a. After being arrested in Philippi, having preached to the jailer, and the jailer
and his house having believed and having been baptized, he went to
Thessalonica.
(i) He reasoned with them for three Sabbaths: seeking to prove Jesus was

the Christ.
(ii) Many believed: both Jews and Gentiles.
(iii) But the unbelieving Jews were jealous and stirred up a mob against

b. In Berea, they were well received.
(i) The Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians.
(ii) They searched the Scripture to see if what they were hearing was true.
(iii) They didn\u2019t simply take Paul\u2019s word for it.
(iv) Nor did they argue solely from their passions.
(v) They used their minds, guided by God\u2019s Spirit.

c. But the Jews from Thessalonica came, stirred up the crowds, and they had to
leave.
(i) Paul went first to Athens; Silas and Timothy were to come as soon as

possible.
(ii) While he was there, his spirit was provoked by their idolatry.
(iii) He began to reason with them in the synagogues and market-places.
(iv) In the process, some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to speak

with him.
(a) Epicureans: followers of Epicurus, pleasure seekers.
(b) Stoics: followers by Zeno, taught materialism, pantheism, fatalism, to

a. He addressed what they needed to hear.
(i) You\u2019re religious, you do religious things.
(ii) But you worship ignorantly.

b. Paul began where they were:
(i) He didn\u2019t say they were actually worshiping the true God.
(ii) He didn\u2019t say that what they were doing was pleasing to God; it wasn\u2019t.
(iii) The unknown god was not so much the point of contact as their religious

(iv) But he took something from their culture and started to tell them what
they needed to hear:
(a) Here\u2019s a lesson about evangelism.
(b) Paul didn\u2019t start in unfamiliar ground, but familiar.
(c) But where he started was with the nature of God and man.

b. We need to know this so that we don\u2019t forget to glorify God and thank Him.
(i) God is invisible, though what He does isn\u2019t.
(ii) But because He is invisible, we forget how great He really is.
(iii) We often forget what we owe to Him.

2. Today, I want us to consider these two doctrines Paul used to evangelize the
Athenians.
a. This morning, I want us to consider God\u2019s independence.
b. This evening, I want us to consider man\u2019s dependence.
c. As we do I hope our eyes will be opened again to God\u2019s goodness: that He is

1. He exists outside of time.
a. Eternal is often used to refer to endless time.
b. But it really refers to timelessness.
c. God is not bound by time.
d. He exists outside of time, as well as within it.
e. Time is His creation.

b. Even though the way they are distinguished makes it seem otherwise:
(i) The Father begets.
(ii) The Son is begotten.
(iii) And the Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son.
(iv) These things are also eternal.

(v) There was not when the Son of God was not.
(vi) In the same way, there was not when the Spirit was not.
(vii) All three are equally eternal.

1. If God, and only God, is eternal \u2013 which He is \u2013 then there isn\u2019t anything He
depends on, or could have depended on, for His existence.
a. He is the uncaused cause; in other words nothing caused Him.
b. His reason for existence \u2013 unlike ours \u2013 is in Himself.
c. He did not need anything to be, nor does He require anything to continue to

(i) Everything we see around us isn\u2019t necessary.
(ii) They don\u2019t of necessity need to exist: the world, the stars, planets, us.
(iii) We can conceive of them not existing.
(iv) But there is one thing that must exist, that is impossible not to exist, that

b. Edwards believed that God is the space in which we and all things exist,
because it is the one thing that cannot be thought of as not existing.
(i) Paul tells us as much in our passage, \u201cFor in Him we live and move and

3. But as we saw before, because God doesn\u2019t depend on anything for His
existence, He also doesn\u2019t depend on anything to fulfill His Word.
a. What He promised He can do.
b. What He promised He will do.

1. He didn\u2019t create to fulfill a need.
a. The world: He would be perfectly blessed without it.
b. Man: not for fellowship; He is triune and has perfect fellowship.
c. To provide for us: except kindness and mercy compel Him.
d. To keep us in existence: it doesn\u2019t satisfy any need.
e. We and the creation don\u2019t add anything to His happiness or blessedness.