"The Unknown God", He Is Able Page 168 at http://www.he-is-able.com/page168.html


	The Unknown God



...To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. I Corinthians 8:6


I am the Lord, and there is none else, THERE IS NO GOD BESIDE ME: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I AM THE LORD, AND THERE IS NONE ELSE. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I THE LORD DO ALL THESE THINGS. Isaiah 45:5-7.

Come on now, those of you who know Our God, lift your hands in praise and adoration to Him! Glory, Glory, Glory to God! I praise You, Heavenly Father! I declare You to ALL the world! Hallelujah! You ARE worthy of ALL praise and honor and glory!
Turn in your Bibles with me to the 17th Chapter of Acts. In Thessalonica, Paul had been preaching Jesus Christ crucified and risen again on the third day, but those of the Jews who did not believe, "took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company and set ALL the city in an uproar". He went to Berea, but that same group of Jews found out where he was, and once again, they came and stirred up the people. So next, he traveled sixty miles away to Athens, on the coast, where he waited, alone, for Silas and Timothy to join him. You know why folks today don't face the opposition Paul did? They don't preach Paul's message! The "message" they "preach" is so dummied down, diluted and politically correct it bears very little resemblance, if any at all, to the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Wherever Paul went, he wasted no time in getting to the synagogue, for four major reasons: (1) He wasn't ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, (2) He was FULLY persuaded of in Whom he had believed, (3) He presented the Gospel of Jesus Christ at EVERY opportunity because he realized that time was precious and he would be held accountable for every idle word he spoke, and (4) He did not live in fear of losing his own life for he knew to be absent from his body was to be present with the Lord. You see, he had nothing to lose and EVERYTHING to gain! TODAY, we have it backwards (as usual): we think we have everything to lose and nothing to gain because we can't think any further ahead than THIS existence! We're missing out on the greatest blessings God has to offer by our backward thinking! Let me say something to you, right here, that is important for proper understanding, so pay CLOSE attention: The Jews who opposed Paul THOUGHT they were doing God's work by silencing Paul. (Paul, himself, had once "been there, done that". Remember? See Acts 6:9-Acts 8:3) IT IS A TERRIBLE THING WHEN A MAN (or woman) *IDENTIFIES HIS* AIMS WITH THE WILL OF GOD INSTEAD OF SUBMITTING TO THE WILL OF GOD! Did you get that? Read it again so it will be clear to you. This is how "fanatics" get their start: they identify that which they intend to do (their aims, their agendas) WITH the Will of God instead of SUBMITTING TO** the Will of God. They [try to] place themselves and what they are doing on the same footing as God. They set themselves up as God (supreme, superior beings) to their minions. You go back through history and research every dictator, every fanatic and you will find persons who thought themselves to be God (or at the very least, equal to God). Each of them claimed that that which they did, however atrocious and devastating to other humans, was a "holy" agenda. This is ALSO true of "modern-day" fanatics: they operate under the VERY SAME notions! They identify their aims, their purposes, their plans WITH God instead of SUBMITTING them to God! Do you understand that? We call them "radicals" or "cults" today: they twist and pervert anything that may have started out good into a scheme of destruction to anyone who will not conform to their ideas! Their followers are required to follow the strictest of codes, while they themselves are allowed to live however they wish. EVERY facet of one's existence, from their very thoughts, to their code of dress is set against a sentence of death for anyone who does not conform. They are dangerous and deadly--they seek only to kill and destroy anyone who opposes them in ANY shape or form. BE VERY CAREFUL of WHO you FOLLOW AFTER! IF that which they teach and preach does not LINE UP with the WORD OF GOD, do NOT FOLLOW AFTER IT! (And if you don't already know what is or is NOT in the Word of God, don't you think it's about time you starting learning??) Consider yourself warned. Athens was famed for "polite learning" and philosophy--it was known as the intellectual and artistic capital of the world--the greatest university town of the world. The Athenians only wanted to talk--they were not given to action or even conclusions. All they wanted was mental acrobatics--the stimulation of a mental hike. Six hundred years prior to Paul's visit, a terrible pestilence had befallen Athens which nothing could halt. A Cretan poet, Epimenides, devised a plan: a flock of black and white sheep were let loose to wander the city. Wherever one lay down, it was sacrificed to the nearest "god". If a sheep lay down near the shrine of "no known god", it was sacrificed to "The Unknown God". It was said there were more statues of the gods in Athens than in all the rest of Greece put together--claims were made that it was "easier to meet a god than a man". So this was the city Paul found himself alone in, while he waited for Silas and Timothy to join him there. Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in ALL things ye are TOO SUPERSTITIOUS. For 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. Acts 17:16,17,22,23. While he was waiting for Silas and Timothy to join him there in Athens, he did NOT go into hiding! He was out and about, everyday, preaching Christ, talking to people ABOUT Christ! Each day he "disputed" in the synagogue with the Jews and devout persons, and had no problem in a city of "great thinkers and talkers" finding someone to talk to in the market place. There were the Epicureans: they believed that everything happened by chance, death was the end of all, the gods were remote from the world and did not care, and that pleasure was the end of man. Then there were the Stoics: they believed that everything was God, who was a fiery spirit; that spirit dulled in matter, but it was still in everything. They also held to the belief that every so often the world disintegrated in a conflagration, then started all over again on the same cycle of events. It was these two groups of "thinkers" that encountered Paul. Some called him a babbler, while others said, "He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods" (because he preached of Jesus Christ and His resurrection), so they desired to "mentally explore" this "new doctrine" because they spent their time in nothing other than talking about and listening to the "latest ideas". You know, like many of the "great minds" of today's world: Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of THE Truth. II Timothy 3:7. Jesus said, "I am the way, THE Truth, and the life." John 14:6. The Epicurean philosophers and the Stoics took Paul to the Areopagus: Mar's Hill. This was the name of the hill and the court that met on it. So there, in that most learned city, in that most exclusive of courts, Paul got to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now that might have intimidated someone else, but NOT the Apostle Paul. Talk about being "politically incorrect"? The very first words out of Paul's mouth were a DIRECT SALVO to their whole way of existence: "Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious." Let's face it, had that been one of today's preachers, they would have spent the first 15 minutes bowing and scraping to all the "great thinkers" present, making certain everyone knew all their titles and accomplishments. But not Paul. He got right down to business with them. You see, Paul realized something WE refuse to acknowledge: far TOO MUCH time was (and still IS) spent in unprofitable conversation and idle chatter. He didn't pause to gauge their reaction, to see if his words were "pleasing to their ears" after he sent that first shot across their bow, either: he went right on to say, For 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. Acts 17:23. Today's world contains vast numbers of people who regard "The Great Spirit", a collective force of the cosmos, images on screen doors, shrines of marble or stone. Let me tell you: God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And 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; 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: For 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. Forasmuch 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. Acts 17:24-29.

	Hallelujah! Glory to God! He made the world and all things in it. He is Lord of heaven and earth. He does NOT dwell in any man-made place: But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? I Kings 8:27. But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built! II Chronicles 6:18. So if you've been thinking God lives in that building you go to on your perception of the Sabbath, rethink it. Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? Isaiah 66:1. He is "an unknown God" ONLY to those who REFUSE to know Him.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Revelation 1:8. Hallelujah! I AM is His Name! And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: THIS IS MY NAME FOREVER, and this is my memorial unto all generations. Exodus 3:13-15. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, BEFORE Abraham was, I AM. John 8:56-58. Glory to God! If that doesn't thrill your soul, if that doesn't make you happy in your spirit, I don't know what it will take! He IS the GREAT I AM !! He is EVER present, everywhere. His name alone, "I AM" is a statement of NOW. Just think: before time as we even know it existed, He is (not an error--I AM is present tense) I AM. Right now at this very moment, He is I AM. And for as long as time ever stands, far beyond what we as humans can comprehend, He is I AM! He is NOT a past tense God--He always IS I AM! ETERNALLY (for ALL time, far beyond our comprehension) PRESENT! Forasmuch as THERE IS NONE LIKE UNTO THEE, O LORD; THOU ARE GREAT, AND THY NAME IS GREAT IN MIGHT. Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, THERE IS NONE LIKE UNTO THEE. But THE LORD IS THE TRUE GOD, HE IS THE LIVING GOD, AND AN EVERLASTING KING: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. Jeremiah 10:6,7,10-12. Solomon, the wisest man on earth, said, O Lord God of Israel, THERE IS NO GOD LIKE THEE IN THE HEAVEN, NOR IN THE EARTH; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto thy servants, THAT WALK BEFORE THEE WITH ALL THEIR HEARTS. II Chronicles 6:14. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Psalms 89:6-8. Our GOD is NOT the creation, but the CREATOR. So many these days are seeking after "creations"--our GOD is the maker, NOT the made! Many are following after (worshiping) that which man has built for himself: material possessions, images, icons. Whatever, Whoever you serve, that is your god! So many still blindly grope in darkness for this or that to worship or follow. When Jesus Christ came, He brought the FULL knowledge of GOD to us, and the days of groping in darkness or ignorance are long past. The fact that so many refuse to acknowledge Jesus Christ as the ONLY begotten SON of GOD is no excuse. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God... Psalm 14:1. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [but] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. I John 2:22,23. A day of judgment is coming, my friends. Our days of life on this earth are merely a journey to the Judgment Seat of God: Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 10:32,33. The proof of Jesus Christ's preeminence is His resurrection. It is no unknown god we have to deal with, but a RISEN CHRIST!
(all emphasis on scriptures, such as bold, underline or uppercase, is mine) "The Unknown God" Copyright © 2001 by Patricia Sikes. All Rights Reserved.

Our God Is An Awesome God

If you have been blessed, give God the Glory! Please sign our guestbook; let us know you enjoyed "The Unknown God". Thank you so much for visiting He Is Able!



With the exception of the King James Bible, ALL material on He Is Able is protected by copyright.