Certain That God Exists

this is known as the Charter verse of all Christian apologetics and if you here this evening and you don't really have any idea who I am or what Christian apologetics is let me just let you get you get you backed up with everything Christian apologetics is the defense that's the the science and the art of the defence of the Christian faith you can have atheist apologists Mormon apologists Jehovah's Witness apologists secular apologist abortion apologists it goes across the spectrum and essentially an apologist as somebody who defends a particular thing and so Christian apologetics has been something that Christian Church has embraced and engaged in throughout the entire history of the Christian Church if you look back at the earliest stages of the Christian Church you see even in the second century of the church God's people having to come against Error heresy false teaching and you see Tertullian versus some sabelli anism and as a church moves throughout history you have the church actually creating creeds and confessions to combat doctrinal error you have the history of the Christian Church in synod's and councils and gatherings fighting against error and upholding truth and in particular in the last generation we have had to fight as Christians really worldwide against again another wide spectrum of different beliefs we face today as a church something that wouldn't have faced about two or three hundred years ago in the last generation we have seen the culture of the world really flip whereas in the first century of the church it was the church turning the world on to its head it was a church turning the world upside down in the last generation of the church really in the West worldwide you've seen the world turned the church upside down onto our heads the Christian Church faces many different things on all fronts we face many tyrannical forms of governments we face many different hostile ideologies that militate against the Christian faith we face today a rabid militant anti Thea's 'im we face a science scientism we face the cults which in many ways are as seeing their demise thank all thanks to Google you have Google here in Australia okay okay many the Colts are facing their own problems today and the access to documentation that the Christians have been using for the last generation things that we had really ourselves we used to bring out to the cults to demonstrate look here's the false prophecies of Joseph Smith's and Smith and Charles taze Russell and judge Rutherford now this stuff is accessible at the click of a button worldwide and so they're facing their own difficulties but the Christian Church is facing many difficulties right now and we have developed over the centuries Christian apologetics different methodologies at facing the world on their own ground and so one of the texts that gives us that responsibility really that charge is first Peter 3:15 and so the text before us tonight is an important one I want to say by way of getting into this text that we should consider tonight in what you learn tonight apologetics to the glory of God that's really the focus what I want to point us to is that it's possible to actually do apologetics in a wrong way we can do apologetics in a way that does not glorify God and I think that many of us can recognize what that would look like if I was to say we can do apologetics in a way that's shaming to the name of Christ or we could do apologetics in a way that's not glorifying to God I think most of us would probably say oh I get what you mean you mean like being a jerk right being mean-spirited right beating somebody up in some sense right we think okay that's unloving that would be apologetics that is not glorifying to God but I'm going to point to yes that and it is possible to do apologetics in a way that's not glorifying to God in that we can be inconsistent as Christians philosophically speaking we could not be actually saying things that are true we could be doing apologetics in a way that is inconsistent philosophically speaking but more so I think what I'm gonna point to tonight and have you think about just consider is that we can do apologetics as Christians in a way that is fundamentally and and I'm going to be cautious in how I say this because I don't want to in any way destroy any my brothers and sisters who may disagree in any way on methodology but I just want to just say it in this way we can do apologetics in a way that is inconsistent and not glorifying to God and ultimately immoral in a sense when we do apologetics in a way that pretends neutrality so consider for a moment when we defend the Christian faith when we defend the gospel when we have defend Jesus Christ in his message if we defend the gospel if we defend our faith in a way that pretends that Jesus Christ may not be who he claims to be that is essentially a violation of what Jesus commands of us when he says whoever is not with me is against me and ultimately I want to say that our apologetic our defense of the Christian faith should be rooted in our Christian faith now that seems like doublespeak doesn't it it seems like redundant it seems just like you're stuttering in a way the defense of the Christian faith should be rooted in the Christian faith but I think you'll find if you look across the landscape of Christian apologetics and Christian apologists you'll find that it is possible very very possible to do apologetics in a way that pretends neutrality in a way that says well maybe we're not so certain about God maybe we're not so certain about the Word of God maybe it's not the Word of God maybe it's not actually fully and completely true maybe it's not even historically accurate completely and perhaps we're not even really certain that God exists now you might be saying well Jeff you might be blowing that out of proportion there's nobody that says anything like that well I've encouraged you guys to use that wonderful tool called YouTube and you can look up dr. William Lane Craig in one of his recent debates and discussions with professor who actually lives about a couple miles from where we're actually set up dr. Lawrence Krauss he's the Atheist professor at ASU and into the discussion Lawrence Krauss asks dr. Craig if he is certain that God exists and I'm if I'm lying I'm dying here guys dr. Craig said no he's not certain God exists dr. Craig a man of God who loves Jesus who believes in the biblical gospel believes Jesus Christ is Lord God in the flesh believes Jesus cont Christ really lived really died for sinners and really rose from the dead said that he is not certain that God exists let me just suggest to you of brothers and sisters humbly that if we are not certain that God exists then we have no reason no reason to come to Christ to die and rise again we have no reason to give up our lives for the Lord Jesus Christ we have no reason to sing songs about letting Goods and kindred go our mortal lives also if God doesn't certainly exist and if you consider the Scriptures for a moment the Scriptures just don't speak that way the Bible actually says things like in the Psalms you know the text the fool says in his heart there is no God the Bible doesn't say it is the very sophisticated atheist who says there is no God isn't say the person who is very erudite and complex intellectually says there is no God it says the fool says in his heart there is no God that's how the Bible speaks that's how God speaks about unbelief he caused it futility he calls it foolishness that's how God speaks about unbelief and I want to suggest to us once again that if we are not certain about the claims of Jesus Christ then we have no right saying what the Bible says about Jesus Christ in our response what is the Bible saying Acts chapter 17 the Apostle Paul is before a very hostile audience of unbelief pagans he points out their religious nests he points out their altar to the unknown God they don't hold to his position they don't hold to his presupposition at least not in the professed way and he cuts to the heart of where they're at and what does he say he points to Jesus that he is raised up and what does he say to them does he say try Jesus does he say give Jesus a chance does he'd say what rick warren said a couple of years ago on fox news at Christmastime give jesus christ a 30 day trial he actually said that and i am so sorry that much of what comes out of america gets shipped to you trust me i am very sorry about that but what is he saying acts 17 apostle paul the Areopagus Marcell he says God commands men everywhere to repent he's not asking for your permission to rule over you Jesus isn't asking for you to participate with him in some kind of friendship where you give him a shot at your life Jesus Christ tells crowds of people to go away from him he actually would fail many of the seminary courses that we give today on evangelism with thousands of people following him he turns around and says to them in terms of what they love the most if anyone comes to me and does not hate and he starts naming people the people you love the most mother father sister brother wife even your own life he says you're not worthy to be my disciple Jesus is an expert at talking people out of following him his demands are full his call on our life is total and the word of the Cross comes with a command to repent and believe here's essentially the message Jesus is God in the flesh he lived the righteous life that we have not died for sins in the way that we should have died conquered death and rose from the dead he is now ascended and seated he is the ruler of the world all the kingdoms of the world have become the kingdom of God's dear son Jesus is the ruler over everything he is the king he has all authority and what the word of the Cross is and coming to crisis be reconciled to God he rules over the world why don't you guys come quietly you see the message of the Cross is a powerful message about God Himself who has all authority now as we think about that that's the background noise of the message tonight okay keep all those things in mind keep your Christian commitments in mind when you think about apologetics what I what I want to get across as we get to this text is the story that I just told you we all embrace correct do you embrace that yes okay I was getting a little worried about Australian there for a minute okay all right Jesus is God amen yes is he Lord does he have all authority did he really die did he really rise again he has all authority in heaven and on earth is he in charge does he have an unquestioned authority is he the truth okay now that we have all that together I'm gonna ask you as we move through and you think about apologetics if when you do apologetics if you're consistent with the profession you just made because oftentimes when we run into conflict with unbelief we oftentimes act in church in a way with a certainty about the authority of Jesus Christ that we do not act like in terms of our face-to-face conflict with unbelief we say things in church and in these songs in our hymns we say things about God and about Jesus that many of our Christian apologetics brothers and sisters do who are maybe are not of the same persuasion as say myself or dr. white or dr. Bahnson in terms of apologetic methodology the those brothers say things in church that have to be backpedaled when they face unbelief because of apologetic methodology that's how important this is now so we go to the text with that background noise in mind first Peter 3 and go to verse 15 now think for a moment now about background who wrote this Peter wrote it no trick questions tonight Peter wrote first Peter and now you need to keep this in mind if you are the kind of person that like me thinks you'd really don't have a lot to offer if you think you're not very strong not very intellectual and you think maybe this is not my field I'm just not very good at this maybe I'm not really called to this work maybe you're thinking those thoughts you need to consider that the man who wrote the text before us who gives us this Charter verse for Christian apologetics is the guy who was famous for what denying Jesus not once but thrice is that more Australian okay no okay no I'll do it Australian not once but three oh all right add an O to the end of anything and your Australians got it okay all right okay did I get there right okay see I'm learning I'm learning some in a couple days okay first Peter 3:15 he writes this text this is the guy who goes down in history for denying that he knows Jesus three times the night that Jesus needed him most and he does it really with an ear shot essentially of Jesus he gives us this text now here's we need to know when Jesus reconciled Peter to himself when Peter saw Jesus actually alive from the dead like for real alive from the dead something changed in him completely and he lived the rest of his life under persecution difficulty in trial and he gives us this text I'm gonna read the text for you first Peter 3:15 but in your heart's owner Christ the Lord as holy always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you yet do it with gentleness and respect here's a man who is notorious for sticking his foot in his mouth here's a man who was notorious for denying Jesus he seems like very old week in many ways during Jesus earthly ministry he loves Jesus he's committed to Jesus but he just can't get it right something about his own life he sees as important and valuable above Christ and his his work his kingdom message and so in his in his earthly ministry in Jesus earthly ministry Peter loves Jesus but something's not there but something switched in his life something happened to Peter transformed him completely fundamentally and he writes this to us at the end of his life near the end of his life he tells Christians you and I Christians throughout the ages until our Lord returns he says believer set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts so first thing there's three parts here first thing is to set Christ apart as Lord sanctify Christ as Lord set him apart as Holy as Lord in your hearts always being ready to give an apologia and apologetic a a reason defense to everyone who asks of you a reason for the hope that is within you you deal with gentleness and reverence so Peters first point is one set Jesus apart as Lord - always being ready to give a reasoned defense to everyone who asks of you and the third point is to do a gentleness and reverence so 1 and 3 are the point of this text that Christians often fail on all of us at some point all of us have failed in this if you've seen any of our videos on apology of Studios engaging Mormons Jehovah's Witnesses atheists agnostics or whatever you see there I'm just thankful that you don't have YouTube wasn't around when I was 18 wasn't around so you never seen of that stuff right you'd be like oh pastor Jeff you're so gracious to that atheist and the unbeliever and so gracious to the Mormon I'm like well I still have a lot of work to do God's I'm still a work in progress but I am really really thankful that none of that old stuff was recorded so you're getting the you're getting the better stuff okay but I think we all recognize like we fail in apologetics many ways right now and we say generally we're not really respectful we don't we're not gentle with maybe we're abrasive maybe we're self-seeking maybe we're not humble and so we failed many times and I think you know questions we can all say that yeah it was a time where I was in a discussion that Thanksgiving or Christmas with a family member and you know didn't go so well right I wasn't very gentle wasn't very respectful to them and so we fail but I want to say that often times we fail as Christians on that first point setting Christ apart as Lord as we enter into that discussion about the defence of the Christian faith remember the Apostle Peter when he uses the word apologia and yes I'm using dr. White's pronunciation for apologia okay our churches apologia it come people say apologetics and so we just said okay apologia apology a TV apology a radio apology estudios apology Academy we like the word we think it's great okay apologia essentially means a reasoned defense so you want to think about it in terms of courtroom terminology your before the judge and you have to offer a defense for your case a reason defense for your case nobody goes before a judge you're not supposed to go before a judge willy-nilly or cavalier you know suppose you just go in there and say hey you should believe me right like on faith like you walk into the the chambers you go into the court and you go in there with evidence you go in there with reason and truth and facts to argue your case and Peter is using that word and he says that believers you set Jesus apart is Lord and you always be ready to give an apologia listen it sounds terrifying it sounds overwhelming but I think if you think about proper apologetic methodology it's not so overwhelming he says you'd be ready with a reasoned offense for everyone who asks of you a reason for the hope that is within you yet do it with gentleness and with respect and so I want to say in terms of apologetics and moving into a discussion about defending the faith we need to stand on the rock we need to stand on God's Word his self attesting self authorizing word God is the ultimate authority when we engage in apologetics as Christians we ought not pretend neutrality he is our foundation he is the rock when Jesus Christ would confront the worlds he never confronted the world and gave a statement or made a claim and then asked for some other corroboration of his claims he didn't ask for somebody stamp of approval he didn't appeal to somebody else's authority other than his own and the father's Jesus comes into the world as ultimate authority with a self attesting Authority and let me say this to you listen when somebody approaches a question we all have to it is by necessary consequence as creatures we all have to depend on something as the final resting place as the ultimate authority as the self attesting Authority and as Christians that for us is okay Australians come on now you're worrying me okay that for us is God it's just which is word you can say Jesus by the way if asked a question in church Jesus is usually a great answer right okay it's usually always true so when we think about apologetics setting Christ apart as Lord as our first commitment we need to think about foundations listen you need to know something about the myth of neutrality if you haven't heard that before I want you to memorize it you grab hold of that and you grab hold of it because the Bible teaches it you will recognize as you face anybody whether it's the atheist whether it's the agnostic whether it's the skeptic whether it's the Mormon or the Jehovah's Witness you recognize the myth of neutrality now and those conflicts are much easier and you can understand what's actually happening the myth of neutrality listen nobody is neutral the unbeliever that you're talking to is not neutral no matter how much they pretend they are and believer you're not neutral and Jesus commands you not to be so we have to first get over is recognizing that the unbelievers problem isn't that there's not enough light for God exist in God's existence not enough evidence for God's existence the problem for the unbeliever is fundamental it is lower than anything happening on the peripheral the problem for the unbeliever is spiritual the problem is sin what did Jesus say whoever commits sin is a slave of sin but the message of of Jesus is if the son sets you free you shall be free indeed the myth of neutrality the unbeliever is not neutral they have a particular perspective of the world whether they fought through it or not they have a worldview and so do we they're not neutral and you're not supposed to be we need to think about our foundations and go about it the way that Jesus did think in terms of Jesus Authority and the way that he speaks his self a testing authority he's the reference point go to matthew 7 just for a moment to see it again I wish we had six hours and you know I would take it Matthew chapter 7 just as a good springboard verse 24 you know this I'm sure that that we you guys sing these songs in Australia as well Sunday school kids singing these songs about two foundations right no please tell me you do someone's shaking heads no okay has that made it over because that's good to come over from the US right okay sand in a rock right the two builders okay good alright Matthew 7:24 it's powerful and Cornelius Van Til one of my favorite philosophers in the history of the Christian Church if you don't know him you should get to know him Cornelius Van Til said about apologetics that this right here this section of Scripture is where the entire thing rests here it seems like an odd place to plant your feet for apologetics but when you understand when we have conflict with the person who loves Nietzsche when you have conflict with the person who is the militant anti theist today and there are in the empiricist or the rationalist understands that this is where it rests the authority of Jesus he says this verse 24 everyone then by the way this is the English standard version I didn't bring my Australian Standard Version today although I hear there actually is one and I will leave with it ok everyone then who hears these words of mine and does and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock and everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was the fall of it came before goats in the next verse here listen to Jesus for a moment he actually says there are people that hear the words of Jesus they hear his words and he says some people actually dig deep to build a foundation in this day you had to actually work hard you had to sweat you had to think about the future you may have seen land at a particular time of year that looked like it was good lands it's a good place to build but other people in the area know that know at certain times of the year water floods through here now maybe they didn't know that maybe they didn't know that's where the water comes through it just looks alright for now and so some people recognize I need to think about the future I need to think about consequences I need to have a big picture and look ahead and so when they found the spot they needed to dig deep to get down there they had to work hard at building a foundation that actually was settled it was a rock other people don't think far ahead they just see the land they want to plop up a house and so they throw up a house they don't dig deep they don't build on a rock and the problem is is that the issues of life come storms come floods come rain comes and here's the beautiful part of Jesus story is the wind the rain the storms beat on both houses everybody gets it the issues of life will come and Jesus says your people will hear my words some build on the rock some build on the sand and Jesus says two people two foundations with two destinations one destination is that it weathers the storm it makes it through because it was built on a rock he dug deep he's on the rock the other one was the fool the fool didn't dig deep didn't build a foundation the full ends in desolation now this is the amazing thing is that Jesus says something here that I think as Christians we get jaded to we're indifference see Jesus says things like I am the way and the truth and the life no man comes with the Father but by me as Christians now you're just used to it because if I confess you here sometimes I get mellow headed and I see things in scripture that just go straight over my head you know recognize the audacity of that kind of a claim the exclusive nature of the claims of Christ and it's what irritates the world it's what they hate about our message that Jesus says I'm God if you don't believe I go Amy John 8 if you do not believe that echo Amy I am you'll die in your sins are you saying that Jesus is the only way to God I'm the way in the truth and the life no man comes to the Father but by me Peter says at Pentecost neither is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved are you saying Jesus Christ is the only way to God yes he is the only God he is the only way to God if you don't have Christ you will spend an eternity separated away from God forever that is the message and Jesus comes with these claims and again we get jaded to it we say oh yeah because Jesus yeah he had to build your life upon him his war his word his yeah I get it Jesus have you considered that if that came out of the mouth of any other person it would be the height of arrogance consider for a moment Jesus claimed this is the way of life there are two kinds of people in the world you're either wiser you're a fool there are two kinds of foundations there is a rock in their sand and there's two destinations there's making it through the storm living to see another day living to see the Sun come up again and there's one that ends in absolute desolation Jesus says there's two gates right ones wide one small a path over here that is what broad and you have a narrow one one leads to life and one leads to death and what do you think is talking about he's talking about himself coming by way of him now Jesus says that he just says the words you're either a wise person or a fool and again I agree with CS Lewis not on everything but I agree with him I'm a Baptist okay but I agree with him when he says it's it's right it's right on Jesus with his claims is either liar lunatic or Lord that's true you can't put him anywhere else he's either a liar because he knew that he wasn't who he claimed to be and he says he was he's a liar and you must reject him or he is nuts he is out there what's a good Australian word for crazy what's that Oh crazy come on you got so you guys have such fun words you guys are much more creative than Americans come on what's that a rat what okay okay I'm gonna try to find a way to work that into my next message okay bunker bunkers okay he's either a liar bunkers or Lord right now here's the thing if he's Lord you can't question his authority now remember you said yes to that if he's Lord he's the creator of all things if he's Lord he's the one that is holding you very heartbeats in his hand right now if he's Lord he holds your breath in his hands right now if he's Lord he is spinning Saturn as we speak and you must obey Him and Jesus makes these claims now think about it if I made the claim to you tonight look guys visiting Australia name's Jeff Durbin this is how life works you're either gonna be a wise person or a fool and I mean an outright downright fool all right you're either gonna build your house on a rock or it's gonna be on sand and this is how it works if everyone in this room would simply build their lives upon my words then you'll be the person that's wise otherwise you're a fool you're a fool if you don't live according to the dictates of Jeff Durbin you'd be like you're telling tales out of the schoolyard get out right get him on the first plane back to United States right and rightly so I deserve it but Jesus says it and I want you to listen to their reaction verse 28 and when Jesus finished these sayings the crowds were astonished at his teaching listen for he was teaching them as one who had what authority and not as their scribes do you see it they caught it they called it instantaneously Jesus says all of life wise fool which one are you build your life upon my word or you're a fool and they heard it and their instant their recognition and media he's teaching us one having authority he didn't ask for their permission he wasn't building his teaching upon rabbi so-and-so and rabbi so-and-so which is what many of them did those days well how do you how do I know what you're saying is true oh because rabbi so-and-so confirms it and this rabbi 100 years ago wrote about it and this rabbi said that basing their authority on somebody or something else Jesus says it's mine and they got it oftentimes we approach apologetics in terms of ultimate authority and what we try to do as Christians is we try to say well let's do something here let's pull together some some different authorities let's pull together reason and maybe this bit of evidence over here and this bit of evidence over here and we've got this scientific study over here and this points us to some there must be something out there some intelligent designer and then this and this and this and this and this and maybe if we get somebody to believe that maybe in the judeo-christian idea of God once they buy into the fact that there's an intelligent designer maybe we can start to talk to them then about Jesus and then maybe when they actually come to Christ they'll get to Jesus and recognize that they didn't really need any of those things as authorities anyway because he was authoritative the whole time you see that's interesting isn't it dr. Gregg Bahnson one of my heroes of the faith he said that the whole world of Christian apologetics oftentimes is people building a ladder to God and they built a ladder with different rungs they say okay we gotta we got the cosmological arguments we got some reason we've got some some evidences here and some evidences here by the way nothing wrong with any of those things just in terms of authority and we get here and here here and we say okay climb up that ladder and they get up that ladder to God they're there now they're facing God the ultimate authority the self attesting authority whose claims are true who speaks with final authority and they get up to God they realized that in need the ladder of the first place because he was already the final authority and we should have started our reasoning with him the entire time and it would have made more sense out of all the things we were saying about him in the first place you might be thinking I really don't understand quite what you're getting at I think you'll you'll be seeing it shortly when we talk about apologetics we need to think about the source of knowledge how do you know what you know how do you know how are you certain let's do it as a test case for a moment here okay I'll ask you a question and you give me an answer you guys ready to play along yes okay all right here's the question is it an absolute moral responsibility that I love my neighbor rather than eat them somewhere you are not answering fast enough okay yes okay that's the answer what church is this again okay all right thought I was in a Presbyterian Church there for a second yeah just kidding Prez bees are my favorites they really are I mean if I wasn't already in the truth I'd be a presbyterian that is the truth okay come on Reformed Baptist we're allowed to do that there's no Prez B's is there any presidents in here tonight oh just so you know all of my heroes are Prez bees and most people think that I'm on my way to Presbyterianism anyway some of you about just like wait okay we think about what you just did I asked a question is it an absolute more responsibility that you love your neighbor rather than eat them you said yes that's an absolute moral responsibility let me ask you a question why how do you know that how do you know that think for a moment now come on don't just don't just answer I want you to really dig into your own mind for a moment now and think about why you said yes to that why'd you say yes to that I said it's an absolute moral responsibility absolute ought no question not maybe not I'm uncomfortable with the idea not no no but you said absolute moral responsibility too love them rather than eat them and why'd you say that that's the simple that's the simple Christian epistemology do you think what does that word mean if you're if you're just new to this discussion epistemology is something that everybody has to do if you go to college you're gonna learn it probably your freshman year of college in a philosophy course you're gonna learn about epistemology it's a question of how do you know how do you know that how do you know it's love neighbor not eat them how do you know that how do you know this is true and that's not true how do you know unbelievers have their system of epistemology they have all your reason to find out how you know that or evidence you looking up observe something or somebody could say a really funky epistemology they could say well pragmatism let's see it works or someone can say well you just accepted by faith I don't really know okay people people have an epistemology and the basic Christian epistemology is what you just appeal to how do you know you said God says now that might seem Sunday school it might seem childlike it might seem awfully simple but let me tell you it is intellectually rigorous philosophically consistent and it is consistent as a Christian how do I know here's how I know very sophisticated God said so that's how I know how do I know that I shouldn't engage in rape how do I know I shouldn't murder how do I know that how do I know it's an absolute moral responsibility not to murder somebody and the Christian says what God says because the Bible says that's how I know God is the self attesting Authority he's the foundation how do I know true have truly justified true belief how do I because God says Christians have a revelational epistemology what's that essentially mean is that God's the very Principia he's the source he's the foundation of all knowledge I see everything in the light of God himself and what he says about the world and me how do I know because he said so you might be thinking well how do I defend that believe me if you don't stand that way you become inconsistent you fall apart as a Christian listen as Christians we don't get to beg the big things we don't get the laws of logic we don't get science we don't get ethics if we don't start first with God if you don't start with Jesus Christ is the foundation of all of your knowledge as a Christian then all of your appeals and Christian apologetics are futile they're irrelevant because if we don't start with Jesus Christ is the source of all of our knowledge as the foundation listen listen if you don't start with Jesus as the foundation of all of your knowledge then you become like the man on sand you become a fool you don't get what you have to have to live in God's world as a matter of fact listen if you don't start with Jesus Christ as the source of all your knowledge is the foundation of all truth then you as a Christian end up being in the same house as the atheist and it is built on sand they don't get logic they don't get science they don't get ethics as in any appeal to ethics because they don't start with the triune God of Scripture that's why they don't get it and as a Christian if you don't start with Jesus then you're right with them in a house built on sand you guys catching it you're getting it okay so let's think about where okay you said where do you get that from Jeff where there's many ways again we're skimming the surface tonight couple texts to look at proverbs chapter 1 verse 7 many of you guys hopefully don't have to go to it proverbs 1:7 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge fools despise what there you go the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge you want to know something you want to have true wisdom God says listen this is one of those things that told you I told you we have to be transparent we got to be honest ourselves sometimes there are things said in Scripture that we do not fully embrace the implications that's one of those things the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge it's the beginning knowledge it's not the afterthought of knowledge the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge if you want to actually know truth if you want to know God the world yourself if you want to have knowledge you have to start with reverent submission and awe before God that's the beginning another point of reference in terms of how do you know something knowledge Christian epistemology which is a revelational epistemology God has revealed himself in creation he's revealed himself in conscience and he has revealed himself primarily in his son right God has revealed himself that's how we know based on his revelation here's what God says about knowledge and reference to Christ go to Colossians chapter 2 Colossians chapter 2 here the turn of the pages some of you guys using your phones and your cheating Colossians chapter 2 this is a powerful text is one of those texts that I was referring to that just sort of goes over our heads at times Colossians chapter 2 he says this must start in verse 1 for I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face that their hearts may be encouraged being knit together in love to reach all the riches of full assurance yet give that all than the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery which is Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge he believed that in Christ is that true it's a true at church come on now you can you participate now I won't hurt you I have black belts but I promise not to kick you in the head okay okay is it true in Christ or hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge is it true a church is it true in your marriage is it true with your children okay is it true and your friendships okay let's get tough now is it true in school it's a true in the science class is it true in the art class is it true in arithmetic you starting to feel it now you're like wait math yeah you can't have a coherent did you know you can't have a coherent justification for arithmetic if you don't have Jesus no you can't justify the laws of math without the biblical worldview do you realize that atheist professors of math are deluding themselves do you realize that one plus one equals two is only true and justifiable if you're a Christian if you don't believe me I'll tell you I went to the reason rally in Washington DC a couple years ago they said it was the largest gathering of atheists and secularists in history that's what they said didn't look like very many to me but that's what I said okay so I'll go with it okay we went there he had a real hard time at first getting atheists to talk to us intelligent atheist to talk to us so I'm looking around trying to find like the best possible representations I could and I'm talking to some atheists and for a little while I see this guy and he's just itching to talk to me he's over there just like he's squirming around and you know it's you know a whole time but you can I think I wanted like two of the videos you can see I'm sort of like hanging around the background he's just like the whole time was just you know so I called him the whole time and finally like when I was done recording I said come over like you know stop lurking you're creeping like don't do that so he comes over and we're talking for awhile and some of the audio got messed up so about half of the interview was actually recorded but turns out he's an atheist a hardcore militant pipe hitting atheist and he was a math professor and so we're talking as like you're a materialist yes so you're naturalistic materialist right so all that exists is matter in motion right all that exists is matter in motion just the physical world nothing in material nothing spiritual okay great and you're a math teacher right a math teacher okay I said how do you justify the existence of abstract immaterial invariants necessary laws so I said it's for example I said is 1+1 2 he said yes I said have you ever seen the number 2 he was like well yeah we do like equations I'm probably I said no no have you ever seen the number 2 right have you ever seen it have you ever weighed it touched it smelled it what color is 2 right he got what I was saying because he teaches math the laws of math laws in an atheist universe I said so is 1+1 2 you're a materialist now and he goes no he goes maybe not and there's where the legs come off there's your atheism there's there's life without Jesus Christ no foundation for unchanging necessary laws of any sort whether the laws of logic laws of arithmetic and I said to myself in it but this was shows that you know the God that I'm talking about in your heart of hearts you know it because though you deny his existence you can't live apart from depending on him I said you know how I said I want you to remember this when you go back to your math class I want you to remember that you're imaging God every time you give your students a test because watch you won't live consistently with your atheistic worldview because when you administer a test you expect your students to live as though these laws of arithmetic are unchanged changing necessary laws of arithmetic that actually exist in this universe the universe is held together by them and you can't justify them as an atheist you deny Jesus and so you have to live like a Christian all the while denying your atheism every step you go I said you won't live consistently with your atheist we said oh yes I will I said no you won't when you administer tests if your students start doing their tests the way that you're acting pass or fail he didn't like that do you see so when I say in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge I said is it true for math yes true for science yes art literature how about government Oh about the Stars have strutted some trouble in Australia right kay now think about it for a moment now the Bible says that Jesus Christ is king of what king of kings and Lord of what lords that means he has all authority which means that as Christians you serve the one who is the foundation of knowledge over everything which means that as Christians no matter where you're at United States in the UK in Australia in New Zealand even in Canada we ought to be pointing the world to Jesus Christ in every area of life that's something we could all fundamentally agree on right even if we have internal debt in house debates with one another exactly how that goes together we all say he's Lord you need to listen to him so here's the foundation Jesus Christ it's important again to remember that there is no neutrality again the unbeliever is pretending neutrality the Christian can pretend neutrality but as demand it's demanding that Jesus demands on us is that we do not pretend to travel T he says whoever is not with me is against me but Peter says in first Peter 3:15 a set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts always being ready to give an apology that means you start to be apologetic with a commitment to Christ as Lord remember that as a Christian with God as the foundation as the source of all knowledge and truth that has Christians this whole entire discussion no matter what you're in whether it's with Mormons whether it's with Jehovah's Witnesses whether it's with atheists the entire discussion is not about hodgepodge evidences and pieces it's not piecemeal understand that when we have a discussion we say with an atheist it's total it's a total life and worldview it's not a piece here or there it's not the Athey of saying to you I believe in science and Christians somehow being just blind faith religionists the atheist has a total perspective the Christian has a total perspective it's a network of beliefs it's a world view and listen everybody has a world view okay everybody has a world view the unbeliever has a world view he has a particular metal physic or ontology he has a view of reality that what is what is real what is the nature of all of this what is this what does this consist of what is it the unbeliever has a metaphysic the unbeliever has an epistemology a theory of how they know what they know the unbeliever has an ethic now here's the thing you might be thinking well I don't even know what those words mean so how do they have one here's the deal all those fancy words are meant to describe particular parts of our experience but listen everybody has a worldview whether they've thought about it or not sometimes your worldview is adopted and you don't consider it sometimes maybe you like me had a particular end say you came to Christ and then God began to change your mind and sanctify you and you begin to see the world in an entirely different way and you went through the hard process of the mind being changed you thought I used to think this but now I think that and it was sometimes difficult yes right now sometimes people go through those worldview changes sometimes people don't they just adopt things and just assume it and believe me everybody has a worldview give you an example if you ask the average person on the street how do we get here what do you think about origins where do we come from the average person may be educated in public education a secular schooling system might say oh I know how we got here we where descendants of highly evolved societies of bacteria our ancestors were fish we're African Apes right we got here through unguided on purposed evolutionary processes that's how we that's how we got here today it's in the fossil record right like you know you have ancestors in that fossil record and somewhere down the line my ancestors were bacteria the origins that's how we got here the big bang that's how it started so that my unbeliever might adopt that unbeliever might say in their ethical system have a particular ethic that they adopted from Lady gaga you might be think about how did you get an ethic from Lady gaga how about the title of one of her records what was it I was born this way you know the song who knows the song who knows the song Center center Center center okay okay okay I was born this way do you think Lady Gaga when she's singing I was born this way at a concert or when everybody in that concert is roaring in praise of Lady gaga when they're singing I was born this way do you think they're neutral there's no neutrality that's an ethic that's a sexual ethic oh listen everything is preaching everyone is preaching television shows are preaching a worldview movie's preaching a worldview music preaching a worldview brothers and sisters it's it's this is the shameful thing about the Christian culture in this generation that's sad it breaks my heart is that for 2,000 years we have been the ones who have been laying our lives down for the lost speaking boldly risking our lives spilling blood for the message of the cross in love for the unbeliever being bold sacrificing desiring Christ and somebody else's good over our own comfort and yet in this generation we have a generation of professing Christians when we see the world going to hell when we see the world being just drinking in darkness as Christians we step away from the culture Jesus says be salt be light you're the preservative that stops it from spoiling in decay you're the light that scatters the darkness in Christians today we literally do the other side of what Jesus says we cover up our lights why most of us are just excited to get off this rock we're just looking up waiting to be raptured or something I don't care what your ass get all adji is no matter what you think about the future Jesus demands of you faithfulness in the midst in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation he demands it of you and know this that the world is preaching it's not like when Christians step away from the culture that all of a sudden it goes into a neutral vacuum of some sorts where now nobody's preaching somebody always is imposing a morality it's question not of whether somebody is imposing a morality but which morality is being imposed it's never a question of whether a god is being worshipped and whether a god is there as the ultimate authority it's which God and in terms of preaching I'll give you another example of ethics in preaching how about a song by Macklemore we've got some young folks in the in the room today do you know Macklemore is is he over here in Australia yet raise you never know Macklemore there you see all the young ones are like look you had your hand like this are you presbyterian I saw you're like Presbyterians you know what I'm talking about you can't get your hands above here right okay Macklemore this song was same love same love do you know the song oh you got to hear it you have to hear it cuz the man is so talented and the song is so catchy and listen in the United States during the time where our government decided to call circles squares when our government was praising gay mirages when they were doing that the anthem of the United States was same love and this was the hook in this song and it's it honestly is catchy it's beautiful the hook and the song was I can't change even if I tried even if I wanted to I can't change even if I tried even if I wanted to that was that that's preaching our kids are turning the radio on and they're listening to this song that's so catchy and so this guy's so talented it sounds so beautiful and what do they do and they're singing along I can't change even if I tried even if I wanted to and that was the LGBT anthem in the United States that's the kind of thing kids we're singing when the Supreme Court decided to defy God and call circles squares and it's a worldview it's a sexual ethic and if watch Christians if you stop preaching that it means that you're hiding your lights you are no longer salty and Jesus says something about that kind of salt he says if you're no longer salty it's not good for anything any longer except to be trampled underfoot by men he asked the question why is the Christian Church so impotent in the world today why are we just absolutely come people are coming against us on all sides it sounds like we're being trampled under foot by men you lose your saltiness you stop preserving the world from decay and spoil and you get trampled under the foot of men now think for a moment about that worldview it's constant it's being preached everywhere and listen here's the deal everybody is standing on an ultimate authority the unbeliever is standing in their ultimate authority the Christian esteemed and their ultimate ultimate authority and when you stand on it on an authority imagine for a moment you're standing on a stage and that stage underneath you is a network of beliefs it's a network of beliefs about the world origins it's an anthropology a view about mankind it's an ethic and so the unbeliever has their network of beliefs their ultimate authority and foundation the Christian is supposed to be standing on a different stage amen we have a network of beliefs we have as well we have an ultimate authority something we're standing on as well well we're supposed to be standing on as God his revelation His Word and if you ask a Christian what do you believe about origins is it fundamentally different than the unbeliever it's the antithesis they believe in an unguided on governed universe we believe in a purposed universe that is governed by a loving triune God we believe that when God created he created with a purpose he created with meaning he created with a plan when he created human beings he created the imago Dei crewmate he created people in His image to be light into the world to reflect God's light into the world that's what we're supposed to be when God created humans God created us distinctions I can't believe I actually have to say this God created boys and girls God created male and female he knew the difference and he did it on purpose male and female and the image of God he created listen them male and female together harmoniously them image of God and God created human beings with inherent value and dignity with purpose with meaning and he was good and he called his creation good the unbeliever doesn't get any of that because the unbeliever is pretending neutrality the Christian oftentimes pretends neutrality as well and when we pretend neutrality we neglect the powerful argument against their position you see because the unbeliever stands on their unbelief their unbelieving view of origins their unbelieving view of humans then they have no basis for believing in an orderly universe science is therefore impossible because the unbeliever rejects Jesus Christ they have no basis to believe in immaterial laws like laws of logic laws of thought laws of arithmetic and fundamentally listen because the unbeliever is not neutral and it's actually a hostile to God and stands on an unbelieving position they don't even get human value in dignity so when the unbeliever says things like same love it's all the same you should respect my position guess what they have no basis to make any moral claims whatsoever because listen descendants of fish don't have any moral aunts at all you can't tell any descendant of a height of highly evolved societies of bacteria to do anything and here's the thing think about the complete collapse of unbelieving thought think about the song for a second it's a song I understand I'm arguing with a song but the song expresses the way the world thinks today I can't change even if I tried even if I wanted to Christians fall back in in horror against that and sometimes you fall back and we just go into retreat you say Oh everyone's singing that song that's what everyone thinks now that's just the way of the world now we've blurred gender distinctions now it's just the same love mail mail same love it's love woman woman same love mail woman woman same love mail mail dog same love mail dog same love woman bridge same love mother son same love father daughter same love brother sister same love and I wish I was kidding I wish I was exaggerating I wish it wasn't so that everything I just said to you has actually taken place in the last couple of years and what do we say we say same love because love is just love let people love who they want let's try it ready let's see if it's consistent without Jesus as the source of our knowledge without Jesus as a foundation let's try and live consistently with that profession same love ready I can't change even if I tried even if I wanted to everyone says yes that's beautiful that's so I'm so passionate about that claim I can't change even if I tried even if I wanted to okay ready put those words now take them out of the mouth of the advocate for the LGBT agenda and now put it in the mouth of the thief and put them before a judge now let's hear the thief say that to the judge I can't change even if I tried even if I was judging to go yeah right that's catchy right what's the judge do judge says you had better change and you better try hard and you're gonna be punished there's justice okay now take this song now that's rooted and unbelieving thought that's rooted in an anti-christian worldview that's rooted in an anti-christian sexual ethic and I'll put those words now in the mouths of the child molester let's have the child molester anthem now and let's sing that song the child molester saying I can't change even if I tried even if I wanted to and let's see if the world applauds ah now we're seeing the collapse of unbelieving thoughts you see it's not same love is it it's that we have a particular perverse sexual ethic that we want others to adopt and here's the problem every unbelieving system of ethics will collapse and fold in upon itself when it is not rooted in Jesus Christ as the source of all knowledge unbelievers have a worldview brothers and sisters please understand they are preaching if I could say something to you as a Christian coming from Australia as a man who has no earthly right being on this stage I want you to hear from me as a Christian that in both my country and yours we are suffering in many ways as Christians we have we are now the descendants of people who spilled their blood and fought for us to have what we have today and shame on us for not fighting a fight like they fought to see here's the thing we think oftentimes well we're beset on all sides by unbelief and hostile people to our worldview you see our ancestors they had it good for themselves they lived in a time where maybe there was more people that had a biblical worldview and we're just not there anymore we have a lot more to go don't you understand brothers and sisters if you look at the history of the Christian Church it was during the times of the greatest transformation that there was the most darkness when you think about even in my own country the great Reformation the Great Awakening look at life of a Christian like George Whitfield is he like my Australian is this a bad guy ok all right so okay good okay I got to be careful why I talk about you guys talk about the King and I'm like like you know we difficult you know cultural differences yeah I'm say okay that's a different subject for a different time okay you think about a person like George would feel if you look at his history in his life the Great Awakening what God did in that man preaching the gospel back and forth back and forth back and forth preached like 18,000 sermons literally preached himself to death when you look in his history read JC Ryles biography of George Whitfield amazing when she recognizes we hear the story of George Whitfield you recognize that when he was being brought up by God he was in the same kind of context we face today in a church same kind of context people in churches preaching your best life kind of messages no hard repentance and faith gospel sort of a laksa days ago critical X days ago Christianity like whatever and different no big deal sort of a thing let's just go with the flow comfort and when George Whitfield came in he came in like a rocket launcher he came in with a message of repentance the need for regeneration to be born again to come to faith in Jesus Christ and when he came with his message as hard as it was preaching repentance with boldness God actually did something he went out into the fields and preached and then we had thousands and thousands and thousands of people coming to him to listen to this gospel there was a hundred proof gospel he would say all George Whitfield was in the in the fields preaching the gospel so mighty he had so many people coming to listen him thousands of people you know why it was in the fields because the church kicked him out his message was too strong it was too direct - offensive and brothers and sisters it is for us I think our time it is shameful for us as Christians when we don't face the unbelieving world in the way that Christ calls us to recognizing the futility of their unbelief and their need for Jesus Christ I don't even have any time what's 2105 what's that in English it's 9:05 that's what I thought okay so um how can I go for another minute or so here is it okay okay now every time I lost Joey I step on the stage everyone's like oh great he's gonna go for like a couple hours okay so think in terms of world view next point of contact because we're talking about the gospel today when you think about the biblical anthropology a biblical view of humans and mankind that's your starting point for apologetics if you get this right and you get the foundation of knowledge rights you'd be able to engage in apologetics with anybody you'll be able to faithfully execute that command of Peter where he says always being ready to give a reason defense to everyone who asks of you so whether it's the Mormon of the Jehovah's Witness if you stand on God's Word and recognize their position you'll be able to engage with them so let's start with God's Word about human beings so go to your Bibles now to Romans chapter 1 Romans chapter 1 here's the tax Romans 1 verse 18 for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth for what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them for his invisible attributes namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made so they are without excuse for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened claiming to be wise they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things here's the thing very important no matter who you engage with this is what the Word of God says about them they know him they don't know some God they don't know about a kind of God like God God says here that they know him and they are suppressing the truth in unrighteousness it says that which is known about God is evident within them for God has made it evident to them so two things here to grab hold of first God says they know him the true God and they are suppressing the truth and unrighteousness dr. Bahnson used to talk about taking a ball in a pool of water you take that big say big red ball and you put it under the water right what happens if you let go of that ball it shoots up out of the water by nature if you grab that ball sometimes you have to actually play a game right as a kid you put it under water you ever try to sit on it and hold understand that you're holding it and it's a popping up behind you and flee you're flipping backwards that ball is popping up by Nature what do you have to do to keep it down suppress it you have to actually hold it down the unbelievers life is a life of suppression it's like whack-a-mole the game whack-a-mole you have that in Australia yeah I hate this game with my whole heart honestly I have I confess this everywhere every time I talk about this whenever that game is there and there are tickets coming out of it for toys for my kids I'd cheat all the time but here's the thing even when you try to cheat it whack-a-mole and hangover the thing you're gonna miss one those moles keep popping up and you you're just popping popping popping popping popping popping and you might get one or two over here and you miss mole down right the unbelievers life is a lifelong game of whack-a-mole with God the image of God is coming up constantly the image of God is unavoidable you cannot escape being what God made you to be image of God and though you deny God's existence you're gonna miss something you're gonna miss some thing what's it look like well it looks like say the atheists like Richard Dawkins in his book River Out of Eden he says there is no good there is no evil there is only blind and pitiless indifference maceda again there is no good there is no evil only blind and pitiless indifference now that's his professed view of the world that's him being consistent as an atheist right he's like I'm gonna be an atheist I'm gonna be consistent here's the world descendants of bacteria no God no governance no guidance it's just stuff moving around the universe so there's no good no evil alright there's Richard Dawkins being an atheist now here's whack Amole Richard Dawkins says that and then he says that when Christians educate their children in a biblical worldview it's child abuse my answer of course to Richard Dawkins standing on his position is so what very sophisticated answer right so right but that's the answer to unbelief Richard Dawkins recognizes the value and dignity of human beings he thinks something is true and something else is false and so he thinks that these people teaching somebody else something false is abuse and of course you shouldn't abuse descendents of apes what's that mean all of his life its suppression of truth it's the atheist who says there is no God no meaning no purpose there are no moral absolutes and then when the guy breaks his car window and steals his stereo he says hey and he calls the police it's the unbeliever who says there's no God no good no evil and then when someone breaks in his house at night he's protecting his family guarding his children acting like there's something valuable and meaningful there it's the unbeliever who says there's no God no meaning no purpose who says that all of us are descendants of back tyria and then he goes and attends the funeral of a loved one or a friend who dies acting like there's something more in that casket than protoplasm do you see suppression of truth God says that the unbeliever knows the true God but all of us knowing the true God even though God has shown it to us we suppress the truth of God even with creation shouting to us about God preaching to us every day r-mo as fallen image bearers of God is to switch God for an idol we don't want him we know the true god john calvin referred to it as a census divinity test all of us have a knowledge of God now watch careful careful it doesn't mean that the unbeliever is going and I'm pretending not to right the problem is sin and sin corrupts our reasoning faculties so that we are self deceived self deceived sin so corrupts our ability even to reason we deceive even our own selves knowing the true God being dependent upon him every single day with every breath every thought every action we're dependent upon him we say no to him and we switch God for idols and Paul says here their thinking becomes what futile professing to be want to be wise they become what fools and they switch God for idols the condition of every human being is they know the true God they don't want him so they go elsewhere so someone says so the Mormon well I'll tell you why Mormonism exists yes Joseph Smith's a false prophet yes he has false prophecies yes he distorts the Word of God yes he deceived people amen amen amen yes got it but the true reason that there are millions and millions of Mormons in the world today is not just the deception of Joseph Smith it's that every Mormon you know and you gotta grab hold of this is a rebel against God and they would prefer to have a God in their own image rather than being made in his do you ever notice that when you look at the gods of false religion of man-made religion the interesting thing is that all the gods of false religion looks so much like us and Mormonism is a fantastic example of that right do you know what about Mormonism Mormonism is fantastic what's it like oh well you see here's how we got here all right our God had a mommy God and Daddy God before him and then they had mommy gods and daddy gods before them and they had mommy gods and daddy gods before them and then what happens is you come here and then you through exaltation become a God of your own planet and you get goddess wives and you're gonna populate sexually in the pre-existence of your own world a planet just like the god of this earth did and our God went through exaltation the same way you have he sinned and he moved their exaltation and become a God and you're gonna go the same way what's that sound like it sounds like us you see even when religions like Mormonism ape Christianity and co-opted our language and borrow from us they take our language and then they make God in their own image they switch God for an idol that's our basic position as falling human beings we know the true God we don't want him so we switch them for idols last point tonight and I'm gonna let you go for a break here we'll do Q&A Romans 5 is this popular here let me ask you this I'll do this I'll just do it this way Christianity is not a religion it's uh okay got it so it's here - all right good all right it's not a religion it's a relationship now here's the thing we all know what will mean what we mean when we say that right what do we mean it's not about works righteousness it's not about what we do it's about what Jesus did it's his perfection granted to us as a gift by God's grace we are in Christ hiding in Christ we've been credited is righteousness all we have to give to God is our sin and the only way we get eternal life is through faith apart from any work of law and so what we mean is is that we're hostile to God we need to be brought in to a place of peace with God relationship not religion I get it here's the problem with that statement it's not a religion it's a relationship when we say to somebody you need to have a relationship with Jesus Christ I think we should clarify a little more because Romans 5 says and there's just no way around this Romans 5 says that every human being you will ever meet who has ever lived or ever will live is already in a relationship with Jesus Christ already Romans five what's it say about Adam as an Adam all what die in Christ all will be made alive in Adam there is death and condemnation in Christ what is there the gift of eternal life and righteousness and so all of humanity is summed up in one of two representatives you're either in Adam the head of the fallen human race or you are in Christ who is the Redeemer the second Adam now here's the the the point of contact with every person we ever talked to they are either child of God or they are either hostile to God they are either in Adam or they are in Christ they are covenant aliy linked to Adam or to Jesus so my friend doctor all events wrote a book called covenantal apologetics he there's presuppositional apologetics or covenant 'el apologetics same thing just a different way to describe it and dr. Oliphant I think did a masterful job in that book I think it's fantastic we don't have it sell your shirt and shoes and go buy it okay you need to have it you have Amazon in Australia good okay all right get that book covenant apologetics I love what dr. elephant was getting at he says in that book coven intially everybody is already linked to God in some way either hostility it's marked by hostility or it's marked by faith so in apologetics every person you talk to isn't neutral to God if they're not in Christ they're at war with God and our job as Christians is to try to find a point of contact within their rebellion to point to their borrowed capital they're borrowing from God to do what they're doing to point to their internal inconsistencies the collapse of their system apart from Jesus Christ it's it's essentially summed up in this in terms of say the unbeliever the atheist Van Til said that the unbeliever the atheist is like the small child who smacks his father in the face he's dependent upon his father to hold him in his lap otherwise he couldn't reach and the unbelievers life is that their whole way say the Atheist for a moment covenant Allah linked to God they know the true God they're in the imago Dei and they can't escape it they are at war with their Creator they're an atom what I need to deal with the unbeliever is point out their life of borrowed capital the fact that they are imaging God the fact that they are living in futility in their whole system which is the antithesis of the biblical worldview and so what I point to is those moments it's richard dawkins saying no god no good no evil we're just African Apes there's no purpose no meaning and it's me pointing out the inherent contradiction of a man who says he's an African ape the descendant of fish living like there are actual laws in the universe by which he can do science as though he could justify an appeal to the uniformity in nature pointing to the unbeliever the borrowed capital they have when they say there is no God no good no purpose and yet they had they cry out against some moral atrocity it's pointing to the unbeliever when the television is going and four people die at an amusement park in Australia you see here's what's amazing watch in the last couple of days you guys have experienced something awful in Australia where four people died no expectation of it no feeling of risk and they died unexpectedly and you know what's amazing about this watch this if you watch they look around you next couple days look around you and listen to the conversations Christian Muslim atheist Mormon Jehovah's Witness can all stand in front of the same screen and the Mormon Jehovah's Witness Muslim atheist Christian can all shed tears together but you can look over at the atheists and see them shedding tears and that could start a conversation a gentle conversation a genuine conversation if you have that opportunity you could ask that unbeliever over a cup of coffee you could say hey I noticed something I'm gonna say it it was it was important to me to see you do that you're an atheist and I love you and I have a high level of respect for you can I ask you you were you were crying because the what happened at the amusement park as an atheist how was an atheist can you do that how does your worldview make sense of tears over tragedy because you see what I think I see in you with respect is I think I see the image of God in you I think I see you living in a way that I know you have to because you're a made in the image of the same God as me but see you were doing something while watching that that doesn't seem to comport with your worldview because you see I know why you were crying and I praise God that you were but you see in your worldview you can't make sense of tears over for people who are accidents of the universe dying what just happens just happens doesn't matter but you see what I think you're doing when you cry is you're showing that you don't really believe what you say you believe because you're living in a way that's contradictory to your fundamental assertions about the world and I want to tell you that the only reason I think anybody would ever do that is because they're at war with their Creator and Jesus talked about that he said that all of us are sinners were enslaved our sin and that someone is sometimes we do things that are foolish like deny his existence which is crazy and sometimes we say we're African Apes when we cry when people die in amusement parks and the reason we do that is because we're at war with God we don't want him and so we try to live apart from him or whole lives and then when really things get tough we all of a sudden start a chling image bearers of God again and here's the message that I want to have for you is that you need to know that I'm a sinner just like you and I'm unworthy just like you and I fought against God just like you you need to know about God who loves rebels just like you he lived a perfect sinless life he died for sinners and rose from the dead this is the message of this is the message of life come to Christ and live turned from your sin turned from darkness to light turn and put your faith in Jesus Christ for forgiveness and salvation because if you turn to Christ you are not only given eternal life you are not only forgiven of your sins but you're also now able to make sense of Tears and death because it's only with Jesus do tears make any sense at all

Channel: Apologia Studios

Views: 58,758

Keywords: jeff durbin, apologia studios, apologia church, does god exist, proof that god exists, proof for god, christian versus atheist, william lane craig debate, william lane craig question, john lennox debate, frank turek debate, greg bahnsen debate, atheist experience, atheist owned, sye ten bruggencate, james white debate, zeitgeist movie, intelligent design, ken ham debate, proof of creation, evidence for god, zeitgeist, christianity debate, jeff durbin apologetics

Id: mgm7V2xX3FI

Length: 89min 24sec (5364 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 07 2018