The Baptist catechism begins with God, because there is no knowledge of truth about the world or ourselves apart from knowledge of God and his character. The assumption of the Baptist catechism, like that of Holy Scripture, is that God exists. It makes no effort to prove God’s existence, but assumes that God is!
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Ge 1:1)
Jim Orrick, in his new commentary on the Baptist Catechism, helpfully elaborates on this point.
“Like the Bible, the Baptist Catechism does not attempt to prove that there is a God. God’s existence probably cannot be proven to satisfy someone who has become a skeptic, and HIs existence does not need to be proven to satisfy a person who is willing to believe the truth. We do not need to convince a newborn baby that there is oxygen in the air and that she needs to breathe it. She was designed to breathe it. She may grow up to be a stubborn person who denies oxygen exists, but as long as she lives, she lives breathing—and being kept alive by—the very thing that she denies. God is more essential than air. “In him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). God’s existence may not be recognized by a skeptic, but to the seeing eyes, we live in a world that is bursting with God.”
God is the first being.
Thus says the LORD, the King of Israeland his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first, and I am the last; besides me there is no god. (Is 44:6)
Before anything was, God eternally was, perfectly self-sufficient, having life in himself, being perfect love and in need of nothing. This is what God’s name reveals to us in Exodus 3:14.
13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. (Ex 3:13–14)
God is the only self-existing being, and as the first being, he is the creator of all things, including human beings. It is impossible to know ourselves rightly apart from the understanding that we are created in God’s image (Gen. 1:26-27)
Benjamin Beddome (1717-1795), in his study notes on the Baptist Catechism, elaborates on the different ways God being first is taught to us throughout Scripture.
Is he first in government? Yes.
Thy throne is established of old (Psalm 93:2)
Is he first in the world of grace? Yes.
All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself (2 Cor. 5:18)
Is he first to display his love? Yes.
We love him becasue he first loved us (1 John 4:19)
Should God then be first in our thoughts? Yes.
When I awake I am still with thee (139:18)
And first in our esteem? Yes.
Whom have I in heaven but thee (Psalm 72:25)
These are but a few examples, but they are a rich reminder that there is an abundance of edifying meditations to consider when thinking about God as the first being.
2. God is the chiefest being.
For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods (Ps 97:9)
“Above all beings that God created, God is the chiefest being. Angels may have great powers, but God is their chief. Demons may try to undermine God’s influence or even wish that they could overthrow God Himself, but he is the chiefest being, and His rule and reign remain unmoved.” – Jim Scott Orrick
“Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? (Ex 15:11)
for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” (Da 4:34–35)
Let’s consider again how we might meditate on this truth with the help of Benjamin Beddome.
Should God then be chiefly loved? Yes.
Thou shall love the Lord thy God with thie heart (Luke 10:27)
And chiefly feared? Yes.
Rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell, (Matthew 10:28)
And are those happy who are interested in him? Yes.
Happy is that people whose God is the Lord, (Psalm 144:15)
Sermon Idea: God uses godly confrontation by ordinary saints to help us know the way of God more accurately, so we might better follow Jesus.
Introduction: There is a painting by the German artist Matthias Grünewald that depicts the crucifixion in a startling, but memorable way. Christ is presented in a rather unpleasant manner. Hanging on the cross, his weak and frail body is distorted, marked by wounds, lesions, and blood. His mouth is open in exasperation.
The painting’s best-known feature, however, is the character pointing intentionally at Jesus Christ. His finger is disproportionate, long, and noticeable. Your eyes can’t help but be drawn to it and, by necessity, to the one whom the finger points.
The odd finger, which belongs to John the Baptist, adds to the painting’s powerful image. John the Baptist was already dead by the time of the crucifixion, so the artist paints him in a way that recalls his life and ministry. Anyone with a decent knowledge of the Bible can take one look at that finger and hear the words, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”
Pointing to Jesus Christ was John the Baptist’s ministry. He was a prophet whose God-given mission was to prepare the way of the Messiah. He did this by preaching the Kingdom of God and administering a baptism of repentance. As such, John’s ministry was temporary and terminated with the coming of Jesus Christ.
John the Baptist knew this better than anyone else, as he often taught that with the coming of Christ, he must decrease, so Jesus can increase.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Mt 3:11)
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.” (Jn 3:30)
Even though John the Baptist was clear as to the nature of his ministry and centered it repeatedly on the person and work of Jesus Christ, these early days of the church have moved at such a rapid pace that some people are confused as to the details and implications of John’s ministry as it relates to the coming of the Messiah.
Our text this morning recounts this confusion with two related but different narratives. By placing them side by side, we are meant to compare and contrast them. We have two accounts of deficient understanding of what it means to follow Jesus, one more serious than the other. The first concerns confusion over the nature of baptism, and the second concerns the fulfillment of John’s ministry, the coming of Jesus, and the necessity of the Holy Spirit. The former is a discipleship issue, the latter is an evangelism and salvation issue.
There is certainly a difference between these two accounts, but here is what is similar—they both include godly acts of confrontation that correct deficient understanding, leading to an accurate knowledge of the ways of God.
God uses godly confrontation by ordinary saints to help us know the way of God more accurately, so we might better follow Jesus.
Beloved, until we enter into glory, we will need help from time to time as to what it means to follow Jesus Christ. None of us has a perfect understanding of the Word of God, nor have we adequately worked out all its implications. We all need help in understanding what it means to faithfully follow Jesus.
One of the means that God uses to strengthen our walks with him and correct our own deficient thoughts about the Christian life is good friends who simply understand things better than we do.
If you isolate yourself from others, especially the church, and if you adopt a posture against any and all forms of correction, you are resisting the very means that God intends to use for your good.
Let’s take these accounts one at a time to see that God uses godly confrontation to help us know the way of God more accurately and help others know what it means to follow Jesus.
I.) God uses godly confrontation to help us know the way of God more accurately (Acts 18:24-28)
We are first introduced to a man named Apollos. He was a Jew and a native of Alexandria, a great city renowned for its scholarship and famous library. We learn from 1 Corinthians that Apollos faithfully ministered the gospel in Corinth. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:6, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
The early picture we get of Apollos isn’t negative, but it is deficient in an important matter. Notice how glowingly Luke speaks of Apollos before informing us of his misunderstanding.
He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. (Ac 18:24–25)
This is the description of a Christian believer. He has been instructed in the Scriptures and has been accurately preaching Jesus as the Messiah in fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures. His fervency of spirit can either refer to the boldness of his teaching or being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The latter seems to be in view. Apollos is an accurate teacher of Jesus Christ, becasue he has the Spirit of God.
It is good to remind ourselves that growth in the Christian life does not end when we gain experience, acquire a position, or achieve accolades. The need to grow persists until glory. Apollos was an eloquent and competent man, but even he had a deficiency—he knew only the baptism of John.
It seems that in Apollos’ gospel preaching, he had not understood how, with the coming of Jesus as the Christ, baptism is now to be administered in the name of Jesus and represents union with his death, burial, and resurrection. He was rightly preaching Jesus, but still calling people to the baptism of repentance, which he learned from the ministry of John the Baptist.
Apollos was preaching boldly in the synagogue, but some faithful disciples of Jesus, friends of Paul, recognized his deficient view of baptism. Once they realize this note, what do they do in verse 26?
26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately (Ac 18:26)
Priscilla and Aquila were not afraid to confront Apollos, but notice that they did it in a godly manner. They don’t make a scene or call him out in public. They take him aside. They use discretion and privately instruct Apollos in the way of God more accurately.
We rightly make much of God reserving the office of elder to qualified men in passages like 1 Timothy 2, but women are such a gift to the church. The account of Priscilla instructing Apollos, along with her husband Aquila, is given to us as a positive example. Godly women can and should be an edifying presence in the church. Apollos learns from both of them, not just Aquila.
The text gives every indication that Apollos listened humbly, received their correction, and responded appropriately. I don’t think verses 27-28 make sense otherwise.
27 And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. (Ac 18:27–28)
Godly men and women humble themselves and receive correction. I don’t mean they are to be people pleasers who fear man and have no conviction. I do not mean that there will never be a time when someone’s admonishment is misguided or inappropriate.
What I do mean is that godly people have an awareness that they are still being sanctified, that they have not arrived, and so are not surprised to learn that they may be deficient in a particular area of faith and practice. Godly saints receive correction from godly friends who are seeking our good.
Throughout Proverbs, we are reminded of the importance of hearing instruction. It is the fool who despises instruction and correction.
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. (Pr 12:1)
A fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent. (Pr 15:5)
Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. (Pr 15:32)
How easy it would have been for Apollos to become defensive. How easy it would have been for him to take personally what was meant for his good. How easy it would have been to say, “We’ve always done it this way.”
Instead of reacting, he received correction and then responded in obedience.
What best describes you? Are you a reactor or a reviecer? Do you defend and deflect? Do you receive, repent, and change?
We all have years of experience that inform what we believe to be right, but all of our experiences must be submitted to the authority of Scripture. It is the Bible, not our experience, that is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Ti 3:16–17)
It is good for us to have patience with those who’ve had a deficient view of life and doctrine. It is not loving to expect people to see the truth and change their minds overnight. That is why pastors are warned to go slow, be patient, and not do the right thing in the wrong way. That’s absolutely true.
As true as it is, there is a corollary truth. When the teaching has been clear and shown to be right, delayed obedience is disobedience. Apollos knew that what Priscilla and Aquila said was right, and so he did not delay his obedience.
God worked through ordinary saints like Priscilla and Aquila to help Apollos know the way of God more accurately. He may use you in the exact same way for someone else, or he may use someone else in the exact same way for you.
God uses godly confrontation by ordinary saints to help us know the way of God more accurately, so we might better follow Jesus.
II.) God uses goldy confrontation to help others know what it means to follow Jesus (Acts 19:1-7)
In verse 19, the narrative shifts attention from Apollos to Paul.
And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. (Ac 19:1)
I know it is tempting to read the words “disciples” and assume that Luke is referring to disciples of Jesus, but the context makes it clear these are disciples of John the Baptist (Cf. Luke 5:33, 7:18). That is important for understanding this passage rightly. That said, they are also misguided and confused disciples of John the Baptist. They don’t seem to know what John’s ministry was about, nor that it’s been fulfilled in the coming of Jesus. That is evident from their response when asked about the Holy Spirit.
2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (Ac 19:2–5)
Unlike Apollos, these disciples of John are described in order to indicate that they are not believers. They do not have the indwelling of the Spirit and have not understood the fulfillment of John’s ministry in Jesus Christ. Paul connects the dots for them to show that their understanding of the faith is deficient, and God uses that confrontation to bring them to saving faith. They are the baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. This is the only recorded case of rebaptism in the entire New Testament.
Baptism is a one-time initiation oath into the new covenant community. They were rebaptized because they lacked the Holy Spirit and thus were not true disciples of Jesus Christ. John’s baptism, apart from saving faith in Jesus and the indwelling of the Spirit, is not sufficient. Apollos did need to be rebaptized because his baptism was accompanied by sincere faith and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
George Beasley-Murray explains it this way in his class work, Baptism in the New Testament, “…where submission to Messiah Jesus is accompanied by the possession of the Spirit, Johannine baptism needs not supplementing; where both are lacking, baptism in the name of Jesus must be administered.”
Upon being baptized, Paul lays his hands on them, and they experience the presence of the Spirit in a way similar to that at Pentecost, the Samaritans, and the Gentiles. Speaking in tongues and prophesying are not normative experiences of the Christian life.
What I want us to think about is how God might use us to help people better understand what it means to follow Jesus. What was missing from these disciples’ understanding of how to be right with God was the person and work of Jesus Christ!
You may not realize it, but many people profess faith in God generally yet lack true saving faith in Christ. It is not malicious and definitely not obvious to them, so I don’t want you to hear this as disdain or disparagement in any way.
You need to understand that there will be a lot of people who want church culture, but don’t understand what it means to repent and trust Christ, to take up their cross and follow him, to submit their lives to his Lordship.
In love, we must take every opportunity to confront the “just getting back in church” people with the true gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to confront the be good, do good gospel—a vision of Christianity that consists in nothing but don’t smoke, drink, cuss, or date girls that do— with the true gospel of Jesus that rests not on our imperfect obedience but on the perfect obedience of Jesus on our behalf, on his sufficient death, and in his glorious resurrection.
Too many people think that the Christian life is getting back in church, doing the best you can to be a good person, and voting the right way. What is missing from that picture is the centrality of Jesus Christ! We need to make so much of Jesus at Waldo Baptist that it is impossible not to come to terms, one way or the other, with the death on the cross, the resurrection, and the ascended Lordship.
God uses godly confrontation by ordinary saints to help us know the way of God more accurately, so we might better follow Jesus.
Sermon Idea: Godly fathers who exemplify and pass down a sincere faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are a grace to their families.
Introduction: This morning, I want to talk about the grace that godly fathers are to their families. I hope to remind you that dads play an invaluable role in shaping and forming the spiritual health of their wives and children, as they exemplify and pass down a sincere faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe this is the positive vision the Bible gives us about husbands and fathers.
Unfortunately, the Bible’s positive and robust vision of fatherhood has not been common in contemporary culture. For decades, the portrayal of the typical dad on television has been poor. They don’t lead, show initiative, or do anything well. For television sitcoms, men are the joke.
When you consider this along with the broader culture’s negative perspective on masculinity, it is easy to see why some men might be discouraged and why some young men think so little of themselves.
I fear that if the church does not counter these negative narratives in the culture with biblical truth, men will start to believe that they are, in fact, incompetent, unnecessary, and problematic. Why lead when no one will follow? Why show initiative when you’re just going to do it wrong? Why teach your children if you don’t have anything to offer?
The Scriptures and substantial data from the social sciences tell us that present and involved fathers are vitally important. God calls and exhorts men to lead their families in following Jesus Christ.
Paul writes in Ephesians 6:4: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Eph 6:4)
The church should be a place where men are valued, equipped, encouraged, affirmed, and celebrated. They should be prayed for as often as they are depended on. They should be expected to lead their families and encouraged to do so.
This morning will be a humble effort to do just that. Proverbs 4 gives us the image of wisdom being passed down from a father to a son. This chapter does not say everything that could and needs to be said about fatherhood, but it does give us enough to edify us this morning.
I want to make five observations from Proverbs 4 that can apply to fatherhood. I want us to observe the father’s presence, intentionality, tradition, wisdom, and warning.
I.) A godly father’s presence
Throughout this chapter, there is a command for the son to hear the words of the father.
Verse 1, “Hear, O Sons, a Father’s instruction…”
Verse 10, “Hear, my son, and accept my words.”
Verse 20, “My son, be attentive to my words.”
Of course, these are introductions to draw attention to the coming content of the father’s instructions. There is something more basic and obvious, but vital about them. The father is present with the son. His presence is not only in body, as if to merely be in the same vicinity, but he is attentive, caring, and affectionate. The possessive language “my son” conveys an embraced responsibility.
The presence of a father with his children is what makes knowing him possible and lays the relational foundation for passing down the faith. I was struck by how important presence is when reading the account of a famous climber named George Mallory.
He became famous for taking part in the first three British explorations of Mount Everest. He tragically died during the last exploration, leaving behind his wife and three children.
When asked why he wanted to climb Everest, Mallory said, “Because it is there.” What Mallory accomplished can be found in history books and appreciated by climbers to this day. What is interesting, though, is how one of his sons’ perspectives was quite different. Although not angry or bitter, Mallory’s oldest son was honest when he said, “I would so much rather have known my father than to have grown up in the shadow of a legend, a hero, as some people perceive him to be.” Zack Eswine sums up the power of this story well when he wrote, “The mountain was there, but so was John, George’s son.”
Brothers, what our children want most from us is our presence. There is no prestigious status you can reach, no profits you can gain, no pleasure you can seek that is more valuable than presence with your children.
Ambition is good, and you should have holy ambitions to succeed, advance, and accomplish great things. Men were not meant to stay home. We flourish by giving our lives to provide. but not to the expense of being present with our families.
The Scriptures are clear as to the importance of a father’s presence, but it is helpful to remember that research in the social sciences continually corroborates Scripture’s witness.
In a manual prepared for the United States Department of Health and Human Services, W. Bradford Wilcox, a professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, summarized his research as follows,
“One study of school-aged children found that children with good relationships with their fathers were less likely to experience depression, to exhibit disruptive behavior, or to lie, and more likely to exhibit pro-social behavior. This same study found that boys with involved fathers have fewer school behavior problems and that girls have stronger self-esteem. In addition, numerous studies have found that children who live with their fathers are more likely to have good physical and emotional health, to achieve academically, and to avoid drugs, violence, and delinquent behavior.”
Present and involved fathers are crucial for the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of children.
You don’t need the best job to be a present father. You don’t need the best education to be a present father. You don’t need to be cool or have the latest, greatest toys to be a present father.
As I reflect on my life, I can say this is what I appreciate most about my dad. He was not and is not an example of perfection, but he was faithfully present. There was not a school concert, play, event, graduation—not one—when I looked up and did not see Dad there.
II.) A godly father’s intentionality
Proverbs four not only teaches us that godly fathers are present, but that they steward that presence with intentionality. Listen to how the Father pursues the son with intentionality.
In verse 1, “a father’s instruction.”
In verse 10, “Hear, my son, my words.”
In verse 11, “I have taught you” and “I have led you.”
The image of the father in Proverbs takes heed of the teaching of Proverbs 22:6, Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Brothers, embrace the responsibility of teaching your children about the Lord with joy. Take it as your daily calling and commission as a father and follower of Jesus Christ. Why? We know we have something good to offer our children.
Look at verses 1-2 again, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts.
We are God’s chosen instruments to teach our children about what his good, beautiful, and true in a fallen world that is bad, distorted, and deceptive. We have good precepts to give to our children, precepts in God’s perfect and inerrant Word.
What is at stake if we don’t embrace the responsibility of being intentional with our children? If we don’t teach them, someone else will, and we won’t like what’s being taught. Social media, television, and friends are poor substitutes for the loving instruction of parents.
Brothers, let us lead the way in our homes in following Jesus. Let’s teach them the whole counsel of God’s Word and let our instruction be supported by a life faithfully lived in submission to Christ.
As we disciple and instruct them in the Lord, let them hear our prayers, see our confession and repentance, let them see sacrifice and love for their mother. Let them hear us talk about the importance of the church. Let them hear how we hope our neighbors come to Christ.
As we say all of this, we need to keep in mind that we can be faithfully present and intentionally teach, but we can’t make children listen or be attentive to what we say. We can’t make them accept instruction about what is good, beautiful, and true.
III.) A godly father’s tradition
As fathers who pass down the faith to our children, we desire to establish a tradition that will endure for generations long after us. Solomon reflects on the tradition that we received from his Father.
When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. (Pr 4:3–4)
What I want you to see is that the tradition in which Solomon stands and which he passes on in Proverbs 4 is a vision of life beyond oneself. It is to live from something, or better yet, someone greater than ourselves.
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. 9 She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.” (Pr 4:7–9)
Wisdom has a source, and God is that source. To encourage the pursuit of wisdom and insight is to encourage knowing God and living rightly before him. Solomon was urged not to forget David’s teaching because he offers wisdom from God, who is perfect.
In the same way, brothers, we must be men who love Christ and point beyond ourselves, Christ. In the New Testament, we learn that Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God. We will serve our children well if we demonstrate a joyful life dependent on Christ for all things. What we want is for our children to see Christ in us. Why?
Our children need our presence and time here and now, but only Christ can be present with them forever.
Our children need our protection and provision, but only Christ is the bread of life and living water.
Our children need our affection, play, and affirmation, but only in Christ can they become new creations.
The father’s tradition in Proverbs 4 is wisdom, which begins with the fear ot the Lord. In the New Testament, we learn that fear of the Lord comes through faith in Christ, whose substitutionary death on the cross, burial, and resurrection make it possible for us to be reconciled to God, be forgiven, and dwell with God forever in the new heavens and new earth.
Brothers, what a privilege. We get to teach our children the most important and grandest truths of the world. We do so for them, but also by grace, for the many lives that come after them.
IV.) A godly father’s wisdom
Part of teaching our children is not only what to pursue, but how to pursue it. You see, wisdom is not like a file you download on a computer. You can’t cant get wisdom once and have it forever. It is a way of life, a way of life in relation to God and others that his right. That type of life requires perseverance. Listen to how we are encouraged to pursue wisdom.
Do not forsake… (vs. 2)
Let your heart holdfast; Keep my commandments and live…” (vs. 4)
Do not forget, and do not turn away (vs. 5)
Keep hold, don’t let go, and guard her (vs. 13)
Let them not escape (v. 21)
Keep them within your heart (vs 21)
Keep your heart with all diligence (vs. 23)
The father tells the son to guard his heart every day, becasue when he stops guarding it, he will be vulnerable to temptation and sin.
Illustration: Solomon
4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. (1 Ki 11:4)
Solomon was given wisdom from the Lord in his youth, but in his old age, he turned away and worshipped false gods. Wisdom is about becoming a particular type of person— a person who conformed to Jesus Christ.
It is our job, brothers, to ensure that our children care more about who they are becoming than what they are accomplishing.
V.) A godly father’s warning
Fathers also lovingly warn their children about the sinful life in which they live. The father directly tells the son, Do not walk in the way of the wicked.
Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. (Pr 4:14)
The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble. (Pr 4:19)
Life: The motivation and benefits of wisdom
keep my commandments, and live. (Pr 4:4)
For she is your life. (Proverbs 4:13)
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. (Pr 4:23)
Brothers, we are to be present and intentional about our children’s discipleship because their lives are at stake.
Application
1.) We should pray and support dads who are giving their all to their families. They have enough negative voices in the culture that run them down and tell them what a problem they are. Wives, especially, should be the strongest affirmers, supporters, and prayer warriors. If your complaints and corrections far outweigh your encouragements and thankfulness, you’re not helping him flourish. Plants grow when showered with water, not gasoline.
2.) Develop a culture of support and discipleship.
Sermon Idea: The Christian faith has the explanatory power to make sense of our lives, the world, what’s wrong with it, and how to fix it.
Introduction: In an effort to make sense of the world in which we live, there is a series of fundamental questions that every person and every civilization will seek to answer. The answer to these questions will determine how we see and understand the world: Who or what am I? What is wrong with the world? How can it be fixed?
There are other related questions we could add, but these basic questions will help you identify your worldview—the lens through which you interpret all your experiences.
Throughout most of our study of Acts, the gospel has been proclaimed to Jews raised in the Old Testament Scriptures or to Gentile God-fearers who had come to believe in Israel’s God. In those cases, Peter and Paul would often reason from the Scriptures, proving that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah whose death, burial, and resurrection have made salvation possible through faith in his name. There was a place to begin because common ground was already established by a shared worldview.
When Paul sits waiting in Athens, he is among a people with an entirely different worldview. They see, think, and explain the world very differently.
Athens was culturally and intellectually significant. F.F. Bruce wrote, “The sculpture, literature, and oratory of Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. have, indeed, never been surpassed. In philosophy, too, she occupied the leading place, being the native city of Socrates and Plato, and the adopted home of Aristotle, Epicurus, and Zeno.”
It was also a city, as you would expect, full of pagan idolatry. It was a place of temples, statues, and images of worship. There would not have been a place you could have turned without being inundated with a religious culture contrary to truth.
I don’t know if Paul had intended to speak while in Athens, but the longer he sat waiting for Silas and Timothy, and the more he witnessed the pagan idolatry around him, the more his spirit was provoked.
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. (Ac 17:16)
To say that Paul was provoked means that he became unsettled with uneasiness about all that he saw, so much so that he couldn’t help but speak.
17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. (Ac 17:17)
Paul’s zeal for the glory of God will not allow him to be apathetic when the honor and worship due to God is given to vain idols. We should be so zealous for God’s glory that we are heartbroken by any measure of idolatry, not only in our hearts, but wherever it is found in culture and society.
I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. (Is 42:8)
Verse 17 does say he reasoned with Jews and God-fearing Gentiles in the synagogue, but the focus of this chapter is Paul’s ministry in the marketplace. Paul isn’t afraid to engage these different belief systems with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he does so in a conversational, interactive way. Paul is engaging with opposing ideas in a way that fosters conversation and sharing, rather than shutting them down.
18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean. (Ac 17:18–20)
Philosophical schools were common in Athens, and Paul engages with two of them: Epicureanism and Stoicism.
Epicureanism pursued pleasure and happiness as its ultimate goal by avoiding physical pain and mental distress. They had a naturalistic view of the world; everything comes from atoms and matter. Human beings then had no reason to fear death, becasue the soul would cease to exist at the point of death. In fact, Epicurus thought the fear of death caused unnecessary anxiety, and not believing in the eternality of the soul would free people of that mental distress. They rejected the afterlife and any divine judgment. Although they believed in many gods, they held that the gods did not intervene in the world or in people’s lives.
Stoicism sought to cultivate inner peace, resilience, and virtue no matter the circumstances of life. For the Stoics, god was in all things, thinking nature has a divine soul, the logos.
These are attempts to explain real-world experience and how to address the difficulties that come with being human in a fallen world. There are many such attempts today to make sense of the world and the difficulties we experience. We need to know and expect that we will encounter alternative explanations for who we are, why we’re here, what’s wrong, and how to fix it.
In our day, there will be secular naturalists who will explain that this world is all there is. The material is everything, and the cause of everything. The universe is closed, and there is nothing supernatural at work in the world.
When I was in high school and in college, postmodernism and relativism were all the rage. Truth is not an objective reality but a subjective, social construct.
In our time, critical theory has consumed our culture, training many to see the world through the lens of power dynamics and lived experience. It is one’s lived experience that gives one access to the truth, especially if one is an oppressed minority.
What’s my point? There is no neutral ground on which we walk, and there are no neutral ideas that we encounter. Everything is rooted in presuppositions and beliefs that offer explanations for the world in which we live, what it means to be human, and how things are made right.
What Paul is going to do when brought to the Areopagus, and what I want you to be able to think about is how the Christian faith has the most explanatory power to make sense of our lives, the world, what’s wrong with it, and how to fix it.
Although some accused Paul of being a charlatan and a babbler, others thought he was a preacher of two deities: Jesus and Anastasia. Others wanted to hear more from Paul, so they escorted him to the Areopagus to speak with those eager to hear new ideas.
21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. (Ac 17:21)
When given this opportunity, Paul speaks with clarity and conviction, but in a wise and winsome way. He steps into the world of the pagan idolatry around him and uses their presuppositions and beliefs to tell the true story of the world. Look with me beginning in verse 22, and we’ll see that the Christian faith explains the truth about God.
I.) The Christian faith explains the truth about God (Acts 17:24-25)
22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. (Ac 17:22–23)
As Paul engages them, he begins with their own presuppositions. He points out an altar to the unknown god. The Athenians did not want to accidentally neglect the worship of a god, so they set up an altar as an assurance. They believe this god exists, but they are ignorant of him.
Paul takes that sincere worship of this unknown god and proclaims the one true and living God, “…this I proclaim to you.”
24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. (Ac 17:24–25)
God is the creator-God, the Lord of heaven and earth. Nothing that has come to be apart from God’s work of creation.
The opening words of the Bible declare, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Ge 1:1)
The prophet Isaiah said, Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it (Is 42:5).
The author of Hebrews teaches us, 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Heb 11:3)
God is not part of the universe or the material world. He transcends the universe as the Lord of heaven and earth. God is entirely free and independent of creation.
Paul then gives us three negative statements. Since God is the creator and independent of his creation. He gives us the first two in verses 24-25.
He does not live in a temple made by man
He is not served by human hands
To say that God does not live in temples made with hands won’t feel as applicable to us, but it would to the men of Athens. Their gods were housed in temples and manifested in images and statues.
As creator and Lord, God is also self-sufficient. He is not dependent on anyone or anything. He is self-existent and has life in himself. The Christian tradition has referred to this attribute as divine aseity—Latin for “from himself.” God is a perfect being whose existence is found in himself alone. God needs nothing and needs no one. Before creation, God was perfectly fulfilled as God, for the Holy Trinity is perfect fellowship.
This is why Paul says, “…though he needed anything.” God created freely, not out of necessity. When we serve him with our lives, but we do so as a gift of fellowship that we need as creatures, not that God needs as God.
Why is thinking about God important for us? How does the doctrine of creation inform our Christian life? I can’t say all that needs to be said, but I want to make mention of just three brief things.
Life is a gift that should stir gratitude in our hearts.
Dependence is what it means to be human, so it should be embraced.
Purpose: The doctrine of creation directs us to why we exist, to know God and worship him.
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. (Westminster Larger Catechism)
II.) The Christian faith explains the truth about humanity (Acts 17:26-29)
Knowledge of God as creator explains why we are here and tells us about who we are. We know from Genesis that we are created in God’s image and meant to reflect his glory.
In Acts, we learn that, in God’s providence, He determined the periods and places in which we all live. The diversity of every ethnic, tribe, and tongue is under the sovereign will of God, and through the gospel, He is going to redeem a people from every tribe, nation, and tongue.
26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,
We live in a day and age in which people are obsessed with identity. There is pressure to be our authentic selves, a self deep within us that we have to pull out and express. A theology of creation and what it means to be created by God should alleviate this pressure to a degree. Identity is not something we make or create. It is something we inherit and receive.
None of us chose where we were born, who our parents are, or where we were raised. All of these things are part of what God has used to make you uniquely you, and He does not make mistakes. The only thing that is wrong with you is the sin that taints your understanding of God, yourself, and others.
The purpose of this allotment is to have the opportunity to know God, even if that opporunity in sqaundered because of sin.
27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for
“ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. (Ac 17:26–29)
Verse 27 may seem odd to us because we are used to reading Paul, who tells us no one seeks after God. The seeking here, though, isn’t an inclination that desires God, but a reaching out for something blindly. Also, the grammar suggests that this feeling their way won’t happen on its own. We will all need help.
We all need help because we have all sinned.
For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Ro 3:22–23)
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned (Ro 5:12)
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Co 4:3–6)
The problem with the world is sin, transgression, and rebellion that break God’s law and separate us not only from Him but also from one another.
Although it’s subtle, Paul is beginning to provide a more thorough explanation for the world they’ve experienced. The Christian faith tells us what’s actually wrong and how to make it right.
III.) The Christian faith explains the truth about salvation & judgment (Acts 17:30-31)
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Ac 17:30–31)
There was a time when God overlooked the idolatry and unbelief of the nations, but now something has changed.
It is very similar to what Paul writes in Romans.
This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Ro 3:25–26)
What has changed is that God has sent himself in the person of his Son to proclaim the Kingdom of God, live in perfect obedience to the law, die for sins, and be raised from the dead.
God commands everyone everywhere to repent because a future judgment is coming, at which everything that is wrong will be made right. The way in which God will judge the world in righteousness is by the appointed Lord Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus confirms that Jesus is the one by whom we’ll be judged. That either happens on the cross or on judgment day!
5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. (1 Ti 2:4–6)
To this command there is no exception. God is worthy of worship, and there is glory due His name. What everyone needs most is to be restored to the God whose law they broke and from whom they have been separated.
The only way that is possible is through faith in Christ. As we place our faith in Jesus, we repent, change our minds about who is in control of our lives, what is right and wrong, and to whom we’ll give our allegiance and affections.
32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. (Ac 17:32–34)
The Christian faith has the explanatory power to make sense of our lives, the world, what’s wrong with it, and how to fix it.
Application
Pray for a greater zeal for the glory of God. The Lord’s Prayer is a good prayer to pray in that regard.
You were created to know God and worship him. Does your life and its priorities reflect your created purpose?
Repent and prepare for that coming day! It is only through faith in Jesus that we will be saved from the wrath to come (1 Thess. 1:9)
Proclaim the gospel and God’s command to repent, motivated by both God’s glory and the gravity of eternal judgment.
Sermon Idea: The proclamation of Jesus as King confronts and challenges the ways of the world and changes it one redeemed saint at a time.
Introduction: Carl F. H. Henry is a name unknown to many evangelical, conservative Christians today, but his influence is still felt, even if taken for granted. If Billy Graham was the face of evangelicalism in the 20th Century—the face and voice that everyone knew—Carl F. H. Henry was the mind. He was the one doing all the intellectual heavy lifting and writing, which gave evangelical Christians a substantive voice.
In 1947, Henry published a small but serious book called The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism. It was a loving, but prophetic rebuke against the conservative fundamentalists of his day, who seemed to have receded to the sidelines of the culture, not addressing the most pressing issues of the day.
In that book, Henry would say things like this, “A Christianity without a passion to turn the world upside down is not reflective of the apostolic gospel.”
Later in the book, he wrote this, “If historic Christianity is again to compete as a vital world ideology, evangelicalism must provide a solution for the most pressing world problems…The redemptive message has implications for all of life; a truncated life results from a truncated message.”
If the gospel has implications only for individuals, without impact on the broader culture and society, Paul would never have been accused of “turning the world upside down.”
The proclamation of Jesus as King confronts and challenges the ways of the world, changing it one redeemed saint at a time.
In Acts 17, Paul and Silas make their way to Thessalonica after experiencing great suffering in Philippi. The ministry they did in this chapter resulted in the planting of the church in Thessalonica, to which Paul wrote 1 & 2 Thessalonians. We’ll turn to 1 Thessalonians a couple of times.
When they get there, they encounter great opposition, accused of being troublemakers and upsetting the status quo.
These men who have turned the world upside down… (Ac 17:6)
Now, this accusation was not true in one sense, but very true in another. What these opponents meant was that they were causing trouble for Rome. The peace that Thessalonica had with Rome was being disrupted by these zealots who were trying to overthrow the Roman Empire. They were accused of leading a revolt.
For example, in verse 7, they also accuse them of opposing Caesar.
and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” (Ac 17:7)
The statement is not true in this sense. The apostles taught the early churches to honor the Emperor (1 Peter 2:13-17), to pray for kings and rulers (1 Tim 2:1-2), and to live as godly, honorable citizens (Romans 13:1; 1 Peter 2:11-12).
The apostles did turn the world upside down in another sense, in a much more subversive way. As they preached Jesus as King and people began to give their allegiance to him by faith, they began to change, and over time, this change was reflected not only in individuals but in the societies in which they lived.
In these two missionary efforts, first in Thessalonica, and then in Berea, I want to observe the proclamation that turns the world upside down and the people who turn the world upside down.
I.) The proclamation that turns the world upside down (Acts 17:1-15)
After leaving Philippi, Paul and Silas pass through Amphipolis and Apollonia to get to Thessalonica. The reason seems to be strategic. Thessalonica was one of the largest and most important cities in the area, as it was located right at the intersection of major trade routes.
Once in Thessalonica, Paul visited the Jewish synagogue first, as was his regular practice.
2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” (Ac 17:2–3)
What turns the world upside down is the proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Here, Paul explains and proves that Jesus is the Messiah from the Scriptures. He takes the time to explain, listen to questions, and show from the Bible that the Messiah’s death and resurrection were necessary.
I would imagine the passage he opened was very similar to the ones we’ve seen used earlier in Acts.
Passages like Isaiah 53:5-6.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
And Psalm 16, which foretells the resurrection of Jesus, For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor let your holy one see corruption (Ps 16:10)
These passages prove that the Messiah needed to suffer and die on behalf of his people, but they also prove something else. Since Jesus of Nazareth is risen, he is the Messiah, and therefore Lord. He is the king.
This is what Peter declared at Pentecost.
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Ac 2:36)
The proclamation that Jesus is King is what turns the world upside down, for he is the King of kings. Those who follow Jesus give their ultimate allegiance to him rather than to Caesar, and in the first few centuries, this becomes a disturbance not only to the Jews but also to many throughout the Roman world. Why?
Why did the preaching of Jesus as Lord turn the world upside down? The Lordship of Jesus changed his followers and the societies in which they lived. There is a lot that we could say, but I want to highlight a few important ones.
The Lordship of Jesus challenged and delivered people from pagan idolatry.
For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Th 1:9–10)
To understand how significant this was, keep in mind that the pagan idolatry of the ancient world was intertwined with every other aspect of life. All of life: the government, the marketplace, and the home had a connection to the many pagan gods of the ancient world.
“In their eyes…it would have drawn a lot of objection and even harassment…it would have seemed to the general public a kind of religious and social apostasy, an antisocial stance.”
The proclamation of Jesus as Lord exposed the pagan idols to be empty and vain. They were mute, deaf, and lifeless. Jesus Christ is risen, and he lives.
In our context, we don’t have to worry much about lifeless pagan idols, but we do have to confront worldly idolatry. The idolatry most present in American culture and Massac County is no exception; it is the idolatry of the self.
It is the idolatry of understanding ourselves apart from God and the Lordship of Jesus. This manifests itself in a host of ways, but the most prominent ones involve progressive views of sexuality and gender. It is to create a new reality not based on truth, but on passions, desires, and self-declared identity.
To proclaim Jesus as Lord in our current culture is to also speak the truth about human beings, that we can’t rightly know ourselves apart from God and his Word.
Illustration: Louise Perry, British Journalist and author of The Case Against the Sexual Revolution.
“…what Louise Perry observed about the reality of biological sex led her to explore the more fundamental truth claims of Christianity. And when she discovered that Christianity makes the most sense of the reality she observed, she embraced the supernatural Christian faith due to the light it shines on the natural world.”
2. The Lordship of Jesus destroys the distinctions of class.
4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. (Ac 17:4)
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Ga 3:28–29)
3. The Lordship of Jesus raises the ethical standard consistent with God’s righteousness.
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; (1 Th 4:3–5)
Throughout the New Testament, we are given commands about what a faithful life following Jesus looks like. The best way to oppose disordered sexual immorality and the denigration of marriage is to cultivate a rightly ordered sexuality and exemplify covenant faithfulness in marriage before a watching world.
Another prominent example is the distinctly pro-life views and actions that set them apart from the surrounding world (Infant exposure/abortion, etc.) 2:2thou shalt not murder a child by abortion nor kill them when born. (Didache 2:2)
These are just examples, but the point is that our confession that Jesus is Lord has implications not only for our individual lives but also for the communities in which we live. We are to be a light in a dark world and the salt that preserves the world.
I think one of the better statements on Christian social engagement is found in the Baptist Faith and Message.
All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth. – Baptist Faith & Message 2000, XV. The Christian and Social Order
II.) The people that turns the world upside down (Acts 17:1-15)
We have seen the proclamation that turns the world upside down, but let’s consider the people.
4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. (Acts 17:4)
11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. (Ac 17:11–12)
God’s way of truly and permanently changing society is not through politics, initiatives, or military means. God changes society one redeemed sinner at a time. When sinners are made new creations in Christ, they live and minister in a way that reflects how God makes all things new.
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything (1 Th 1:6–8)
If Waldo is going to be a church through which God turns the world upside down, we need to center the proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord in all our ministries and be committed to disciple-making.
What we need most is not a new initiative, program, or plan. What we need most is a deep adoration for Jesus Christ and a renewed zeal in every member to be a gospel-sharing, disciple-maker.
The proclamation of Jesus as King confronts and challenges the ways of the world and changes it one redeemed saint at a time.
Nathaniel R. Martin 