The Unknown God

The Unknown God

Acts 17:16-31

There are people here in our country today that are just as ignorant about the ONE true GOD AS THEY WERE WHEN THE APOSTLE PAUL SPOKE THESE WORDS HERE IN OUR TEXT TODAY, yonder in Athens Greece, listen as I read our text found in, acts.17: 16-31

16Now while Paul waited for them at Athens,[ Silas and Timotheus ] his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. 17Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. 18Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. 19And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? 20For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. 21(For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) 22Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 23For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD”. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

24God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27That they should seek the Lord, if haply [or come to the conclusion] they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, “For we are also his offspring.”

29Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.

30And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Well there was a time when the people of the United States considered ourselves a “Christian” nation in that we identified with the Christian faith. There was a feeling that the principles on which our country was founded, such as, (freedom, democracy, law and morality) were principles that came from the Christian Scriptures.

People here then didn’t see a problem with the fact that the laws of the land came from the laws of the Bible. The Ten Commandments were seen as a good thing. Prayer, even at public events, was welcomed and considered important.

But now days it seem that our culture has rejected Christianity as part of what defines us as a nation.

It seem as though the supposedly intelligent crust of our nations leaders & a Hugh majority of just every day citizens no longer welcome the WORD of GOD as our primary religious influence on the nation.

And in its place there has come a confusing array of systems and religions from other parts of the world.

For instance,“Eastern mysticism, Islam, the Kabbala, and even Satan worship” all these are seen as equal to, and as relevant as, Christianity. We’ve heard our own national leaders make comments such as,” let us pray to the god of our choice”.

Let me say right here that the Greek meaning for all that is, “hog wash”

All of this is most troubling to those of us who profess faith in the one Lord Jesus Christ who is Lord of heaven and earth.

He wants to be every ones Savior, but not every one is going to receive Him as such, but make no mistake; He is and forever shall be every ones Lord.

phil. 2:9-11Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.