Always Ready

I’m excited to spend one more night with you all and I’m particularly excited because we get to talk about something that I am extremely passionate about and that is something known as apologetics. Who’s heard of that word before? When you hear the word apologetics, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? I’m sure that for many of you, when you hear it, you hear the word apology and you would be right. The word apologetics comes from the Greek word, “apologia” which means to make a defense. It does not mean that we are apologizing for something but instead we are giving a defense for why we believe what we believe or why we do what we do. We as Christians as we are going to see tonight are all called to be apologists and I’m going to attempt to do something that is probably pretty foolish and that is try to explain to teenagers an entire apologetic method in like 25 minutes in a way that makes sense so that you all can defend what you believe and if you aren’t a Christian, maybe tonight you will be able to see that the Christian beliefs, Christian worldview, whatever you might want to call it is actually much more convincing than what you realize. You all are smart, you know that there are nonbelievers in the world, you know that there are atheists in the world, people that claim that the God of the Bible, or any God doesn’t exist. Now we are obviously not supposed to just pretend that they don’t exist. What should we do with them? Engage with them! Here’s the thing, this whole week we have been working on building our defense. In the 1st century, Peter is writing to Christians and he tells them that they are to always be ready to make a defense for what they believe. Let’s read 1 Peter 3:14-16 and you will see where we will be going tonight:

1 Peter 3:14–16 NASB95

But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.

Do you see what Peter says there? We are to always be ready to make a defense to everyone, not just other believers, not just people that you might be smarter than, Everyone! To everyone we should be able and ready to make a defense on the hope that is in you and we are to do it with gentleness and reverence. What I want to do tonight is try to turn you all into mini apologists and the way that I am going to do this is by arguing that all you really need to know in order to give a defense for the hope that is in you is the Word of God. Now you might be thinking, “How am I suppose to defend that the Bible is true to people that reject that the Bible is true?” Now here’s the thing, the Bible is exactly where God wants our defense to come from. We know that God is truth and everything that comes from His mouth is truth and that His Word is true. Psalm 119:160 says, “The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.” Jesus says in John 17:17, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” Our argument then is that God speaks truthfully in His Word and since God is the standard of truth and all truth stems from Him, the Word of God is more than able to provide a thorough defense against any argument that the atheist or unbeliever pushes for. You see a lot of ways that people attempt to argue for Christianity is by arguing for Scripture where really what we do is argue from Scripture and as we argue from Scripture, we show the unbeliever that their lives are completely inconsistent with their worldview. The things that they claim do not make sense outside of a Christian worldview and the Bible tells us that if all we are trying to do is use an atheists own arguments to prove the Bible or God, we’re actually doing their job for them. Here’s what I mean, do you know what Proverbs 26:4–5 ? “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Or you will also be like him. Answer a fool as his folly deserves, That he not be wise in his own eyes.” What this means is that we are arguing that our worldview, our Christian worldview, is the ONLY rational worldview to hold. Gary Demar writes,

Pushing the Antithesis: The Apologetic Methodology of Greg L. Bahnsen 2. Central Concerns

Ultimately then, apologetics must ask whether facts are random events in a chance universe, as per the unbeliever’s worldview, or are they elements of the all-organizing, rational plan of God who created, governs, and gives meaning, value, and purpose to the universe and all of its facts? For you see, once God is denied, the only explanation possible for the original creation of the universe is by chance. Consequently, the unbeliever’s worldview is ultimately rooted in chance.

The method of apologetics that I am pushing us towards is known as presuppositional apologetics. Basically what a presupposition is that there is something that is assumed beforehand. For the Christian apologist, the presupposition, the thing that is assumed and the ground for all that comes after it, is that a Christian worldview is necessary to make sense of anything and God reveals this in His Word. We hold to what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10:5-6

2 Corinthians 10:5–6 NASB95

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

What I want to do for just a couple of minutes is talk about apologetics that you guys are probably more familiar with and that is what is known as evidential apologetics.

Pushing Against Evidential Apologetics

When I say evidential apologetics, what comes to your mind? Probably the word evidence right? What do we normally mean when we talk about there being evidence for something? Think of like a police officer. If a crime is committed and an officer arrives at the scene of the crime, they try to find evidence and they use this evidence, whatever it might be, to prove that someone is guilty right? Usually when we talk about something like evidence based apologetics, we are talking about something like proof for the resurrection, proof for the existence of Jesus, proof of a Creator and there is certainly truth and evidence for all of that. Just look at the complexity of the human body and creation and you can clearly see that there is a God that created all of that. There are great books out there like The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel and The Resurrection of the Son of God by N.T. Wright that presents quite a bit of evidence for what is being defended and as great and true as that evidence is, I will still argue that it is not the best way to live out what Peter calls us to do in 1 Peter 3:15. The question comes down to this: How much proof is enough proof? You see people don’t want proof, they want to be convinced. I can present all the proof of something in the world and that does not mean that you will change your mind or be convinced in my argument. Look at it in this way, have you ever heard of the Parable of the rich man and Lazarus? In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus tells a parable about a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. The rich man has everything good happen in his life and he dies and goes to Hell. Lazarus, the poor man, seems to have everything go wrong for him in his life and he too dies and goes to Heaven. The rich man in hell looks and sees Abraham and Lazarus together in heaven and he calls out to Abraham and says, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.” Abraham reminds him that in his life he received good things and Lazarus bad things in their lives and there is no way for them to cross over. Listen to what Luke writes in Luke 16:27–28, “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’” Lazarus says, “Abraham if someone from Heaven would go warn my brothers to avoid this, that will save them! If something wonderful and miraculous happens that will grab their attention, that will convince them!” But look at what Jesus says in Luke 16:29–31, “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ “But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’” Did you catch what Jesus is saying there? He says, “They have the Scriptures! Moses and the Prophets was really a shorthanded way of saying the entire Old Testament. In the Bible, everything that one needed for evidence, for salvation, is clearly seen. Jesus is saying if they are not convinced by what is clearly stated in the Word of God, they will not be convinced if something as miraculous as a resurrection or clear sign from heaven were to be given to them. Do you see how that connects to an evidence based defense of the faith? Something can be clear to the unsaved man or woman, something can be proven through evidence, yet the sinful and unregenerate heart cannot accept it. Now this isn’t to save that evidence based proof for Christianity has no use. I know plenty of people that have been led to Christ through the clear evidence that God has given to us. All I’m arguing for is that there is a better way that really attacks the argument.

Pushing for Presuppositional Apologetics

Does Scripture teach that man is totally oblivious about God? Does Scripture teach that God has not made Himself known to the world? Absolutely not. In fact, it is clear in Scripture that God has revealed Himself to every single person but because of sin, man chooses to reject God and that knowledge. Paul says in Romans 1:18–21 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” What is it that Scripture is teaching here? That which is known about God is evident within them because God has made it evident to Him and ever since the creation of the world, God has been clearly seen so that they have an excuse? No, they have no excuse because they know God but they do not honor him. Paul continues in Romans 1:28–32 “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” No one can honestly say that they didn’t know any better. There will be no acceptable excuses in heaven. Ignorance is not an acceptable excuse. What we argue is that every single person on the planet has knowledge of God but has chosen to reject that clear knowledge. The unbeliever has no right to make any argument on any form of absolutes because in his worldview, he rejects all forms of absolutes. He can’t make any arguments for or against morals because he worldview does not allow for morals. Why? Because in their worldview, everything comes from chaos and nothingness. There is no reason for any rule of logic or morality to exist in an atheistic culture. Cornelius Van Til, one of I believe, the greatest apologists that the church has ever had said that the unbeliever is like a man with an iron mask on and we as apologists and defenders of the faith must seek to tear the iron mask off of him. What he means is that the man knows that he has a mask on, he knows deep down that the things that he claims are not consistent with his own world view and as soon as we can get him to take that mask off to see who he really is, then we are making real progress. Apologetics on its own cannot change the human heart. The goal of apologetics isn’t to change hearts, it’s to shut mouths. That’s what Greg Bahnsen said. Our goal is to make them see that for people that claim to have no faith, they are living by faith! Let me give a quick example and I hope that this makes sense. When you sit in a chair, you make assumptions right? You assume that the chair is there, you assume that the chair will hold your weight and not collapse under you, and you assume that there is such a thing as a chair. When you sit down, do you have to test whether the chair is really there or it can hold you or do you just sit down? I would say that you probably just sit right on down. Can I make the argument that in a nonChristian worldview that sitting down is in some measure an act of faith? Not saving faith in Christ, but faith like? Because in an atheist’s worldview where there are no constants, no reason, all chaos, no reason for the future to be the same as the past, there is no guarantee that the chair will continue to operate as it always has. They have confidence that what was true of the past will remain true now in the present but their own worldview would deny this. They deny the reality of faith but live their entire lives by faith. Greg Bahnsen writes, “From beginning to end, man’s reasoning about anything whatsoever (even reasoning about reason itself) is unintelligible or incoherent unless the truth of the Christian Scriptures is presupposed. Any position contrary to the Christian one, therefore, must be seen as philosophically impossible. It cannot justify its beliefs or offer a worldview whose various elements comport with each other. In short, presuppositional apologetics argues from the truth of Christianity from the impossibility of the contrary.” We aren’t saying that atheists aren’t intelligent. We aren’t saying that atheists can’t produce art or do well in mathematics. What we are saying is that they can’t account for it within their own beliefs. Something as sure as 2+2=4 can’t happen outside of a Christian worldview if all is just chance and inconsistency. Every single person has a sense of justice that the atheist cannot properly account for. Atheists can’t make statements of morality because their worldview almost rests on their being no morality or sense of right or wrong. Take something like school shootings, something like Nazism and the holocaust, something like the invasion of Ukraine, those are evil actions by evil men but hold on, if there is no God, if all this is is pure chance, if all that is taking place in this world is nothing more than chaotic happenstances, there would be no sense of right or wrong, good or evil. Now why would any self-respecting person not deny the fact that these things, and a whole sort of other things are wrong? Because God has placed in their hearts a clear definition of what is right and what is wrong. Look at what Paul writes in Romans 2:14–16 “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.” The conscience of all people bears witness to what is true and it is only when we deny what God has clearly revealed that we can act like we don’t have that sense. No one is without excuse. Here’s the argument again from Bahnsen or Van Til, I can’t remember which, and I really wish that we had time to develop this more: all you have to do is let the atheist or unbeliever talk and let them keep talking and eventually they will run out of rope and hang themselves on their own words and beliefs because their own views cannot sustain that which they are arguing for. How can we readily defend the hope that we have? By knowing Scripture. By knowing the God who is clearly there. I want to end tonight with this awesome quote by Van Til and it is a long quote but I’ll be honest, it lights a fire under me every time I read it and I think it will light a fire under you all as well. All of you are theologians but will you be a good one? Know God, know His Word, and know that in Scripture, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, you have everything you need to defend this faith. Here’s Van Til to the atheist and unbeliever:

The Pamphlets, Tracts, and Offprints of Cornelius Van Til Why I Believe in God (Updated Edition)

The point is this. Not believing in God, you do not think yourself to be God’s creature. And not believing in God you do not think the universe has been created by God. That is to say, you think of yourself and the world as just being there. Now if you actually are God’s creature, then your present attitude is very unfair to Him. In that case it is even an insult to Him. And since you have insulted God, His displeasure rests upon you. God and you are not on “speaking terms.” And you have very good reasons for trying to prove that He does not exist. If He does exist, He will punish you for your disregard of Him. You are therefore wearing colored glasses. And this determines everything you say about the facts and reasons for not believing in Him. You have, as it were, entered upon God’s estate and have had your picnics and hunting parties there without asking His permission. You have taken the grapes of God’s vineyard without paying Him any rent, and you have insulted His representatives who asked you for it.

I must make an apology to you at this point. We who believe in God have not always made this position plain. Often enough we have talked with you about facts and sound reasons as though we agreed with you on what these really are. In our arguments for the existence of God we have frequently assumed that you and we together have an area of knowledge on which we agree. But we really do not grant that you see any fact in any dimension of life truly. We really think you have colored glasses on your nose when you talk about chickens and cows, as well as when you talk about the life hereafter. We should have told you this more plainly than we did. But we were really a little ashamed of what would appear to you as a very odd or extreme position. We were so anxious not to offend you that we offended our own God. But we dare no longer present our God to you as smaller or less exacting than He really is. He wants to be presented as the All-Conditioner, as the emplacement on which even those who deny Him must stand

Let’s pray.