Rev. David Holwick H "Why I Believe" series
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 4, 1990
Romans 1:19-20
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I. The foundational issue for Christians - the existence of God.
A. Skeptics.
1) "Why do you believe in God?"
2) "Can you prove He exists?"
B. Why it is important.
1) The ultimate questions:
a) Is there a reason and a purpose for our existence?
b) Is there absolute truth to base law on?
2) The historical background:
a) Belief in a supreme being go back thousands of years.
b) Statement by Mortimer Adler in "Great Ideas Syntopicon":
"With the exception of certain mathematicians
and physicists, all authors of the Great Books
had something to say in the chapter on God."
As a matter of fact, it is the longest chapter.
II. The evidence for the existence of God.
A. It can't be proved scientifically.
1) Neither can the existence of Napoleon be proved.
2) Science can only prove repeatable things.
a) History cannot be repeated.
1> But this does not mean these things aren't true.
b) Science only measures things.
1> You can't measure 3 feet of love, but it exists.
B. Skeptics can always choose to doubt.
1) They are safe until the Judgment Day.
a) Then things will get interesting.
2) Although not proof, we do have evidence for God's existence.
III. Anthropology.
A. Among most remote tribes, there is a universal belief in God.
1) Earliest concept is of ONE God.
a) Multiple gods came later.
2) Monotheism is original, it didn't evolve.
B. The vast majority of all people have believed in God.
1) Even in communist lands today, as we see in news.
C. Not proof, but important.
IV. Cause and effect. [[not used in sermon]]
A. Every effect must have a cause.
B. The universe must have come from somewhere.
1) Big Bang?
2) Even this must have an origin.
C. God must be the initial cause.
V. Order and design of universe.
A. My digital watch could not come into being without an
intelligent designer.
B. Could our complex universe happen by chance?
1) Unlikely for a dust-devil in a junkyard to assemble a 747.
C. Application to nature.
1) Water.
a) Mostly found on earth.
b) Amazing solvent that dissolves everything except things
that sustain life.
1> Water in our blood holds 64 substances in solution.
2> Anything else would be sludge!
c) As vapor covers earth with 50% clouds.
1> More would make us hot like Venus.
d) As solid it is lighter than its liquid form.
1> Otherwise ice would sink and fill up oceans,
kill all fish and algae, wipe out oxygen.
2) Earth as evidence of God's design.
a) Mass and size just right.
1> 10% larger or smaller and life not possible.
b) Distance just right.
1> Closer, would fry.
2> Farther, would freeze.
VI. The apostle Paul speaks of the testimony of nature in Romans 1:19-20.
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.
VII. What God is like.
A. Nature can give evidence of God's existence, but it cannot
show what God is like.
B. There are many ideas about what God is like.
1) Ultimate killjoy.
a) Having fun?
b) Voice from heaven: "Cut that out!"
2) Sentimental grandfather.
C. The Bible tells us what God is like.
1) Throughout history God has revealed his character.
2) The fullest revelation is in person of Jesus Christ.
a) In terms we can understand, God has lived among us.
D. Ants:
If you wanted to communicate your love to a colony of ants,
how could you most effectively do it?
- Step on them? (Magnifying glass)
- Yell at them?
Obviously it would be best to become an ant.
Only in this way could your existence and what you are like
be communicated fully and effectively.
The best and clearest answer to how we know there is a God
is that he has visited us.
The other indications are merely hints.
What confirms them conclusively is the birth, life, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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VIII. Other evidence: God's presence in the lives of men and women today.
A. Where Jesus Christ is believed and trusted a profound change
takes place in the individual, and ultimately, the community.
B. POW camp:
One of the most moving illustrations of this is told by
Ernest Gordon, a former chaplain at Princeton University.
During World War II he was captured by the Japanese and
sent to a POW camp in Malaysia.
The American prisoners of the camp came to the point where
they were reduced almost to animals.
They were starving, and they stole food from their buddies who
were starving.
In their desperation the prisoners decided it would be good
to read the New Testament.
Because Gordon was a college graduate, they asked him to lead.
By his own admission he was a skeptic, an agnostic.
Those who asked him to lead were unbelievers as well.
As he read to them from the New Testament, these men were
converted to the living God through Jesus Christ.
This community of animals was changed into a community of love,
because God lives, and he lives in Jesus Christ.
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C. I believe in God.
1) However, to believe he exists is not enough, because the
devil also believes he exists.
2) It is necessary not only to believe in his existence,
but also that he came in human form in Jesus Christ.
He died for our sins.
He deserves our repentance and allegiance.
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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