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ACTS 17.22-28

"THE NEARNESS OF GOD"

I. DECLARING TO THEM THE "UNKNOWN GOD."
        A. What did he declare of Him?
                1. The worshipped Him, but in ignorance.
                        a. They had acknowledged His existence (made altars to Him..
                        b. The, as all men, knew He was there.
                        c. They were ignorant of Him.
                        d. Later he tells them there was a time when God winked
                                overlooked. that ignorance.
                                1. He had revealed Himself to nation Israel.
                                2. Now through Jesus, revelation is clear to
                                        all the world.
                                3. Now God commands men everywhere  to repent.
                2. He was the creator.
                        a. He was the author of life. He gives life, Vs. 25.
                        b. Their artists had created their gods.
                                1. Their lifeless forms stood all around them.
                        c. What a contrast.
                                1. A lifeless god vs. God the giver of life.
                                2. A created god by man's handiwork. A
                                        creator God.
                3. Lord over heaven and earth.
                        a. He reigns over all His creation.
                        b. If there are opposing forces, they only exist by His toleration 
                           that they might serve His purposes. He can cut them off any  time.
                        c. He sets the boundaries of a man's life, vs. 26.
                4. Does not dwell in temples made with hands.
                        a. Below, Paul was the Agura. Directly below him, the Theseum,  that
                           beautiful Doric temple.
                                1. At the far end, that magnificent temple of Juno.
                                2. Above him the Parthenon, Great temple to
                                        Athene.
                                        a. As massive and grand as these structures
                                         were, they could not contain God.
                                        b. God does not dwell in these places.
                        b. "Neither is worshipped with man's hands."
                                1.  "As though He needed anything."
                5. He is very close to all of us. For in Him we
                        live, and move, and have our being.
                        a. The great need for us to be conscious of the
                                presence of God.
                                1. Our lives are bounded on all sides by God.
                                        He is before me and behind me and His hand
                                        is on me. 
                                2. No escaping His presence-heaven-hell-uttermost parts  of 
                                   the sea.
                        b. Daniel said to BeIshazzar, "The God whose hand your very  breath
                           is..."
                                1. My life being sustained by Him.
                                2. Some fools use that very breath to curse Him or to deny
                                   Him.
                        c. Paul writing to Romans said He was as close as your mouth.
                        d. How foolish to think you can run from God.
                                1. You may have spent years running from Him as hard as  you
                                   could go, but it is but one short step back to Him.
                                        a. God I'm sorry, please forgive me.

II. HERE WAS ATHENS FULL OF IDOLS.
        A. What does it tell us to see a man worship an idol?
                1. Man is aware of God's existence.
                2. Man feels a need to worship God.
                3. Man is ignorant of the true and living God who is the creator and
                        sustainer of life.
                4. There may have been a time when God overlooked this ignorance,  but no more.
                5. God has ordered men to repent because a day of judgment is coming.