Now the passage of the Word of God from which we have read today gives to us the record of Paul's visit to the great city of Athens, and also it gives us the record of the sermon that he preached while standing on Mars Hill in that great city of Athens. Now to narrow down and get the focus correctly, you will find that in the final analysis the main lesson to be gained from this passage of scripture is this the necessity for repentance and followed by a renewed life it seems to me that the days in which we live the great truth of repentance has been neglected There are many other things that are taught, and there may be true things, but the truth of repentance has been neglected. As you read down through this passage then, you'll learn, first of all, that there is a charge brought by Paul against the wise men of Athens. Remember that here he is addressing himself to those learned philosophers. But there are certain things that these men didn't know. And it's the very things that they didn't know that Paul seeks to tell them. Notice then, first of all, there is a charge against these philosophers of Athens. He says, ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. That is, you are given too much to demon worship. I know there are those who like to sort of modify that a little. They like to tone it down and say, well, the trouble is that you're just a little bit too religious. Now, my friend, the thought is this. Their religion was wrong. It is perfectly true. They were... over-obsessed with their religious activities. But the fact is that Paul is seeking to show them that their religion was wrong. In fact, they had a different variety, perhaps, of religions. They didn't all worship alike. They didn't all worship the same idol. And in Athens, with all its variety of religious activities, they didn't know the true God. So therefore he's got to make known to them things pertaining to the eternal living God. Now you see, how did Paul know that? When he brought the charge against them, because that as he went around their city and he took notice of the kind of lives that they lived, and in particular he took notice of their religious activities, He said, For as I pass by and beheld your little shrines, your objects of worship, etc., etc., he says, I found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship. Him declare I unto you. And so they realized there was a God that they didn't know. In spite of all the various idols that they worshipped, they seemed to arrive at this conclusion there may be another God that we don't know. So they erected an altar. And if you had gone to Athens and you saw all the various religious shrines and little altars and idols, if there wasn't one to suit you, you could always go along to this one, to the unknown God. And you could make that one suit you. You could adapt yourself to that particular shrine. But then, says Paul, it's obvious there's a God you don't know. And that's the God you ought to know. That is the God whom I'm going to make known to you. And I'd like you to notice where he starts. He starts with God as the creator and the sustainer of his creation. For he distinctly says, God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things. You see, God is the Creator. Now, in spite of what the world's philosophers may say, in spite of all the things that have been said by so-called scientists, we've got to come back to this point. In the final analysis of all these things, God is the Creator. Now, the Bible doesn't waste time. trying to argue with any person that doesn't believe that. My friend, if you're listening to my voice now, and you don't believe that God is the Creator, if you don't believe that God created the heavens and the earth, it's no use me wasting my time trying to convince you that you're wrong. The fact of the matter is, if you have made up your mind that you will not accept God as the Creator, Remember this, the Bible says the fool has said in his heart, No God, that is no God for me. And if you don't want God as the Creator, my friend, you have pushed God entirely out of your thoughts, no matter what else you may say. For that is exactly where the Bible starts, and you don't know anything about God unless you accept the Bible. And the Bible starts off with this revelation concerning God, that God is the Creator. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Now from there Paul begins his sermon. And he said it was God that made the world and all things therein. God is the creator. Now if God is the creator and he is the sustainer of his creation, then it's obvious that we are absolutely dependent upon God. We depend upon God by night and by day. We are dependent upon God for the very breath that is in our nostrils. If it wasn't for God giving us seed, time and harvest, there would be no food produced in the earth. It's God who gives us the sunshine. It's God who gives us the rain. And so God is not only the creator, but he is the sustainer of his creation. But then he goes a little further. He shows us that the God who is the Creator is also the controller. Now, there is a point in which a lot of people have never yet learned this, and it's a sad thing, for it says in verse twenty-six, And have made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and have determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation. You see, God is not only the Creator, but God is the controller. God controls. Have you ever thought, my friend, that God has controlled not only of His creation, that, you see, controls this old earth as it spins on its own axis every day, and it revolves in its orbit around the sun every year. It never goes out of orbit. It never stops on its own axis. If it did, There would be chaos. Is God who controls the creation? Ah, but listen, from this verse we'll learn that God also has control of the nations. It's God who has set the bounds of their habitations. I wish some of the leaders in the world today could learn this, that God sets the bounds of their habitations. It is God who puts up. It is God who puts down. If you care to go back over world history... You will see the rise of mighty empires and the fall of these same empires. Nations come and nations go. And some nations that were almost unknown a few years ago have come out and become very prominent figures in the world today. So you see, it's God who puts up, it's God who puts down. It's God who controls these things. He has made of one blood all nations of the earth. and he has set the bounds of their habitation. He has determined the times before appointed. Now, because that God is the Creator, and God is the Controller, we should therefore seek the Lord. If happily they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being. As certain also your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring. So we get these points now. He brings the charge against them that with all their knowledge of their philosophies and their sciences, they didn't know the true God. And then again, He presents God as the Creator. Then He presents God as the Controller. Now if God is the Creator and God is the Controller, we should seek that God. But now that brings us on to the very part that we want for our special lesson today. God commands. If God is the creator and God is the controller, then he is the right to give his command. And so God commands. Here's what he says. Under times of this ignorance, God winked at that. God has overlooked. He has overlooked the times of ignorance. But now... He charges or commandeth all men everywhere to repent. You see, God has a right to give His commands. For there's none greater than God. God is absolutely supreme, and God will always have the last word. And since He is the supreme being, He is the right to give the supreme command. and who would dare say no to the supreme commander. Now, therefore, if God commands, and he commands all men, and all men everywhere, to repent, therefore, it is our duty, as God's creatures, to obey God's command. We ought to obey God's command instantly. No time for delay. And we ought to obey God's command thoroughly. That is, whatever he says should be obeyed to the letter. Don't leave anything out. It ought to be obeyed permanently. It's not a matter of saying, I can obey God today and I can disobey Him tomorrow. Of course not. You must obey Him permanently. Then you must obey Him honestly. No pretense. It's no good trying to pretend that you were obedient to God and secretly disobeying. You have to obey God's command honestly. And then it's not a drudge to be obedient to God. We should obey him cheerfully. You see then, my friend, if God gives the command and he commands us to repent, then remember we should obey that command instantly, thoroughly, permanently. and honestly and cheerfully. But now he sets before us an outstanding reason why we should obey his command. We should obey that command to repent because he has appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness. If it was God who first created and set the earth in motion... And it was God who created man and set the human race in motion. It is God who will culminate these things. And the culmination of man's day will be the day when God will judge the world. And he'll judge the world in righteousness. And God has appointed a day in which he will do that very thing. You see, he has set the term. He has appointed a day. There is the certainty of that day, the day of God's reckoning with every one of us. There is a time that He has appointed. Now you cannot push that time back. You cannot get rid of it. You cannot evade it or avoid it. The time is appointed. And the terms for that judgment have been appointed, terms of righteousness. Oh, no lawyer. will be able in that day to put up any excuse. There will be no one there to get you out of the difficulty. Everyone will stand naked and bare as it were before God, and the facts will be made known when the books are opened. The terms are appointed. And you know the judge is already appointed. And here is where God gives to us the confirmation concerning the day of of judgment. He says, he'll judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance. You see, God gives us the confirmation of this. He hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead. Now here is the vital point of this great sermon that Paul preached to the people in Athens. He's reminded them that God calls them to repent. That is where we really started with today's message, reminding you that God commandeth all men everywhere to repent. And if God commands everybody everywhere to repent, he puts his stamp of approval upon us, and he confirms it to us by the fact, that He has raised up the Lord Jesus Christ out from among the dead. You see, the Christ of the Gospel message is not a dead Christ. You don't preach a Christ on a cross. You preach a Christ who was on the cross and then was in the tomb and was raised again from the dead. He is a living Christ, able to save to the very uttermost all who are coming unto God by Him. and God has appointed him to be the judge. Now remember, you will either accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and be saved from all judgment and from all condemnation, or else you reject him and he will be your judge. Do you want him as your Savior or do you want him as your judge? For God now has confirmed this matter to us, in that he has raised him from the dead. Here's another great reason why we ought to obey God's command and why we ought to repent, because that the Christ that's presented to us is a living Christ. And if you've never repented, my friend, you're still rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ. Now then, there's the conclusion to this sermon. When they heard this, there were those that mocked. He went no further than the point of the resurrection. There were some who derided. They mocked. They scoffed at the other idea. There were others who delayed. They said, oh, perhaps we could hear you again about this. But there were those who decided and clave unto the preacher who had told them the great story of salvation. I ask you, my friend, where do you stand today? Have you ever accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior? If not, Remember, the Word of God comes clear to you today. God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. May I remind you as we draw this message to a close that when you go to the Word of God and people departed from God, they were always called to repentance. The greatest of the prophets was John the Baptist. And when he was here, his message to the people was this, Repent, for the kingdom is at hand. The Lord Jesus Christ also called for repentance. When Peter began to preach on his great sermon on the day of Pentecost, he preached again the need for repentance. Then again you'll find that here Paul, in speaking to the men of Athens, he called for repentance. Again you'll find that Paul, in giving a summary of his preaching when he was in the town of Ephesus, he said he preached to them repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that message of repentance was preached, he said, both the Jews and Gentiles alike. When you come to the book of the Revelation, even the messages to the seven churches, it's a call to repentance. As I look around today, I begin to assess the condition of things that's prevailing, the corruption that's prevalent in the world, and the violence that's being manifested. We have corruption and violence on every hand. My friend, where we have corruption and violence and departure from the principles of righteousness and people turning their back upon a holy God, there's a need for repentance. You can see why I'm emphasizing in our message today these words, God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. And he gives us reason, because he has appointed a day in which you judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.