The King's Church in Ilford
The following is the text of the talk given on 1st November 2009 by Robin Hawkins
"The Unknown God"
Are you a Boomer? A Buster? Perhaps an X-er, or Y-er? These are some of the many cultures in our society. Generation Y are those who've grown up never knowing life without the Internet. After Generation Y, it gets even more confusing! It's said our culture changes every two years now. Keeping up with those changing patterns of thought and behaviour is getting harder and harder. And yet - some things don't seem to change very much. Nearly 2000yrs ago, a missionary called Paul stood on Mars Hill in Athens, and spoke to a group of intellectuals and philosophers whose culture is still having an effect on ours today!
They were a well-educated and prosperous society. There were people who believed in many gods, one God, or no god at all. They were superstitious - this is a belief for which there is no foundation, no reason to believe. But just in case they'd missed one, in their temple to all the gods (The Parthenon), they erected an altar to The Unknown God.
Our society is not very different, is it? We invest in education, and are comparatively prosperous - even though we may not feel it very much at the moment! We have people who believe in many gods, one God, or no god at all. All of us are people of faith. Even those who tried to convince us a year or so ago that "There is probably no God..." couldn't say so with certainty. They can't prove that there's no God, so they have to make their claim by faith! Actually they've got more faith than I have, because it takes more faith to believe that God doesn't exist than to believe that He does! There's more evidence for the existence of God than there is for His not existing.
So Paul speaks into this intellectual culture that is hedging its bets by acknowledging the existence of the God about who they know nothing! Nada!
(Read Acts 17:22-31)
The God of the Bible is the Creator of this world and the whole universe. He is unique and all-powerful. He is righteous and holy. He is currently creating a people for Himself upon whom He can pour His love and kindness. He started doing this about 4000yrs ago, and not He is not far from the completion of this work.
The question all of us have to ask ourselves is:
"Do we want to belong to this People of God?"
"Do we want to be identified as God's people?"
"Do we want to find God and know Him?"
He's not far from any of us (v.27). You've got to want Him though. If you do, you'll find Him. God actually wants us to seek Him, and reach out for Him. He's only a prayer away. If you will call out to Him with a sincere heart, just see how He answers. It may not be in the way you expect, but He will respond.
But we live in a culture that has turned its back on the Living God, and people aren't calling out to Him, as they once did. There's a reason for this, and it's one that Moses foresaw 3500yrs ago (Some things never change!) In Deut 6:10-12, he warns the People of God.... (read it). The fact is: when things are going well for us, we feel we don't need God, and we neglect and forget Him. The last time this nation called a Day of Prayer was in 1940 at the crisis of Dunkirk. This nation faced imminent invasion, and our backs were against the wall. God, in His kindness and mercy, heard our prayers, and delivered us. After that war, this nation started to prosper again. In the 1960's, we had the Prime Minister, Harold MacMillan, telling us that "we'd never had it so good!"; and John Lennon boasting that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus!
How quickly we forget God once the crisis is passed. In Proverbs 30:7-9, a wise old man called Agur prayed this prayer... (read it).
It may be that God has been having mercy on us by answering that prayer for us as a nation. Recession is painful, times are hard, and what is a safe investment anymore? The things we had put our confidence in have been shown to be decidedly dodgy. Politicians don't have the answers, so who can we trust?
God sometimes allows these things to happen in order to get our attention. He's waiting for us to come to our senses, and turn back to Him, seeking Him again. He is the only One we can fully rely on. He is the God who made this universe. We can certainly trust Him to sort out the tangled mess of our lives. What He says will happen - will happen. It's a cast-iron certainty. The combined efforts of the most powerful men on earth are not enough to thwart the purposes of God.
So when Paul says God has set a day when He will judge the world with justice - through Jesus, the man He has appointed, you can be sure that day will come. We may not like the idea, but we are all accountable to God for our actions, along with every thought and idle word spoken. One day we will each have to stand before God, on trial for our lives, when we will have to take responsibility for every evil deed we've done, every lie, every lustful thought, and every selfish motive. Who's going to be able to stand on that day?
Only one group of people. Those who've been obedient to God's command to repent now (v.30) - before it's too late. Those who have put their trust in Christ Jesus, and His saving sacrifice on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.
They are the ones who will hear those amazing words: "Penalty already paid. Case dismissed." That could be you. The choice is yours. Let me encourage you to do business with God today. Repent and turn from everything you know to be wrong in your lives. Put your trust in Jesus to save you from this judgement. For there is no other name under heaven by which we may be saved. So this is your day, your day to become right with God.
I was reading yesterday how God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way ahead of Jesus. Now kings used to do that - send a herald ahead to a city to warn them their King was coming. Now Jesus is the King of Kings, but He was also the one who rode humbly into Jerusalem on a donkey with no big fanfare. So it seemed out of character for Jesus to be sending a herald ahead for His benefit. It is more likely to be for our benefit. Supposing the queen dropped in on us one day. We'd be thinking, "I wish she could have given us some warning she was coming! That's what Jesus was doing - giving us time to get ready for Him. John the Baptist told the people to get ready for their King - and they did.
Now He sent us, ordinary Christians, to tell people to get ready. The King is coming. Of that you can be sure! Will you be ready for Him when He comes? I do pray you will be. Please, make sure of it today!
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Psalm 19:1