Making Known the Unknown God

Apr 14, 2019 | by Pastor Josh Tate | series: Conversion Stories in Acts

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On January 8, 1815 a rag tag force of approximately 4,700 Americans under the command of General Andrew Jackson defeated 11,000 British Regulars in the Battle of New Orleans. However, as you may remember from history class, the great irony of that battle was that it came just fifteen days after the signing of the treaty of Ghent which officially ended the war. In those days news traveled at the rate of wind-powered boats and horses, and news didn’t reach forces in the field until after the battle.

On the morning before the battle the outcome seemed uncertain, everything seemed to hang in the balance, but, in truth, the outcome of the war itself had already been determined 15 days earlier. In a very real sense the American forces were invincible as they took the field.

Something similar is going on in all of the accounts we have been studying in the book of Acts. This Sunday , for example, we will study Acts 17, in which Paul and Silas, our two intrepid missionaries, will take the Gospel into the cities of Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens. They will face intense opposition as their preaching disturbs the spirits of those neighborhoods. Satan will not cede territory without a fight, but it is helpful to see that all of the Battles in which the church is engaged are part of a larger conflict the outcome of which was determined, ABSOLUTELY DETERMINED, on a hill outside Jerusalem nearly 2000 years ago. The church cannot be defeated. 1 Corinthians 15:57 declares that victory- “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The moment a person becomes a Christian they change from a defeated person to a victorious person.

This reminds me of a story I once heard of a British man who married an American girl and moved to her hometown in the Midwest. He filed to become a naturalized U.S. citizen, and on the very day that his citizenship was finalized, his in-laws decided to throw him a big party to celebrate. At one point during the party the family called upon him to make a toast, and with his glass held high he remarked, “Yesterday, the revolution was a defeat but today it is a victory.” And whenever a person puts their trust in Jesus for their salvation thereby becoming a citizen of the Kingdom of God the victory Jesus won becomes their victory also.

Listen in as we worship God through the study of His Word. It is my prayer that these accounts would inspire, encourage and help us in our own efforts to be witnesses for the Gospel to the unbelievers that god has put in our lives.

Take the field, church, our cause is invincible.