Doing Without God Series

OPEN: Back in 1959, Charleston Heston starred in a movie that is still considered one of the greatest movies of all time --- Ben Hur. It was a Biblical epic that is still known for its climatic chariot race where Heston (the hero of the film) was intent on destroying his hated enemy.

Just for that one race scene, 5 weeks of filming was required along with 15,000 extras and 18 chariots. In the spirit of authenticity, Heston spent weeks learning to drive the chariot but he was still worried about the race.

Heston told the stunt coordinator “I can drive the chariot, but I’m not sure I can win.”

The Stunt director smiled and said “Chuck, you just make sure you stay in the chariot. I’ll make sure you win the race.”

Now think about that: Heston was GOING to win that race. It was in the script. There was no way he was going to lose. And yet, for weeks Heston fretted over whether or not he could win the race. Why would he do that? He did that because he forgot that the outcome didn’t depend on him - it depended on the director of the movie. If the director decided Heston was going to win the race, he was going to win the race.

APPLY: Now Bible tells us that the same thing is true for US in Christ. If God decides we’re gonna win the race – we’re gonna win the race, and that is because we have a God who actively involves Himself in our lives. But that’s not true for anyone else. Ephesians 2:12 tells us that before we became Christians we were “without God in the world.”

This is the last in our series of sermons about “contending for the faith once delivered to the saints”, and the focus of this sermon is on the fact that part of that faith we’re contending for is the fact that we HAVE a God and the rest of the world does not.

The rest of the world is without God. But what does that mean? Well, Psalm 127 tells us what that means: “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” Psalm 127:1-2

In other words, if God is not part of a person’s life – they can build the finest houses and hire the best watchmen to guard our valuables, but it will all be in vain. They’ll stay up nights, losing sleep, because they have no God who can protect them.

Now, Jesus takes it one step further: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me YOU CAN DO NOTHING.” John 15:5

The Bible maintains that without God, you can’t do anything. Without God! Now this morning, we’re going to examine what that means and why God tells us that. In order to that, we’re going to look at two kinds of people who try to live their lives without God.

The 1st kind of person who tries to live without God is the most obvious: the militant atheist.

ILLUS: There’s a story about a man who was a very militant atheist but he sent his son to a school called “Trinity School” because, despite its Christian roots, was a great school. After a month, the boy comes home and casually says, “Dad, do you know what Trinity means? It means the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."

The father can barely control his rage. He seizes his son by the shoulders and declares, "Now son, I'm going to tell you something now and I don’t want you ever forget it. There is only one God and we don't believe in Him!"

ILLUS: Dan Brown, the author of the DaVinci Code was at a Book Fair in Germany where he promoted his new book “Origin”. He said his book was inspired by the question “Will God Survive Science?” His answer was obviously “NO”.

One of the characters in the book says “The age of religion is drawing to a close and the age of science is dawning.”

And at the book fair Brown said “Humanity no longer needs God but may - with the help of artificial intelligence - develop a new form of collective consciousness that fulfils the role of religion”

What’s he saying? He’s saying we don’t NEED God in our lives. We’ll eventually get to the point where God is replaced by our superior wisdom and knowledge.