Someone called to suggest I not have special sermons on Mother's Day," "Father's Day," and "Thanksgiving Week," and all of those other special days. He said, "Christianity has only one special day-- the First Day of the week.” Well, he is right about that. “But, when are you going to do a special "April Fools’ Day?" he asked. Well, we thought we would. Stay tuned!
Say, it is good to have you with us today, my friend. I know you have a lot of choices of programs at this time, but you have chosen ours-- and we are glad for that. We are closed captioned to those with hearing problems, too. And since we are sponsored on this station by members of churches of Christ in this area, you won't be annoyed with any appeals for you to send us money. Isn't that great? I like it that way! I pray we will both be blessed by our studying God's Word together today.
On the lighter side: Well-- you will allow that once, won't you? Thanks. The story goes that, in an effort to prohibit celebration of Christmas and Easter as legal holidays-- thereby giving government endorsement of religion in America, an atheist complained to the court that atheists don't have such a holiday-- "and that is discrimination," he said. But the court ruled: "in view of the 14th Psalm, verse 1, which says, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God," the first day of April every year will be “April Fools’ Day."
If you think you might want a free printed copy or audio cassette tape or CD of the message, simply write us, In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. Our e-mail address is searchtv@aol.com. And our toll-free telephone number for your use is 1-800-321-8633. Don't be reluctant to give us your name and address now. We respect your right to privacy and we will not share it with anybody without your permission. We are not here to exploit you in any way. We want only to do you good. Ken Helterbrand is going to lead us in his usual good way in our singing, and then we will be back for Bible reading and prayer.
We are reading today from the 14th Psalm, the first three verses. “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good. No, not one.” Now let us go to God in prayer. Almighty God, all-wise God, we count it a tremendous blessing to come to You in prayer in the name of Jesus our Lord and Savior and our Mediator to bow at Your feet and to express our thanksgivings for life and all that You have given us in life. We know that all comes through You. We come to recognize You as the almighty and the everlasting Father in heaven and to praise You. In His name we pray. Amen.
While it has been a part of mankind from the beginning, in all civilizations and cultures, to be a worshiper, there have always been a few people who have rejected the idea of "god." They have consistently constituted a small minority, but often they are very, very vocal, and sometimes even militant. And some of the questions they raise in the minds of enquiring souls need a response from believers. The Bible doesn't argue the case for the being of God. It offers no proofs of God for His existence. It assumes it. It begins by saying, "In the beginning God," (Genesis 1:1) and it presumes from that point forward that the reader believes God exists, and just says that "The fool has said in his heart, There is no God." That is first verse that we read a while ago. Over the centuries certain thinkers who have devoted themselves to the study of things have formulated what are sometimes called "the classical" arguments or proofs of God's existence.
For example, Augustine, theologian-philosopher of the late 4th and early 5th centuries is usually credited with what is called the “Intuitive argument” for the reality of God, which says that since where ever or when ever man has lived on the earth, he has intuitively reached up to and worshiped a person or a power higher than himself, (a fact, well that we all admit, is well established by modern archaeology) God must be. Perhaps you are thinking of the oft-quoted prayer of his: "Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee."
Thomas Aquinas, 13th century theologian, is generally credited with what is called the “Cosmological argument.” It argues the existence of God simply on the existence of the cosmos. The idea has captured some of the greatest minds in history.
Aquinas is also credited with the definitive statement of the “Teleological” proofs of God's existence, which simply stated says that the universe demonstrates order and design, which demand an order and a designer. It is an argument for intelligence and purpose in the universe.
Immanuel Kant, German philosopher of the late 18th century wrote, "Two things fill the mind with . . . admiration and awe . . . the starry heavens above and the moral law within." That has become the classical statement of the "Moral argument" for the existence of God. It says that man possesses an innate capacity to know right and wrong, a capacity that says he "ought" to do certain things that are "right" and he "ought not" to do the other things that are "wrong," (a capacity other creatures don't possess) and that this ability can be explained only by recognition of a "Moral Governor" of the universe-- who is God. But wait a minute: I said just now "other creatures," didn't I? By the very use of that word, one necessarily assumes "creation" and a "Creator," doesn't he? So, the unbeliever must choose his words very carefully or he has admitted the existence of God.
But, you don't have to be a philosopher or theologian to come up with your own reasons for believing in God. I have believed in God from childhood. In fact, I can't remember when I did not believe in Him. I am not boasting because I have nothing to boast about. I was brought up by parents who believed in God. They taught us children to, not only believe, but to reverence Him. And a long time before I ever heard of Augustine or Aquinas or any of those others, I believed in God for the very reasons they argued. And I didn't know I was that much of a philosopher or sage at age 12 or 13.
My friend, I have to believe in God first of all, because to believe otherwise, would necessitate closing my eyes to too much evidence to the contrary. David the Psalmist declared, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1). My parents were farmers, so I was blessed to grow up in the rural environment literally surrounded by God's handiwork. One morning at breakfast, my father said, "Son, this morning I need you to move the cattle grazing in that area down next to the river, up to the pasture on the hillside." Let me explain. The area down near the river had a lot of pecan bushes growing in it. And, sometimes there would be a spider web hanging between two of those bushes with a huge black and yellow spider hanging right in the center of it, as big as my hand was then. When my pony caught on to what our work was, he would round up the cattle and "move 'em out" without any help from me. And sometimes he would run right into one of those spider webs-- spider and all just come right before me! Often before I knew it, that spider web would hit me in the face before I had a chance to see whether there was a spider in it or not. Wow! I mean; well, I am afraid of spiders to this day. Even as a child I read my Bible every night before I went to bed. That night I was reading by a kerosene lamp when I came upon the passage in Hebrews that says, "Every house is built by someone..." That is Hebrews 3:4. Hey, even a child could believe that, couldn't he? Especially after the experience with those spiders. You may be wondering what that has to do with it. Well, it occurred to me, only spiders build spider webs. They don't just happen. Birds don't build 'em; they build nests. Men don't build spider webs. They build houses. Surely no one believes all these houses that line our streets and roads just popped up there by chance or by accident without a designer or a builder. So that wasn't hard for me to believe. And the rest of the verse was equally as easy. It says, "But He who built all things is God." How can we possibly account for the fabulous universe and all its fantastic workings without acknowledging an intelligent designer and builder? One reason David said, "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God...," is because it is foolish not to consider such an overwhelming abundance of evidence to the contrary.
Well, another reason I believe in the existence of God is I want to believe in Him. "Well," you say, "what kind of a reason for that for believing anything: I want to believe in it." Isn't that really why an atheist does not believe in God? But, let me explain. Let us take a look at what more David in that Psalm 14 said: "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works; there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, and who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have altogether become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one." Well, you read the rest of the chapter, will you? You get the idea don't you? A world without God is an evil world.
May I give you God's description of a society without Him? It is in the New Testament book of Romans. Now, we are not talking about a civilization without a god, because the Romans had many gods. We are talking about a society or culture without God. He says, "Even though they knew God, they neither honored him as God, nor gave thanks to him; instead, they were even given to worthless speculations, and their senseless heart was darkened. While they were claiming to be wise, they became foolish and exchanged the splendor of the imperishable God for images like perishable man and birds and four-footed animals, and reptiles. God therefore gave them up to the lusts of their hearts in immorality, to degrade their bodies among themselves.
"They exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is praised forever, amen! For this reason, God gave them up to lustful and shameful passions. Their women exchanged the natural use for the unnatural use, unnatural intercourse, and likewise also men abandoned natural intercourse with women, and were inflamed in their lustful passions for one another, men with men doing that which is unnatural, and receiving in themselves the inescapable punishment of their perversion.
"Because they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a worthless mind, to practice evil things. They have filled themselves with all wrongdoing, wickedness, greed, and malice. They are full of envy, hate, murder, strife, deceit, and meanness. They are gossipers, slanderers, haters of God, obnoxious, arrogant, boasters, planners of evil things, disobedient to parents. They are senseless, disloyal, inhuman, and unmerciful. They, knowing the judgment of God that they who practice such things deserve death, not only do them, but even approve of those who practice them." Now that is the reading of Romans 1:21 through 32 in the McCord translation. My friend, it is impossible to govern people, to maintain peace and an orderly society in one that is apart from a faith in God. The efforts to remove God from American public life in the latter half of the 20th century have proven that that is exactly right. It has brought our nation to a state of moral confusion and chaos that could erupt in anarchy with the next crisis we have.
I am reminded of an event in the life of the old patriarch, Abraham that is recorded in Genesis chapter 20 that is appropriate right here. "Abraham journeyed (the Bible says)....and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar or Gerar. Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, she is my sister. And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sara. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife. But Abimelech had not come near her, and he said, Lord, will You slay me, a generous nation also? Did he not say to me, she is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this. And God said to him in a dream, Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me, therefore I did not let you touch her. Now therefore, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all of yours. So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, told all these things in their learning; and the men were very much afraid. And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, What have you done, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done. Then Abimelech said to Abraham, What did you have in view that you have done this? (That is a question that is probably on your mind, too, friend; why would Abraham do such a scandalous thing as that, anyway? He knows better than that! And you and I know that he knew better than that). And Abraham said, (listen carefully now) because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife. But indeed she is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife." You see, "In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil." I have yet another reason for believing in God after the hymn, so don't go away. Let us pray. Almighty God, we are thankful to call You our Father in heaven and we are thankful to be able to hallow Your name and reverence You in all regards and respects. We thank You, Father, for all You are in our relationship with You through Jesus in whose name we pray. Amen.
I have already given you two reasons why I believe in God. First: There is just simply too much strong evidence for His existence to ignore it. And I can't do it. Secondly: I want to believe in Him for without God we are without any basis for a moral order. Now, will you hear me for my third reason? It is because I need God. And I know that Sigmund Freud attempts to devalue this argument for the existence of God. He says, God exists because mankind (Oh, by the way, do you know we came by the name "Mankind?" Do you know how that happened? God gave it to us. Read Genesis 5:1 and 2. Anyway, Freud argued that God only exists because mankind felt a deep-seated need for a "father figure;" therefore, God is only a figment of man's imagination. But, that idea isn't hard to rebut. Every child needs a physical father in the home, too, but he isn't the product of the child's imagination. David, the Psalmist prayed, "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God." That is Psalm 42:1 and 2. "O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and your glory." That is Psalm 63:1 and 2. The universal longing for God, the persistent reaching out to Him for His presence, and the meaningless, purposeless existence without Him in this world, is one of the strongest arguments or evidences of his being that we can talk about. It just cannot be ignored.
Well, there is so much more as a believer, I would surely like to say. But, indeed and in truth, "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God." The word "fool" here means to fall away--to disgrace-- to dishonor-- to despise-- to do foolishly. It would be the opposite of wise and wisdom. Indeed, it is unwise, foolish to deny the existence of God in the face of the abundance of the evidence for His being. Oh, I hope you are not disbelieving, my friend. If you are and you would like more studies about it, let me hear from you. If you are familiar with the Bible at all, you surely know it says, too, that "faith without works is dead," and that kind of faith avails nothing. An active faith does what God says do. If you are not a Christian, He says, to become so, you need to believe implicitly in His Son and be baptized and you will be saved. He makes that promise. Yes, and you will need to straighten out your life in repentance, too. "God commands all men everywhere to repent." I hope I may hear from you that you have become a Christian today.
If you can use a free printed copy of this program use the address that we gave you a while ago and you may have it absolutely free without cost. We plan to be back next week. Oh, I hope you will too. God bless. We love you. |