Introducing the Unknown God Part 2

Pastor Mike will be speaking on Introducing the Unknown God Part 2. He will be reading out of Acts 17:15-34.

How could we say, God bless America? What we need to say is, Lord, send a revival to America. Lord, change the hearts of your people. Lord, help us to repent and believe in you. That’s what we really need to pray.

Are you ready? This is Hope Worth Having, and this is Pastor Mike Sanders, and we’re looking forward to sharing our hope that we have in Christ with you today. And I want you to take your Bible and turn to Acts chapter 17.

We’re continuing our series on introducing the Unknown God. So let’s grab a pen, let’s grab a piece of paper, and let’s start taking notes as we learn together. And you and I will believe the craziest stories that aren’t even close to reality.

And if just one person tells us with no other witness, we’ll believe hearsay, we’ll believe anything just because we like to hear something that’s juicy. But the evidence? Well, we can’t believe that.

But Jesus revealed Himself. He is the resurrected Christ ascended into heaven at the right hand of the Father interceding for each one of us today. And He is coming back and friends, He told us it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

And if you haven’t seen the worst, I’m telling you, it’s unveiling itself each and every day in our crazy world that we live in. And we got to know that these are the signs of the times, and we cannot be ignorant to these times.

And we recognize that it won’t be long before Jesus comes, for He has revealed Himself to us, because He is the all-wise Creator. But I want to tell you the greatest creation. The greatest creation is God creates each and every one of us to be a new creation.

I was mentioning this in Sunday School. You and I are created in the image of God. Doesn’t matter who we are. We’re all created in the image of God, but sin has marred that image. And what has Christ done?

He has come as the second Adam, and he is restoring through the power of the Spirit all those who believe in Him. The image of God is being restored in us in its perfection step-by-step in a process.

God is redeeming each of our hearts till that final culmination where we stand before God, completely healed, completely restored, and we are standing in His presence, worshiping Him throughout all of eternity.

Can God’s people say amen? I mean just wake up, but the Bible says if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. All things have passed away, and behold all things have become new. That’s the power of the creation of God, not only in that He is creating within us, He is restoring His image within us, that we are redeemed believers in Christ.

But the Bible teaches us in Ephesians 2.10 that we are His workmanship. We are His masterpieces created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. You see, not only has Christ created you to save your soul, but He has created you to serve Him, that you may be fully engaged, active in the work of God, making an impact for Christ, and being that light and that salt in this world.

Some of you might feel, well, look, there’s not much to me, Mike, but I want to assure you that there is much to you because you’re a masterpiece of God. And all of our talents are different and at different levels, but let us all be assured and let us all be encouraged that we are a masterpiece of God and He has gifted us so that we can make a difference for Him.

Every day of our life should be dedicated to our Creator, who created us with our gifts, our abilities, our personalities. He created us that we might be used by Him for His glory. How are you manifesting God’s good work in your heart?

How are you manifesting this creative work in you that God has accomplished? How are you making that a reality in the home, in the church, and in the workplace? How are you making that real today? The second thing we’ll see is that the Apostle teaches that the true God is the omnipresent God.

Go back to verse 24. At the end, he says he is the Lord of heaven and earth. does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he worshiped with men’s hands as though he needed anything since he gives to all life, breath, and all things.

He is teaching us here that God is omnipresent, meaning that God is everywhere at the same time. Now this is something that those who embrace idolatry fully could not comprehend because their idols, their gods were limited to whatever they created.

And not only were they limited to these structures and statues that they had created, but that they were created by human hands. But our God is certainly above and beyond all the created hands, all the things of this world.

He is King of kings, Lord of lords, and he is everywhere at the same time. Now you may ask the question, where is God? Where is God, Pastor, when I am hurting? And where is God when I am struggling? I want you to take your Bible, go back to Jeremiah in the Old Testament.

Just go back there real quickly. Jeremiah chapter 23, I just want to read a couple verses to you. Jeremiah 23, chapter 23, verse 23. Go ahead, it’s good to be in the God’s Word together, church. Jeremiah 23, verse 23.

Am I a God near at hand, says the Lord? And not a God far off? It’s a question. Can anyone hide himself in secret places? So I shall not see him, says the Lord. Do I not feel heaven and earth, says the Lord?

What he is trying to do is take us through this process of understanding that he is a God who is near, and he is a God who is at hand. He is a God who is manifesting himself all the time, and his presence is near, and it is dear to you.

He is right beside you no matter where you are. It is a double-edged sword. It is the reminder that there are certain places we should not go, and there are certain things we should not look at, and there are certain things that we should not be involved in, because the presence of God is there.

Because wherever we go, we are his temple. He is residing in us as believers, but we must recognize that the Lord is watching. But it is also a great comfort to us to know that when we are lonely, our God is our companion, that he is there with us.

God is all over the place. He is everywhere. He is an omnipresent God. The psalmist said, turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely, afflicted. You may identify with the words of the psalmist.

That’s why so many people love the book of Psalms because there is the expression of our hearts that are made clear and directed towards God in prayers and hopes and dreams and even as the psalmist is not only dealing with loneliness, he deals with anger, he deals with every emotion that the human heart can go through and we relate to that and we see that the psalmist keeps bringing us back, that our hope is not in this world,

our hope is not in religion, our hope is not in the things of gaining wealth or materialism, but our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Can God’s people say amen? Now friends, I want you to know God is with you.

I want you to be assured that even though our world has more people than it ever has, did you hear? We’re breaking eight billion in population. And yet it’s so unfortunate that people are less connected than they have ever been.

People are more lonely than they have ever been. They are struggling. So what do you do when you experience these moments of loneliness in your heart? Is there anything that you can do? I would encourage you to welcome and embrace God’s presence in your life.

To be assured based on what you know and not what you feel that He is your companion. Look at verse 27 of Acts chapter 17. So that they should seek the Lord in the hope that they might broke for Him and find Him though He is not far from each one of us.

He’s not far from each one of us. Seek Him today. You seek Him by certainly prayer. You are struggling with loneliness. Get on your knees and seek God. You want to experience the manifested presence of God, the sense of His presence in your life that I wanna encourage you to get into the Word of God.

Open your Bible, start reading your Bible. God is speaking to you. The third way you can manifest the presence of God, believe it or not, is through the fellowship of the believers. Do not get disconnected from the family of God.

We are the body of Christ. We are the hands and the feet of the Lord and we are called to manifest His presence. Do not walk through the journey of life and the struggles of life isolated from others, but rather stay connected to God’s people.

Let them minister to you. Let them encourage you. Let them bear one another’s burdens. Can God people say amen? I know you’re tired of me saying that, but. trying to wake you up. But I want you to know God has not called us to live alone, isolated, disconnected.

And so we need the family of God. We need the people of God. And you say, well, there’s some people, Pastor, I don’t like. Okay. Don’t worry. It doesn’t change anything. God’s people are different from top to bottom.

Be glad you’re not the pastor. God is near. And Jesus gave us a promise, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. God is there. And I want you to be encouraged. The third thing that the apostle introduces the unknown God as the true God is that He is the all-sufficient sustainer.

Look at verse 25. Nor is he worshiped with men’s hands as though he needed anything. Since he gives to all life, breath, and all things, God is self-sufficient. All sufficiency resides in God. He needs nothing.

There may be some who think that the Lord is very fortunate to have them, but I want you to know that’s not how it works, friends. We are blessed to have the Lord. And he doesn’t need us, but out of his great kindness and out of his great love and out of his great mercy, he bestows grace upon us.

He redeems us, saves our souls, and he brings us into the family of God, the eternal family of God that’s gonna live forever with him. But he is the all-sufficient sustainer. He is the one that provides all that we need.

The Scriptures teach us in Romans, chapter 11, from him and through him, and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. Jesus is the source of life. He’s not only the source of physical life, he is the source of spiritual life.

He is the sustainer of life. How are you gonna make it through the journey? How are you gonna be able to navigate through the challenges and the problems and the struggles in life? It’s gonna be through the sustaining hand of our Savior.

That’s why we are called to come to him and to cry out to him and to pray to him to help us. So many people are trying it on their own. They’re trying to live their life without God. And let me tell you this, if you wanna make a mess of your life, just try to do it on your own.

And what you’ll find, it’s a dead end, it’s a crash and burn, and that all these pleasures of the world, they only last for a season. and then it all fades away the first and the most important relationship in your life is with Jesus you know so many people want to know the bottom line of the Bible and here it is love God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind with all your strength and to love your neighbor as you love yourself and that simply means that God is calling us to love Him and to love people and if you and I would live by that model every day of our life you would see a tremendous change not only in your heart but in the hearts of others that needs to be the priority in our life I want you to note that He also teaches us that the true God is the providential Father we look at verse 26 he is made From one blood,

every nation of men, to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings. Look at verse 28, for in him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring.

What I want you to see is that our God is providential. He is a sovereign God. When I use that word sovereign, I’m not trying to use big words, I’m just trying to help you understand that God is in charge, God is in control.

Some of you are frantic about things that you see unfolding in your personal life, or maybe in the world, but I want you to be assured that you have a God who’s in control, and we know the end of the story, get to the book of Revelation, we know how it all wraps up, and so why are we worried?

Why are we full of anxiety? Why are we living in fear? Because God has a purpose, and God has a plan, and he is at work, and he is a God who knows and loves each and every one of us. Did you know that there’s not a person on this planet that God does not love?

Did you see that in the text? I want you to go back again. I want you to see in verse 26 that he is made, he has made from one blood every nation or every ethnicity of men to dwell on the face of the earth.

Jump down to verse 28 at the end of the verse, for we are also his offspring, every one of us. God loves, God created, and God is drawing to him. Now listen, I want to help you out. The world wants to define us by race.

The world wants to define us by our skin color, they want to divide us but God says there’s only one race, that’s the human race. And God says we’re all his offspring. Do you understand that? That everyone comes from God’s creation Adam.

And friends we got to be careful that we don’t let the world and the devil and the flesh be used to divide us as brothers and sisters in Christ. And I want to encourage you that as you’re raising your children help them understand that we’re called not to be derogatory, we’re not called to be hateful, and we’re not to demean people because we recognize that every person is created in the image of God.

Every person is created in the image of God and we are to value that and to degrade a person for any particular reason is an attack upon the very image of God. And so that’s what needs to be understood is day after day, the world is trying to pump into you voices that try to pit you against someone else and divide you.

And that’s why there’s so much division in this nation. But if we would be united under the banner of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, if we would love one another and believe that we’re all created in the image of God and no matter our ethnicity, no matter our education, no matter our family heritage or background, and no matter where we come, what we’ve done, we are all one in Jesus Christ and God does not distinguish it’s only man that distinguishes in this world.

Yes, though God calls us to understand this great providence that He has given us. Did you see that in verse 26? Has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings. I know that some of you are wondering why in the world were you born in the 21st century or the 20th century?

Some of you feel like you were born before your time or after your time. Some of you are not even sure what time it is. But God has you and not only does He have you here at the right time, but He has you in the right family.

And you’re saying, man, have you met some of my family pastor? Hey, listen to me, friends. God has a reason. God has a reason and He’s using you to be a light and a positive influence to that family.

Do you understand that? There are people who get off track. There are people who are like, oh, buddy, we’re not sure. But you know what? God wants to use you. And I want you to know that in his providence, he has a wonderful plan.

Now, I want you to also see that the true God is the all-powerful ruler. Verse 26, he determined the times and set for them that they should live. And I want you to know that his unlimited power is working effectively in our hearts, and he’s giving us the hope of the victory that is only found in Christ.

Here’s what I want you to know, is that we not only have a providential father, but we have an all-powerful father. An all-powerful father. God has not called you to walk around like a victim. God hasn’t called you to walk around with your head down.

God hasn’t called you. to be a person who is, woe is me, poor me. Lord, just go ahead, take me out, man, I’m just having a miserable time. No, the Lord wants you to know that you have victory in the Lord Jesus Christ.

His power was demonstrated on the cross and through the resurrection, you are part of the family of God. You are a believer in Christ. Head up and walk in victory. Quit acting like a loser in this world and step up to the plate and be the person that God has called you to be.

And to live in this victory, do not buy in. Again, the world wants you to be a victim. Politicians want you to be a victim. The reason they want you to be a victim is so they can control you, so they can manipulate you.

But when you walk in the power of Christ, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. There are challenges before us. There are new chapters in our life. There are new seasons in our life.

There are new opportunities in our life. But you have victory in Jesus Christ. Here’s the thing, Christ already won the victory for you. When he went to the cross, he not only won the victory over sin, but he won the victory over Satan.

And he won the victory over death. And he won the victory over demons. And he won the victory over diseases. And so in him, we have victory in Jesus Christ and we celebrate that victory and we live out that victory.

And we refuse to be a people who lack joy, peace, and hope. Think about that. The world’s hope is a dying hope, but the hope of the believer is a thriving, growing hope because of what Christ has done for us.

Two more points here real quick and I’ll be real fast. The true God is the all righteous judge. Look at verse 30. Verse 30, surely these times of ignorance got overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man, referring to Christ, whom he has ordained.

He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead. Friends, we need to understand that we have a righteous judge, that God is our righteous judge. Now you might say, how can God send judgment upon me?

God judges sin. I want you to know that. People say, what’s wrong with America? Friends, I’m telling you that America is so far from God. How could God ever bless America? When all the crazies we see going on, and the things we read about, and the things we see in the news, how could we say, God bless America?

What we need to say is, Lord, send a revival to America. Lord, change the hearts of your people. Lord, help us to repent and believe in you. That’s what we really need to pray. Some of you are not too sure about that, but the Bible says in 1 Peter 4.17, for the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God.

Now I want you to understand, I don’t want you to walk out of here afraid of God, but I want you to know God judges sin. There is a healthy fear of God that we recognize how great and awesome he is, and we desire to obey him and to live according to his perfect plan.

But as a believer, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are not under the judgment of God because Christ took our judgment on the cross. And therefore we live in the victory that is found in Jesus Christ, but those who do not believe in Christ, they are under the judgment of God and they need to come to God and they need to believe in Christ because in that moment, that’s when the judgment is lifted off of them and they can walk in peace.

But I want you to be assured that as the judge of this world, God will bring justice. There’ll never be true justice in this world, no matter how hard we try, no matter how many laws we have, no matter how many politicians who promise it, they’ll never be true justice until Jesus comes back.

Final point, and all God’s people said, I want you to know that the true God is all-sufficient Savior. Look at verse 27. He’s the all-sufficient Savior so that they should seek the Lord in the hope. And then he tells us that we are to find him because he is not far from us.

I want you to see in verse 28, Paul quotes a poet. who says, in Him, referring to Christ, we have our being. In Him we live and we move. Friends, Jesus is the Savior. Look at verse 32, and when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, He taught them about the resurrection.

He taught them about salvation. He taught them about Christ. What was their response? They mocked. While others said, we’ll hear you again on this matter, but we’ll do it later is what they’re saying.

But however, look at verse 34, some men joined Him and believe. Jesus is the Savior of the world. He is the all-sufficient Savior. And the question is, what will be your response? You only have three.

You can say, well, I’m going to make fun of it. I think it’s silly. I don’t believe it. Or you can say, you know what, I’ll hear about it later. Right now, I want to live my life like I want to. I’ll just delay it, and then I’ll make a decision for God.

But you’re not promised tomorrow. You’re not promised another moment. You just come spend a week with Pastor Mike and the things that I deal with and the people who were here today and then tomorrow they’re gone.

And then you’ll understand the brevity of life. And that’s why God calls us all today to believe. All today to put our trust in Christ. All today, instead of worshiping the false gods and the false idols of this world, put our full trust and confidence in Jesus Christ as our Lord and our Savior.

You see, I’m not worshiping any image, Mike. I’m not an idol worshipper. Let me tell you something. Idolatry is anything you put before God. It could be people. It could be sports. It could be good things in your life.

But if you put them before God, you are an idol worshipper. And what Jesus wants to be is number one in your life. And I pray today that you will meet this new unknown God, the true God who is not a part of the gods of this world.

And he is the God who will save your soul. Like most Americans, the Athenians acknowledged that there was an existence of some kind of a supernatural power or even a force, but they had never, ever truly believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So the apostle in this passage takes the opportunity to springboard from their statue of an unknown God and introduce to them the one true God that is found in Jesus Christ. And what a great strategy for us to use the things of our culture and some of the belief systems to kind of lead people.

to a true faith in Jesus Christ. The Apostle sets the example for us on how to introduce a true God to a culture that doesn’t even know God. Now, there’s a lot of people say they believe in God, but do they believe in Jesus Christ?

Do they believe in the one true God? Well, that’s hard to know, but we certainly need to reach out. I do know that if more people believed in God, our country would definitely be different, isn’t that right?

But we know that there’s much trouble in our country, so we need to really look to the Lord during this time. I want you to know that Hope Worth Having, we’re on Facebook, social media, we’re out there.

We encourage you to check out our Facebook page, and that’s Hope Worth Having, like us, and keep up with things that are going on and how the Lord is working, and we’re continually putting things out there that I know will be a blessing to you.

This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ, there is hope worth having.