WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:23.280 Well, a very good morning. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:24.960 It's so good to be back. 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:28.399 I've crisscrossed the state. 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:29.920 Yes. 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:37.200 Up in Bottenau, there's no more gophers left there after I went hunting up there. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:43.439 And then I went down to Medora, saw the bison, but I left them alone. 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:45.840 It was good. 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:47.039 Beautiful state. 00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:51.759 We're really blessed by God to be in such a beautiful state. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:54.079 And I see so many new faces. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:57.520 I'm gone for like a few Sundays. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:00:59.600 And there's so many new faces. 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:07.120 So make sure before you leave today to just turn around and see who's new and just woke up and introduce yourself, okay? 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:13.680 This uh morning's message comes from Romans chapter one. 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:26.239 But before we get there, I want to tell you a little story about the nuclear energy program and the former Soviet Union. 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:39.840 The Soviets prided themselves in their RBMK 1000 nuclear reactors that came into operation in the Soviet Union around the 1970s. 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:48.400 However, this RBMK 1000 reactor had some design issues. 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:55.840 The problem was once the reactor started up, you could not shut it down. 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:05.599 The ability to shut it down in the act of in the event of an emergency was complicated. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:13.840 But designers came up with this idea to soothe the uneasy consciences of everyone. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:16.960 They called it the EPS5 button. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:24.639 It was a red button on the console to shut it down in an emergency. 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:28.879 Something happens, you just hit the EPS5 button. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:32.879 But this was only a matter of theory. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:35.199 It was never tested nor proven. 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:53.599 And on that fateful day of April 26, 1986, at 01 23 AM, an engineer at reactor number three in Chernobyl finally resorted to hit that APS V button. 00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:55.759 What did it do? 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:03.840 Well, hitting that red button unleashed a series of catastrophic events. 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:08.960 First, it caused a spike in the fuel rod temperature. 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:20.879 Then a massive spike and buildup of radioactive steam, finally leading to a pressure buildup rupturing the cooling system of reactor three. 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:25.360 The rest became history. 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:37.919 In the wake of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, it came to light that the EPS-5 button was really speculative theory. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:42.319 This thing was never tested, never proven to work. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:44.960 In fact, it was just a cover-up. 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:49.520 It was a clever invention of politics and engineering. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:04:00.879 And yet they could convince people to embrace this idea of a button that could shut down a reactor in blind faith. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:05.360 It was an exercise in blind faith. 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:11.680 And everyone seemed to have forgotten the reality of the truth. 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:25.759 You see, my dear brothers and sisters, in evangelizing the lost, we will inevitably be challenged by people who have forgotten the truth. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:39.360 They will outright begin ridiculing you for your belief in Jesus Christ and the God who created all things, seen and unseen. 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:50.720 You see, sharing your faith with the skeptic, with the doubter, with the mocker, with the agnostic can be an intimidating thing. 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:55.600 And Christians often backpitle out of it. 00:04:56.240 --> 00:05:06.319 You see, dealing with a skeptic or a doubter or an atheist or an agnostic is often an intimidating thing. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:14.879 You see, we as Christians often feel like we live in this ivory tower built up by our blind faith. 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:25.439 As we share the gospel with people, we will find that we might have lost all sense of rationality, reasoning, and logic. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:41.519 When people start sneering at our claims as Christians, we feel like everything we hold to is unproven, untested, and unrealistic and nothing but a blind faith. 00:05:44.959 --> 00:06:06.639 Now, ever hearing the doubter, the skeptic, the intellectual, the philosopher, hearing them speak, you would think that their belief system is a flawless bastion of proven, tested, and realistic-based evidence-based facts. 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:17.040 Isn't the saying we follow the facts, but you Christians follow the fantasies of your faith? 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:21.199 But the reality is true. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:49.519 You see, we feel if if we get into a conversation with a doubter or a skeptic and we can't give all the counterclaims and counter-arguments and answer all their questions, we would look like religious goobers. 00:06:53.519 --> 00:07:03.360 And sharing the gospel with people, we often sound, we think we sound like mindless religious fanatics. 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:13.680 Especially when people come up with all their lofty arguments against the existence of an all-powerful, all-benevolent creator, God. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:23.759 We feel like we've committed intellectual suicide once they begin throwing out their claims against the existence of God. 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:31.199 But don't think for a minute you have committed intellectual suicide. 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:47.279 For believing in a creator, God, who sent his only begotten son to redeem humanity from the penalty of sin on the cross and rose on the third day for their justification. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:54.639 That very thought, my dear brothers and sisters, is not committing intellectual suicide. 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:56.959 Not believing in it is. 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:14.480 In fact, they embrace it. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:24.080 Let's unpack the second part here of Romans 1, verses 18 to 22. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:38.960 And I will show you how people will put a blind faith in their own ideas, they will trust human speculation, and that those speculations will impact everything in life. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:45.120 How they interpret and see everything in life will be different. 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:52.960 Their values, their decisions, their choices will be impacted by this blind faith. 00:12:54.960 --> 00:13:02.960 A guy who would argue against this idea of faith was a man named Bertrand Russell. 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:08.879 He was a British philosopher and atheist and critic of Christianity. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:16.879 And he wrote many books as to why Christianity was just fantasy. 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:30.960 And somebody once said, Professor Russell, what would happen if you die and one day you actually stand in front of God and he says, Professor Russell, why did you not believe in me? 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:32.799 What would you say to God? 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:40.559 And this is what his reply was I would say to God, not enough evidence. 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:43.200 Not enough evidence. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:53.200 You see, that is the argument of the agnostic and the atheist, the doubter and the skeptic, not enough evidence. 00:13:55.039 --> 00:14:07.679 You see, my dear brothers and sisters, you would need to get good at biblical apologetics to address the stupidity of the atheist and the agnostic. 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:18.240 You see, it's not a matter that there is a lack of evidence, it is more the idea that they don't care about the evidence. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:23.200 And as the Bible says here, they suppress all the evidence. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:26.080 Look at your Bibles there in verse 18. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:32.159 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:33.600 Hang on to that verse. 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:35.519 We will come back later to it. 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:37.919 But look at the second part of that verse. 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:42.720 Against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who do what? 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:49.840 Suppress the truth in all unrighteousness. 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:54.320 They suppress the truth in all unrighteousness. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:59.360 Verse 19, because that which is known about God is what? 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:02.879 Evident within them. 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:06.480 It's evident within them. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:09.919 For God made it evident to them. 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:13.679 It's inside and it's from the outside. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:28.720 The evidence against unbelief and doubt and skepticism is firstly inside, and evidence to the contrary is from the outside. 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:37.039 Internally, it's imprinted on the moral conscience of every human being, and externally, nature and creation. 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:41.840 Let's unpack this verse, these two verses. 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:53.919 Verses 18 and 19 really shows that the agnostic, the skeptic, the atheist, the unbeliever really has a predicament. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:16:05.360 He's in a predicament because there's so much evidence to the contrary that the wrath of God is revealed against them. 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:20.240 You see, the ignorance of the unbeliever is not something about the lack of evidence, it is all about the aversion to that evidence. 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:23.840 Look at verse 18. 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:35.279 It says the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness. 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:40.399 Verse 19, for that which is known about God is evident. 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:45.679 It is evident within them, for God made it evident to them. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:52.799 Those two words in the NASB, evident, comes from a fascinating Greek word. 00:16:53.600 --> 00:17:01.759 The Greek word is phanaros, phanaros, which is used widely in the New Testament. 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:05.920 It means something that is very apparent. 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:10.799 It is very evident, it is widely known. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:14.240 It is obvious. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:23.839 It is very obvious to people, every created being, it is obvious. 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:26.240 God made it obvious. 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:34.000 You don't need to go down, dive deep into the ocean to find God. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:39.440 You don't need to travel to the moon to find something that speaks of God. 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:42.400 God says it's within us. 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:50.079 Ecclesiastes 3 11 says, God has set eternity in their hearts. 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:58.799 Every human being leaves the womb pre-cremed with this concept of God. 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:06.559 Every person born of a woman has this idea that God exists. 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:14.240 Every human being you can say has this divine awareness. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:31.359 And think of it, when you were a child and you were disobedient, and you snuck into the pantry and you took that cookie before dinner, you would go, I wonder if God sees me. 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:41.680 Every human being comes pre-programmed with this awareness of something bigger and greater than Him. 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:49.039 There is something that says to every human being that there is something beyond this life. 00:18:50.319 --> 00:19:01.839 You see, the concept of God is not as alien as many would claim, but it's woven into the very fabric of our existence. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:08.640 There's something deep in every human being that echoes God. 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:14.799 And yet, human beings suppress it. 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:18.799 And I'll explain to you soon how they suppress it. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:22.720 But let's look, that's the internal evidence. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:27.279 Now let's look at the external evidences against unbelief. 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:38.480 For since the creation of the world, verse 19, his invisible attributes, his eternal power, and his divine nature have been clearly seen. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:47.599 It can be seen and it can be understood through what has been created. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:51.359 So they are without excuse. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:05.920 As I traveled to the western part of the States, right up there in Madora, we had spectacular sunsets. 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:19.039 And I wonder how many being uh humans stand there and say, well, chance and necessity, this all happened by accident. 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:21.920 You have to be a fool to think that. 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:35.119 You see, the existence of God, his eternality, his creative power, and the totality of his divine nature can be clearly seen in creation itself. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:46.480 And if you are a scientist, you will know something about the constancy of the laws of physics. 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:49.759 You take something, you drop it. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:51.759 Oh, that's predictable. 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:54.240 Oh, that's predictable. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:55.359 Right? 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:03.920 There's something that says there is a God who has ordered all these things. 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:09.200 Psalm 19 is such a wonderful psalm. 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:19.039 The heavens are telling of the glory of God, and the expanse, and their expanse is declaring the work of his hands. 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:25.599 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:41.440 From the creation until now, 247, 365 days of the year, nature impresses upon the human mind the existence of a creator God. 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:58.559 But the doubter and the agnostic, well, they will look through a radio telescope or they will look into an electron microscope and say, I need more evidence. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:07.440 I'm like, you've got a PhD, and you're asking for more evidence? 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:29.200 You see, the existence of God and his attributes have been made very plain and simple and clear and straightforward to all moral creatures through nature, and only the fool will demand more evidence. 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:38.480 On April Fool's Day, you need to give the unbeliever Psalm 14.1. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:42.720 The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:48.880 April Fool should be, April 1st should be Atheist Day. 00:22:52.240 --> 00:23:01.680 You see, God has so wonderfully and marvelously created and constructed this universe that every portion of it speaks of Him. 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:19.599 You have to be a fool to look through a radio telescope observing the galaxies, and you look into the electron microscope and you see microscopic organisms, and you say, not enough evidence to believe in God. 00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:22.160 This is what Dr. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:24.400 Robert Mount says. 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:41.039 He says, there, seeing the beauty and the complexity of creation carries with it the responsibility of acknowledging the Creator, both as powerful and as living above the natural order. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:42.559 Wow. 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:50.240 You see, acknowledging God comes with a problem. 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:56.240 The problem is acknowledging God. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:01.920 You see, the problem is not that there is a lack of evidence. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:09.359 The problem for people is submitting to God. 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:20.640 Despite the burden of truth, doubters and skeptics and critics will demand more evidence. 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:24.799 But it's not the lack of evidence that is the problem. 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:27.680 Submission is. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:31.839 Look at verse 21 there. 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:42.240 For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him. 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:44.240 You see, that's the problem. 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:46.559 That's the problem. 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:55.200 The problem is the stubborn refusal to acknowledge God because if God is out there and he created me, guess what? 00:24:55.359 --> 00:24:57.279 I'm accountable to him. 00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:11.119 And if I'm accountable to him, I have to submit to his ways of doing things. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:17.279 And so rather than do that, let's come up with a different plan. 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:22.720 A plan that can assure autonomy and a dependence. 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:32.079 A plan that could promise freedom without accountability. 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:41.519 And that comes in the form of all the isms that we have in this life. 00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:54.799 Skepticism, atheism, humanism, Darwinism, existentialism, nihilism. 00:25:55.440 --> 00:26:02.799 Whatever ism is out there is nothing more than well-constructed unbelief. 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:12.960 You see, we as human beings, we like cockroaches. 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:15.440 We don't like light. 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:19.200 Have you ever been in a place where there's a lot of cockroaches? 00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:22.160 You turn on the light and they just scatter. 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:23.440 Right? 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:27.839 This is what John 3, 19 and 20 says. 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:35.839 This is the judgment that the light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light. 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:36.640 Why? 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:38.640 Because their deeds were evil. 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:40.319 We love our sin. 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:44.480 We call our favorite sin precious. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:58.480 For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:11.759 Oh, that is so evident in human beings that they just don't like the idea that they are sinners. 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:15.279 They will avoid this at all cost. 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:22.720 They will avoid you bringing up the topic of God, judgment, resurrection, eternal life. 00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:31.920 They would not want you to talk about that for one, for fear of judgment by God, and number two, because they love their sin. 00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:46.960 So when people throw out this thing, well, I'm agnostic, or I follow the science. 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:50.640 It's nothing but a ploy. 00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:58.079 It's a stubborn ploy not to give God the glory or acknowledge Him for their existence. 00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:08.559 So don't be derailed when you share the gospel or speak about God, about all these arguments against them. 00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:10.480 It's just deploy. 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:12.400 It's just deploy. 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:23.839 The one day I was in the outdoors, and this probably Judah Heyer was uh hiding behind this bush. 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:26.640 And I mean, this is California, it's dry. 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:28.720 The bushes don't get that bacon dance. 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:38.640 And he was making out with his girlfriend, and the next moment he came out there and he saw me, and I'm like, I'm standing in with my kids in the park, and I'm like, whoa. 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:42.319 And you know what he says to me? 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:45.039 You didn't see that. 00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:47.920 No, I did not see that. 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:50.240 What did he do? 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:58.640 If I could just tell myself that there was no one looking, I'm off the hook. 00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:01.119 I'm off the hook. 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:07.920 Let's look at the second part here. 00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:12.319 The affinity towards lies. 00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:23.519 You see, there's the affinity towards this speculative lies that people concoct and they embrace it. 00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:24.240 Why? 00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:35.599 Because number one, it promises autonomy and independence from God, and number two, it promises that there will be no consequences when there is actually consequences. 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:40.720 Let's unpack verse 19. 00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:51.920 Let's go to verse 21 rather. 00:29:53.119 --> 00:30:00.960 For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their what? 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:03.279 Speculations. 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:05.759 Hang on to that word speculations. 00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:13.839 And the foolish heart was darkened, professing to be wise, they became fools. 00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:22.400 I'm gonna unpack a few Greek words here for you, not to show off, but because it's very fascinating. 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:30.640 The first word here is the word dialogismos, which is the word that sounds like dialogue. 00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:31.359 Okay? 00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:37.359 And that's the word behind the English word speculation there. 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:51.759 And it speaks of reasoning back and forth, exchanging opinions, deliberating well thought, well thought reasoning. 00:30:55.359 --> 00:31:00.799 It also means to consider things systematically and carefully. 00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:20.319 You see, the doubter and the agnostic, the atheist, whatever ism is out there, it's nothing more than systemized, well-reasoned, well-organized unbelief. 00:31:22.640 --> 00:31:23.519 Says Dr. 00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:27.680 Peter Lillerbeck from Westminster Seminary. 00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:33.599 Human philosophy is nothing more than well-reasoned, organized, systemized unbelief. 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:48.160 You see, the Darwinist will say, I was begotten by time and chance, never made. 00:31:51.119 --> 00:32:00.000 You see, the reasoning of the unbeliever is speculative, it's circular, it's self-defeating. 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:05.359 It says there that these speculations were futile. 00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:07.039 Futile. 00:32:07.839 --> 00:32:09.839 People write sick books. 00:32:11.119 --> 00:32:15.599 And you come to the end and you're like, what was this all about? 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:18.960 Who's taken a philosophy class at university? 00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:20.079 Put up your hands. 00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:21.839 Y'all, you gotta take that. 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:24.000 Who thoroughly enjoyed that? 00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:25.759 Okay, one, two. 00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:26.400 Who? 00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:28.079 Okay, we got two here. 00:32:28.240 --> 00:32:29.279 Keep up your hands. 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:35.039 Who left there fulfilled with all the answers in life? 00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:36.960 Okay, thank you. 00:32:38.079 --> 00:32:39.680 I risk my case. 00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:48.160 You see, people who do not want to face the truth come up with non-truth. 00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:50.559 And they love it. 00:32:51.119 --> 00:32:52.480 You're like, what? 00:32:53.200 --> 00:33:06.160 You've just set aside that which is so evident and so clear, you know it on the inside, you see it on the outside, and yet you choose something else. 00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:12.960 That, my dear friends, is called intellectual suicide. 00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:19.759 You see, the Bible says there they became foolish within their hearts. 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:23.920 Their hearts were darkened and they became fools. 00:33:24.079 --> 00:33:25.839 I love that Greek word there. 00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:30.240 We get the English word moronic from there. 00:33:31.839 --> 00:33:37.920 The two Greek words there for fools and foolishness and folly is very insightful. 00:33:38.160 --> 00:33:51.599 It really speaks about the person who is dull, the person who is unintelligent, the person who does not have the ability to put the facts together properly. 00:33:53.359 --> 00:34:01.279 It's like somebody you give them a Rubik's Cube for two-year-olds and they and they just keep going, they can't figure it out. 00:34:01.599 --> 00:34:04.400 Not that I've ever solved a Rubik's Cube. 00:34:05.279 --> 00:34:06.079 No, I have. 00:34:06.240 --> 00:34:09.039 You put a screwdriver in and you pop it apart. 00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:21.679 You see, Paul's reasoning here is only the fool has the inability to conclude from creation that there is no creator. 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:23.840 Only a fool can do that. 00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:30.639 One famous Dutch theologian in the early days of Westminster Seminary, Dr. 00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:39.039 Cornelius Van Till, said the following: unless you believe in God, you can logically believe in nothing else. 00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:50.559 You see, when people come up with all the answers to life and they deny the existence of God, I'm like, I have a problem listening to you. 00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:53.840 You're not a very intelligent person, are you? 00:34:54.079 --> 00:34:55.519 Well, no, I am. 00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:56.639 I am. 00:34:57.199 --> 00:35:04.000 I've got a PhD and postdoctoral research papers that I've written, and I'm employed by the state. 00:35:04.159 --> 00:35:07.119 Um, I should be very intelligent. 00:35:07.679 --> 00:35:11.599 I can't believe a thing that you're saying from this point on. 00:35:11.920 --> 00:35:13.679 Because you're not a very smart person. 00:35:13.840 --> 00:35:25.199 You can't even figure out by looking at that sunset there in North Dakota that there's a creator God who put all these things in order. 00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:26.800 You can't figure out. 00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:28.480 What can I drop? 00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:32.559 That that is pretty predictable. 00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:34.960 Things aren't just random. 00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:38.239 There's order. 00:35:39.519 --> 00:35:40.800 There's order. 00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:42.960 You see, Dr. 00:35:43.039 --> 00:35:45.440 Robert Mount says the following. 00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:57.519 He says, disbelief requires an act of rebellion against common sense. 00:35:57.840 --> 00:35:58.800 I love it. 00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:04.559 Have you ever met somebody who acts against common sense? 00:36:07.199 --> 00:36:11.519 You go on YouTube and you go, Wow, how did you not see this coming? 00:36:12.079 --> 00:36:15.360 How did you not figure out you're gonna break a leg when you do that? 00:36:17.039 --> 00:36:18.480 And these things are believable. 00:36:18.639 --> 00:36:20.639 A few years ago I was on the roof. 00:36:20.880 --> 00:36:23.360 I got on the roof easily. 00:36:23.599 --> 00:36:26.559 I got off the roof with difficulty. 00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:34.719 But I remember watching all those YouTubes about the kids just jumping off roofs and landing like a cat. 00:36:35.519 --> 00:36:38.559 And I thought the trash bin will catch me. 00:36:39.199 --> 00:36:41.119 I really believed it will work out. 00:36:41.199 --> 00:36:43.119 I had it all pictured. 00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:59.119 I ended up landing on the trash bin, and that thing just bottomed out on me, whacked my head, and it was so loud that my wife came out there and she's like, What are you doing? 00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:04.880 I'm only acting out what I saw on YouTube. 00:37:06.480 --> 00:37:16.639 You see, there there was a you see, I did not quite construct things in a logical order. 00:37:18.559 --> 00:37:26.559 You see, I had to let go of that which is real and evident and so clear for something that is stupid. 00:37:27.679 --> 00:37:30.079 Have you ever taken a kid to a park? 00:37:30.239 --> 00:37:36.239 If you have, I'm not sure if you've looked at the monkey bars up close. 00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:38.480 Right? 00:37:39.039 --> 00:37:40.320 You call the monkey bars up? 00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:41.199 Yeah, that's what they call. 00:37:41.360 --> 00:37:41.920 Yeah, okay. 00:37:42.880 --> 00:37:43.920 Getting frowns here. 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:46.960 Maybe because it's so cold, kids don't go to the park. 00:37:47.039 --> 00:37:53.360 But in any case, if you inspect that those monkey bars, some of them actually have peanut butter on. 00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:59.360 I mean, we're like, no, no, no, no, no, don't touch that one. 00:37:59.519 --> 00:38:02.320 Just just swing past that one. 00:38:02.880 --> 00:38:03.760 Because you'll slip. 00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:10.000 How many other kids get on there with their grimy little fingers and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? 00:38:13.840 --> 00:38:21.599 And what if happens if I let go of one monkey bar to hang on one that is covered with peanut butter? 00:38:21.679 --> 00:38:22.800 What happens? 00:38:23.199 --> 00:38:24.880 You slip and fall. 00:38:25.199 --> 00:38:27.199 You see, that's the unbeliever. 00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:40.719 The unbeliever hangs firmly on divine evidence revealed to them internally and externally, and they say, I want to let go of this to hang on the peanut butter covered bar. 00:38:41.440 --> 00:38:44.320 And I'm gonna hang on there for dear life. 00:38:44.639 --> 00:38:47.679 This is what 2 Kings described for us. 00:38:47.840 --> 00:38:49.679 2 Kings 17, 15. 00:38:49.840 --> 00:39:00.559 They rejected they rejected his statutes and his covenant, which he made with their fathers, and his warnings and which he warned them. 00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:16.400 And they followed vanity and became vain and went after the nations which surrounded them concerning which the Lord had commanded them not to do like them. 00:39:17.920 --> 00:39:26.480 We will let go, like the Israelites, that which is firm and unmovable, the solid rock of biblical truth. 00:39:26.639 --> 00:39:39.920 We will let go of that to embrace something like atheism, agnosticism, existentialism, whatever is and is out there, Darwinism. 00:39:42.960 --> 00:39:53.280 You see, to be an atheist, you have to let go of God before you can hang on to atheism. 00:39:54.159 --> 00:40:01.840 You have to let go of God because you come out of the factory pre-programmed with the sense of God. 00:40:03.119 --> 00:40:14.320 And so, my dear brothers and sisters, stop being fearful of all the arguments and speculations that there is against God. 00:40:16.079 --> 00:40:23.199 Bring up the topic with your friends, your neighbors, your family members, your co-workers. 00:40:23.920 --> 00:40:31.599 And lo and behold, you will find that they're not as smart as they portrayed themselves to be. 00:40:33.840 --> 00:40:46.159 In fact, in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster, there was an investigation as to why this fiasco happened. 00:40:48.079 --> 00:41:00.400 And it was nothing more than a blind faith in a red button on a console that read EPS5 shutdown. 00:41:01.280 --> 00:41:10.400 People put so much faith in that button, if this reactor starts cooking, we just hit that button and we can shut it down. 00:41:11.119 --> 00:41:12.400 Well, that didn't help. 00:41:12.480 --> 00:41:20.880 And you see, people put so much faith in something that overpromises and underdelivers. 00:41:22.639 --> 00:41:23.760 This is Dr. 00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:26.400 Valerie, well Valeri. 00:41:27.119 --> 00:41:28.880 Valerie Legasov. 00:41:29.920 --> 00:41:36.559 He was one of the firm opponents of the RBMK 1000 reactor. 00:41:36.719 --> 00:41:39.039 He said that these are ticking time bombs. 00:41:39.119 --> 00:41:42.800 And by the way, there's about 20 more of these around the world. 00:41:43.119 --> 00:41:44.800 Just FYI. 00:41:46.239 --> 00:41:57.360 I don't know if they still have the EPS5 button on them, but here's the thing is he warned that we are putting way too much stock in that button. 00:41:58.400 --> 00:42:03.360 And this could be an experiment of futility and blind faith. 00:42:03.519 --> 00:42:04.800 And this is what he said. 00:42:04.960 --> 00:42:06.400 I love these words. 00:42:06.559 --> 00:42:15.119 He says, when the truth offends, we lie and lie until we can no longer remember the truth, even if it's there. 00:42:16.800 --> 00:42:18.159 But it's still there. 00:42:18.400 --> 00:42:22.000 Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. 00:42:22.159 --> 00:42:27.280 Sooner or later, that debt is paid. 00:42:30.320 --> 00:42:44.960 You see, human beings who reject this idea of God who created the heavens and the earth and who sent his only begotten son, so whoever so believes in him will inherit eternal life. 00:42:45.519 --> 00:42:51.440 People who go against that are not as smart as we think. 00:42:51.840 --> 00:42:58.400 In fact, they need to let go of that and embrace lies, and they will tell themselves lies over and over and over. 00:42:58.559 --> 00:42:59.679 But guess what? 00:43:00.239 --> 00:43:08.559 The truth is always out there, and at some point in life, they will need to reckon with the truth, and that is your job. 00:43:09.039 --> 00:43:11.760 That is your job, dear brother and sister. 00:43:11.920 --> 00:43:18.000 Your job is to go out there and remind people that the truth is still out there. 00:43:20.320 --> 00:43:27.920 Your job is to go out there and remind people that truth is still out there. 00:43:28.079 --> 00:43:37.280 Let them rather deal with the truth now than at some point before the throne of God. 00:43:38.400 --> 00:43:50.239 I can tell you my life, I've had so many people that I would go, I don't know, I don't know, I d I I don't think now's the time, always a better excuse. 00:43:51.440 --> 00:43:56.880 And then they die in a car accident, and I go, Wow, I should have. 00:43:57.519 --> 00:43:59.760 Now they have to reckon with God. 00:44:04.719 --> 00:44:06.400 There is a consequence. 00:44:07.519 --> 00:44:10.239 There is a consequence to unbelief. 00:44:10.480 --> 00:44:16.800 There is a consequence to rejecting God's truth. 00:44:19.039 --> 00:44:24.159 Look at verse 21. 00:44:24.480 --> 00:44:37.599 For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they, here's the consequence, they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish hearts was darkened. 00:44:37.840 --> 00:44:41.599 Professing to be wise, they became fools. 00:44:41.920 --> 00:44:44.400 That is God's judgment. 00:44:44.559 --> 00:44:48.239 Remember in verse 18 it spoke about the wrath of God? 00:44:48.639 --> 00:44:49.760 The wrath of God? 00:44:49.920 --> 00:45:02.480 How's the wrath of God revealed against the skeptic, the atheist, the agnostic, the Darwinist, the evolutionist, the humanist, the secularist? 00:45:02.559 --> 00:45:05.679 How's the wrath of God revealed against them? 00:45:06.079 --> 00:45:07.920 God doesn't squash them. 00:45:08.159 --> 00:45:09.760 He doesn't trample them. 00:45:10.079 --> 00:45:11.599 He lets them go. 00:45:12.400 --> 00:45:13.920 He lets them go. 00:45:14.960 --> 00:45:36.960 In fact, as one commentator observes, he says, God's wrath here in Romans 1 is not by God's intervention, but precisely by his non-intervention, by letting men and women go their way. 00:45:38.719 --> 00:45:44.480 When we reject God, we become dumber and dumber and dumber. 00:45:45.440 --> 00:45:49.440 We're not becoming smarter and smarter and smarter. 00:45:49.760 --> 00:46:06.159 And so I just want to warn you: if you engage the unbeliever, the one who rejects God, the one with stubborn unbelief, the one that holds on to human theories, you're not going to deal with the most intelligent of human beings. 00:46:06.400 --> 00:46:10.800 Not that you need to be a condescending, you've got to be graceful and loving. 00:46:11.119 --> 00:46:15.760 But you've got to remember, as that famous British theologian C.K. 00:46:15.920 --> 00:46:27.280 Barrett once said, he says, once man had fallen from his true relation with God, he was no longer capable of truly rational thought. 00:46:31.679 --> 00:46:49.760 You see, my dear brothers and sisters, when you start engaging those hardened skeptics and agnostics, you start engaging them with this topic of God, you might be intimidated with the ivory tower that is portrayed. 00:46:50.559 --> 00:47:00.800 You see, their speculative ivory towers of intellectual idealism is not built with marble and mortar. 00:47:01.039 --> 00:47:06.320 In fact, it's whitewashed particle board held together by Elmer's glue. 00:47:07.039 --> 00:47:16.880 And its foundation is not this solid rock of divine evidence, but rather sinking sand of human speculation. 00:47:18.800 --> 00:47:33.599 Those living in these intellectual, ideological ivory towers have abandoned all rationality, logic, and reasoning. 00:47:34.639 --> 00:47:42.079 And they exchanged it for speculative falsehood embraced in nothing but blind faith. 00:47:42.800 --> 00:47:48.000 And so your job, my dear friends, is simple. 00:47:49.280 --> 00:47:55.039 You go out and you go shake that ivory tower with this. 00:47:56.239 --> 00:48:05.920 Doesn't take much to shake something made of particle board and held together with Elmer's glue. 00:48:06.559 --> 00:48:16.320 Your job as a Christian is do not come up with all these counter arguments and engaging people at their level. 00:48:16.639 --> 00:48:19.280 You simply give them the truth. 00:48:20.320 --> 00:48:24.719 Well, I believe everything came about by chance and necessity. 00:48:26.079 --> 00:48:29.599 Yes, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 00:48:29.840 --> 00:48:36.320 Well, I'm telling you everything happened by chance and necessity, says the evolutionist. 00:48:36.559 --> 00:48:42.400 Yes, I hear what you're saying, but in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 00:48:42.719 --> 00:48:46.239 Let me explain to you exactly how that took place. 00:48:47.760 --> 00:48:52.719 You don't need to come up with some smart scientific proof. 00:48:53.360 --> 00:48:54.960 You use the word of God. 00:48:55.199 --> 00:48:55.599 Why? 00:48:55.840 --> 00:48:57.679 Let me tell you why. 00:48:58.639 --> 00:49:02.960 2 Corinthians 10, and I have it up there on the screen. 00:49:04.559 --> 00:49:08.480 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh. 00:49:08.719 --> 00:49:13.440 Don't use science or whatever you want to use. 00:49:13.920 --> 00:49:24.159 Use the divinely given power tools for the destruction of these intellectual fortresses, these ivory towers. 00:49:24.480 --> 00:49:37.679