Not Enough Faith to be an Atheist Week 7

Miracles

What is a miracle?

Do you think you’ve ever experienced one?

Biblically, here is a good way to look at miracles.

A prophet proclaims a message.

The miracles he does confirm the message.

Moses, Elijah & Elisha, and Jesus are most famous biblical examples.

If you’ve never experienced one, does that mean they do not exist?

When you look at Scripture from Moses to Jesus… roughly 1500 years occur in that time.

So over 1500 years, How many miracles occur in Scripture?

About 250 miracles… Most of which, btw, occur during Jesus’ life and ministry.

But if we condense that down to an average think about it this way.

How often did miracles occur if there are 250 recorded miracles over 1500 years?

If you divide 1500 by 250, then you get 6…

That means, 1 miracle occurs every 6 years…

Now listen to me…

What does that mean?

If our faith in God hinges on the miracles of God, we may be focused on the wrong thing.

Let’s take this same logic and apply it to God.

If I don’t see God, does that mean He doesn’t exist?

No…

But we have a daily opportunity to go to His Word and talk to Him.

Follow me: It’s a bit of a stretch to expect a miracle from God that on average biblically occurred once every 6 years when we aren’t walking with Him daily which is available to us 24/7…

That’s like complaining to your parents that there’s nothing to eat in the house when they just spent $700 on groceries…

Granted… $700 on groceries now days only buys you about 7 bananas, 2 cases of strawberries, and some peanuts…

But that’s beside the point.

We complain about what we don’t have rather than being thankful for what we do have.

If there’s one thing I repeat to my boys almost every day it is that right there…

Son… you need to be thankful for what you’ve got, not for what you don’t.

A secular Philosopher David Hume had this issue with Miracles:

Natural law is by definition a description of a regular occurrence.

A miracle is by definition a rare occurrence.

The evidence for the regular is always greater than that for the rare.

A wise man always bases his belief on the greater evidence \

Therefore, a wise man should never believe in miracles.

Which of these statements is absolutely wrong.

3. The evidence for the regular is always greater than that for the rare.

Turek (Author of Not Enough Faith to be an Atheist) uses Hume’s belief in evolution against him.

It wasn’t the Big bang, bang, bang, bang, bang… It was the Big Bang.

That was rare… it happened once.

The origin of life wasn’t regular, it was rare. It happened once.

For example: Say the business Phizer (Covid Shots) announced they’ve been working on creating human life for the last decade and next week Dr. Shaboygan will reveal the first lab created human.

Would that shake your faith?

It shouldn’t… because that’s actually better proof for God than not.

If an intelligent being creates another intelligent being, that’s exactly what the bible claims.

If they put a bunch of carbon in a locked room for 100 years and a human walks out of the room at some point, that’s what evolution claims and I’m never concerned about that.

Evolution is entirely based on the opposite of Hume’s claim.

The evidence for the regular is always greater than that for the rare.

They both can’t be right, but they can both be wrong…

_________________________________________________

What do you think about Miracles?

Are we a miracle?

Is life a miracle?

What is your favorite miracle in Scripture?

My favorite is Jesus feeding the thousands.

How many times did Jesus feed the 5000?

Open to Matthew 14:13-21

First of all vs. 13 says “When Jesus heard what had happened…”

What happened?

John the Baptist, his cousin, was just beheaded by Herod.

Jesus is sad and grieving.

So he’s trying to go to the other side of Galilee to just have a moment without the crowds.

However, the people follow, Jesus has compassion, heals, teaches, and displays His glory.

Now when everyone is hungry, They only have 5 loaves and 2 fish.

Let’s do some quick math.

5000 people (+ women and children) probably 15,000 people

5 loaves + 2 fish + Jesus = Satisfied people… 12 small baskets leftover.

Yet Jesus feeds the people and they have 12 baskets of leftover food.

That’s miracle one…

Now let’s look at this same miracle again… but this time pay attention to the Disciples.

Turn to Matthew 15:29-39.

Again, Jesus it seems is just trying to catch his breath, but the crowds continue coming and Jesus continues to heal.

Again, Jesus instructs the Disciples to feed them.

What do the Disciples say,

Matthew 15:33 “33 His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?””

Now, it seems 3 days has passed and they say “Where are we going to get enough food Jesus...”

Uh… did we just forget what happened a couple days ago fellas?

Now how much food do they have this time?

Matthew 15:34 “34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.””

7 Loaves, A few (more than 3) fish.

So let’s do some quick math again…

4000 men this time, so probably 10-12,000 people.

Less people + More food + Jesus = Satisfied people and More food leftover (7 large baskets)

The Disciples got to witness both of these miracles in quick succession.

Yet it seems they still didn’t understand what Jesus could do.

When you look at John 2 and the Disciples first see Jesus turn water into wine,

John 2:11 says “11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”

The disciples clearly believed Jesus… but I think it’s also clear at times they missed what He was teaching them.

Whether the miracle happens or not, do you trust Jesus who is right in front of you?

Even when the answer seems confusing?

Do you trust Jesus? Are you following His lead?

Miracles could happen right in front of us and:

A. We see it, we acknowledge God, we praise & glorify Him.

or

B. We miss the miracle because we are distracted & prioritized with other things.

Which are you choosing?

Split into small Groups and discuss.