TITLE: God Is Real – Really TEXT: Psalm 19
OPEN: There’s the story of a college philosophy professor asked one question on his final exam. He picked up a chair, put it on his desk, and wrote on the board, “Using everything we have learned this semester, prove that this chair does not exist.”
Philosophy classes get into that kind of thing.
The students opened their notebooks and wrote as much as they could think of for a while hour, some of them churning out 30 pages of heady philosophical debate and logic.
But one student turned in his paper after less than a minute and he was the only one to get an “A.” What did he write so quickly that turned out to be just the right answer?
He wrote: (pause and shrug) “What chair?”
APPLY: Last week we began our sermon series on Basic Training.
We are the army of God, soldiers of Christ. And we serve under a great commander in chief.
And we are at war with a powerful and treacherous enemy: Satan.
As we noted last week, Satan’s goal is not only to destroy us, but also to undermine God. And one of the devil’s primary objectives towards that end is to attack the truths of Christianity. If Satan can damage these truths, then he can weaken our faith.
We also found that one of the primary reasons Satan hates truth, is because it is his greatest weakness. If we understand and hold to God’s truth, then the devil will be defeated.
This Sunday we’re dealing with the truth of God’s very existence.
Attacking this truth lies at the very cornerstone of Satan’s battle plan. He will do whatever he can to get people to doubt God.
In the beginning, when he got Eve into a discussion about the tree, he asked her “Does God REALLY say?” Implying that God could not be trusted.
But with others in our world, Satan ramps up the argument. He wants to get them to the point where they not only don’t trust God… but that God doesn’t even exist. He wants to get people to the point where they ask: What God?
And, there are people in our world who look at what we believe and ask that very question.
They either say they don’t BELIEVE God exists (atheists)
OR they say they can’t KNOW if God exists (agnostics)
Both groups basically say: “We’ve not seen enough evidence to believe God exists”
One such individual supposedly confronted an old Quaker and taunted him:
"Have you ever seen God?
Have you ever felt God?
Have you ever smelled God?
Ha! And you say you have a God!"
In other words: where’s the evidence? Where’s the proof?
The Quaker thought for a couple of moments and then replied,
"Hast thou ever seen thy brains?
Hast thou ever felt thy brains?
Hast thou ever smelled thy brains?
(pause for effect) Ha! And thou sayest thou hast brains!"
Now, I don’t if that story is true or not… but Scripture agrees with that old Quaker. In Psalm 53:1 David declares: “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.”
Why would such a person be a fool?
Well, because, there’s more than enough evidence to believe God exists.
But what’s the evidence?
In Psalm 19 David tells us why he believed in God.
1st – he states that created world around us literally cries out that God exists.
Look again at the first 6 verses of this Psalm:
The heavens DECLARE the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they POUR FORTH SPEECH; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. THEIR VOICE GOES OUT into all the earth, THEIR WORDS to the ends of the world.
The Heavens declare God.
The Skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Their voice goes out to all the earth/ their words to the ends of the world.
Romans goes a little farther than this when it tells us
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities— his eternal power and divine nature— have been clearly seen, being understood FROM WHAT HAS BEEN MADE, so that men are without excuse.” 1:18-19
The basis of godlessness is to ignore God. And at the heart of godlessness is ignoring nature’s clear declaration that there is a God and you will one day have to deal with Him.
The skeptic is godless, because he/she denies God’s involvement in creation.
And there is a theological reason they do so.
ILLUS: Back in 1987, the National Academy of Sciences rejected "Creation science” as science in a Louisiana "Creation" case arguing: "it fails to display the most basic characteristic of science: …reliance upon naturalistic explanations."
In other words, they rejected Creation as scientific because God would be involved.
In their mind, Creation could not have a Creator because that would require something beyond a natural explanation for why the world existed. It would require a SUPER-natural explanation.
And so they rejected God on that theological basis.
But down thru the ages, scientists, who didn’t entirely embrace atheistism, recognized God’s hand in creation
• Stephen Hawking, one of today’s foremost theoretical physicist said: “The odds against a universe like ours emerging out of something like the big bang are enormous. . . I think clearly there are religious implications whenever you start to discuss the origins of the universe. There must be religious overtones.”
• Buckminster Fuller (a renowned inventor who is best known for creating geodesic domes and served as the inspiration for “bucky bulls”) declared: “When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.
(In other words – if the solution WAS beautiful – it had to be right. If it “fit together” like it belonged then it obviously was designed to be that way).
• In his book on Albert Einstein, author Walter Isaacson told of a dinner party in Berlin where everybody assumed Einstein was an atheist and he said, “No, I have a deep feeling of faith, a deep religiosity that comes from my appreciation of the way the Lord made the universe”, and everybody was stunned.
He said he was like a child walking into a library, and you see the books and you know somebody must have written them, and you see them ordered and you know somebody must have ordered them, and there’s a sense of awe that’s manifest in that, where you kind of understand that there’s an order underlying everything and the more you appreciate it, the more humble you become in the fact of it…
Isaacson continued: “In some ways, (Einstein’s) belief in God, that God had created an orderly universe, informed his science. He believed that underlying everything, there are laws.”
Just the uniqueness of our world declares… shouts out… that we have a benevolent creator
A preacher named Joseph Rogers put together the following list (sermoncentral.com, a sermon on Psalm 19):
• If the earth were 1 degree closer to the sun, we’d fry!
o If we were 1 degree further, we’d freeze!
• If the moon was any closer or larger, the tides would destroy the coast lines.
o If any smaller/further away -oceans would die from a lack of nutrient movement
• If our distance from Jupiter were any greater, asteroids and comets would pepper the earth.
o If we were any closer our orbit would become unstable.
• If earth’s surface gravity was any stronger, it would retain too much ammonia and methane and we couldn’t breath.
o If it were any weaker, earth’s atmosphere would lose too much water and we’d not have the liquid necessary to survive.
• If the earth’s crust were any thicker, it would absorb too much of our oxygen. We wouldn’t be able to breath.
o If it was any thinner; the earth would move and shake beneath our feet and would make life impossible.
And these facts go on and on, the heavens and the earth all declaring the creative genius of God. That was one of the reasons David lists for his belief in God.
2nd – but not only does creation declare God exists, David tells us God’s Old Testament Law declares He exists.
Look again at Psalm 19:7-12
“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”
John Wesley noted: Man could not have written the Bible if he would/ and would not if he could
And what David is declaring in Ps 19 is: “The Law couldn’t have been written by mortal men.
• it was too perfect. Too trustworthy.
• it can make simple man wise.
• it gives joy to the heart and light to the eyes.
• it’s pure and enduring
• more precious than gold and sweeter than honey.
Now, there are SKEPTICS who reject that.
They believe that the Laws of the Old Testament were NOT written by the hand of God. They were simply borrowed from other great thinkers of the day. They’ll hold up the great laws of Babylonian kings, such as a man named Hammurabi.
They’ll wax eloquent about how wonderfully wise these kings were and how much the Mosaic Law owed to these great thinkers of the past.
But when they make these claims, they’re not telling you the whole story.
Nelson’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Bible Facts, Vol. 2 tells us that in establishing laws, the
“Rulers of the Near East… were trying to maintain their personal political and economic power and their image as lawgivers. If a previous king had already done this they just borrowed the ideas for their own legal system. A king was supposed to hand down laws that were clear, just, and true, no matter where he got them.
In contrast, the Bible teaches that God’s people received their laws from God Himself…
In many nations of the ancient Near East, the King carried the laws in his head, as they were his personal possession. He didn’t publish them until he was ready to give up his throne. Thus a person could be arrested for breaking a law he had never known. The laws were kept secret, even when a person was put on trial for breaking them (there are few instances in which anyone cited royal codes in court).
By contrast “…in Israel, the leaders of government read God’s Law to the people at regular times of the year (cf. Deut. 31:10-13). Thus every citizen could learn the laws he had to obey…”
And there was a substantial difference between how God’s Law & man’s law dealt with everyday problems. For example, there are 2 significant sets of Law from Babylon skeptics say equaled our Old Testament’s Laws –
• one was the Law of Eshnunna written about 2000 BC
• the other was the Law of Hammurabi written about 300 years later (1700 BC)
Both Eshnunna and Hammurabi punished a man whose ox gored someone in a similar way:
54- If an ox is known to gore habitually and the authorities have brought that fact to the knowledge of the owner, but he does not have his ox dehorned, it gores a man and cause (his) death, then the owner of the ox shall pay 2/3s of a mina of silver. (Law of Eshnunna)
In other words… if your ox killed someone, they fined you.
There was a price to be paid for your animal killing someone.
But by contrast, God’s Law declared “If… the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull must be stoned and the owner also must be put to death. Exodus 21:29
Again there was a price to be paid… but the price far exceeded a mere payment of money.
The difference between the laws of MEN and the Laws of GOD boiled down to 2 things
1. Men’s laws could be changed/ voted on/ molded by human opinion.
2. Men’s laws rarely placed a high value on human life.
In our society laws are based upon the whims of judges/ or upon the rule of the majority, and the results have been the continual erosion of the value of human life so that children are killed in the womb and the old and infirm may one day be euthanized because they are too expensive to keep alive.
But by contrast: God’s law could only be changed by God.
And all human life was valuable because we were made in the image of God.
The Law of God (in the Old Testament) was far superior to anything man could invent because it was created by a far superior being than man. It was created by a God who held human life and well being to be worth protecting.
The 3rd proof of God’s existence for David was found in God’s personal relationship him.
In Ps 19:13-14 David says:
“Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
David came before God EXPECTING God to help him.
He expected God to
• Keep him from willful sins.
• Help his words and meditations to be pleasing in God’s sight.
• And he expected his God to be his Rock and his Redeemer.
Now, how did David get to the point where he expected God’s help?
He got to that point because he had grown used to LOOKING for God in his life.
David spent so much time memorizing and meditating on God’s Word that when he was out in the field taking care of his father’s sheep, he just knew “The LORD (would deliver him) from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear” 1Sam. 17:37
And God did!!!!
When a wild animal threatened his father’s flock David didn’t think twice about fighting and killing the beast… because God was beside him and delivering him.
So later, when David heard Goliath mocking the army of God’s people, he became so incensed that he declared “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear WILL DELIVER ME from the hand of this Philistine."
ILLUS: One of the ladies in our congregation called me this last week asking for advice. She was having trouble with a fellow worker and it was really upsetting her. We talked for some time about various words of advice from Scripture on how to deal with this kind of situation, and then I prayed for her. I prayed that God would reward her desire to the right thing by making it easier for her.
She called back the next day all excited. Not only was her fellow worker more cooperative… but another worker there asked her if she went to church and expressed a desire to start going back themselves.
I believe God rewarded her – not only because she sought Biblical advice but because she was looking for Him to answer her prayers.
As Hebrews 11:6 says:
”…without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists AND that he REWARDS THOSE WHO EARNESTLY SEEK HIM.”
CLOSE: What we need to realize is that there ARE empirical proofs out there that can convince open minded people who have some doubts. There are proofs from creation, and there are proofs to be found in God’s Word.
But ultimately, most people are looking for what difference it makes to you
T.H. Huxley, a well-known agnostic, was with a group of men at a weekend house party. On Sunday morning, while most of them were preparing to go to church he approached a man known for his Christian character and said, "Suppose you stay at home and tell my why you are a Christian."
The man, knowing he couldn’t match wits with Huxley, hesitated.
But the agnostic said gently, "I don’t want to argue with you. I just want you to tell me simply what this Christ means to you."
So the man did that. All thru the morning he told of what God had done in his life and what He meant to him… and when he finished, there were tears in Huxley’s eyes as he said,
"I would give my right hand if only I could believe that!"
