God Is Series

INTRO.- God is. The Psalmist doesn’t question the existence of God. He simply states, God is. Gen. 1:1 “In the beginning God.”

ILL.- An orator in Hyde Park of London was speaking out against religion. He said, “My hatred of religion is inherited; my grandfather was an atheist; my father was an atheist; and, thank God, I’m an atheist, too.”

ILL.- Years ago, a group of people in Missouri founded a town and named it Liberal about 35 miles north of Joplin. They were so extremely ‘liberal’ that churches were not to be allowed. In their literature they boasted that it was “the only town of its size in the United States without a priest, a preacher, church, God, Jesus, hell or devil.”

But Elder Clark Braden wrote up an account for the Post Dispatch showing that there was little else than hell and devil there, that it was a den of iniquity, that its hotels were brothels and virtue almost unknown. The account was so terrible that they had Braden arrested for criminal libel, and sued him and the Post Dispatch for $25,000 damages.

Liberal was a failure, and even lifelong unbelievers, who had moved there for its advantages, left in disgust. One of them said: “An infidel surrounded by Christians may spout his infidelity and the community may be able to stand it but it will never do to establish a society with infidelity as its basis.”

IT WILL NEVER DO TO ESTABLISH A SOCIETY BASED ON UNBELIEF AND INFIDELITY. Surely this should tell us something about life. God is the author of life and He’s the only one who can bless a person’s life or a city’s life or a country.

ILL.- A Dr. George Crane tells of a statement made by a clerk in the law office of Clarence Darrow, the famed criminal lawyer and self-acclaimed atheist. He said, “As Darrow lay dying, he hastily summoned three clergymen—a Presbyterian minister, a Catholic priest, and a Jewish rabbi.

“He said to them, ‘Gentlemen, I have written and spoken many things against God and the churches during my lifetime. Now I wished I hadn’t! Now I realize it is entirely possible that I may have been wrong. So I should like to ask a final favor that each one of you intercede for me with the Almighty.”

Do you think their intecession for Mr. Darrow did any good? When unbelievers leave this world they will find out that they have been wrong all along. How can any thinking person look at the starry universe, planet earth and look at a newborn baby and not believe there is a Creator?!

God is. God exists. God creates. God builds good things in this world. God blesses us with good things. Every good and perfect comes from above, not from man. The Psalmist is clear: GOD IS.

PROP.- The Psalmist declares, God is what?

1- God is our refuge, we must not fear

2- God is our strength, we must not fall

3- God is our God, we must not fight

I. GOD IS OUR REFUGE, WE MUST NOT FEAR

1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

ILL.- A young unbeliever was traveling in the West with his uncle, a banker, and they were anxious for their safety when they were forced to stop for a night in a rough wayside cabin that had two rooms. They agreed that the young man would sit up with his pistols, and watch until midnight. Then the uncle would watch until morning.

They happened to look through a crack in the partition, and saw their host, a rough-looking old man, reach for a Bible. After reading it awhile, he knelt and began to pray. Then the young unbeliever began to get ready for bed. “I thought that you were to remain on guard?” said the uncle. The young man knew that there was no need to watch all night in a cabin where there was Bible-reading and prayer.

Someone said: “Every one knows that where this Book has influence, it makes things safe.” If this is true, then what happens when the Bible is banned in a country???

ILL.- Here’s an example of that Biblical and Godly protection in a godless country. Our missionary, Ajai Lall wrote back in July: “Last month, our brave and courageous coworkers rescued 9 children from a sex trade operation in India. Ranging in ages from 2-8 years old, they were rescued from a red light area. With great risk for their own safety, the CICM leaders went in the middle of the night to save these children who were being used and prepared for prostitution. The children are now in a safe place and receiving food, shelter and an education. We also now have the opportunity to let them know of God’s love for them.