Does God Exist?
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George Bernard Shaw is perhaps most renowned as a free thinker and liberal philosopher. In his last writings we read, "The science to which I pinned my faith is bankrupt. Its counsels, which should have established the millennium, led, instead, directly to the suicide of Europe. I believed them once. In their name I helped to destroy the faith of millions of worshippers in the temples of a thousand creeds. And now they look at me and witness the great tragedy of an atheist who has lost his faith." Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God.
But the question today is not, do you believe that God exists. The question is… can you prove that God exists? Important… yes because it seems that Atheism is rapidly growing.
If you were to ask an American in 1944 whether or not they believed in God, only 1 out of every 100 people would answer no. Today, almost 80 years later, 12 out of every 100 Americans claim that they don’t believe in God. If you look at the numbers, it’s obvious that both atheism and agnosticism are spreading around the world very quickly.
So, exactly how fast is atheism growing? Although the exact percentage of atheists changes every year, Gallup Polls indicates that currently, 12% of all Americans do not believe in God. In 2011, only 7% claimed the same. This means that in the past decade, there has been a 5% increase in the number of atheists. And its starting to really boom now.
Many sociologists and psychologists suggest that atheism is growing because of the continued advancements in science in which we have uncovered natural and logical explanations for many things we have formerly called acts of God. And the continued failures of the church. Many are leaving the church today because of its failure to deliver on what it promises. Functional atheism thrives in the modern church where people will express devotion to the living God but live their lives as if there is no God. Its not giving the answers to those who are seeking and its not the answer for those who have tried. And again they say… Christianity is just not working out. Working out for what? What do you think the point of Christianity is? It is because it is true not because it works. If we live a life of utter worldly failure it will not change that fact that Jesus is Lord and is worthy of all of our praise. This is why all of the pragmatism, prosperity gospel, and experiential encounter stuff, is contributing to the increase of atheism in our country today. People are saying that Christianity just does not work for them anymore? Why would you say that if you were a Christian because it is true? Who cares if its working for ya.
Alister Mcgrath writes, Paradoxically, what propels people toward atheism is above all a sense of revulsion against the excesses and failures of organized religion.
But there is nothing to be found in atheism. Many are seeking to find something else to stand on. But all other ground is sinking sand. Lets take a look.
But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.
The grass withers the flower fades but the word of our God stands forever.
The Impossibility of the Contrary
Neutrality is a Myth
The Reality of Rebellion
The first thing we will look at today is the unfailing principle of the impossibility of the contrary. Second, we will see the level playing field of neutrality that will be urged, but they will not be neutral nor should we. Finally, we will see how the reality of our plight is not ignorance, but rebellion and how we can rejoice because there is salvation from rebellion against the living God.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to doubt and rebel because of our self deception, delusion, and nature, it is the truth of the scriptures and the power of the Holy Spirit that will open our hearts and minds to see the reality of sin and its effects and how we can truly be saved and sustained by the hand of God, the grace of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.
I. The Impossibility of the Contrary
- Without God you cannot make sense of anything.
A. According to Romans 1 we see that there really is no such thing as an atheist. Everyone believes in God and of course we are supposed to believe the scriptures above all. Again...
But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.
B. God has made it obvious to them. What we see here is that God has revealed enough of Himself to all of mankind for them to be blameworthy when they sin and reject his leading. God made this obvious to them… it is not difficult mathematical formulas, complex syllogisms, deep archeological excavations, or the deepest thought experiments in the hollow caverns of meditation. No need to have a PhD or a super high IQ. No need to be clever or naturally gifted in thinking.
It is obvious. This is why we do not need to give any absolute proof for the existence of God, because none is actually needed.
C. But Shane you do not understand I really do not believe in God. Sorry, but God says that you do. When standing face to face with God in the end there will be no excuse… you will not be able to say I did not think you existed. Not about science either… the invisible qualities of God. Can’t use sense perception, empiricism, evidentialism with experiments to uncover this knowledge. We uncover His eternal power and divine nature… the existence of the supernatural. You can perceive all that … God showed us. Therefore there is no excuse. So we all believe that there is a God because God has shown himself to us in such a way that we are responsible to Him. And He has done it in such a way that there will be no excuse.
D. So of course an atheist will not affirm all that I just said. But that is what we do… we lie to ourselves.
Keep me from lying to myself;
give me the privilege of knowing your instructions.
E. So then what is our approach? I will admit that I will play the game a little. I do give historic theistic proofs like the cosmological, teleological, and ontological arguments. Just to show that even if we use a humanistic method, we can demonstrate the existence of God. Even when you take God out of the picture, we can give proofs. Not they are not unbeatable… that’s the price we pay for using limited man made methods and principles.
F. But what is the unbeatable? The best way to describe this ...
Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.
G. A man came to a college science classroom and said that he has made a huge discovery. He came to the conclusion that there is no such thing as air. He came up with equations and formulas and made his case and even though some of the students in the classroom came to the position of being convinced, the professor was not. He stood there with a smile on his face. The man became more and more irritated as time went on and finally he said… so professor I am guessing that you are not convinced. Sorry. Its funny that the whole time you are trying to convince us that there is no such thing as air, you were breathing it the whole time.
H. In order to disprove the existence of God you gotta first assert the existence of God. This is why without God you cannot make sense of anything. Some of the Atheists that I talk to will say I am wrong to tell people about myths and fables and I should not encourage people to enter my delusion. And my first response to them is why do you even care? So what if i do do this? In a random materialistic world who is to say that your right is right and my right is wrong. If I believe the exact opposite of what you believe, am I not equally as right as you are? You say logic is important, but why? Take the law of noncontradiction… if A cannot be not A at the same time you do well… but who cares? So what if a person is not logical? But Shane 2 plus 2 equals 4 right but if there is no God… so what?
I. Recently there was a person who claimed that to say 2 plus 2 equals 4 is racist. Many said that she is just plain wrong racist or not, but in the end for those who do not believe in God… so what? Think about it. If I live the rest of my life fiving people five dollars instead of four dollars who cares… but that would be stealing. Yeah but then who cares? Things like reason, logic and morality… where did they come from? An Atheist cannot answer this question. But they use it, they believe in it, and they complain and get upset when people betray their morality.
J. They say that there is no God, but they need God to say that there is no God. They need the tools that God has given us to use to disprove his existence. Its like using a DeWalt drill to prove that there is no such thing as DeWalt. When an Atheist says there is no God… he or she is saying there is no air while they breathe it in. It cannot get much more foolish than this. This is why the scriptures declare...
Only fools say in their hearts,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;
not one of them does good!
K. But the reality is rebellion. Not lack of information. This is why the scriptures declare foolishness… you are proving the existence of God all the while you disprove Him. But Shane you cannot believe anything to be real if you cant prove it with evidence? Did you prove that statement with evidence? Did you dream last night? Yeah prove it. Can we prove our memories? Is there any scientific argument that could destroy the assertion that the world was only created five minutes ago? People say everything changes, but in order for that to be true at least one thing cannot change. Even when people say that all religions are equally right, but Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except through me. So if Jesus is right then you are wrong, but if Jesus is worng then you are still wrong.
L. If there is no God, then there is no objective standard for good. If there is no good then there cannot be the privation of good commonly called evil. So, if God doesn’t exist, evil doesn’t exist. But atheists will assert that the actual existence of evil is the reason there is no God. But how? Without God there can be no evil. So if you say evil exists… then God exists.
M. Nothing and I mean nothing makes sense or can be accounted for if there is no God. This is why I assert today… the living God is real. When you are up late at night questioning whether all of this Christianity stuff is real… know that you cannot even begin to question anything if it was not. Nothing then matters, nothing will matter. Nothing does matter. If there is no God then who cares about whether there is a God or not.
N. But you do care. That is why it is impossible to believe the contrary. CS Lewis illustrates this well...
If there is no intelligence behind the universe, then nobody designed my brain for the purpose of thinking. Thought is merely the byproduct of some atoms within my skull. But if so, how can I trust my own thinking to be true? And if I can't trust my own thinking, of course, I can't trust arguments leading to atheism and therefore have no reason to be an atheist, or anything else. Unless I believe in God, I can't believe in thought; so I can never use thought to disbelieve God.
II. Neutrality is a Myth
- There is no level playing field.
A. But these guys are just so smart. These guys are successful and they show that they know stuff and know a lot. All these guys on the discovery channel or the history channel or social media. These atheists have something to say. They are sooo soooo smart and they are so convincing. We don’t listen to them. There is no neutral ground with them do you know why? We are to never ever ever surrender our thoughts and our faith to any kind of neutrality to the world. We cannot be nor are we allowed to be open minded.
Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.
B. They know God… and they refuse to worship Him. And as a result their minds are dark and confused. They are darkened and they are confused. There is no neutral ground. They are no neutral. They are not open minded themselves.
Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.
C. We are to recognize that God calls them fools. We do not try to find worth and value in those who God calls fools. There is to be no neutrality. They are not neutral and their minds are not open. It is full of darkness. They have closed their minds. We are supposed to love the Lord with all of minds as well as our heart. Are we being disloyal to the Lord with our minds?
D. This is why many in the church are walking away from the faith. They are listening to the pattern of the world and the mind that is hostile to all that is holy. And agreeing with darknened minds. Those with double standards. Those with hardened hearts and those who are closed minded. There is no neutrality between the church and the world. We are letting them in. We are not suppoed to be neutral and open minded to their thoughts. We are supposed to be set apart.
Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.
“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.
You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.
E. But its not for us to just be passive. We are supposed to be active. We are not to let this reasoning and thinking of the world go by untouched. We are to crush them. We are to destroy them. We are not to just sit and watch it all go by. Enough with the apathy in the modern church. We are not to be neutral. They wont be neutral neither should you be. We gotta get out there. We gotta get in the fight. No more fear of the world. No more fear of what they can do. Crush the thinking
We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.
Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.
F. Always be ready to call your pastor and get the answer. Always be ready to search the internet to hopefully find the answer. This is an imperative my friend. You are disobeying God. This is a command by the apostle. Always be ready to explain it. To not be ready is to disobey the Word of God. And the modern church is paying for it right now. Absolutely paying for it. Young people are walking away from the faith… older christians are just not coming to church anymore. Will we allow the nonsense to continue. Will we CBC stand and fight for the truth and glory of Christ. We cannot allow the insanity and foolishness of atheism get a hold of us. We cannot allow a neutral playing field… they will not nor should we. Even demons believe in the existence of God.
III. The Reality of Rebellion
- All have sinned.
A. What all of this is showing is the reality of what we gotta call rebellion. Its not that we don’t know… we wont know. We wanna say that it is because of lack of information. We wanna say that we just didn’t know. We wanna and will always wanna claim ignorance. But the truth of the matter… there is no excuse for any of us.
B. And ever since the fall in the garden, the excuse is to blame. And we wanna claim ignorance. But there is no ignorance. We have seen it in our passage of the scripture today. And we will be judged. God said that he is furious and He will judge us for all that we have done in rebellion against him.
C. But today we can be saved from this. There is salvation for us all.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.
D. There is salvation today because Christ has paid the price for us. He lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died. Yes Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. He became sin who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.
E. And the promises continue… All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved.
F. We can be saved today. We have been given the truth today. Who the Son has set free is free indeed. This is the beauty of the gift of repentance that the Holy Spirit gives us and the wonderful faith that the Holy Spirit gives us. And the life and life more abundant that we have in Christ. Yes family… God is more real than anything in this world that we would call real.