John Gunter: We are finishing finally our series God Revealed. We have had, I think, we had senior Sunday, then we had a couple of different things. And so we're back now to finish this before we go on to to Father's Day next week and so, this series has been about kind of correcting our misunderstandings about who God is. It's not just about facts about God, knowing facts about God, but understanding who God reveals himself to be within Scripture. Because a lot of times people are walking around thinking God is this or that and scripture doesn't say that.
And so over the the weeks we've talked about God is holy, God is just, he is merciful, faithful, and the last sermon we had on it was god is is patient. And so this week, we are talking about something a little bit different. Because I don't know that we that we question it necessarily but not questioning that god is real. We don't question that he's powerful but a lot of times whether we say it or not, we question whether god is near to us. And and so we know he exist.
We know he matters But sometimes we feel like or act like God is far away. We even work that into some of the things we say. Have you ever said or ever heard someone say, I don't want to bother God with this? Yeah? You ever felt that way?
Like, god's got a lot of important things and I understand the the the meaning behind that. You do too but but what that does is kind of put in our mind that god is somehow out there doing other things and with, you know, things in which are are much more important, right? And and so, it kind of in our mind makes it sound like, well, god is out doing things and I'm not necessarily sure where he's at. How many of you have your phone on you all the time? Like to look at it?
How many of you are or know somebody that when you text them, you have no earthly idea when you're going to get a text back? Yeah. I have friends like that, and thank goodness her husband Denton will text me back because you never know. But if you ever text someone and they have those read receipts and every once in a while, you'll go back and see, has that been read yet? Has it been read?
Oh, it has been read. They are alive. And maybe even every once in a while, you'll see those little dots like, oh, they're texting back. Then, the dots go away. And you're left to wonder, okay, well, they are alive.
Something's happening. So, that that brings me a measure of peace but when am I going to get a message back and I think sometimes that is how we experience God. We feel like God is out there. We know he's there. But when are we going to get that response back?
It's almost as if we've sent out a message and heaven has left us on red. What do we do with that? And so this morning, we're asking a question that's sitting under all of our different sermons that we've had on this in this series. But the God that we have been discovering, is he actually near to me? Is he actually available to me?
And so we're gonna go into acts in just a second. But when Paul arrives in Athens, he finds there a city of people who are very religious and it is very apparent that they believe in a lot of things. There are altars everywhere. There are temples to different known gods, named gods, people, gods who they worshiped but they have covered every possibility that they can think of and and among those, Paul finds one that says, to the unnamed god. And he says this in Acts 17 and verse 22.
So Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus said, men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 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. And so Paul looks around and he sees all of this. They have, again, tried to cover all of their bases.
And there's something we we kind of approach this in a different way, like, don't really know God, but I think there's something beautiful about what they've done because they have looked around and they have seen, man, this has taken a lot. Creation is a lot. There must be a lot of gods to kind of manage all the things that we see going on every day. And then to me, there's something beautiful about it. And Paul is exactly right.
You notice that Paul doesn't like get on their case or anything. He he just says, I see that you are very religious. You've got all of these things, but I'm gonna tell you about this unknown God. These Athenians are are reaching towards someone they they they can't really name and Paul says, I'm gonna tell you all about that. But what I think we can do is that we can build that altar to the unknown God when we treat God as as not here, as not present, as not close to Like we we don't understand who he is or exactly what he's doing or he's probably out doing something else.
That gets very close to a term we've talked about before which is deism. Some people act as though deism means what I believe God did was he created the earth. He he kind of created all the systems. He he it's almost like winding up a clock. He wound up the clock.
He wound up the systems of the world and walked away and said, alright, here you go. And so we can treat it like the author to the unknown god, the god that I can see has done some things here but I don't really know anything about him and we can continue to kind of build that that type of altar today if we we think in these terms. And so Paul does not again, he does not mock these people. He doesn't walk by them and and scoff at them. That wouldn't have done any any good, right?
He's trying to reach these people and and and so he is taking this very seriously. He's finding this connection point that they are religious. They recognize that god is doing something in the world And so we need to, alright, be with Paul here. These are religious people, but let me tell you about this altar of the unknown god. And so who is god?
And how does Paul describe him? He said, the God who made the world and everything in it. Being Lord of heaven and earth does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. Paul said, this is the God that you have labeled as the unknown God. They thought it would take a lot of gods to handle everything.
He's also covering that that these gods were also in need of things from man. We had to feed them. We had to make sure they were cared for. What Paul shows is that our god is a god who takes care of all of us. That he has created everything, the lord of heaven and earth.
He is bigger than you even imagine. Then he says, he does not live in temples made by man. That's not to say, you know, temple worship or anything like that. He wasn't speaking against that but what he was saying was is that god, the lord of heaven and earth cannot be contained in the little boxes we build for. You need to wrap your mind around that because that's the picture of god that scripture gives us and so these containers that we build is kind of what the Athenians did.
Alright, you cover this, you cover that. This is what you can do. This is what you can not do. We do the same thing. Because what we think at times is that God is only there in our dramatic moments.
At times, we believe that that God is only present when things feel spiritual. Maybe we're only looking for him at certain times. I had one Sunday, which is interesting. One Sunday, we had a great worship service, and and one of our our sisters here walked over to me after the service and she said, you feel the holy spirit this morning? And I said, yes, I did and what was weird was I was sitting on the front row and thinking, the lord feels like he is in this place this morning and it's not like I feel that all the time.
It's just a normal thing. It like something was different. I don't know why and it's the same Sunday that, you know, she hadn't like done it 28 times at that time. She was right. But sometimes we are only looking for god in particular situations.
And not that that's what we were doing that day, but it because something felt closer or or nearer. But sometimes, we only expect God in certain places. And guess what? A lot of times, that's our fault. Because I want God here, but I don't want him with me when I get out on the road or when I go to work or I do all this other stuff.
I don't necessarily want God then. And we do that with several things in life. Anybody just lost a loved one and and sometimes you think about, well, I hope they're looking down on me now. I would wager to guess that there are only certain times in your life that you want them looking down on you. Yes?
I'm not gonna say much more than that. But I would guess there are some times that you would wish that grandma or grandpa is not looking down on you. Please, now, need my privacy. But we treat God the same way. I want God here, but not there.
Sometimes, we feel like, well, I haven't been faithful enough to even deserve god's nearness. So, I don't I don't even, I'm not even looking for it. I don't necessarily desire it because I don't believe I have earned it and we wouldn't say earn it but that's what we, what we act. And sometimes we feel like God should be available on Sunday morning, but we're not looking for him on Wednesday or Thursday, or during the week when we've got other things going on. And these are the same containers Paul is talking about, that the god that you haven't named Athenians is a god much greater than you've even envisioned.
The lord of heaven and earth not to be contained in temples or or or places made by man. He doesn't need anything from us. I remember they had a view of just we had to sustain them. The the gods were powerful, but only if we could get them the right food at the right time. He said, this God needs nothing.
God is bigger than how you've even viewed him. You ever been I know we're close to the coast here, but you ever been to the the beach before? Been to a pretty beach and grabbed either some water or some sand and taken it back with you? And that's a neat thing. Did that.
And of course, living in Arkansas, we had a much further drive to get towards any sand, you know, or beach that wasn't completely brown. But when we would do that, I remember, you know, picking up part of that. And can you imagine, you know, saying that when you pick up that little piece of sand or that little vial of water and saying, here's the ocean, or here's the beach. Now, that may be representative of those two things. But does that encompass the ocean?
You haven't collected the ocean, you haven't collected the beach, what you have done is just gotten a piece and your your view needs to be a lot bigger. And that's the way I think we need to see God that God is so much bigger than all of this. And Paul doesn't stop with what God does not need. He talks about here what God gives. He says, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
And how often do we overlook God's blessings, the way God gives to you? Take a breath right now. Everybody inhale. Even that was louder than your singing this morning. Now, I would imagine as you sit here this morning, you probably weren't thinking about your breathing unless you have a head cold.
And then you're thinking, well, I wish I could breathe again. Right? Because all it needs to, all that needs to happen is for something to to change or to go away or to get worse for you to go, oh man, I am blessed. Most of the time. Right now, I'm not not so happy.
He said, this is the god who who gives you life. The very thing that you're looking for, the things that you hold in high esteem, all this knowledge, gives you everything, even the very breath that you're about to take. And so God sustaining you is not from a distance. It's not God far off. It is God very close and very distant.
And so that that next breath you take. Thank you, Lord. Can we be thankful for the things God has has given us? And so the God who is too large for any temple is also too large to be as far away as some of us feel he is, as we act like he is a lot of time. God is close.
In verse 26, he said that 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, 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. For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of our your own poets have said, for we are indeed his offspring. Let's let's talk about 27 here. I'll read it one more time.
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. Keep that in our brain this morning. He is not actually far from you. And again, you may not have a problem with that this morning because you you come to church. Right?
You expect to encounter god in some way where where two or three are gathered together in my name, I'll be in the midst of them. Yeah. I'm good with that. But what about in a few minutes? What about later on this week?
What about Saturday evening? Do you feel like God I've God is out there? God, I'll I'll call you on Sunday morning. Or is God still here with you? He is not far from each one of us.
And so when you ask, let me say this. When you ask, where is God? Scripture keeps asking, where could you possibly go that God isn't already there? And sometimes we feel like, where is God, don't we? I'll tell you this, that's okay.
Go read Psalms, they had same questions. God, where are you? The scripture keeps saying, where could you go that God won't be right there in your midst? He is there. He is close to you.
In Psalm 34 and verse 18, it says, the lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. That is the god we serve, the god that is near, the God that is right there in those difficult circumstances. But I would also want to say that in my own life, it is in these circumstances where I'm looking for God more too. Yes? Regular day, nothing's going on, all normal.
I may not be looking for God in the same way when I'm sitting in the hospital and Evan's having trouble breathing. Yeah? I might be a little more in tune with what God's doing or what I'm looking for from God. And so the Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves the Christian spirit. Paul has just told us, God is near you all the time.
He is near. He is right there with each one of us. James four and verse eight. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.
Draw near to God, he will draw near to you. Now I know understand the the second part of that sounds a little rough. Right? It sounds like, oh, woah, hold up. Draw near to God, that sounds wonderful.
Cleanse your hand, sinners, and purify your heart, you double minded. I should start every sermon like that. Just red faced. Some of y'all missed that. You used to be yelled at every Sunday and maybe maybe yell at you.
But but what it says, what the scripture is saying that god is there. All you have to do is draw near to him. He's there for you. He is near. Turn to him.
Just like we talked about the the parable of the prodigal son. Right? The prodigal son goes away. He's just he's he's rehearsed this. Oh, if I'll just say this to my dad and and come back, man, maybe he'll take me back.
Before he even gets to go through his lame speech he's created, his dad is running toward him which was a big deal. Welcoming him back. That is the picture of god that Jesus wants you to have. That's why he told the story. And so when James says draw near to god and he will draw near to you, that's what he's talking about.
God desires to be there with you. Often, it is just us choosing to push him away or to put him in a container where God does not fit and he certainly does not belong. Because God desires to be in every single part of your life. The problem is we've only allowed him into a certain part. I want to baptize this part here when I'm in church on Sunday, not ready to baptize some other parts of my life.
And so God desires to be near, but I've kept him at arm's length. Draw near to God, he will draw near to you. And so I want you to one more thing. Just saw in my notes. One more point from this.
It says cleanse your hands, you sinners, purify your hearts, you double minded. It is a challenge. But what you don't see in the parable of the prodigal son or even this is that you have to have your life perfect to come to him. Do you notice that? Sometimes it feels like and I have people say either I'm gonna be baptized in the future once I get everything together, or I'm gonna come to God come back to God once I get everything together.
And the idea is that I can somehow make it perfect and then come to God and say, here we go. That is not God of scripture. First of all, God has already given the sacrifice for you in the form of his son so that you couldn't do it in the first place, but God did it for you. And he is not waiting on you to be perfect. Remember in the story of the prodigal son, it was the second son that was upset about everything.
Right? I've been here the whole time. The father had no issue. The son turned towards him, and the father ran to him. Period.
So that is the God we serve. You ever been lost in a store away from your parents? Or parents, have you ever lost one of your kids? You don't have to raise your hand. Anybody ever played in a clothes rack growing up?
One minute, you're having a blast, next minute, terror, because I don't know where anybody went. Right? And sometimes I think that's that's our relationship with God. We look around and we think, God, where are you? And in that moment of I'm lost, I don't know what's going on.
If you're a kid, you're going, did my parents leave the store? Have they forgotten that I exist? But what does it feel like when you finally see them? And exhale again and everything is right. Something has happened.
And and I think that's what we can experience with with god is we may think at times like being lost in the store that I don't I don't know. In your mind, you may think they're they're still near they gotta be in the store. They surely didn't leave me. I'm too loud to be left. Right?
But in that moment of finding them, everything is made right. God is never as far away as we feel. We are not lost and he's run off somewhere. God is right there. So what does it look like when we actually live in the reality that God is near?
Not just to believe it as a as some sort of fact, but to live as if god is with us. That might be challenging for you if you've if you're used to putting god here on Sundays and there somewhere else. So now go from this place this morning and think, oh, god is always near me. What does that look like to actually live like that? In Jeremiah 23 verse 23, Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord.
Am I a God at hand and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him, declares the Lord. Do I not feel heaven and earth, declares the Lord. So how, in light of that scripture, do you feel like you're going to be able to put God in a box on Thursday and take him out again on Sunday and feel like that's going to work out for you? God fills everything.
He is making a case right here for his own nearness to you. I'd imagine he would say that to the psalmist who's saying, God, you're far from me. What what do I do? He says, do I not fill heaven and earth? Am I not that big?
I cover all of it. And so this should change how we approach god. This should change how we say things like, well, I don't wanna bother god. Do you ever come across a scripture where god says, not right now. I'm busy.
The only time that that kinda comes up is you remember the the account of Elijah? When Elijah's going against all these other prophets of Baal and and and he's like as they're trying to get Baal to respond to him, he's like, well, maybe he's busy. Maybe he's out using the restroom. But as soon as Elijah calls on god, God responds. The problem for us is we're not calling on God.
We pick and choose. We decide when we want and when we don't want it. But God, our God, is a God too big for all of that, and he is near. God is holy. God is just.
God is merciful. God is faithful, and he is patient. Our God is all of those things, and he is right here with us. And thank God that he is. Yes?
Because I need him. I need him every day of the week when I feel like I need him and when I feel like I don't. If we're sitting in church, if we're sitting in bible class, or if I'm sitting at a different place encountering a different person, or even the people that cut me off in traffic. Right? God is near.
And so this series has been answering the question each week. It's not simply is God who he says he is. We've been trying to find out who scripture says he is. And the question I'm going to ask you this morning is, will you stop relating to the God you've made up in your head and start relating to the God who has revealed himself through scripture? You have not been searching for a God who is hard to find.
God has told you, I am here. Do I not fill heaven and earth? God has been revealed to us in scripture. If we will just turn to him, he is there with us. There's something comforting about that.
But again, I remember from years ago, I sat in a bible class and one of my buddies said, just right on this topic, he said, you know, I wish it didn't take something happening in my life for me to kind of wake up and seek God in the same way. I wish it wasn't, you know, a health issue. I wish it wasn't a job loss. I wish it wasn't something that that came up in life that I turned to God. Can we be people that turned to God before the thing?
We live life. We understand the storm is going to come, but can we be a people who seek God every day of our life? Because that's what he desires. That is god's love for you that he wants you to be there. He wants you to ask him for those things that even you think are silly that maybe he's too busy.
There are more important things. God loves you. He can handle it all. And so this morning, we're just gonna ask you, are you following God? Have you turned to him?
Have you drawn near to him? We have a time of invitation. We'd love to pray with you. If you've not been baptized into his name, we'd love to see that today. We can make that happen and watch you begin your walk with him.