THE ADVANTAGES OF BEING AN ATHEIST
Ps. 14:1
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Q: Why can’t atheists solve exponential equations? A: Because they don’t believe in higher powers.
2. Q: What is so ironic about Atheists? A: They’re always talking about God.
3. [Fly in My Soup Atheist] “What’s this fly doing in my soup?” Waiter: “Praying.” Atheist: “Very funny. I can’t eat this. Take it back.” Waiter: “You see? The fly’s prayers were answered.”
4. THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
a. An atheist was rowing at the lake, when suddenly the Loch Ness monster attacked and grabbed him from his boat. He panicked and shouted "God help me!"
b. Suddenly, the monster and everything around him just stopped. A voice from the heavens boomed "You say you don’t believe in me, but now you are asking for my help?"
c. The atheist looked up and said: “Well, ten seconds ago I didn’t believe in the Loch Ness Monster either!”
B. TEXT
1. “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” Ps. 14:1 ESV.
2. “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” Job 12:7-25 ESV.
3. “In the last days scoffers [mockers] will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 2 Pet. 3:3-4.
4. A fool in biblical language was not a description of mental ability but of one who was morally deficient. A fool is a person who leaves God out of their consideration.
C. THESIS
1. I’m talking about atheism tonight. If this message only applied to atheists, it would have little application to a church audience, but since the reality is that there are Christian atheists in every church, this message may speak volumes.
2. A Christian atheist you say? That seems like an oxymoron -- 2 contradictory words that shouldn’t be associated, but sometimes can be.
3. Christians who don’t tithe, don’t read their Bible, who don’t pray daily, who don’t regularly attend church – are, in-practice, atheists.
4. Atheism is the belief that no god actually exists. In our secular age it’s thought that perhaps 3-4 percent of our population actually claim to be atheists, while far more live as though it were true.
5. So tonight we’re going to look at the advantages of being an atheist, its disadvantages, and then see how our philosophies play out in the closing moments of atheist’s and believer’s lives.
6. The title of this message is “The Advantages of Being an Atheist.”
I. ADVANTAGES OF ATHEISM
A. NO MORALS TO RESTRAIN THEM
1. The atheist has no moral or spiritual restraints on his lifestyle. His only real concerns are “Will this hurt me? Can I get by with this? Can I avoid getting caught?”
2. The atheist has no concerns about right and wrong. He need not search his soul or apologize for violating any ancient concept of moral behavior.
3. As Dostoevsky said, “If God is not, nothing is morally wrong.” He can do whatever he wishes and the world be hanged if they don’t like it.
B. AN EXTRA DAY TO PLAY
1. The atheist has an “advantage” over the Christian in that he has an extra day [Sunday] for personal use and pleasure. He can sleep, golf, fish or anything he chooses on the first day of the week.
2. Christians are obliged to devote part or all of the day to their Lord.
C. EXTRA MONEY TO SPEND
1. The atheist has extra funds for his personal use. He’s not expected to Tithe on his increase or to give to the poor, to orphans, those who’re down and out.
2. He sees no need for taking the Gospel message of Christ to the nations of the earth: missions.
D. NO AFTERLIFE TO CONTEMPLATE
1. The atheist has no need to worry about such things as life beyond the grave, judgment, heaven or hell.
2. Such things are all tied to Jehovah and Christ his Son. They are out of his purview. For him they don’t exist.
E. ILLUSTRATIONS
1. REASON FOR UNBELIEF
a. A minister was preaching an open air revival. An unbeliever stepped from the crowd and said, "I don't believe in heaven or hell or in Christ or in God because I haven't seen them."
b. Then the man, wearing dark glasses, came forward and said, "You say there is a river near here – the River Clyde? There is no such thing. You say there are people standing here, but it cannot be true. I haven't seen them. I was born blind! So just because I haven't seen them means they don't exist. How foolish!"[Knight’s Treasury, p. 8]
2. NO MIRACLES?
a. An atheistic high school teacher happened to get on the subject of Jesus feeding the 5000 people by multiplying the bread of one little boy's lunch.
b. He said, "Of course there was no multiplying of the bread, for miracles are not possible. It means that they were fed by the bread of Jesus’ teaching."
c. One inquiring girl asked, "Then what was it that filled the 12 baskets of uneaten portions that were left over?"[Knight's 3000, p. 26]
On the Other Hand…
II. DISADVANTAGES TO THE ATHEIST
There are, however, certain downsides to the faith system of atheism.
A. SOCIALLY NEGATIVE OUTCOMES
1. SOURCE OF POLITICAL EVILS. The spawn of political atheism is the Lenin-Marxism of Communism and Hitler’s Germany.
2. SOCIALLY, atheism removes the moral fabric for living in an honest, moral manner, because if there is no God and we are only advanced animals, so there’s no right or wrong, & any action can be justified. This is damaging toward children who need boundaries. (So do adults!)
3. MORE LIKELY TO BE DEPRESSED. “Religion/Spirituality and Depression: What Can We Learn From Empirical Studies?” Dan Blazer, M.D., Ph.D [The American Journal of Psychiatry, VOL. 169, No. 1 (1/1/12)] found that children of atheist parents are more likely to experience depression than Christians and people of faith are happier living in largely religious countries.
4. FAR MORE MORE LIKELY TO COMMIT SUICIDE
a. Kanita Dervic, M.D, et. al., in their study, “Religious Affiliation and Suicide Attempt” published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, VOL. 161, No. 12 (2004) found that “Religiously unaffiliated subjects had significantly more lifetime suicide attempts and more first-degree relatives who committed suicide than subjects who endorsed a religious affiliation.”
b. http://www.gallup.com/poll/108625/more-religious-countries-lower-suicide-rates.aspx In 2005-2006 Gallup surveyed many countries for their religiosity and suicide. The more religious, the less suicidal. Example: The Philippines has one of the world's highest religiosity scores (79), Japan has one of the world's lowest scores (29). Suicide rates in the Philippines are almost 12 times lower than rates in Japan. The lower suicide rates were NOT related to monetary income.
B. ATHEISTS WILL STILL DIE, BE RESURRECTED, GIVE AN ACCOUNT & SPEND ETERNITY SOMEWHERE
1. All atheists must die (Heb. 9:27). Not one has escaped this fate.
2. All atheists will be resurrected by Christ (John 5:28-29). Since they have rejected their opportunity to live with God in eternity, they have only the other alternative to look forward to!
3. All atheists will one day stand before God and give an account to Him who created them, provided every blessing they enjoyed and gave his Son to save them (Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10).
4. All, including atheists, must spend eternity somewhere, either in heaven or hell (Matt. 25:46).
C. SUMMARY
1. Pascal's Wager posits that humans all bet with their lives either that God exists or does not exist. Given the possibility that God actually does exist and assuming the infinite gain or loss associated with belief in God or with unbelief, a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.). [Wikipedia]
2. The atheist gambles his all on the hope that there is no God. Therefore he must face the possibility that he may have guessed wrong.
3. “What if there really is an all-powerful, intelligent, moral Governor of the universe? What if Jesus really is God’s Son sent down from heaven? What if the Bible really is God’s authoritative message to humanity? What if I really do have an immortal soul that will survive the grave and live forever? What if judgment, heaven and hell are realities?”
III. LAST WORDS OF ATHEISTS, BELIEVERS
A. LAST WORDS OF ATHEISTS
1. Hobbes, a noted atheist, said when dying: "I am taking a fearful leap into the dark!"
2. Honore Mirabeau said, "Give me more laudanum. I don't want to think of eternity!"
3. Edward Gibbon, noted atheist, said "All is dark!"
[7700 Illustrations, p. 308-309.]
4. Charles IX, who ordered the massacre on St. Bartholomew's Day, were: "What blood! What murders! I know not where I am. How will all this end? What shall I do? I'm lost forever; I know it."
5. Sir Francis Newport, the head of the English atheists club, said "You need not tell me there’s no God for I know there is one, and that I am in His angry presence! You need not tell me there is no hell, for I already feel my soul slipping into its fires! Wretches, cease your idle talk about there being hope for me! I know I am lost forever."
6. Voltaire, on his deathbed, addressed his Dr.: "I'm abandoned by God and man. I’ll give you half of what I am worth, if you will give me six months life." The doctor replied, "Sir, you can’t live six weeks." Voltaire replied, "Then I shall go to hell, and you will go with me." Soon after he expired.
B. FINAL WORDS OF BELIEVERS
1. DL Moody, when dying said, "Earth receives. Heaven opens before me. If this is death, it is sweet! There is no Valley here. God is calling me. This is my coronation day! It is glorious!"
2. John Wesley said, "The best of all is, God is with us. Farewell! Farewell!"
3. Baxter said, "I have pain, but I have peace. I have peace."
Lady Glenorchy said, "If this is dying, it is the pleasantest thing imaginable."
4. John Pawson, Minister said, "I know I am dying, but my deathbed is a bed of roses. Heaven is already begun!"
5. John Quincy Adams, "This is the last of earth. I am content!"
Catherine Booth, "The waters are rising, but so am I. I'm not going under, but over!"
6. Augustus Toplady, "The Celestial City rises full in sight… The Book of Life is opened to the eye of assurance. The Holy Spirit applies the blood of sprinkling and warms the soul with that robe of righteousness which Jesus made."
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. The evangelist E.L. Hyde was confronted with an atheist during revival meetings in New Jersey.
2. The atheist said, "Didn't you say last night that you could prove to the satisfaction of anyone within 10 minutes that all atheists are fools?" "Yes I did. Are you an atheist? And you say there is no reality in Christianity?"
3. "Yes, I do say that! I have studied all phases of the subject and have traveled and given lectures against Christianity for more than 12 years and I am prepared to say there's nothing in it."
4. "You are certain there is nothing in it?" "Yes, sir; there is nothing in it!"
5. "Would you please tell me," said Mr. Hyde, "if a man who will lecture 12 years against nothing is not a fool, what in your judgment would constitute a fool?"
6. The atheist turned away in a rage. Mr. Hyde, taking out his watch, insisted he still had 6 minutes to go, but the atheist wouldn't hear him! [Knight’s 3000, p. 28.]
B. THE CALL
1. There are only two options: to doubt that God exists and to follow that philosophies’ terrible path, or to embrace the reality of the Creator.
2. If you’re going to believe in God, then don’t do it half-heartedly, but as energetically as the most ardent atheist pursues his mission.
3. Let’s sell out to Jesus and have no mere lip service. Let’s pray!
[This message is an altered and bolstered form of John Waddey’s “ADVANTAGES OF ATHEISM”]
