Acts #71 The Unknown God Made Known

The chief end of man is to glorify God. But how can we consciously and willingly glorify God if we do not know Him? How can we praise and exalt the Lord if He is unknown to us? Glorifying God as an act of worship requires that we know Him—not simply know some vague, impersonal ideas about God, but know Him according to His own revelation of Himself—that we trust Him, love Him, hope in Him, obey Him, and live for Him. A true knowledge of God will lead to nothing less. Even Satan knows God and believes that He is—there is not a moment of the day that passes that Satan is not aware that God is—Satan is constantly crashing into God’s omnipresence, God’s sovereignty, God’s justice, and God’s greatness. However, Satan’s knowledge of God and belief lead him not to rest in the salvation of God. Satan’s knowledge of God only condemns him to a far greater extent (as does a knowledge in you and me that does not lead us to trust Him, to love Him, hope in Him, obey Him and live for Him). Dear ones, let us not gain a knowledge that will condemn us, but rather a knowledge that leads to everlasting life.

As the Apostle Paul stood before the philosophers and teachers of this world, he revealed to them their ignorance of the one true living God who has revealed Himself within man and all around man, so that all men stand accountable before God for that knowledge which they have suppressed in unrighteousness. The main points from our text this Lord’s Day are: (1) Paul Reveals the Ignorance of the Wise of This World Who Know Not God (Acts 17:22-23); (2) Paul Reveals the God that the Wise of This World Do Not Know (Act 17:24-26).