And Some Sneered!

this Paul is speaking to these Athenian
philosophers on what is also known as
Mars heel and as he is expounding God as
the Creator God as opposed to their
idols they listen pretty carefully now
listen carefully that is until he starts
talking about the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead they said again to
verse 32 when they heard about the
resurrection of the dead some of them
sneered but others said we want to hear
you again on this subject notice there's
a two-fold reaction there are some who
are saying we want to hear you again
those would likely be the Stoics the
stoics were a group of philosophers who
had developed a philosophy of life that
says in face of much suffering in the
world don't become emotionally engaged
learn to rationally think your way
through it they were also people who
believed to some degree in life after
death so they were interested in hearing
more about this teaching of the Apostle
Paul but there's another whole group
there and those are the Epicureans the
Epicureans or the followers of a fellow
by the name of epicurious and they
approached the painful situations of
life in this way they said go through
life as pleasantly and as comfort filled
as you can eat drink and be merry for
tomorrow we die they were materialists
they didn't believe in the life that is
to come and they likely are the group
here that's sneered they seem
eard at the notion of the resurrection
they pulled up their noses they made fun
of the Apostle Paul's message and the
reason for that I suspect is that there
was nothing within their framework there
was nothing in their realm of thinking
that provided them with a framework of
resurrection and if you think about it
if you live by the natural senses all
the ones that were born with then
resurrection doesn't really make any
sense I was thinking about that
interestingly enough week before last
when we did two committal services at
the cemetery and one of the liturgies
that we use in the committal service are
these words in the sure and certain hope
of the Resurrection to eternal life
through our Lord Jesus Christ we commend
to Almighty God our brother our sister
and commit his or her body to the ground
earth to earth ashes to ashes dust to
dust in the shore in certain hope of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead what gives us that shore in certain
home well it is the promises of
Scripture and the testimony to the
resurrection of Jesus and if you and I
did not have that then we ourselves
would be hard for us to believe in the
resurrection of Jesus Christ wouldn't
you think I remember at one point
looking out over the cemetery and you
see all these gravestones of course and
I got to thinking about what the Bible
promises about the day of the
resurrection all these graves opening up
all the dead rising to meet the Lord in
the air all the scattered ashes all over
the world being reconstituted to give us
resurrection bodies and I said to myself
I wasn't for scripture I wouldn't
believe it either because there is
nothing in our experience
that prepares us for the life that is to
come so in the time that remains there
are three lessons that I want to draw
from this skepticism of the Epicureans
towards the resurrection of skepticism
that is increasingly being shared all
over the world by unbelieving people
especially in North America lesson
number one our natural minds are not
enough to lead us to a full
understanding of the truth let me say it
again our natural minds are not enough
to lead us to a full understanding of
the truth think this through with me a
little bit these philosophers in Athens
were the brightest minds of their day
and as they contemplated the issues of
suffering and pain in the world they
could not visualize that there would be
life after death and that disease and
illness and pain would have been
conquered when they use their natural
senses all they could conclude is the
life is hard we're all going to die and
we better learn how to cope with that as
best we can the Bible puts at this lake
the man without the spirit does not
accept the things that come from the
Spirit of God for they are foolishness
to him he cannot understand them because
they are spiritually discerned doesn't
matter how smart you are you cannot
begin with your natural mind to
understand the life that is to come any
more than these two twins in the womb
have no frame of reference to even
contemplate what life might be like
after delivery now that said that
doesn't mean that your mind doesn't
God has given us glimpses of the life
that is to come but I like about the
little video is is the conversation
about if you're silent you can hear your
that there are glimpses that maybe
there's more to what we are experiencing
today and even unbelieving people have
those moments of transcendence when they
say there's got to be more to life than
this the Apostle Paul puts it this way
he says what may be known about God is
plain to them that is to unbelievers
because God has made it plain to them
for since the creation of the world
God's invisible qualities his eternal
power and divine nature have been
clearly seen being understood from what
has been made so that men are without
excuse what Paul is saying there and
you've heard me caught this before even
the blind is pagan by looking at the
beauty of nature by the structure of
creation ought to be able to deduce
there must be somebody who stands behind
creation who has made it and who we are
to seek after Paul in Acts chapter 17
here at the areopagus follows the same
argument when he says that God created
all people from one people and then
designated places where they were all
supposed to live and then he goes on to
say this in verse 27 God did this so
that men would seek Him and perhaps
reach out for him and find him though he
is not far from each one of us then he
goes on to say and that won't be on the
screen in him we live and move and have
our being as some of your own poets have
said we are his offspring you see he's
arguing that even in pagan society there
was some intuitive understanding
who God is and what God wants even the
greatest pagan to do is pay attention to
those signs and to seek after God
because if they will seek after God he
says anybody that seeks me will find me
the tragedy of the human race of course
is that we're not interested in seeking
after him or finding him because he's
too threatening he is too scary he
limits our freedom and so Romans 1 tells
us that it is by their wickedness that
people suppress the truth you have to
work hard that you know that you have to
work hard at being an unbeliever you
have to shut out the light of God's
revelation in nature you have to shut
out the light of God's revelation
through your conscience you have to shut
out the light of revelation that comes
at you through scripture and with
blinders on just blindly go on and try
to figure out life on your home I don't
care how smart you are you'll not figure
out God you'll not figure out the
spiritual world and you surely will not
figure out the age that is to come
because it is too far removed from what
you have experienced in your life that's
the first lesson we want to draw from
this story the second lesson is that to
understand truth we must come to faith
in Jesus Jesus put it this way John
chapter 14 verse 6 you've heard it many
times he said I am the way and the truth
and the life no one comes to the Father
except by me what does it mean to
believe in Jesus well it means to
believe that God sent him into the world
from outside the world that he lived our
life died our death because he was
without sin he was raised from the dead
sits at the right hand of God in glory
and the promise
the gospel is that when we come to him
admitting that we cannot fix ourselves
we cannot fix the world only Jesus can
and we give ourselves to him as best as
we know how then we are what the Bible
calls saved and what happens then is
that God gives us His Holy Spirit and
the Holy Spirit opens our spiritual eyes
so that we can see spiritual realities
and believe spiritual realities that we
cannot get our head around in the
natural Jesus puts it this way John
chapter 16 verse 13 but when he that is
the spirit of truth comes he will guide
you into all truth he will not speak on
his own he will speak only what he hears
and he will tell you what is yet to come
and then Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 2
11 and 12 he says no one knows the
thoughts of God except the Spirit of God
and then he goes on to say we have not
received the spirit of the world but the
Spirit which is from God that we may
understand there's that word again that
we may understand what God has freely
given us now why is that important it's
important because I know all kinds of
people who have difficulty surrendering
their lives to Jesus because they insist
on understanding everything first they
want to understand the Bible first they
want to understand the mysteries of life
first they want to understand the
mysteries of God first and yes there is
a place for inquiry there is a place for
understanding the fundamentals of the
gospel but you know all the thief on the
cross knew you when he hung there next
to Jesus was that he was in big trouble
and he deserved it Jesus hung in the
cross didn't as
David and it was Jesus that was going to
have to rescue him for the life that was
to come and jesus said to him today you
will be with me in paradise sometimes we
make it a lot more complicated than it
needs to be but it is after coming to
faith which is always a leap that says
Lord I don't understand everything can't
figure it all out but I know a little
bit about who Jesus is and you've worked
faith in my heart and I'm going to trust
him and I'm going to make that leap so
come into my life give me your spirit
help me to live for you forgive my many
sins and bring me to glory then you get
the Holy Spirit and guess what happens
when you get the Holy Spirit things
begin to make sense because now you have
eyes to see years to hear the scriptures
come alive songs begin to come alive the
Christian life begins to make sense and
through the Holy Spirit we even begin to
see what there is in the age that is too
common again this won't be on the screen
but a verse that we've often quoted
around here it's a quotation that Paul
makes out of the Old Testament what I
haven't seen do you remember it say it
with me what I has not seen ear has not
heard the heart of man hasn't even
imagined what God has prepared for those
who love him he has what revealed to us
by His Holy Spirit he has revealed to us
by His Holy Spirit we are not meant to
wander around in the dark Jesus is the
light of the world you don't have to be
brilliant you don't have to be good you
don't have to be educated the simplest
believer will receive that kind of
revelation from God that enables us to
fix our
eyes on that which is to come so number
one our brains aren't good enough to
figure it out number two we have to come
to faith in Jesus who promises us the
gift of His Holy Spirit and then number
three the third lesson I want to draw
from this is that the resurrection of
Jesus Christ get this it changes
everything it changes everything about
who you and I live think that through
with me a little bit let's suppose the
resurrection of Jesus Christ didn't
happen how would your life today be
different if Jesus had not been raised
from the dead well it'd be different in
many many ways because first of all it
would mean there is no life that is to
come if there is no life that is to come
guess what then this life is all there
is and if this life is all there is what
do you think is your greatest priority
and your greatest value well I'll tell
you you will either become an epicurean
or you'll become a stoic if you're an
epicurean you start living for pleasure
you start avoiding paying you become a
materialist you believe that this life
is all there is to live and so you say
as Paul does later on in 1 Corinthians
15 if the dead are not raised let us eat
and drink for tomorrow we die or you
become a stoic and a stoic as I said
before looks at the problems of life and
he says you don't want them to drag you
emotionally all over the map
you have to develop a stoicism that's
where the word stoic comes from you have
to learn to use your mind and try to
stay ahead of the game and life so that
you can figure it all out and hopefully
you will avoid suffering and you will
avoid pay and so when there is no
resurrection if you don't believe in a
resurrection then you live obviously for
the here and now and making the here and
now as comfortable and as prosperous and
as good a life as you can possibly make
it that becomes your ultimate priority
and suffering is to be eschewed at all
costs and because the nature of life is
that the more we feed the flesh as the
Bible calls it the more we fall into its
grip and the more deceived we become and
so we live today in North American
society in a culture that is
increasingly in a wholesale fashion
rejecting the life that is to come
rejecting the authority of God rejecting
the promises of God we're leaving by
what we know and by what we experience
and were sliding to hell in a handbasket
adopting values the 10 20 30 years ago
nobody would have believed could be part
of today's culture if you're following
the news North Caroline is in big
trouble because they just passed
legislation forbidding gender-neutral
bathrooms and the whole world in big
business is up in arms because that's a
forbidden value in this day and age and
the issue of course is that transgender
people should be allowed to use whatever
locker rooms or whatever bathrooms that
they want to use despite the girls or
guys biologically that are present in
that particular situation you have a
situation where in this country are now
seriously debating euthanasia because
our doctor assisted euthanasia because
at all costs we must
pain we do not see I read them to a
purpose and paint give us that what I'm
saying when you reject the life that is
to come and the fact that biblically
speaking this life is a preparation for
the life that is to come then you must
avoid at all costs anything that is
inconvenient and you must try to get
through life as securely and as
comfortably as you possibly can and if
you think that describes a lot of North
America including a lot of North
American Christians you're absolutely
right which is why we are so powerless
in terms of being the salt of the earth
and the light of the world but now let's
turn that on its head what if there is a
resurrection what if there is life after
delivery what if Jesus really rose from
the dead how would that change your life
today if you really truly and honestly
believe it well it would change it dress
the clay on every level let me just
rattle a few things off real quick here
number one it means there is a God
because nobody can raise himself from
the death even Jesus was raised from the
dead by the father if there is a God
then he probably created you don't you
think you're not the product of some
mindless evolutionary process that
brought you into being for absolutely no
purpose whatsoever now there is a God
who designed you as we saw in Good
Friday who knows you who's got a plan on
a purpose for your life and who number
three has the right to tell you how to
live imagine that somebody telling me
how to live somebody who tells me that
my thoughts my feelings my ideas might
be wrong even worse yet somebody who can
hold me accountable on that final day of
judgment see I strongly suspect
but these Athenian philosophies were
bent out of shape of other resurrection
not just because they couldn't get their
head around what a resurrection would
look like but also because resurrection
includes a day of judgement listening
into how Paul puts it in verse 31 he
that is God has set a day he will judge
the world with justice by the man he has
appointed he has given proof of this to
all men by a resident by raising him
from the dead from one end of scripture
to the other there is a teaching that
when this life is finished everybody
that has ever lived is going to stand
before the judgment seat of Christ and
they're going to be held accountable for
what they have done we read in 2nd
Corinthians chapter 5 10 we must all
appear before the judgment seat of
Christ that each may receive whatever is
due to him for the things work done
while in the body whether good or bad
and Paul in Romans to says the same
thing God will give to each person
according to what he has done to those
who by persistence in doing good seek
glory honor and immortality he will give
eternal life and for those who are self
seeking there you have that word again
it's all about me those who are self
seeking and who reject the truth and
follow evo there will be wrath and anger
you see not only does God hold us
accountable but the resurrection will
also be the day of vindication for his
people one of the biggest issues that we
face in life as God's people have
historically is what about all the
injustice is
that happen I get mistreated the rich
get richer the poor get poorer
historically why do the wicked prosper
why do the righteous sufferer and as
I've said many times a lot of people
reject faith because they can't square
the realities of their life's experience
with the promises of Scripture and
unless you believe in the life that is
to come unless you believe that there is
coming a day of judgment when everybody
is going to be gathered before the
throne of God and rewards will be dished
out and punishments will be dished out
you cannot possibly live as a Christian
and keep your faith in the world because
in the short term life is not fair and
there's a lot of us that have cried into
our pillows at night and cried out to
God and said God where are you why
aren't you doing something about it and
nothing happens and our hearts shut down
and we walk away if not literally from
God we closed off our hearts but see
Jesus was not vindicated while he hung
on the cross was he in fact what did he
cry out would he hung on the cross my
God my God why have you forsaken me that
was the cry of all gods a Benden people
throughout all generations and it was a
cry that went unheard and embodies all
our tears in all our pain but whereas
job's wife and that kind of situation
cancelled into curse God and die Jesus
did not lose his faith because how does
he end father into your hands I commit
my spirit and it was pretty dark I'm
good friday wasn't it it looked like God
had forsaken him it looked like the
enemy's a triumph and all the Devils in
hell were dancing on the grave of Jesus
because he was finally out of the way
until that Easter Saudi warning and you
know all health
shook went up from the grave he who rose
with that mighty triumphs or his foes
and defeated death and hell once and for
all amen and in that resurrection lies
our resurrection and in his
glorification lies our glorification
because there is a day coming when God
was bottled up here every tier who has
seen every injustice that has ever been
accomplished in and who has heard every
grown of your heart about how unfair
your husband is or how unfair your wife
is or how miserable your kids are or how
nasty your boss is or how crooked the
world is he's got it all written down
and he is going to judge the world the
Bible says with righteousness that is
going to scare the living daylights out
of the unbelieving world because when
they see him coming in glory they're
going to cry out for the mountains to
fall upon them and the rocks to cover
them to hide them from the wrath of him
who sits upon the throne but for those
who find their safety and their security
in Jesus Christ it will be an incredible
day of deliverance when the father says
come beloved of my father inherit the
kingdom that has been prepared for you
from before the foundation of the world
wow that's Easter that's resurrection
one more quick thing and that will line
this up there's still a sixth
life-changing fact produced by the
resurrection of Jesus and that is that
you and I tap into new power to love God
above all and our neighbor as we love
ourselves why is it
they even among God's people we have
such a hard time really putting God
first we have such a hard time really
turning the other cheek when we get
injured or people offend us how come
even in her most intimate moments it's
so often about me and out about the
other person well the Bible says it's
because we share Adams nature and Adams
nature as Paul points out in 1
Corinthians chapter 15 is of the earth
we move towards seen as the sparks fly
upward we are by nature children of
Wrath and Paul puts it this way as was
the earthly man so are those who are of
the earth and is the man from heaven so
also are those who are of heaven and
just as we have borne the likeness of
the earthly man so shall we bear the
likeness of the band from heaven what
gives us confidence to face the future
when the future is increasingly dark
what gives us confidence that he who
began a good work in us will bring it to
completion in the day of Jesus Christ we
have been joined to Christ in his death
we have been joined to Christ in His
resurrection we are seated with him in
heavenly places and the resurrection
life of Jesus that death could not old
doubt God has poured out into your heart
and into my heart and as we cultivate
that and we seek to move forward with
him life happens and we have the power
to say no to the crud say no to all the
things that I want to pull us down and
we can say yes to the things that aren't
gone that's what makes the gospel good
news and all we have to do to experience
that is to own him by faith
and to say Lord as you give me grace I
will follow you and I will obey you and
as we do his life transforms us from
glory to glory until one day one day
after delivery we're going to stand
before him imagine that I'm going to
stand before him without wrinkle or
blemish or spot and for all eternity
we're going to enjoy life that we can't
even begin to imagine even saw maranatha
you