America As The New Athens – Pastor Patrick Hines

A Patrick Hines sermon: America is the new Athens

I was introduced to Pastor Hines via my favorite Christian YouTube site, Christian Sermons and Audio Books. I highly recommend that all Christians subscribe to this site, as he posts sermons of an old or new Christian pastors every day: from, e.g., Spurgeon… to Hines.

The following sermon provides much encouragement for witnessing Christ and also helps a Christian understand some basic things that will help him/her formulate a strategy in this culture.

Sermon highlights [bracketed statements, underscoring and emboldening are mine]:

Sermon text read: Acts 17: 16-34
An illustration of a field trip to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky – this illustration explains absolute darkness; it is memorable and is referred to numerous times during the sermon
In the cave, tourists were required to sit in darkness for 3 minutes
Our culture is becoming more like the darkness in Mammoth cave – that magnifies the light of gospel truth
Presently, Christians still have a great deal of freedom to witness the gospel message
American culture use to be biblically informed [some examples given] but now it more resembles the Pagan culture of Athens where people are curious about all kinds of spiritual things: witchcraft, psychic phenomena, Ouija boards…
A story about school students in a ‘good news club’
The point of the story was to emphasize the opportunity this cultural darkness provides to emphasize foundational biblical gospel truth and doctrines; and the necessity to do so, as people are biblically ignorant
Paul’s presentation of the gospel to the Athenians compared to Peter’s presentation after Pentecost. These presentations presented the same gospel with a different emphasis because of the vast difference in the audiences – Hines makes those differences clear
During most of America’s history, an audience would have understood biblical references from the Old Testament… but no longer, for reasons he touched on
There is an apostasy occurring in the church, many pulpits do not preach the Bible; even formerly biblical churches are giving into cultural influences such as CRT, LGBTQ+…
Christian groups such as Answers In Genesis and Creation Ministries International have continued to focus on foundational issues from Gen. 1-11; these are essential for a Christian worldview and in witnessing – he explained
Paul’s presentation of the gospel in Acts 17 is compared with the typical, brick-by-brick presentation many use today; Paul’s is necessary and the biblical illiteracy of our culture requires it
Every human being has a worldview through which he interprets the world around him, everything in it
People in this culture mistakenly act as though they can change their worldview like a tie or a pair of shoes
One’s worldview affects every aspect of his life, not just his religious beliefs
People in our culture are not skeptics but are very gullible. Many have embraced the occult, witchcraft, psychic phenomena, Zombies, Vampires…; such things are increasingly mainstream in America
Paul faced religious relativism and pluralism as we do today
Pastor Hines explained a problem he had while witnessing Christ in his former line of work, computer programming: people kept saying ‘if that is what works for you’
He explained the errors inherent in such a statement
[He did not talk about pragmatism, which is the foundational assumption in such statements. R C Sproul explained, in his dvd titled, Christian Worldview, that pragmatism was developed in America, and in a nutshell, means ‘whatever works is true.’ Many preachers subscribe to pragmatism. You can recognize them, for example, by how they attempt to build their churches by holding concerts, fairs, and other types of events to draw in the ‘un-churched.’ The biblical approach is to pray to God to add to His church as is noted numerous times in the book of Acts, while you continue to preach the whole counsel of God, not some message tailored to the ‘un-churched.’]
Paul’s presentation of the gospel was also a statement of the Christian worldview, which he presented in a manner as to say, this is truth and you worldview is not
That is, he was stating to the elite Greek philosophers, that they were ignorant of spiritual things they claimed to understand well
Two Greek philosopher’s statements were shown to be somewhat true, when framed in terms of biblical truth
In our culture, absolute truth is a forgotten concept [the Bible states otherwise]
The impact of the Greek culture upon the world, then and now
Paul did NOT seek to combine Greek philosophical views with the truth of scripture; that was not the case with even such impactful men of the church as Augustine
The brick-by-brick approach to witnessing Christ explained: basically, adding a bit at a time as you interact, over time, with potential converts; Paul gave the Christian worldview at one time
The covenantal approach briefly discussed
Paul’s opening statements about God emphasize that He is creator and exercises control over all things via His providence
Acts 17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And 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,
The basic truths above were already known to Peter’s audience in Acts 2, he did not have to mention them
The scripture above is the first thing potential converts need to know about God
The Stoics were pantheists (Paul’s audience) and had no doctrine of creation
The doctrine of creation is essential because it contrasts God’s revelation to all of man’s religions: that one God created everything from nothing is never part of man’s religion
The resurrection and Greek philosophical views briefly discussed
A quote from a Michael Horton (prof. at Westminster Theo. Seminary) book that emphasized the value of the doctrine of creation in a Christian having a correct grasp of the fall
Knowing this and other foundational doctrines (understanding that God created man good…) will enable a Christian to grasp the horror of the fall
God’s sovereign design, as stated by Paul above, contrasted with the concept of ‘fate’ and Stoicism
Emperor Marcus Aurelius taught his soldiers stoicism so that they might not be concerned with dying in battle
[In R C Sproul’s Christian Worldview DVD, he explained that existentialism, for example, believed that man is born into a purposeless existence and is headed into nothingness, but in the meantime, he can have a noble life by confronting the absurdity of such a life with valor; such embraced the irrational…. That is easily seen in this culture. It sounds much like Stoicism. The Christian worldview directly opposes such views and gives hope and purpose…. Sproul’s Worldview series is linked below.]
Genesis 1-11 are foundational to the Christian life and to presenting the gospel
Divine Providence defined from Acts 17
Mankind’s purpose defined from Acts 17
Paul did not seek common ground with the crowd of Greek elite philosophers, but revealed the ignorance inherent in their beliefs [the market-driven and purpose-driven churches seek common ground, straying from the Bible]
Acts 17:30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Was Paul successful in his evangelistic efforts at Athens?
Success in ministry is determined by one’s faithfulness to God’s word
Those evangelizing are to believe all of God’s counsel and present it accurately via a demeanor that conveys love, patience… via a Spirit-led, Christ-like life
[The gospel enables one to recover from sin and failures as he learns to live such a life; Christ, in the beatitudes, stated that step one in the Christian life is to know your own spiritual poverty and that is revealed via reading the word and coming to terms with one’s own spiritual helplessness and necessity of reliance upon Christ’ Spirit – see, Categories, Beatitude Way and /or True Kingdom Citizen, for posts that explain the beatitudes by narrative or video.]

R C Sproul’s Christian Worldview DVD link:

https://www.ligonier.org/store/christian-worldview-dvd

That DVD is also available at Amazon for a higher price; and used copies on Ebay for a bit lower than at Ligonier.

Below are the YouTube site and links that accompanied the above video:

Christian Sermons and Audio Books

▶️The Gospel of God’s Free Grace: An Overview of Romans Chapters 1 through 8 eBook:

Pastor Patrick Hines https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BN6S4MPQ

▶️Reformed Presbyterian Pulpit Supplemental (Pastor Hines’ YouTube Channel):

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClW5…

▶️Bridwell Heights Presbyterian Church http://www.bridwellheightschurch.org/

▶️Pastor Patrick Hines (PLAYLIST): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…

America As The New Athens – Pastor Patrick Hines

From church website:

We subscribe to the Westminster Standards as our doctrinal statement. It consists of the following documents:

The Westminster Confession of Faith

The Westminster Larger Catechism

The Westminster Shorter Catechism

We also believe that Christian Worship is to be regulated and defined by God’s Word, the Bible.

Our worship services are designed to please and honor the Triune God of the Bible. We place Scripture reading and the preaching of the word of God at the center of worship along with Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are God’s gifts to His church and ought to always be at the center of Christian worship. We are a congregation that loves to sing God’s praises, recite His Word back to Him, and actively engage in hearing and learning from God’s Word.

We embrace and promote a comprehensive Christian world and life view.

There is no area of life which is not under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is to God and His law which all people, including governments and civil rulers, will answer. The Word of God embraces and informs the way we view marriage, the family, children, education, politics, worship, law, government, war, the church, missions, evangelism, and worship. In the world today there is a battle of opposing worldviews. There are basically only two positions: God’s Word and man’s ideas. We stand positively for Biblical truth and negatively against man’s ideas which are opposed to Biblical truth.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only hope for mankind.

Because all men fall short of obeying God’s law, all men everywhere are in need of divine grace and salvation from God. This salvation is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ who died for sinners, was buried, rose again, and is alive today seated at God the Father’s right hand.

We Worship God Together as Families.

We offer nursery during morning worship service for newborns and infants but encourage people to keep as many of their children as they can with them for morning worship. The audio of the service is in the nursery via speakers. There is also a crying room with a video screen and audio of the sermon. We offer Sunday school classes for all ages but worship together as families. We do not offer “children’s” church. Children need to be in morning worship as soon as possible so they can learn how to participate as active worshipers of God which includes the singing of His praises and listening actively to sermons.

Acts 17:22-34

New American Standard Bible

Sermon on Mars Hill

22 So Paul stood in the midst of the [a]Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects. 23 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. 24 The God who made the world and everything that is in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by hands; 25 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; 26 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, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might feel around for Him and find Him, though He is

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