This is a very long sermon, but in this day of compromise in churches, sound-bite technology, a pleasure-seeking society and "my truth" it is a very important sermon.
Message to Moderns
Acts 17:22-32 "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. 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. 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 any thing, 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 before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and not find him, though he be not far from every one of us....Forasmuch 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. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where 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. (speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ). And when they hard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter."
Here we have a sermon that gives us a very good outline of many of the things that must be preached by the church when addressing the unsaved. It is fitting that we should look generally at this because what is the church's message? Many think that the church must change to be relevant in this modern world when the church is going to declare the gospel to sound-bite people in a technology driven society. What is the church's message to this society, this pleasure-seeking society, this society that doesn't really believe in any absolute truth? What message is the church to bring that is gong to have an impact upon so-called modern people? Many would say we need to not mention sin or judgment but that is nonsense. The same old message that was preached by the old testament prophets and the new testament apostles is the same message that needs to be preached today in the exact same way. It needs to be preached to a modern people who have the exact same needs as those who lived thousands of years ago, people who haven't changed one bit. Modern life is not modern, modern life is very old, it's just the same as what life has always been. To be a sound-bite based society means that people communicate less and in fragmented bits and technology makes no difference at all because its the same old problems. Nothing has changed, people haven't changed. The problem is called sin. "Hath God said?" the serpent said to Eve questioning God's word. Pride even in the unfallen world in the garden of Eden. There are no different needs than any other human beings in history.
If there is to be adjustment in the church's presentation of the truth, the gospel, it is this: it would be basically that the church would have to teach simpler and slower than what she used to do because modern people are slow to listen, slow to learn, and slow to remember. Because of TV, and sound-bites, minds have become fragmented minds that can no longer think in logical sequence. The pride of modern people needs to brought down. Modern man has nothing to be proud of in the area of learning. In school there are exams where everybody passes. It was not like that in the past. Then there was no "everybody passes" Things have been dumbed down
The message needed is how sinful man can be accepted by God, that is the only message, the same old message. People need to be convicted of sin, the church needs to preach the true gospel of repentance and faith, John 3:16 "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". The biblical gospel is presently trusting in the Lord Jesus, and that is what a real Christian is, it is not something you did in the past and then went on living your life the way you did before believing that you had a "ticket" to heaven.
God as Creator: There has got to be a clear call and declaration that God is the creator. That is where Acts 17 starts. Paul saw the monument to the "unknown God" and the first thing he preached was that God made the world.. you start at creation because God is the creator. Ecclesiastes 12:1 "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;"
We must face evolutionary hypothesis. We need to preach the fact of God, the evidence of creation and the evidence of the flood. There is a scriptural mandate of preaching God as creator and this mandate is on the church 2 Peter 3:5-7 "For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."
There needs to be a very clear presentation as to the logic of the ten commandments. We live in a society where people mock the ten commandments as old fashioned. But they are very logical and not unreasonable. If everybody in the world kept the ten commandments and the sermon on the mount there would be peace and happiness. But men today are being governed by instinct and not by their minds.
There needs to be a clear call set out that there is such a thing as absolute truth. That means that there is a moral muddle where something that a person believes might be right for him but it's not right for me. No absolutes, it just depends on you. That is wrong, there is absolute truth. Right and wrong are not measured by our opinions or our feelings. Truth is absolute. What was wrong in the old and new testament is wrong now. It's wrong still. Truth does not adapt itself to societies opinions. Wrong is wrong, right is right in every age. God determines what is wrong and what is right. Sin is absolute, truth is absolute, and definitions don't change. The Bible is absolute truth. Human culture and human opinions are judged as being right or wrong by the truth of scripture, by the word of God.
The church needs to preach that there is a coming judgment for every man, woman, boy and girl. Modern people are sinning today as if there were no consequences for sin because they have excluded God from their thinking and so they think that there will be no judgment and there are no rules for how they live today. The church's message is to preach that they are wrong. There is a day of judgment coming for every one, for behaviour, thoughts, words. That which modern society called self explanation God calls sin punishable by hell. The churches' message is that you will be judged, you will be punished for your sin against the eternal God. What caused Noah's flood? Human sin and God's judgment. 2 Peter 3:7-10 "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." Judgment is coming. Revelation 20:11-15 "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." All will stand before God and the books will be opened. The church's message for today in our non-judgment society is the same as that which Solomon preached after he returned to the Lord Eccl. 11:9-10 "Rejoice, O young man in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity." Eccl 12:14 "For God shall ring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." That is the message that the church should be preaching. You moderns may live as you please, do what you want, but know this: for all these things God will bring you into judgment. The church should warn of the danger. You don't get off free modern people.
The church needs to declare and define what a real Christian is. For decades who is a real Christian has been muddled because of a non-definitive church. The church has not defined Christianity properly but in a vague and nebulous way. A cloudy-minded, foggy view of who is a Christian and what is a true Christian is. The false view is this: just raise your hand, say the words and you are a Christian even if years later you don't believe anymore. The bible is not vague as to who is a Christian and who is not. The bible refines real Christianity as 1 John 1:6-10 "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." 1 John 2:15-17 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." There is no cloudy mysticism in the bible. The bible defines who is a real Christian. Let's be biblical in practice. Do you believe the bible? if you do it is black and white what a real Christian is.
God is your maker, his laws are for your protection and for your good. His standard of righteousness is fixed, his judgment for sinners is coming. Are you a true Christian? are you a Christian? you can be a Christian only through Christ. Turn from sin, believe in him, trust in him, follow him. The churches' message for today is not weak, tepid, compromised or nicey nicey, it is the same message that will ever be true. If you are sinner Jesus Christ is the only Saviour for sinners. The Christ who saves sinners must be personally experienced. He is the rock on whom the believer's hope is built. Do you have saving faith or temporary faith?
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The notes above were made by myself from the sermon by Paul Dowling of Whiteabbey Congregational (Reformed) at Sermon Audio.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/playpopup.asp?SID=630131847225
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