Old Is New

Gtcotr/ss071708
Key Scriptures: Ecclesiastes 1 NKJV
9 ¶ That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which it may be said, "See, this is new"? It has already been in ancient times before us.

In about the year AD54, the book of Acts tells us that the Apostle Paul visited Athens while on his second missionary journey. Waiting for Silas and Timothy to join him, Paul spent some of his time observing the life and culture in that mega city of its day.

Athens was one of the three main world centers of education where men of great intellect constantly investigated the physical laws governing the universe while others sat in counsel giving voice to the philosophies of life which many still embrace today. While there, Paul noticed that the people were very religious but they were being constantly led astray by their continual pursuit of new things.

This vexed Paul’s spirit and he wanted to share his faith with them in a way they could understand and embrace. In order to be successful he would have to find some common ground and learn to speak their language of life. You see, the task was not convincing God to save these, God was already willing to do that long before Paul arrived.

Rather the difficulty laid in Paul being able to present the simple message of the Gospel in such a way that these religious intellectuals could respect. They were quiet possibly plagued with a spiritual superiority complex and simple things just held no allure. Sometimes the greatest challenge we face is how to get complex people to accept the simple message we carry.

Let’s read our text for today and see how Paul accomplished this. The text will be found in Acts 17.

Acts 17 NKJV
18 Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered Paul. And some said, "What does this babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods," because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.
19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak?
20 "For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean."
21 For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
22 ¶ Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious;
23 "for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:

The Bible is broken down into two main categories:

* The Old Testament
> which contains 39 books
> and covers almost 4000 years – approximately:
^ 2315 years in the book of Genesis alone
^ 1650 years from Adam to the flood in Noah’s
day
^ 300 years from the flood to Abraham
^ 14 generations from Abraham to David
^ 14 generations from David to Babylon
Captivity
^ & 14 generations from Captivity to Messiah

* The New Testament
> containing 27 books
> but covering less than 100 years

It is the Old Testament’s duty to take man on a long journey through many generations from the creation of Adam to Messiah. However, it is the New Testament’s job to prepare each generation to live as a witness to the world in their lifetime.

The New Testament is designed to be the example of life and work for every Believer in their generation. God has no grandchildren, only children, and the church has to be birthed in every generation.

Sinners are being born every day and no generation will ever reach that proverbial ‘last house on the road’ with the Gospel message until they have reached every other house in their generation first.

World evangelism is a task given to each generation and it will one day be the completed work of the concentrated and combined effort of one generation, prepared for the task and unified in faith.

The Great Commission recorded in the book of Matthew, chapter 28, verses 18 through 20, is a command from Christ given to every born again believer and every Christian assembly as the one true vision and purpose of the Church.

We only have one life, not two, not three, but one life in which to serve God and do His will. In order to accomplish our work for Him we must know what He wants done and how He wants us to do it. This is why God gave us the New Testament … as an example, to show us the way we should live, walk, work and witness.

However, it is impractical to attempt a full understanding of the New Testament without first having a mind saturated with the foretelling scriptures of the Old Testament. This is especially true when studying the four Gospels: Matthew; Mark; Luke and John.

Jesus was born, lived His life and ministered under the provisions of the Old Testament. Many of the things we read Jesus saying were quotes He had learned from the stories and prophecies of the Old Testament. Jesus even defeated the temptations offered Him in the wilderness by quoting scriptures from the book of Deuteronomy.

This is not to say that any word from God, even one word, from the Old or New Testaments, does not contain the power to save. No word of God is void of power. (Isaiah 55:11)

If we heard only one verse, John 3:16 for example, our hearts can be touched by that message and its power to change our life.

However, to live a life in pursuit of knowing and serving God demands we study to show ourselves approved remembering that every scripture is given by inspiration and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness so that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (Bear in mind that when this verse was written by the Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy 3:16 & 17, he was not referring to New Testament scriptures, they were not in existence yet!)

This, by the way, is not intended to be a message on the value of the Old Testament and its benefits to understanding the New. Rather, this message is a message aimed at helping us to realize that there is nothing new.

The new you have been looking for has been right there all of the time … right with you … right under your nose …

* The old is the new you have been searching for!

You just need to wake up and understand it, appreciate it and invest in it. God works with what we have when we give it to Him.

For some of you this applies to your marriage, to others, your ministry, while to others it is the salvation you have been hoping for in other areas of life from your job to your church … don’t miss it.

There is no need to traverse the world looking for something new to excite or inspire you, something new to fulfill your dreams or make you complete … No! … what you need is right with you … its Jesus, Who was and is always in God, Creator and Savior of the world, Author and Finisher of your faith, Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Old and the New. Don’t overlook the wonderful blessings and God given opportunities staring you right in the face, right now, right where you are … Old is New! Start making the most of what you already have today.

Close for broadcast and altar call.

“My dear friends, some of you are discontent and dissatisfied with life and what it has offered you when if you would only spend the same amount of time investing in what you already have that you have been spending searching for something new to replace it, you would find that what you have always longed for has been right there with you all along.

There is no problem so complex that the simple message contained in the bible cannot solve. Open your eyes to the salvation and peace offered you by the Creator of the Universe. This new life is found in Jesus and submission to His will. Contentment will follow your commitment to Him as Messiah and Savior of the world.

Make Jesus the Lord of your life today!

Farther down in Acts 17, along about verse 30 the Apostle Paul gave remedy to those religious intellects who had been searching for the new and unknown. He simply said that God had commanded all men everywhere to repent.

Repent simply means to change. If you will ask God for help today, He will help you change. Let’s pray together right now.”