Almighty, the creator, the one in who has given us life and breath and all things. Like Paul says, you come to him as the creature, not as the God, to judge him. You come to him first with that heart. And then the Lord responds, we do not come to God on our own terms like that.
[00:32:14] But the truth is that the gospel, I mean, you think all these philosophers have lined up and are comparing their comparative religions class, and they listen to Paul. Do you think they're going to come down on what Paul is preaching on sin and judgment?
[00:32:32] No, that offends mankind.
[00:32:36] That offends mankind.
[00:32:39] So their hearing was a carnal kind of hearing.
[00:32:44] Spurgeon said this Christ offends men because his gospel is intolerant of sin.
[00:32:52] I just love. Listen, you could talk about Jesus. Talk about he died on the cross all day long, and people, amen you. But when you talk about the implications, what does the cross say about sin? What does it say?
[00:33:06] What does it say about sin? You know what it says? God hates it.
[00:33:11] That's what it says. The cross says God hates sin.
[00:33:17] At the same time, it says that God loves sinners, for Christ died on that cross for sinners.
[00:33:23] You can't look at the cross and say God's okay with sin. No, you can't do that. If he was okay with sin, why in the world did Jesus bleed and die as a condemned sinner on the cross?
[00:33:43] Now, going back to the beginning of the passage, as we conclude here, this whole passage demonstrates something that I think is important for all of us here.
[00:33:56] This is the same Paul. Paul the apostle here is the same man that was in Berea in verse ten, who was in Thessalonica. In verse verse one of this same chapter, and in Berea and in Thessalonica, you had marvelous results. And fruit. He just, Paul went into the synagogue and he taught about Jesus and the resurrection, and just like he did in every place and has been for years, it's the same man, right?
[00:34:25] The same method, it's the same gospel, the same Jesus, the same spirit, right?
[00:34:35] The same seed he's sowing, and the outcome is totally different.
[00:34:41] Why, look, look, if you would, very quickly at Matthew 13.
[00:34:50] Matthew, chapter 13, verse three, our lord gives us the parable, the parable of the sower, verse three, says this. Matthew 13, verse three. And he spake many things unto them in parable, saying, behold, a sower went forth to sow. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the files of the air that came and devoured them up. Some fell upon stony places where they had not much earth. And forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up, they were scorched. And because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked them, but other fell on good into good ground and brought forth fruit, and some in Hundredfold, some 60 fold, and some 30 fold. Who hath earth to hear? Let him hear. So let's hear this sower parable.
[00:35:54] His bag he's carrying full of seed. As he takes that seed and he scatters it like this.
[00:36:01] Every handful of seed is exactly the same as the previous one, right?
[00:36:07] The sower is the same person, the seed is the same. Everything he's doing is exactly the same, no matter where he is. What is the difference then in the fruitfulness? What's the difference?
[00:36:20] There's only one difference. Not the seed, not the sower, not the method.
[00:36:25] It's the ground.
[00:36:28] But the ground makes all the difference.
[00:36:31] Same sower, same seed, same method. Produces zero fruit in some people and 30 6000 fold in others. You know what the difference is? They're the ground. The ground is a reference to the heart upon which the word of God falls. In this parable. Now go back to act 17.
[00:36:57] As I said, same preacher, same apostle, same method, same seed, same word, same gospel, same spirit. There's no indication at all that Paul is know he's kind of going away from the Lord. And that's why things. No, the only difference is between Thessalonica Berea and Athens. Is this the heart of the people?
[00:37:23] The heart of the people? Listen now, please.
[00:37:28] This is the reason why you, as one of God's children, seeks to witness and give the gospel to some people. And some people receive it, even though you pray for them, and some have received it in your family, for instance, and others, you did the exact same thing and they did not receive it.
[00:37:50] The difference is not whether God loves them or wants to save them. The difference is the soil of their heart.
[00:37:58] You know what your response and my response as a child of God is in that case?
[00:38:02] To pray.
[00:38:05] To pray that their hearts would be open, ready to receive the soil, the seed, rather, to pray.
[00:38:18] You see, following that illustration and analogy of sowing and seed, some ground is hard and it takes time for the moisture to get down into it, for the Lord to plow it up through circumstances of life.
[00:38:32] But he will pray for them. Pray for them.
[00:38:38] But I want to ask you, I want to look at a different point on that.
[00:38:45] How does the word of God affect you?
[00:38:50] Does the word of God bear fruit in your life as a believer, even.
[00:38:58] Same word, same Bible as we've had for hundreds and thousands of years. Same Bible, same God, same gospel, right? Same spirit, same church.
[00:39:11] Even in the time that you've been at Choice Hills Baptist Church, you could probably look back to times when the word of God was really doing a work in your life and others when it wasn't.
[00:39:23] What's the difference?
[00:39:25] The difference is the soil of your heart.
[00:39:32] The difference is the soil of your heart.
[00:39:35] And if you're finding that God's word is not bearing fruit in your life, that is, it is not bringing forth good things and causing you to grow and increase and get better and closer to the Lord and all of those things, that is an indicator that the soil of your heart is not prepared.
[00:40:04] That's what it means.
[00:40:05] So when you and I sense spiritual deadness, when we sense that nothing's happening, right, we sense that we don't feel anything. People say that. People use terminology like, well, I don't feel anything that is less about, and it has nothing to do with how good the preacher is. You could be in 1000 churches across our country. The church is irrelevant. But if the word of God is not having an effect and you feel that apathy and that deadness, the problem is your heart.
[00:40:41] That is the diagnosis.
[00:40:45] Your heart is hardened.
[00:40:48] There's no moisture in it. It has not been plowed, and the seed cannot bear fruit because the heart does not receive it.
[00:40:56] That is the problem. Look no further. It's there.
[00:41:01] It is there.
[00:41:06] This is why we don't grow. This is why we don't prosper. This is why we don't bear fruit as a believer. And this is why Paul's message was largely unsuccessful.
[00:41:19] Just a few people, just a handful. In Athens, of all places, a famous city, and yet Berea is exploding, Thessalonica exploding with fruit here, famous city, smart people, nothing.
[00:41:40] Think about John the Baptist.
[00:41:43] Isaiah 40, verse three, prophesied of John the Baptist some 600, 700 years before John was born. And it says this of John the Baptist now, who was, of course, the forerunner for Christ. This is important, the voice of him that cryeth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord and make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
[00:42:08] Why did the Lord send John the Baptist to go before Jesus to preach, before Jesus ever revealed himself.
[00:42:16] Do you know why?
[00:42:18] To prepare the hearts of the people so that when the Lord arrived, their hearts could receive the truth and it would bear fruit in their life.
[00:42:37] I want to ask you, is your life bearing fruit like that?
[00:42:42] Or is it stale and stagnant and apathetic?
[00:42:48] Sin gets in our heart in our life. It hardens us, doesn't allow moisture to get into our heart.
[00:42:58] And before long, that moisture evaporates, that sun shines on it, and that ground gets hard and it won't bear fruit. Then the seed can't get into it.
[00:43:14] Same word it's always been.
[00:43:17] Same word that was there whenever you were closer to the Lord, but you're not now. Same word, nothing's changed except the heart.
[00:43:29] The work of God is not machinery. It's not. You put in two quarters and you press the buttons and out comes a bag of Doritos.
[00:43:39] It's not machinery like that.
[00:43:42] Listen, please hear me. If you're a parent, I'm talking to me, too. It's not like, well, you get your kids up, you read the verse to them, you say their prayers at night, you bring them to church. It's machinery. They'll turn out good. No, you better be looking at those kids hearts. You better be trying to probe that to see if they're really with it. See if their heart is tender. You better do that.
[00:44:09] It's not machinery.
[00:44:18] I just want to ask you, have you felt that kind of apathy, that kind of dullness?
[00:44:24] You.
[00:44:27] If you have, I'd encourage you.
[00:44:30] I'd encourage you. Put everything aside.
[00:44:32] Come talk to God and say, lord, my heart is hard. And I had no idea what to do about it.
[00:44:39] That's what I encourage you to do.
[00:44:42] Let's pray together.
