I invite you this morning to open your Bibles with me to Acts 17. Acts 17. We're going to be looking again at a passage that we have made reference to often in this series of sermons that I have been preaching on evangelism. As we begin to look at what is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In this series of sermons, again, I want to put it all in its context. I won't do this every week. I want to put it in its context as we have been studying evangelism and we ask the question, why is evangelism so difficult? And it is indeed because of the condition of the unbeliever. The unbeliever who is a sinner, enslaved in his will, hostile in his affections, spiritually ignorant in his mind, captive by Satan to do his will. blind, helpless, spiritually dead. It is because of the spiritual condition of the unbeliever that evangelism is so difficult, but yet we know that it is not beyond the work of our God to open blind eyes and to save sinners, and we are indeed testimonies of that grace. We ask the question, what is my responsibility in evangelism? Well, it is to live and to speak the gospel. As those who have come to know, believe and love the gospel because of God's grace in saving us, we are to be witnesses for the gospel by how we live and by then speaking the truth. Both are necessary. We look specifically on Father's Day at our responsibility to evangelize our children, to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, because there is no better place that we can live and then speak the gospel over a period of time than in our own homes. Then we saw our responsibility to protect the gospel, the church. Every member of the body of Christ, every saved person, every believer, along with its pastors, the church, We're all responsible to protect the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to defend it, to contend for it, to guard it, to preserve it. Then we looked on the 4th of July at evangelistic praying, and in particular, in 1 Timothy 2, at praying for those in authority over us and praying that they would come to know the one mediator between God and man. And then we looked at the general call and the effectual call of God. The general call being what we are responsible for, that is the proclamation of the Gospel. And then what God is indeed responsible for, effectually calling out of darkness into light those who belong to Him. And that we cannot and should not confuse the two or we will be aberrant in our evangelism. We're responsible to proclaim the Gospel, but God is the One who through the proclamation of the Gospel makes men alive and calls them effectually to Himself. And then we began to look at unbiblical and faulty views of evangelism. And I gave you a statement that is indeed unbiblical, those who would say the method of evangelism doesn't matter. And we saw how indeed in the Scriptures that the method does matter, that it must be consistent with the God-ordained means of evangelism, that the method must be consistent with the holy character of God, with the sober nature of the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And then we looked at another unbiblical view of evangelism, and that view is this, that people don't have to know or understand much of the Gospel in order to be saved, and therefore we have the abridged Gospel, the abbreviated Gospel today. Things like, try Jesus, or Jesus wants to make you happy. Things that really aren't the Gospel at all. We saw how in the Scriptures, indeed in Acts chapter 17, at the beginning of that chapter, how Paul reasoned from the Scriptures. He opened the Scriptures to them and explained it to them. We must teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We're not trying to see how little we can share. We are indeed seeking to teach the whole counsel of God. And then we looked at two unbiblical extremes last week. Isolation from the world, on the one hand, and identification with the world's sinful way of life, on the other hand. Now this morning we're going to be asking questions like this. What do we communicate with people when we share the gospel? What do we need to teach people in order to be a witness? What is the content of the gospel? And in this last few weeks of looking at this subject, we want to answer those kinds of questions and we'll begin this morning. Now here are my reasons for for these kinds of questions. Here's my reason for answering. What is the content of the Gospel? First of all, it is that those who are not saved might hear the Gospel. There are some of you here this morning who have not been saved by His grace, and one of my goals indeed is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to you, to teach to you what the Bible says about who God is, about who you are, about who Jesus Christ is, and about grace. My second reason for preaching on these things is that those of you who are saved by the grace of God might rejoice in the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. We should never tire of hearing of these things. And so my desire is that we would leave over these next several weeks as we talk about these things from the Word of God, leave as believers rejoicing in the salvation that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. My last reason for preaching on these things is this, that those of you who are saved might be taught and trained in evangelism in order that you might be more effective witnesses for Jesus Christ. A lot of people ask, well, what do I share? How do I evangelize? If the gospel is to be taught, what is it that I am to teach? Where do I begin? And so part of my goal in these next several weeks is indeed to help train and teach you in these things that you might be more effective witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ in teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so the question that is typically asked, where do I begin? Well, in order for a person to be saved, he has to understand something about what the Bible teaches about God, He must understand something about what the Bible teaches about man, what the Bible teaches about Christ, and what the Bible teaches about grace. And so, really, to put it in an outline form in your mind so that you can say, okay, here are the categories, at least, when I say, where do I begin? What do I need to share? These are the categories. They need to understand something about God, about man, about Christ, and about grace. In Acts 17, Paul began with God. People often will ask, well, where do I begin? And I would say simply, you begin with God. And so in Acts 17, verse 24, when Paul is before the Areopagus in Athens, he begins with God. The God who made the world and all things in it. since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands." Nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things. And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, that perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and exist As even some of your own poets have said, for we also are His children. Paul began with God. And that's where we begin in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now again, there was a time in which people understood and had a little more biblical knowledge about who God was. But we live in a time in which people are biblically illiterate, they do not understand what the Bible says about the true and living God, and so in the culture we live in, especially the time we live in, we must begin with God. Why? Because people are ignorant of the true and living God. This was the case as Paul stood before the Areopagus. In verse 17, it says he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles. He's there teaching, again reasoning, discussing these things. And it says in verse 18, and also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. And some were saying, what would this idle babbler wish to say? Others, he seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities. So you can see that they're not understanding these things. This is new to them. It says, because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus saying, may we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming. It was new indeed again in verse 20. They speak of strange things to their ears. They were ignorant of the true and living God. Verse 23, they had this inscription, to an unknown God, and so Paul says, therefore what you worship in ignorance, a lack of knowledge, He now is going to proclaim to them. People today are not unlike those in Athens who needed to be taught about the true and living God, and that is why we begin with God. The true biblical gospel is strange and new to most people that you will speak to. The God of the Bible is largely unknown even as it was in Athens in that day. People have a caricature of God in their minds. And so what they need is the light of God's written revelation of Himself to shine upon them. And so we begin with God because of the ignorance about who He really is according to His Word. I mean, why begin with God? Well, another reason is because the Gospel is God-centered and not man-centered. The Gospel is first and foremost about God. And we really can't understand anything about ourselves or even Christ and why He came or grace unless we understand first something about God from the Scriptures. The Bible itself begins with, in the beginning, God. The gospel is about the glory of God. Too many people have made it about man and have started with man to varying degrees. And what usually happens is what is said even about man is usually distorted. You're a beautiful person. God loves you. God wants you to be happy. God needs you. God wants your fellowship. Most people, even in mentioning God, really mention Him only as He is subservient to us, the creature. Can you imagine beginning an evangelistic conversation like this? God exists for you. But indeed, that is practically what is shared in much evangelism today. Even John 3.16. has become a man-centered message to most who use it in evangelism. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Somehow, the man-centered gospel has twisted even that verse and made it about man, when indeed it is about God and His love that led Him to send a Savior. It magnifies the glory of God in loving sinners, not man. And so we must be God-centered, not man-centered in our evangelism. And so from the beginning, you understand as we talked about last week, we're already culturally irrelevant. When you start with God, you can't be culturally relevant. We are indeed culturally incongruent. Why? Because the world is characterized by the boastful pride of life. 2 Timothy 3 verses 2-4 describes men in this way, lovers of self, lovers of money. Why? So they can spend it on their own pleasures. boastful, arrogant. It speaks of them being conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. See, this is what characterizes the world. And so when you come and you say, it's really about God, not about you, you're already culturally irrelevant. And the only way, if you want to have cultural relevance, the only way you can do that is to say God exists for you. Because the culture is dominated Indeed, by the God of this world and the sinful, fallen hearts of human beings." People want to talk about themselves, not about God. But our Gospel must begin with God. It is God-centered, not man-centered. So why begin with God? People are ignorant about the true and living God. The Gospel is God-centered, and in fact, it is the Gospel of God. There are several passages that speak of the Gospel in that way. We talk about it being the good news of salvation. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the good news about Jesus Christ. But in several passages, like Mark 1.14, Romans 1.1, Romans 1.15 and 16, I could go on and on, passages that call it the Gospel of God. It is from Him. It is about Him. It is about His glory. And so in order to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ, we have to begin in the right place. The true and living God must be proclaimed. This is where we must begin. Now, there's an immediate issue that comes up. Where do you go to find out what God is like? Where do you go? And this is not the subject of my message this morning, but let me just briefly address that. Where do you go to find out? Well, we go to the Scriptures. Yes, general revelation, creation tells us something about His invisible attributes, His divine nature, His glory, His wisdom, His power. But we go to the Scriptures. A supernatural revelation of God, of Himself, And so I want to encourage you as you do this, as you talk to people about who God is, that you not forsake the Bible in your conversations and in your evangelism. Now, there are going to be those who say, but where do you get that from? And you say, the Bible. And they're going to say, well, why the Bible? Is it profitable to defend the Bible? I answer that question with yes and no. Yes, in one sense it's profitable to defend the Bible. Why? It may dispel faulty presuppositions that people have about the Bible. Some people you'll talk to believe that the Bible is just full of a bunch of myths. They've been told that, but they've not looked at it for themselves. And in sharing with them the nature and character of this book, you can dispel those myths, those unbiblical, wrong ideas about the Bible, and it indeed can be profitable. But in another sense, I would say, no, it's not profitable to defend the Bible, at least on the turf that the unbeliever is trying to put you on. He's trying to say, you proved to me outside of the Bible that the Bible is true. I would say to a person like that, I cannot prove to you outside of the Bible that the Bible is true. Does God need someone outside of Himself to defend Himself? See, this shows that you don't know the true and living God. Because if you knew God, who He is, the God of the Bible, the true and living God who created you and everything in this universe, then you would understand there's no one outside of Him to validate Him. He is the eternal God. And you proclaim that unashamedly in the face of those who call it circular reasoning. and say, there is no one who proves God. God is. He exists. And don't be ashamed to proclaim it in that fashion. We dare not defend God by using the creature's standards. And so you can simply ask that unbeliever, what is your source of authority? I mean, what is your source of your knowledge that you say you have about God. What is your authority? Because it really is an issue of what is your authority. If you're saying that this is not the authority, that the Word of God, this book is not the truth, then what is your source? You simply put it upon Him to say, you tell me then, and you prove to me then, why your source is superior to this book. How do you know that what you believe about God is true? Can you prove that your source of authority is the final authority? And of course, His authority is Himself. For the unbeliever, He may claim to have reason and science and all these things to be His authority, but then you can simply say, how do you prove science outside of science? Is that not circular reasoning? How do you prove any of these things? See, God is the Creator who created these things. He needs no validation from you. The goal is simply to say to the believer, this is the Word of God. Would you consider what the Bible says about God? If he will not, then there's nothing more you can do. We begin with God and we begin with what the Scriptures say about God. And so let's do that and let me share some of these things as we look at Acts chapter 17 that are essential for us to communicate to people if we're to be effective witnesses for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We begin with God. In Acts chapter 17 beginning in verse 22, Look at what Paul does. So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, To an unknown God, therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. Now notice the boldness of Paul here. Again, He's not coming through the back door. He's not doing it in an unloving way, but he's saying, because his spirit was provoked, it tells us in verse 16, he does have a righteous anger at these who would desecrate the glory of God by worshipping creatures and things that are made of wood and idols that they have created. So he comes and he lovingly yet boldly proclaims, I'm going to proclaim to you the true and living God. And so where does he begin? He begins with God as the Creator, the God who made the world and all things in it. He speaks of God plainly and very clearly as the one who made the world and everything in it. He is the one, it says in verse 26, that made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth. See, right away this flies in the face of what many who do not know Christ believe about the world we live in, or about God Himself. This flies in the face of polytheism, that there are many gods, and that is the context in which Paul is proclaiming the Gospel. These who worship all kinds of idols, many gods, little g. This flies in the face of the pantheism that is believed today that believes that everything is God or God is the world and God is not separate from His creation in any way. That flies in the face of the New Age movement that really comes out of that pantheism. It flies in the face of atheism that denies there is a God. Naturalism that says that everything can be explained in terms of natural causes and laws. This contradicts humanism. It says that really everything boils down to us and the advancement of humanity is by our efforts. Everything that God says in His Word about Himself takes man's imaginations about who He is and it casts them down. And the fact that God is the Creator is not a popular message. And so that's where we begin. Listen, we are in Athens. We live in a place where we're before the Areopagus, where we must begin with Genesis 1.1. You ask most people today and they will espouse some form of evolution as their belief about how the world came into being. The Big Bang is accepted and people just say it's true. And so it's not a popular message that there's a Creator. Why? Because it means that man is not autonomous. It means that man is not a law unto himself. It means that he must give an account to the One who created him. You understand that the most scoffed at verse in the Bible is Genesis 1.1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Because it tells humanity that the universe does not revolve around them. And in spite of what they hear from the world, it really isn't about you, it's about God. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He is an eternal God. who has the power to create. Verse 24 says, "...the God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth." See, that is just the outworking of the fact that He is the Creator. He is the Creator, therefore He is Lord of heaven and earth. He is the ruler of all things. And by definition, God, who is the Creator, is therefore Lord. He's the ruler of all things, heaven and earth. Everything that we know of in creation, He is Lord of those things. And by definition, again, this eliminates all other so-called gods. This is why people respond with such hatred toward this doctrine. of an eternal God who is the Creator of the heavens and the earth and therefore rules over it. And so Paul is beginning with God. He's teaching them, He is the Creator and this is where we must begin. The Creator who is Lord, verse 24, he says, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is He served by human hands as though He needed anything. What Paul is teaching them here is that God is infinite. He's infinite. The infinity of God refers to the fact that God is free from all limitations in His being and His attributes. He's not subject to any of the limitations of humanity or of creation in general. Noah Webster's dictionary in 1828 defined infinite like this. without limits, unbounded, boundless, not circumscribed, applied to time, space, and qualities. Then it says, God is infinite in duration, having neither beginning nor end of existence. He is also infinite in presence or omnipresent, and His perfections are infinite. That was Webster's Dictionary in 1828. defining infinite, the only way you can describe it ultimately is to say it's God. God is infinite. And we see how far we've come. Paul is proclaiming, this is the God who is the Creator and therefore He's Lord, He's ruler, and He's not served by human hands as though He needed anything. An infinite God doesn't need anything from us. He gives life to all people and breath to all things. God is infinite in relation to time. He's eternal. He's infinite in His power. He's omnipotent. He's infinite in His knowledge. He's omniscient. He's infinite in His nature and perfections. He's immutable. He doesn't change because He is perfection. He is not able to change. He cannot change. Paul talks about here that God is infinite in relation to space. He speaks of His immensity and His omnipresence. He does not dwell in temples made with hands. We just read recently in 1 Kings 8 on Sunday evening in our Scripture reading through that book. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house which I have built, Solomon said. God doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. He's infinite in relation to space. And then Paul proclaims the fact that God is infinite in His being, in His existence. That is, He is self-existent. He is self-sufficient. Acts 17 verse 25, Nor is He served by human hands as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things. See, He's self-sufficient. He doesn't need anything from us. See, this is the God of the Bible. And I promise you, as you share the Gospel with people, this is not the God that people say they believe in if they believe in the existence of some God. They don't understand that He's not served by human hands. They believe that somehow they can add to God. They've been told that God needs them. He doesn't need anything. In fact, He's the one who gives life to you, Paul is saying. He's the one that gives to all life and breath and all things. Psalm 36 verse 9, For with you is the fountain of life, in your light we see light. He's the fountain of life. He's the giver of life. That's why it says in verse 25 of Acts 17, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things. This is what theologians call the aseity of God. It refers to the fact that God is self-existent. Aseity comes from the Latin words ase, which means from Himself. Life comes from Himself, not from something or someone outside of Himself. He was not created, neither is He sustained by anything or anyone. He has life in Himself. Therefore, He's eternal. He's self-sufficient. He has no beginning, no ending. He's not dependent on anyone or anything. We sing the hymn, Immortal, Invisible. It says, To all life Thou givest, to both great and small. In all life Thou livest, the true life of all. And then it contrasts us with God. We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree, and wither and perish, but naught changeth thee. You understand that when we sing that hymn, Immortal, Invisible, we are proclaiming God. We are doing evangelism to the little ears in our families that hear that, and unbelievers that come in this place. You see, this is where again we say, why do we worship the way we worship? Why do we do what we do? Why not just sing songs that sound like God is our boyfriend? and do that over and over again. Why do I emphasize this? Because we have to hear this. We do it like this because we are called to proclaim the excellencies of God. And we do that in our worship. And we're not opposed to something new that proclaims the glory of God, but we're saying that throughout the ages there have been hymns that have been written that when the body of Christ gathers together, we proclaim the majesty and the glory of God. Why forsake that? I tell you, if churches forsake it, because of the abbreviated gospel. The result is people make professions of faith and they don't even know that God is a God who has life in Himself and needs nothing from me and I exist for Him. But we must sing hymns and psalms and spiritual songs that proclaim the character of God. And when we do so, we together as the body of Christ, not only worship our God, but we evangelize. We proclaim the Gospel. I long for the body of Christ to come prepared to worship God, understanding what is taking place and that these hymns are not just times where we stand up and just mouth words that mean nothing, but that we hear them and we're speaking them and we're teaching one another and we're teaching those who come in our midst who do not know Christ. In that sense, I am not the only one who proclaims the Gospel when I stand before you and preach the truth. But you, along with the rest of the body of Christ, do so. So Paul proclaims this God who has life in Himself, who does not need anything from human beings. In fact, He is the one who gives life. And in verse 26, He proclaims Him as the sovereign God. And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation. Now Paul is saying, this Creator who's the ruler, here's how He rules. He's sovereign. He's created from one man, Adam, every nation of mankind. See, this may have been a strange teaching to them. Not only had they not heard of the resurrection of Christ, but maybe these in Athens had not heard that there was one man, Adam, who was created and from him comes every nation of mankind. And God is the one who ultimately at the Tower of Babel has moved them here and there and through all of history has determined their appointed times and boundaries of their habitation. By the way, this verse, again teaches us the historicity of the Genesis account of creation and the historicity of Adam and Eve. It is not a myth. It is history in Genesis and its account of creation from one man, Adam. He created every nation of mankind. God is the one who has appointed where these people would live. He is sovereign. It refers to God's sovereign rule over the world. He is the right, the rule, the power, the rule, the wisdom to rule absolutely. And by the way, this dispels all of deism. It says that God somehow created things. Yes, He's the Creator, but then, as you've heard the illustration, He winds it up like a clock and He lets it go to do its own thing. He's not involved. No, that God of deism is not the God of the Bible. And can I just say as an aside, by the way, can we not treat deists in our country's early days as if they were Christians? Deism denies the supernatural intervention of God in His creation. Paul says to any who would think, oh, well, there's a Creator, but He's uninvolved. No, He is sovereign. He is involved in His creation. He is bringing it to His appointed end. And he does all this, verse 27, that they would seek God if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him. This is the goodness of God in all of His works that would lead them to repentance. But they don't do that. It says, for in Him, in verse 28, we live and move and exist. As even some of your own poets have said, for we also are His children. Ultimately, we find our origin from Him. We are created by Him, and in that sense, we're His children. He's not talking here about being children of God through the blood of Christ, but being children of God by virtue of creation. So He proclaims them as the sovereign creator. And brethren, this is where we find ourselves often in evangelism and our culture. We don't get past this. We have to establish that this is the God of the Bible, the sovereign Creator of the universe. It goes on to speak of His nature in verse 29 when He says, "...being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man." What is He proclaiming there? If I were to ask you that question and you were to answer, what would you say that He's proclaiming here? We could say a number of things. Well, He's obviously condemning idolatry. But what He's proclaiming in verse 29 is the holiness of God. And you might look at that and say, where is the holiness of God? Well, the holiness of God has two aspects that, yes, He is sinless, and we're more familiar with that, but also the word holy means He is separate. He is different. He is not like His creation. And so He's proclaiming in verse 29 that fact. You can create these little images and call it your God, but God is nothing like those images formed by the art and thought of man. God is holy, he's separate. That is the primary meaning of the word holy. Holy comes from an ancient word that means to cut or to separate. God is separate in His being, in His essence, in His attributes, His works, His ways. He's distinct and different from us. No one is like God in the truest sense. Yes, we're made in His image, but there is no one like Him. He is unique in His attributes and essence. While there are communicable attributes of God in His essence, in His nature, they are incommunicable. He alone is God. That's why in Isaiah 46, verse 9, it says, Remember the former things long past, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is no one like Me. We need to proclaim the holiness of God and this specific aspect of that meaning that He is unique, He is different, He is separate. He is alone in His attributes. There is no one like God. Therefore, the God that you have made up by the art and the imaginations of men, that's not the true and living God. So he's proclaiming the holiness of God in that sense. And yes, We also need to proclaim the sinlessness of God, the perfection of God, that He is sinless. He is separate from sin. He is perfect in all His ways. His justice is holy and perfect. His love is holy and perfect. His righteousness is holy and perfect. His mercy, everything in Him is holy and perfect. There's no flaw, no imperfection, no blemish, no defect, no deformity. No fault can be found in God. only beauty and righteousness and excellence. 1 John 1.5, this is the message we have heard from Him, the Apostle John says, and announced to you. This is what Jesus proclaimed to them, the Apostles, and then they proclaim to us that God is light. And in Him there is no darkness at all. Light refers to purity, holiness, perfection. Darkness to sin and wickedness and evil. And so the message of who God is, is yes, He's holy, He's separate, He's not like these images you have made, the imaginations of what you think God is like. And He is light. It's a comprehensive statement about the absolute perfection and holiness of God. And so, brethren, we see, we proclaim God as Creator, Sovereign, Ruler over all things, a holy God. And there's only one by definition, the true and living God, holy, separate, distinct from sinners. But yet, He is a good and kind and benevolent God. See, most people begin that God is love, and then somehow twist what that even means. But when you begin with God as Creator, God is holy, then you can, to the unbeliever, describe to him the goodness and kindness and benevolence of God." How does Paul do that in these verses? In verse 28, "'For in Him we live and move and exist.'" Can you think of anything that expresses more kindness and benevolence and love from the Creator of the universe, a holy God, then He would give us life and breath. So when He says, in Him, in this God, we live and move and exist, We can indeed, with those who do not know Christ, say, this God has been good and kind and benevolent, yes, loving to you in that right now the breath that you take is because God gives it. This Creator, this holy God, who is altogether righteous and without sin, also gives you breath this very moment. Jesus said in Matthew 5.45, He causes His Son to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. What benevolence, what kindness of God. In Acts 14 verse 17, it says, Yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. So you can appeal to them on that basis. You live. You've had food today. You have sustenance. God has caused the rain to fall upon you and the sun to shine upon you. This Creator who rules all things, who is holy, holy, holy, has been gracious and kind to you. Romans 2 verse 4 says, Or do you not think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? We proclaim the love of God. We don't proclaim to the unbeliever that we know somehow that Jesus has efficaciously applied His blood to them. We don't know that. But what we proclaim is this, this Creator of the universe who is holy is this very moment kind to you, not only in the fact that you are alive, but that He has given you food and sustenance and clothing and all these things, and in the fact that now you are hearing the truth about who He is. This sovereign God has appointed me to speak to you about Him. What goodness and kindness that God would be so pleased to do that. So you see, we begin with God and that becomes the framework, the reference for anything else in the Gospel that we might share. This is the foundation. God is Creator. God is holy. God is kind and benevolent to you in the fact that you are not in hell this moment. You can use Romans 11.36, a doxology for your evangelism, for from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. From Him, He's the source of all things. Through Him, He holds it all together and accomplishes all His purposes. And to Him are all things. He is the goal of all things. He is the one to whom belongs the glory forever and ever. See, brethren, this is evangelism. That's not just what should happen as we gather together in this place to worship God. This is what we proclaim to the world. This is the true and living God. Now bring your attention back in closing to 1 Peter 2 verse 9. This is what we are called to do. You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. a people for God's own possession. Why? So that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Evangelism is proclaiming the excellencies of God, the praises of God, those things which is everything about His nature which is worthy of praise and is therefore excellent. 1 Peter 2.9 is very clear. This is why we have been saved. To proclaim His excellencies, His glory, His character, His nature. And brethren, that is the foundation of evangelism. We begin with God and only then can we rightly speak about man and Christ in grace. Let's pray together. Father, all too often we ourselves are impoverished in our understanding of You. Therefore, we do not proclaim as we should and as we ought the excellencies that You possess. But Father, I pray that we might be those who know our God, who know what the Scripture teaches us about Your character, Your nature, You as the Creator, holy and benevolent and kind. Father, that we might dispel the darkness and the ignorance of who You are. Father, I'm very aware that there are so many even as you call them in your word false prophets who are proclaiming a God who does not exist? And then there are those who do not know you, who have made up gods of their own imaginations. And in the midst of all of this, in a fallen world, we are called to shine as lights and to proclaim the true and living God, the excellencies of Your character. God, I pray that we would know You, love You, and be able from Your Word to speak of Your glorious character. Father, help us to be like the Apostle Paul in Athens. Help us to begin with who You are and to be unashamed to proclaim the God that is widely unknown to those around us. Father, give us grace that we may do this in a manner that is worthy of Your glorious character. And it's in Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Amen. Let's stand together for our benediction. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. And all God's people said, amen. You're dismissed.