Not Very Far
by Pastor Andrew Wolfenbarger
10/30/2023
Acts 17:27 - “That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:” When children travel long distances, the relationship between time traveled and time remaining doesn’t resonate with them. All they know is that they are excited to get to their destination and they can barely contain it. This has led to the infamous question that every parent loathes, “Are we there yet?”. If you still had hours remaining in the journey, no parent in their right mind understanding their child’s excitement would tease them and say, “We’re not very far away.” That would lead to an unbearable experience for both the children and the parents.
When speaking to a group of very religious and superstitious men, Paul preached on what had compelled them to seek so many gods in their worship. They had crafted an altar to an unknown God, and they worshipped Him, not having any more detail than that.
I have read in some non-Biblical sources that this altar was built years earlier when a grievous famine had come upon the land. The people felt that they had offended a god, but since they had already gone through and offered gifts to each of their known gods and the famine had not ended, then there must be another.
It was the idea of a man who was famous for his wisdom (especially in things pertaining to the worship of the gods) to construct an altar to this specific “unknown God” and perform sacrifice. History tells us that having done this, the famine ended, and the people worshipped this “UNKNOWN GOD” for a time until they returned to their pagan tendencies.
Paul’s proclamation in this important sermon is that this deep desire to worship has been placed within each of us so that it might serve as a mechanism to lead us to Him. More wonderful than that we are designed to seek Him, is that when we do, we will find that He has never been far away from us.
This powerful truth applies to the convict, the drug addict, the adulterer, the liar, the fraud, the backslider, the Sunday school teacher, the Pastor, the choir member, and the little children in the nursery. God made us so that our spiritual compass points to Him. Furthermore, God’s nature is that if we will begin to set our heart to find Him, we will discover that the distance between us and Him has been spanned by the Lord Jesus Christ so that He is very near.
If you are reading this today, the inspired words of the Apostle Paul are true for you. God is not far from you. You may say, “You don’t know what I’ve done” but you must understand that this is not a qualified promise but rather a universal one. According to the Scriptures, He is not far from “every one of us”.
This promise should ring true to us during our revival. If we would only begin to seek God, we will see for ourselves that He will be found of us.
Years earlier, David conveyed this powerful truth to his son, Solomon.
1 Chronicles 28:9 - “And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.”
10/30/2023
Acts 17:27 - “That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:” When children travel long distances, the relationship between time traveled and time remaining doesn’t resonate with them. All they know is that they are excited to get to their destination and they can barely contain it. This has led to the infamous question that every parent loathes, “Are we there yet?”. If you still had hours remaining in the journey, no parent in their right mind understanding their child’s excitement would tease them and say, “We’re not very far away.” That would lead to an unbearable experience for both the children and the parents.
When speaking to a group of very religious and superstitious men, Paul preached on what had compelled them to seek so many gods in their worship. They had crafted an altar to an unknown God, and they worshipped Him, not having any more detail than that.
I have read in some non-Biblical sources that this altar was built years earlier when a grievous famine had come upon the land. The people felt that they had offended a god, but since they had already gone through and offered gifts to each of their known gods and the famine had not ended, then there must be another.
It was the idea of a man who was famous for his wisdom (especially in things pertaining to the worship of the gods) to construct an altar to this specific “unknown God” and perform sacrifice. History tells us that having done this, the famine ended, and the people worshipped this “UNKNOWN GOD” for a time until they returned to their pagan tendencies.
Paul’s proclamation in this important sermon is that this deep desire to worship has been placed within each of us so that it might serve as a mechanism to lead us to Him. More wonderful than that we are designed to seek Him, is that when we do, we will find that He has never been far away from us.
This powerful truth applies to the convict, the drug addict, the adulterer, the liar, the fraud, the backslider, the Sunday school teacher, the Pastor, the choir member, and the little children in the nursery. God made us so that our spiritual compass points to Him. Furthermore, God’s nature is that if we will begin to set our heart to find Him, we will discover that the distance between us and Him has been spanned by the Lord Jesus Christ so that He is very near.
If you are reading this today, the inspired words of the Apostle Paul are true for you. God is not far from you. You may say, “You don’t know what I’ve done” but you must understand that this is not a qualified promise but rather a universal one. According to the Scriptures, He is not far from “every one of us”.
This promise should ring true to us during our revival. If we would only begin to seek God, we will see for ourselves that He will be found of us.
Years earlier, David conveyed this powerful truth to his son, Solomon.
1 Chronicles 28:9 - “And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.”
Posted in Living for God, Relationship with Christ
Tagged with Acts 17, false worship, seek, distance, close, promise
Tagged with Acts 17, false worship, seek, distance, close, promise
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