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ROMANS 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified
him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in
their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
I. Atheism: Its Branches and Result
1. Atheos means, literally, "without God," and is found
only once in the Bible.
EPHESIANS 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and
strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope,
and without God in the world:
2. It is used to indicate the condition of being without
the true God of the Bible, and refers to the deepest
state of human misery in the physical world.
ROMANS 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God
in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate
mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
3. However, the meanings of words change with use over
periods of time, and atheism has come to mean "the
belief that there is no God." The idea of "no God" is
not found in the Bible; it is the invention of a
"reprobate mind," a mind without sound judgment.
4. Both the Old and New Testaments begin with the reality
of God, not as speculation, but as universally confirmed
in nature, man's reason and conscience, and Divine
revelation. The normal human state includes the
knowledge of God, so atheism is abnormal.
5. This outline on atheism is meant only to impart a
general knowledge of the subject and its result in the
physical world.
6. Definitions:
A. Classical Atheism: Not a general denial of God's
existence, but the rejection of the god of a
particular nation.
New Testament Christians are atheists, in this
sense, for refusing to acknowledge heathen gods.
B. Philosophical Atheism: Not a general denial of God's
existence, but the assumption of an impersonal god;
an abstract concept; a neuter force.
1> This god is the choice of those who are puffed up
with knowledge.
2> This god is acceptable to the modern,
materialistic man who discerns an ultimate cause,
but lives purely through his senses.
1CORINTHIANS 2:14 But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness to him: neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned.
C. Practical Atheism: While God is not denied, life is
lived as if there is no God.
1> There is complete indifference to His claims.
2> There is often outspoken and defiant wickedness.
3> This form of atheism is the most common.
4> God calls this type of atheist a fool.
PSALM 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There
is no God.
a> Any man may argue about the existence of God
with his head, but the trouble is with his heart.
It has to do with a bad life and an immoral
attitude.
b> Its not so much that the fool denies the
existence of God, but that he refuses to
acknowledge the existence of a Creator who is
moral and demands morality from His creatures.
c> The fool says there is no God because:
1> He does not want to face the responsibility
of being accountable to Him after death, which
he doesn't want to face either.
HEBREWS 9:27 And as it is appointed unto
men once to die, but after this the
judgment:
2> If there is no God then he is not
responsible to anyone and can live as he
pleases, without having to answer to anyone or
thinking about death.
JUDGES 19:6 And they sat down, and did eat
and drink both of them together: for the
damsel's father had said unto the man, Be
content, I pray thee, and tarry all night,
and let thine heart be merry.
D. Dogmatic Atheism: The absolute denial of God's
existence.
1> The only people who absolutely deny a Supreme
Being are:
a> People who have been trained out of that
built-in belief.
1CORINTHIANS 1:21 For after that in the wisdom
of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to
save them that believe.
b> People who have habitually lived in deep sin
for long periods of time.
TITUS 1:15 Unto the pure all things are pure:
but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving
is nothing pure; but even their mind and
conscience is defiled.
c> People who have burned their consciences
through disobedience until they are hard and
scarred, and can no longer perform their
function.
1TIMOTHY 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy;
having their conscience seared with a hot
iron;
E. Atheistic Materialism: two theories.
1> The "Big Bang:" Some five to five-hundred
billion years ago, all matter in the universe was
concentrated into a huge ball. This primordal
matter had a fantastic density of one-hundred
trillion times that of water. When this "ball of
matter" reached a critical point, it suddenly
exploded and, thirty minutes later, the known
universe had begun. All stars, planets, and
galaxies were condensed from the hydrogen gas and
dust promoted by the explosion.
If the curvature of space is finite, then the
expanding universe will begin to contract and fall
back into the ball from whence it came. This is
called the closed, or oscillating concept of the
universe.
If, however, the curvature of space is infinite, the
universe will expand forever. In this open universe
idea, even after the last star has stopped shining
and the entire universe is in total darkness, the
universe will still be expanding.
The Big Bang Theory is the equivalent of a print
factory blowing up and producing a dictionary.
2> The "Steady State:" The galaxies recede from
each other, but their spacial density remains
constant. This is assured by a continuous creation
of new matter (hydrogen atoms) throughout space.
Thus the universe had no beginning and has no end.
F. Evolution: Given enough time, all things in the
universe today can be accounted for. Given enough
time, the impossible becomes possible, the possible
probable, and the probable virtually certain. One
has only to wait: time itself performs the miracles.
1> If all the pieces of a watch were placed in a can
and the can was gently shaken for billions of years,
a watch would not accidentally come together, start
running, and run forever, constantly renewing
itself.
2> The theoretical limits for the smallest free-
living thing which could duplicate itself are as
follows:
a> It would require 239 individual protein
molecules. Each protein molecule would have to
contain at least 410 amino acids that would all
have to be formed into left-handed chains.
b> The odds of this happening by chance to just
the first protein molecule would be the same as
flipping a coin 410 times and having it come up
heads every time.
c> The odds of it happening are one chance in 1
followed by 124 zeros.
d> But even if this occured in one protein, it
would have to be repeated in at least 238 other
proteins, also.
e> The chances are now one in 1 followed by
29,636 zeros. This would be about 20 pages of
typed zeros.
f> The amount of seconds in 15 billion years are
only 1 followed by 19 zeros.
3> From time to time, sensational claims are made
concerning attempts to create life in a laboratory.
However, if life is defined as a self-contained,
self-sufficient, and self-reproducing unit such as
a cell, it has never come close to being done.
G. Communism: The Communist State is the manifestation
and power of God, and is in the process of evolving
to an absolute ideal. All opposition to the
Communist State must be eliminated. War speeds up
the progress.
1> Lenin: "First we will take Eastern Europe, then
the masses of Asia. Then we will encircle the
United States which will be the last bastion of
capitalism. We shall not have to attack. It will
fall like a ripe grapefruit into our hands."
2> Gus Hall, National Chairman of the Communist
Party, USA: "I dream of the hour when the last
Congressman is strangled to death on the guts of the
last preacher - and since the Christians seem to
love to sing about the blood, why not give them a
little of it? Slit the throats of their children
and drag them over the mourner's bench and the
pulpit and allow them to drown in their own blood;
and then see whether they enjoy singing these
hymns."
H. Humanism: Man began from himself, with no knowledge
except what he himself can discover and no standards
outside of himself.
1> "Man is the measure of all things."-Protagoras of
Abdera, 481-411 B.C.
2> "No deity will save us; we must save ourselves."
-Humanist Maifesto II, 1973
a> "As in 1933, humanists still believe that
traditional theism, especially faith in a prayer
hearing God, assumed to love and care for
persons, to hear and understand their prayers,
and be able to do something about them, is an
unproved and outmoded faith. Salvationism, based
on mere affirmation still appears as harmful,
diverting people with false hopes of heaven
hereafter. Reasonable minds look to other means
for survial."
b> "Promises of immortal salvation or fear of
eternal damnation are both illusory and harmful.
They distract humans from present concerns, from
self-actualization, and from rectifying social
injustices."
c> "We affirm that moral values derive their
source from human experience. Ethics is
autonomous and situational, needing no
theological or ideological sanction. Ethics
stems from human need and interest."
d> "We deplore the division of humankind on
nationalistic grounds...Thus we look to the
development of a system of world law and a world
order based upon transnational federal
government."
7. Summation Regarding Atheism
A. Atheism solves no problems; it only multiplies
unsolved mysteries.
B. Atheism is only a giant doubt.
C. People must be educated into this kind of irrational
thought.
D. A born dogmatic atheist cannot be found, for, at
best, they are men who have stilled their conscience
by blatant unbelief and long continued living in
sin.
E. There is not a godless person anywhere in the
Communist world, as they worship the god of
international communism.
F. The god of every professing atheist in America is
either international socialism or humanism.
G. Unbelief can only lead to darkness, despair and
disaster for the one accepting it.
H. Atheism can only lead to anarchy, paganism, or
international socialism with the torture and
imprisonment of millions of people who do not
worship depraved humanity or a centralized
government as god.
II. Philosophical Arguments For the Existence of God
1. These arguments from philosophy do support the existence
of God, but not necessarily the God of the Bible, who is
also a personal God, actively interested in His creation
and the welfare of His creatures, participating in His
creation.
2. Philosophy means, literally, love of wisdom.
There are two kinds of wisdom.
JAMES 3:15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is
earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion
and every evil work:
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of
mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without
hypocrisy.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of
them that make peace.
1> The "wisdom from above" is knowing how to apply
the knowledge contained in the Bible to achieve the
desired result, which is doing God's will.
2PETER 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his
promise, as some men count slackness; but is
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to
repentance.
1PETER 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest
of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but
to the will of God.
EPHESIANS 6:6 Not with eyeservice, as
menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing
the will of God from the heart;
ROMANS 12:2 And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
COLOSSIANS 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a
servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring
fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand
perfect and complete in all the will of God.
1THESSALONIANS 4:3 For this is the will of God,
even your sanctification, that ye should abstain
from fornication:
1THESSALONIANS 5:18 In every thing give thanks:
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you.
1PETER 2:15 For so is the will of God, that
with well doing ye may put to silence the
ignorance of foolish men:
1PETER 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer
according to the will of God commit the keeping
of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a
faithful Creator.
1JOHN 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the
lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God
abideth for ever.
2> "The earthly wisdom" is:
a> The speculation of lost men, philosophers, and
their science, falsely so-called.
COLOSSIANS 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit, after the
tradition of men, after the rudiments of the
world, and not after Christ.
9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily.
1TIMOTHY 6:20 O Timothy, keep that which is
committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain
babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so
called:
1> The Louvre, in Paris, contains five and one
half miles of shelved science books which have
been proved wrong since their writing.
2> All science does is discover new problems
and partially solve old problems that bring up
new problems that remain unsolved.
3> The problem of disease has never been
solved.
4> The problem of starvation has never been
solved. Billions of people will go to bed
hungry tonight and millions will be dead by
morning.
5> The problem of death has never been solved.
6> The problem of poverty has never been
solved.
MATTHEW 26:11 For ye have the poor always
with you; but me ye have not always.
7> The problem of war has never been solved.
1THESSALONIANS 5:3 For when they shall say,
Peace and safety; then sudden destruction
cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman
with child; and they shall not escape.
8> Science says, "We're working on it."
Some people farm for a living, some are
merchants, and some get paid for trying to
solve the problems of humanity.
b> An attempt to substitute humanistic,
intellectual lifestyles (situation ethics) for
morals.
c> A god, claiming to have a revelation superior
to that of the Bible.
1CORINTHIANS 1:19 For it is written, I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring
to nothing the under standing of the prudent.
20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe?
where is the disputer of this world? hath not
God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For after that in the wisdom of God the
world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching to save them
that believe.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks
seek after wisdom:
3. Philosophy has assisted theology from time to time, but
the relationship was never reversed.
4. Philosophy has never solved any problem.
5. Philosophical arguments for the existence of God:
A. Ontological Argument (The argument from being):
Man is finite and imperfect, but has a conception of
an infinite and perfect being; therefore, that
Infinite and Perfect Being must exist.
(1) God can be conceived in only one way: a Being
greater than any other which can be conceived.
(2) Even the fool knows what he means by "God" when
he asserts, "There is no God."
(3) If the most perfect Being existed only in
thought, and not in reality, He would not really be
the most perfect Being, for one that existed in
reality would be more perfect.
(4) It would be self-contradictory to say, "I can
think of a perfect being that doesn't exist."
(5) It would be absurd to say, "I can conceive of
something greater than that which nothing greater
can be conceived."
Note: The Ontological Argument, though logical, is not
philosophically conclusive because:
(1) The absolute necessity of a judgment does not
form the absolute necessity of a thing.
(2) Perfection may not be a true proposition, and
thus a proposition can be logically necessary
without being true in fact.
B. Cosmological Arguments (The arguments from cause):
(1) First argument: Since everything is in motion,
God is the necessary Prime Mover of all things.
a> Everything that moves has to be moved by
another thing.
b> This chain of movers cannot go on forever
because there would then be no first mover and
thus no other mover.
c> The First Mover is God.
2> Second Argument: Something obviously exists now,
and something never developed from nothing.
HEBREWS 3:3 For this man was counted worthy of
more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath
builded the house hath more honour than the
house.
4 For every house is builded by some man; but he
that built all things is God.
a> The physical universe could not be this
eternal something because it is subject to decay.
The universe must have come from somewhere.
A house did not build itself.
b> Every present random thing or event depending
on a previous random thing or event, and so on
into infinity, does not explain anything.
c> A decomposing entity could not qualify as
eternal.
1> Somebody or something must have caused it
to come into being at one time or another.
2> For example, here is a book; therefore,
somebody must have written it.
3> No printing press can of itself print a
book.
d> For there to be anything at all random in the
universe, there must be at least one thing that
is not random; something that is necessary
throughout all change, and self-established.
e> In this case, "necessary" does not apply to a
proposition but to a thing, and it means
infinite, eternal, everlasting, self-caused, and
self-existent.
f> The choice is simple: one chooses either a
self-existent God or a self-existent universe.
g> The universe is not behaving as if it is self-
existent.
1> According to the Second Law of
Thermodynamics, the universe is running down
like a clock or, better, cooling off like a
stove.
2> If this process goes on indefinitely, the
result will be "heat death" and the end of all
motion.
3> Since the universe is running down and
cooling off, it could not have been running
down and cooling off forever.
h> Since God is a necessary Being (this is
established if one accepts the proof) then it is
unnecessary to inquire into His origins. It
would be like asking, "Who made the Unmakable
Being?" or "Who caused the Uncausable Being?"
"Where did God come from?"
"Anywhere He wanted to."
i> The most sensible answer, to an intellectually
honest person, to the problem of the existence of
the universe is the existence of an Intelligent
Being, God, behind the order.
C. Teleological Argument (The argument from design):
There is a definite analogy between the order and
regularity of the cosmos and a product of human
ingenuity.
1> In the teleological argument we presume that a
watch not only exists, but that it had a designer.
2> It was designed by an intelligent mind for the
specific purpose of accurately keeping time.
3> Everywhere in the world can be found features
that show the world to be basically friendly to
life, mind, personality, and values.
4> A very complex arrangement of things, both
terrestrial and extraterrestrial, must exist before
physical life can be supported.
a> The earth must be just the right size, its
rotation must be just right, its distance from
the sun must be within certain limits, its tilt
must be correct to cause the seasons, and its
land to water ratio must be balanced.
b> We need light, but not too much ultraviolet.
c> We need heat, but not too much infared.
d> We live just below an air-screen which shields
us from millions of meteors every day.
e> We live just above a rock-screen which shields
us from the terrible heat in the heart of the
earth.
5> An intelligence created all the many complex
things that make our earthly existence possible.
6> They are the result of the planning of a superior
mind, the mind of an Originator whom we call God.
D. Ethnological Argument (Universality of belief in the
existence of God):
1> Man is born with a universal belief in a supreme
being. No race or tribe has ever been discovered
which lacks this.
2> Where did it come from?
a> Not from reason.
b> Not from debate or argument.
c> Not from tradition.
d> Not from the Bible.
e> This universal belief comes from within man.
ACTS 17:23 For as I passed by, and beheld your
devotions, I found an altar with this
inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye
ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
E. The Life From Life Argument
1> Life comes from life, unless one is an
evolutionist.
2> To be an evolutionist, one has to believe that
cooling lava slung off from the sun with
temperatures above 1700 degrees F could turn into
the chemical elements that would bring forth life
from inorganic matter.
3> Spontaneous generation has been proven to be
false by authoritative science and nobody believes
in it but a few college professors.
4> Life comes from life, and physical life must have
come from a Being possessing eternal life.
GENESIS 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring
forth abundantly the moving creature that hath
life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in
the open firmament of heaven.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the
living creature after his kind, cattle, and
creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his
kind: and it was so.
5> If one is a straight thinker, there had to be
some life existing before physical life was created.
Psalm 36:9 For with thee is the fountain of
life.
6> The apple tree gets its life from the parent
tree.
GENESIS 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring
forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the
fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose
seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
7> The calf gets its life from the parent cattle.
GENESIS 1:21 And God created great whales, and
every living creature that moveth, which the
waters brought forth abundantly, after their
kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and
God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and
let fowl multiply in the earth.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the
living creature after his kind, cattle, and
creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his
kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his
kind, and cattle after their kind, and every
thing that creepeth upon the earth after his
kind: and God saw that it was good.
8> The only logical answer, is that the beginning of
life was with God.
F. Anthropological Argument (The moral argument):
Man has a nature that is intellectual and moral; so,
his creator must be an intellectual and moral Being,
a Judge and Lawgiver.
1> Man gets his life from God.
2> Man was made in God's image, not the image of an
amoeba or a monkey or anything else in Darwin's
family tree.
GENESIS 1:27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God created he him; male and
female created he them.
GENESIS 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the
dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living soul.
3> Man has an intellectual and moral nature that
animals do not have, showing that the Creator must
not be merely an inanimate force, but a living,
intelligent, moral being.
PSALM 94:9 He that planted the ear, shall he not
hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see.
4> God gave man ears, eyes, knowledge, intelligence
and will power, for these are the things He Himself
possesses.
5> Man fell, but he still retains in his fallen
state the hidden trace of the Godhead.
6> Conscience teaches man right and wrong, good and
bad, for his creator is a moral being Who is holy
and loves righteousness but abhors evil.
7> Conscience tells man there is a God, though he
does not know Him personally.
ROMANS 1:19 Because that which may be known of
God is manifest in them; for God hath shown it
unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the
creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even his
eternal power and Godhead; so that they are
without excuse:
21 Because that, when they knew God, they
glorified him not as God, neither were thankful;
but became vain in their imaginations, and their
foolish heart was darkened.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in
their knowledge, God gave them over to a
reprobate mind, to do those things which are not
convenient;
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they
which commit such things are worthy of death, not
only do the same, but have pleasure in them that
do them.
8> All people instinctively know it is wrong to
murder, steal and commit adultery.
The first time a youngster disobeys his parents,
lies, steals something, smokes, or takes a drink,
his conscience tells him it's wrong. The second
time, it's a little easier and so on until it
becomes natural, and wrong seems right.
9> There is not any culture on the face of this
earth that does not consider murder a breach of
moral standards. Not national or self-defense, but
malicious intent to kill somebody.
ROMANS 2:15 Which shew the work of the law
written in their hearts, their conscience also
bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean
while accusing or else excusing one another.
10> The Bible doesn't make any mistakes. "Thou
shalt not kill (murder)."
11> The moral argument is simple. Anthropology and
the study of ethnology shows that throughout the
races, in any type of ethnic culture, there are
standards of right and wrong.
G. Argument From Congruity (Everything is in harmony):
There is a personal God in harmony with all the
facts of our mental and moral nature, as well as
with the phenomena of the natural world.
The acceptance of the existence of God as Creator is
like a magic key that fits:
1> All the facts of scripture and revelation.
2> All the facts of nature.
3> All the facts of conscience.
4> All the facts of knowledge.
5> All the facts of science.
6. Philosophical belief in a Supreme Being does not
necessarily lead to the God of the Bible.
7. Philosophy proves the existence of God as Creator, but
if that's as far as it goes, the philosopher is more
uninformed than an evil spirit who, knowing that his
Creator has a plan for His creation, fears His awesome
power to punish and destroy as well as create.
JAMES 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou
doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
III. Wrong Gods
1CORINTHIANS 8:5 For though there be that are
called gods, whether in heaven or in earth,
(as there be gods many, and lords many),
6 But to us there is but one God, the Father,
of whom are all things, and we in him; and one
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and
we by him.
1. Philosophical belief in God, without belief in the
Bible, leads to:
A. Deism and Theism: Natural religion or the acceptance
of a certain body of religious knowledge acquired
solely by the use of reason as opposed to knowledge
gained through God's written revelation.
1> The basic doctrines of Deism and Theism are:
a> The belief in a Supreme Being.
JAMES 2:19 Thou believest that there is one
God; thou doest well: the devils also believe,
and tremble.
b> The obligation to worship.
JOHN 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know
what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
c> The obligation of ethical conduct. Moral
principles are not the result of a revelation,
but originate from the structure of man's reason.
MATTHEW 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within ye are full of
hypocrisy and iniquity.
1> There are moral atheists, moral skeptics,
and moral sinners.
2> There are men who do good because they have
found it pays to do good.
3> There are men who do good because they have
found they cannot do evil and get away with it.
4> There are men who do good to soothe their
own conscience.
5> There are men who do good so they can brag
about their self-righteousness before their
fellowmen.
d> Divine rewards and punishments in this life
and the next, based on conduct.
ROMANS 3:12 They are all gone out of the way,
they are together become unprofitable; there
is none that doeth good, no, not one.
The only difference between a moral sinner and
an immoral sinner is the difference between an
old garbage can and a new garbage can. One may
be shiny, but they both have the same contents.
2> Deism and Theism deny:
a> The Trinity.
1JOHN 5:7 For there are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost: and these three are one.
b> The incarnation.
1TIMOTHY 3:16 And without controversy great is
the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in
the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of
angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed
on in the world, received up into glory.
c> The authority of the Bible.
2TIMOTHY 3:16 All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness:
d> The atonement.
1PETER 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he
might bring us to God, being put to death in
the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
e> Miracles.
ACTS 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words;
Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among
you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by him in the midst of you, as ye
yourselves also know:
f> Any particular elect people, such as Israel or
the Church.
ROMANS 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifieth.
g> Any supernatural redemptive act in history.
REVELATION 5:9 And they sung a new song,
saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and
to open the seals thereof: for thou wast
slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy
blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and
people, and nation;
h> All descriptions of God which depict His:
1> Vengeance
ROMANS 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not
yourselves, but rather give place unto
wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is
mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
2> Vindictiveness
PSALM 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into
hell, and all the nations that forget God.
3> Jealousy
EXODUS 34:14 For thou shalt worship no
other god: for the LORD, whose name is
Jealous, is a jealous God:
4> Destructiveness.
1CORINTHIANS 1:19 For it is written, I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will
bring to nothing the understanding of the
prudent.
REVELATION 11:18 And the nations were
angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time
of the dead, that they should be judged,
and that thou shouldest give reward unto
thy servants the prophets, and to the
saints, and them that fear thy name, small
and great; and shouldest destroy them which
destroy the earth.
3> Deists and Theists conceive God to be a gentle,
loving, and benevolent being, who intended that
mankind behave in a kind and tolerant manner.
EXODUS 15:3 The LORD is a man of war: the LORD
is his name.
ROMANS 3:18 There is no fear of God before their
eyes.
4> Deists and Theists denounce any kind of religious
intolerance because, in their opinion, all religions
are ultimately the same.
ROMANS 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a
lie, and worshipped and served the creature more
than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
B. Theistic Evolution
1> Two theories:
a> God created the basics, then withdrew, and
evolution took over and all living organisms
developed from the simple to the more complex
forms.
1> This implies we can know the who of
creation from the Bible, but must depend on
Darwin for the how and when of the matter.
Why is anybody's guess.
2> It defies the First and Second Laws of
Thermodynamics, and the Law of Biogenesis
which says that life produces similar life.
b> God created the basics and evolution took
over, but He intervened at various occasions in
the evolutionary process to either create or re-
adjust, then withdrew again.
1> This isn't true because:
a> GENESIS 2:1 THUS the heavens and the
earth were finished, and all the host of
them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work
which he had made; and he rested on the
seventh day from all his work which he had
made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and
sanctified it: because that in it he had
rested from all his work which God created
and made.
b> It reduces Adam to a spiritually
transformed ape.
GENESIS 2:7 And the LORD God formed man
of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living soul.
MARK 10:6 But from the beginning of the
creation God made them male and female.
c> 1CORINTHIANS 15:39 All flesh is not the
same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh
of men, another flesh of beasts, another of
fishes, and another of birds.
2> Theistic evolution teaches a god who is not
actively participating in his creation.
3> Any god who would create what you find down here
and then let this world just take its course of six
thousand years of war, murder, abortion and other
human sacrifices, perversion, poverty, starvation,
disease, death, sorrow, and imprisonment, while
withdrawing himself and not taking part in it,
is the wrong god.
4> If sin is a problem down here, the God of
creation would have to deal with it or he would be
the wrong god.
5> If death is a problem down here, a god who
wouldn't actively participate in the death of his
creation is not a compassionate god.
6> Therefore, any god who is not interested in the
sin, sorrow, and death of the beings he created is
the wrong god.
C. Dualism
1> There are two mutually hostile and equally
powerful beings or forces in the universe, the one
being the source of all good, the other the source
of all evil, both coeternal and coequal.
2> Both beings or forces have human followers and
spiritual servants, each camp believing themselves to be
the good guys and the other camp evil.
3> The universe becomes the battleground for these
opposing beings or forces, identified respectively
with light and darkness. Once again, each camp
believes itself to be the force of light and the
other darkness.
4> "If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay (the
Christian God) whose deeds prove his cruelty,
perfidy, and hatred of man, barbarism and repulsion
for science, would Adonay and his priests calumniate
him?
"Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is
also God. For the eternal law is that there is no
light without shade, no beauty without ugliness, no
white without black, for the absolute can only exist
as two Gods: darkness being necessary to light to
serve as its foil as the pedstal is necessary to the
statue, and the brake to the locomotive..."-Albert
Pike, Masonic Grandmaster.
EZEKIEL 28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that
covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon
the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and
down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day
that thou wast created, till iniquity was found
in thee.
ISAIAH 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O
Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut
down to the ground, which didst weaken the
nations
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I wil
ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount
of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds:
I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the
sides of the pit.
1JOHN 1:5 This then is the message which we have
heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is
light, and in him is no darkness at all.
JOHN 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them,
saying, I am the light of the world: he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but
shall have the light of life.
JOHN 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that
light is come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil.
ACTS 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them
from darkness to light, and from the power of
Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness
of sins, and inheritance among them which are
sanctified by faith that is in me.
ISAIAH 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good,
and good evil; that put darkness for light, and
light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet,
and sweet for bitter!
5> Dualism is characteristic of Theosophy, Esoteric
Christianity, Freemasonry, and other variations of
the "mystery religions."
D. Polytheism
1> The belief in a multitude of separate and
distinct deities.
2> Divinity, while personal and distinguished from
the universe, is many rather than one.
1CORINTHIANS 8:5 For though there be that are
called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as
there be gods many, and lords many),
6 But to us there is but one God, the Father,
of whom are all things, and we in him; and one
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and
we by him.
3> Polytheism characterizes Hinduism, Buddhism,
Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, and contemporary
African tribal religions.
E. Pantheism: There are too many variations to list.
1> The central belief is that God is nature.
2> It is a polite form of atheism because God is
identified with everything.
GENESIS 1:1 IN the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth.
2PETER 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as
a thief in the night; in the which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth
also and the works that are therein shall be
burned up.
God is separate from the creation.
2. Ever since Adam fell, men have been inventing gods.
As somebody said, "God created man in His own image and
man returned the compliment."
3. No speculative god of philosophy can fulfil the
requirements of human nature or satisfy the longing of
the human heart.
4. The God of the Bible, on the other hand, meets all the
requirements.
IV. The Right God
1. God Proves His Existence To Sincere Seekers.
A. The belief in a Supreme Being, and the worship of
Him, was not produced in a laboratory, and will not
be destroyed by lack of scientific proof.
1TIMOTHY 6:20 O Timothy, keep that which is
committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain
babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so
called:
B. The belief in a Supreme Being existed before either
science or argument.
C. The Universe Declares The Existence Of God.
PSALM 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
1> No man could gaze at the universe and think it
came together accidentally unless:
a> He had been told that by someone he trusted or
respected.
b> He had replaced God's orderly scheme with his
own insane set-up, in order to avoid the thought
of a Supreme Being with supreme authority.
2> ROMANS 1:20 For the invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen being
understood by the things that are made, even his
eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without
excuse.
a> When the Lord Jesus Christ wanted to picture
Himself, He pictured Himself as the SUN which
moves from east to west, as history moves from
east to west, as the Holy Ghost moves from east
to west, against the rotation of the world.
1> A perfect picture of the Godhead and the
Trinity is found in the sun which contains
alpha, beta, and gamma rays.
2> The sun has light rays that you can see and
cannot feel, a picture of God the Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ.
3> Rays that you can feel but cannot see, a
picture of God the Spirit, the Holy Ghost.
4> Rays that you cannot see or feel, actinic
rays which picture the soul of God, God the
Father.
5> The sun, then, visibly seen, is a
representation of things not seen.
JB 22:12 Is not God in the height of
heaven? and behold the height of the
stars, how high they are! 13 And thou
sayest, How doth God know? can he judge
through the dark cloud? 14 Thick clouds
are a covering to him, that he seeth not;
and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at
peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.
b> When Christ wanted to tell a man what hell was
like, He pointed to a city dump, Gehenna.
c> When He wanted to show people what heaven was
like, He pointed to a sinless, clean city with a
park in it.
D. If there is any God up there at all, He is obliged
to reveal Himself to His creation and this fact
deals a deadly blow to agnostic science when we
consider that men communicate to each other by
words.
1> The thing that sets man apart from animals is
that he communicates by words and sentences.
2> Therefore, if there is any God up there at all,
it is impossible to believe that He would not reveal
Himself to His creation by words.
3> This is fundamental and foundational in
theological truth.
E. The Holy Bible Declares The Existence Of God. It
does not waste time trying to prove the obvious to
fools.
PROVERBS 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning
of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and
instruction.
1> The Bible simply states:
GENESIS 1:1 In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth.
EXODUS 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I
AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the
children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
ISAIAH 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD,
and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may
know and believe me, and understand that I am he:
before me there was no God formed, neither shall
there be after me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is
no saviour.
12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have
shewed, when there was no strange god among you:
therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD,
that I am God.
13 Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is
none that can deliver out of my hand: I will
work, and who shall let it?
ISAIAH 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none
else. there is no God beside me: I girded thee,
though thou hast not known me: 6 That they may
know from the rising of the sun, and from the
west, that there is none beside me. I am the
LORD, and there is none else. 7 I form the
light, and create darkness: I make peace, and
create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of
the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
2> When Jesus Christ shows up, we read:
JOHN 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.
JOHN 1:14 And the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us...
1JOHN 1:1 That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands
have handled, of the Word of life;
2. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the only
God in any religion that is actively interested in
coming down and sharing the suffering and sorrow of His
creatures, dying in the place of His creatures, and
offering to His creatures eternal life as a free gift.
A. He comes down, God manifest in the flesh.
1TIMOTHY 3:16 And without controversy great is the
mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached
unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world,
received up into glory.
JOHN 1:1 IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was
not any thing made that was made.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
B. God becomes man. Christ calls himself the Son of
Man.
LUKE 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to
save that which was lost.
ISAIAH 55:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a
man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we
hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised,
and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of
God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was
bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our
peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are
healed.
C. Jesus, who is a real man in the Bible, was God's
Son, coming down from heaven to reveal God the
Father to sinners.
1> God is not subject to the microscopic scrutiny of
man. A God who could be examined and fully
understood by man without revelation, would be no
more than man.
JOHN 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the
only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, he hath declared him.
1JOHN 4:12 No man hath seen God at any time...
EXODUS 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my
face; for there shall no man see me, and live.
Moses talked to God and had a revelation of
Him, but he did not see the Lord's face
directly.
2> Jesus told Philip that He was the revelation of
God.
JOHN 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have
known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know
him, and have seen him.
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the
Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time
with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?
he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and
how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?
D. God and Christ, His Son, have eternal life to give:
John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might
know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent.
E. What about all the other religions that profess the
same thing?
1> Easy--try then out and you will find they are
hoaxes.
2> They put you in a passive state where you
pretend you don't have any sins when you still have
them.
3> At the great Congress of Religions at the 1932
World's Fair, scores of religions got together to
talk about how to bring all men together under the
Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man.
After a week of discussion, Joseph Cook stood up and
asked, "How cleanseth thou this red right hand?"
McBeth asked this question after he committed murder.
In other words, "Now that I have sinned, how do I get
clean?"
There is no religion that can tell McBeth, or you or I
how to do it permanently.
a> The Roman Catholics say confess it, get
absolution, and do penance. It might work -IF A
GOOD CONFESSION IS MADE.
b> The Protestants say to live a good life to
amend for one's sins.
c> The Buddhists insist that if we had followed
the noble eightfold path, we wouldn't have
sinned, but that doesn't solve the problem.
The problem is having sinned against an eternal
being Who lives forever. How do I pay for it unless
I make an eternal payment?
That is the problem. There is no answer for it
unless the Bible is true.
Catholicism says, "Join thyself."
Buddhism says, "Annihilate thyself."
Pagan wisdom says, "Man know thyself."
Mohammedanism says, "Man, submit thyself."
Modern education says, "Man, realize thyself."
But the Bible says:
JOHN 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free.
JOHN 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,
but by me.
JOHN 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free,
ye shall be free indeed.
1PETER 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for
sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring
us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit:
HEBREWS 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them
to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
JOHN 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
LUKE 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to
save that which was lost.
JOHN 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal,
and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they
might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly.
MATTHEW 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am
meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto
your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
JOHN 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread
of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger;
and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
JOHN 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come
to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out.
LUKE 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross daily, and follow me.