Thank God for wives who can find things! It seems the older we get the more we forget things!
Illus: Sometimes I feel like the woman who stood at the bottom of the staircase and she could not remember if she just came down or was going to go up.
I must also confess that there are days that I feel like I have lost God…that is, He does not seem to be ANYWHERE! But God is not an object that we can lose.
Illus: Sometimes we feel like the two young brothers who had terrorized their neighborhood with their pranks and thefts. The parents didn’t know what to do. They finally decided to bring the boys to their pastor, one at a time, and see if he could help straighten them out.
The younger brother, Billy, arrived and was ushered into the church office where he was offered a very large chair in front of the desk. The minister then sat down opposite the lad. He folded his hands in front of him and stared at the boy a few seconds then said, “Where is God?” Billy wasn’t sure what the question meant, so he just sat there quietly. The minister leaned over his desk, locked eyes and said in a much stronger voice, “Where…is…God?” Billy started to squirm. He had no idea why he was here and the minister kept asking the same question. The poor boy was really getting scared and snuggled back into the full chair. The minister, meanwhile, moved from behind his desk to stand directly in front of Billy and raised one hand upward to Heaven. “WHERE…IS…GOD?” he bellowed at the lad.
Poor Billy lost it. What could he do? Here was a man of God asking questions he didn’t understand and he was scared. So he jumped up out of the chair, ran from the office, down the church aisle, out onto the sidewalk, up the street into his house. Then he raced up the stairs and into his bedroom. “What’s wrong Billy?” his brother asked. “Oh, Johnny,” he said. “We’re in BIG trouble this time. God’s missing and they think we took Him.”
God is not an object that we can misplace in our life, but there are times we may feel we have lost Him. There are times in our life we can not help but wonder about THREE things -
I. DOES GOD EXIST?
Look at Heb. 11:6 again, we read, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that HE IS, and that HE IS A REWARDER of them that DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM.”
There are three things in this verse that teach us about God. The Bible tells us that the just shall live by faith. That is, we can not see, touch or hear God but we know that He is there. But there are times in our life that most of us will admit, we could not help but wonder IF THERE IS A GOD!
Does God exist?
• The atheist says he does not exist
• The agnostic says it is not possible to know if He exists
• The deist says God created the universe but has left it alone ever since
• The theist says God exists and is involved with creation
• The polytheist says there are many gods
• The pantheist says that God exists in and through everything in the universe, and is one with the universe
• The Believer says God exist and lives within our heart
We know that God exists, but proving the existence of God is not an easy thing to do.
• If we could see Him
• If we could touch Him
• If we could hear Him speak
If these were the things that God manifested about Himself it would not be difficult to prove the existence of God. But we can not see Him, touch Him, or hear Him speak, yet we BELIEVERS say, “I KNOW HE EXISTS.”
YOU SEE, JUST BECAUSE WE CAN NOT SEE SOMETHING DOES NOT MEAN IT DOES NOT EXIST.
Illus: A little boy was flying his kite one day and the kite was so high that you could not see it. Another little boy said, “What are you doing?” He said, “I am flying my kite.” He looked up and he did not see it and he said, “There is no kite up there!” The boy assured him there was and said, “I can prove it. Hold this string in your hands and even though you can not see it you can feel the tug of the kite as the wind blows against it.”
The same thing applies to us; we might not be able to SEE GOD, but every believer can feel the TUG OF GOD in their heart each day of their life. Just because we can not see something does not mean it does not exist.
Illus: Electricity is a good example. Electricity flows through the electric lines in this church building. We can not see it or hear it, but I can assure you that if you go over there and stick your finger in one of those electric sockets you will immediately become a believer.
Illus: An elementary school teacher had a Christian student who was very outspoken about his faith. To prove a point, the teacher took this student to the classroom window, pointed to the sky and said, “Look up into the sky. Can you see God up there?” “No,” the student replied. “That’s because there is no God,” smirked the teacher. As the teacher was making his way back up to the front of the classroom, the student turned to a classmate and said, “Look at the teacher’s head. Do you see a brain in his head?” The classmate said, “Nope.” “That’s because there is no brain up there!”
There are many things in our world that are real but they cannot be seen or heard.
• Microwaves cannot be seen, but many of you ladies in this church cook with them each day.
• Television and radio waves cannot be seen but when we turn on our television set we expect to see something.
• Even something as basic as love is impossible to touch, taste, see, smell, or hear – but who denies love exists?
God Himself does not try to prove to us that He exists. He takes for granted that a man or woman can’t live in a world like this and not believe in the existence of God. He just simply states the fact in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God...”
I wish I could prove with physical evidence that God exists but I can’t. But we do not have to see, touch, or hear something to prove it exists.
Heb. 11:1, states clearly, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Is it too much of me to ask you to believe in the existence of God by faith? It shouldn’t be. We exercise faith in other things in our life every day.
Illus: For some of you to come to church, you had to cross bridges on the highway. But you did it without hesitation.
Illus: Some people may exercise extreme faith this week when they fly on an airplane.
• They place faith in a pilot, and they know very little about his ability to fly
• They place faith in an airplane that they know very little about
• They place faith in the air that they cannot see to hold the airplane in the sky
• They place faith in mechanics they do not know anything about
IS THAT BLIND FAITH? No, it’s faith that’s based on evidence. Remember, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Even though they know little about the pilot, the mechanics that maintain these airplanes, and the air, they will aboard these planes by faith. They have faith in these airlines because:
• They know the company has a good reputation
• They know that the employees are friendly and appear to be skillful in their jobs
• They have watched other airplanes fly through invisible air
• They know people who have successfully flown with this airline
All of these factors are evidence that support their faith in flying on an plane.
There is evidence to support faith in God’s existence as well. For example, the law of CAUSE AND EFFECT is evidence of the existence of God.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger was talking to his son in the church foyer. His son’s youngest son came to his dad crying and said, “Christian, hit me on the jaw!” He told him to tell his brother to come to him. When he got there his dad said, “Did you hit your brother on the jaw?” He said, “We were playing and I hit him on the jaw by accident!” The dad said to the youngest son, “You did not tell me you were playing!”
But why did the younger boy come to his dad? Why was he crying? It was because of the law of CAUSE AND EFFECT.
For every effect – “the crying” – there has to be a cause – “the hitting.” The universe is here and it is here BECAUSE someone put it here. Someone bigger than it HAD TO CAUSE IT.
In Psalm 19:1, we read, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork.”
In spite of the physical evidence that declares there is a God, there are those who will always refuse to believe.
One day, not long before His death, Jesus raised one of his friends from the dead. There was a large crowd there that had witnessed Lazarus’ death and could testify to it. This same crowd now watched as Lazarus came out of the grave at the command of Jesus. The people in that crowd, faced with overwhelming evidence that Jesus was God just as He claimed, responded in different ways. Some of them placed their faith in Him. Others went away angry, and began to plot about how they were going to get rid of Jesus.
When someone has already made up his mind about what he wants to believe, he will come up with all kinds of explanations for how something could have happened. Some people refuse to believe in spite of overwhelming evidence because they don’t want to.
• Pharaoh saw the plagues but refused to believe. Scripture says that he had hardened his heart.
In our day, man would rather believe the ridiculous teaching of evolution than believe in a Creator.
We asked the question - DOES GOD EXIST? Now we ask -
II. DOES GOD CARE FOR US?
Look at Hebrews 11:6 again, we read, “...and that He rewards...”
Look at Psalm 8:3-4, we read, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”
The psalmist is saying “God, you’ve done so much, and you are so big. Why would you care for someone like me? Why would we be important enough to you for you to care about us?” It’s a valid question.
Illus: Years ago, Dr. Odell Belger was at Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga. He was on vacation and he stopped there to worship with them on that Sunday. Dr. Lee Robertson, was the beloved pastor of this church at that time. That Sunday morning they had over 6,000 in attendance. After the church service Dr. Belger said to his wife, “Let’s go before we get caught in the traffic in the parking lot.” But as he and his wife were leaving, he heard a voice calling his name and he turned around and it was Dr. Lee Robertson wanting to know if he had a place of lodging, and if he did not, he wanted to provide him a place to stay. But the thing that impressed Dr. Belger was that out of 6,000 people he made a dash to come see him. HE SINGLED HIM OUT OF THAT HUGE CROWD!
Illus: How would you feel if you went home today and President George W. Bush called you just to chat with you? With all the important people in the world he could talk to he chose to talk to you. That would be hard for us to imagine.
Even harder to imagine is how GOD Who is so great, could be concerned about us. He cares so much for us. The Bible says, in 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
• What matters to you, matters to Him
• What concerns you, concerns Him
• What troubles you, troubles Him
In Luke 15, Jesus tells three stories –
• One about a lost sheep
• One about a lost coin
• One about a lost son
Jesus told those stories to illustrate how -
• God feels about you
• God cares about you
• God is searching for you
God wants to enter into a relationship with you.
We asked the questions - DOES GOD EXIST and DOES GOD CARE FOR US? Now we ask -
III. WHAT DOES GOD EXPECT FROM ME?
Look at Hebrews 11:6, we read, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that HE IS A REWARDER OF THEM THAT DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM.”
Notice those words at the end of this verse, “...THEM THAT DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM.” He expects us to be earnest in seeking to know Him.
You see, many folks do not KNOW HIM because they are not sincere in seeking Him.
Illus: In April of 2005, it became national news when a young girl that was supposed to get married in a few days disappeared. They had volunteers search the city for her. But they found her the day before the wedding took place in another town. She said the reason she left town was because she had cold feet. But listen, I do not know why she left, it could have been to get national attention. But I do know this; she was not SINCERE about wanting a lifetime relationship with that young man, and if he marries her he is crazier than she is!
People have all kinds of excuses as to why they do not have a relationship with the Lord, but it is simple; THEY ARE NOT SINCERE ABOUT HAVING A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
God has promised those who will DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM can have a relationship with him. Every man here can remember the time when he was young and single and he met a young girl that he wanted to know more about than just the fact that she existed.
The same is true of God. Look at Rev 3:20, we read, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
Conclusion:
Illus: "Mommy, what does God look like?" asked 5-year-old Timmy. He put down his peanut butter sandwich and took a big swallow of milk. "Well, God is a Spirit and we can’t see Him in the same way that we see people," his mother began, not knowing quite where to go from there.
• "But if we can’t see Him, how do we know what He’s like?"
• Mother said "Well, suppose you were blind, Would you be able to see Daddy?"
• He shook his head.
• “But would you know what Daddy is like?"
• He thought for a moment, then vigorously nodded his head.
• She said "You’d know what Daddy is like by the things he says, wouldn’t you?" He nodded again.
• She said, "And we know what God is like, too, by the things He says in His Word.”
• “And you’d know that Daddy loves you, because he would tell you so and do everything he could for you. That’s how we know God loves us, too. He tells us so, and He has given us so much to help us have a wonderful life. But most of all, He gave us Jesus to take away our sins and to show us what God is really like. And even though you couldn’t see Daddy - if you were blind - you could hear his voice and feel when he is near. And in the same way, through Jesus we can hear God’s voice and feel Him near, too. That’s why, even though we can’t see God, we can be very certain what He is like."
• Little Timmy picked up his sandwich. "I know," he exclaimed, "We don’t see God outside. We see Him inside." Timmy’s right, isn’t he?
We asked:
I. DOES GOD EXIST?
II. DOES GOD CARE ABOUT US?
III. WHAT DOES GOD EXPECT FROM ME?
