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There Is No God

I’ve called April 1 Atheists’ Day because Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 begin, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.'” But, not only atheists but backsliding Christians (2 Peter 2:20-21) and those who don’t seek God fall into the category of fool, according to the rest of this short psalm.

I. Romans 3:9-24. The application of Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 is made here. After describing how we are all alike under sin, this New Testament passage explains how God’s righteousness is made available through Jesus’ work on the cross for those who do seek Him.

II. Hebrews 10:26-31. As the wicked eat up the generation of the righteous, we understand that God gives salvation to all who call upon His name (Romans 10:9-13). Those who sin after the knowledge of the gospel will face judgment as they should know better.

III. Matthew 13:36-43. The last verse of these psalms proclaims that those who do seek God will find restoration, rejoicing, and gladness. Salvation came into Zion (John 12:13-15) and would indeed go forth from there (Acts 1:8). The righteous will shine like the sun.

By your living, do you say in your heart, ‘There is no God’?

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Will Be Impossible for Them

Ministry is like herding cats to safety away from the cliff of culture that is crumbling beneath their paws.  In the Tower of Babel story in Genesis 11:1-9, God reveals a spiritual insight in verse 6 that can help the church move forward: “And the LORD said, ‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do.  And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.'”

I.  Luke 22:31-32.  Told to fill the earth, mankind stayed all together and wanted to make a name for themselves rather than glorify God’s name.  In this behind-the-scenes heavenly insight similar to Job 2:3-5 or 1 Kings 22:19-23, God tells us that we should not put limitations upon what we can do in His kingdom for His name.  Yet, beaten down by the world, the church keeps the gospel contained within the walls of our buildings.

II.  Ephesians 4:1-16.  It takes unity to do so.  If Christians today were united as one people of God and spoke the one language of His Word, then we could have the unity of the Spirit centered around the seven “ones” of this passage.  If we could “attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God” to “the fullness of Christ,” then what we’ve already done as the church would be the beginning of what we would do.

III.  John 14:12-14.  We believe that “with man it is impossible” (Mark 10:27) rather than “all things are possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23) and so shrink back (Hebrews 10:39).  We must believe that Jesus can with us and our churches and ask in His name so He can do it.  And then we must live the impossible with others by doing all, in word or deed, in His name (Colossians 3:17) every moment of every day of our lives.

What can we do together to make a name for God and not ourselves?  … if we were united in Christ with one direction, purpose, and goal?  … if we believed that God could do the impossible through us working together?

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Cut to the Heart

In Bloom’s taxonomy remembering and understanding are lower levels of critical thinking, yet that’s where most of our sermons, classes … and sadly studies on how to obey the gospel are centered.  It is at the level of applying the knowledge where a person sees how his own sin has eternally separated him from God and only the sacrifice of Jesus can restore the relationship.  Then, when they are “cut to the heart,” they will ask, “What shall I do?”

I. Acts 2:36-47.  The first gospel sermon that was delivered on the day of Pentecost used knowledge to convict the crowd that they were guilty of sin and putting an innocent man to death but that God had resurrected Jesus and made Him both Lord and Christ.  The people were cut to the heart and wanted to apply this knowledge, which required further knowledge about how to obey the gospel.  3000 applied it.

II. Romans 6:3-5.  In an era where many are convinced there’s no such thing as sin, what they’ve done is not that bad, or the preaching they’ve heard deemphasizes it, it’s hard to see the relevance of the gospel.  But even a knowledge-level passage of 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 gives the application in the phrase, “for our sins.”  After they’re cut to the heart, we can explain how obeying the gospel unites us to Christ’s death and resurrection.

III.  Matthew 28:19-20.  We each have a job to do.  For we who are already living faithfully, ours is to use knowledge to convict the lost to action.  Then, when we have made disciples and the cut-to-the-heart are asking what they must do, we baptize–when it’s God’s job to add them to His church–and then teach them to obey everything that He’s commanded.  This is how is was for the gentile jailer in Acts 16.

When we push them to obedience before they’re cut to the heart, we risk making low-level disciples who struggle to see the relevance of church and live faithfully.  Never having been cut to the heart and applied the gospel, they never utilize the higher levels of critical thinking in their Christian walk.

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You Would Not Save Me

“In God We Trust” is printed right on our money, yet do we trust Him or the money itself?  Most of us would exclaim that we trust God, but in reality trust in others, circumstances, or ourselves.  We trust that the money we’ve paid into Social Security will be there to fund our retirement; we insist that we do certain jobs because “if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself; and Grandma always believed this, so it’s good enough to get me into heaven.

If we truly examine our motives, we might be surprised what we truly trust in!

I. Judges 12:1-7.  A gentle word is supposed to turn away wrath (Proverbs 15:1), but Jephthah learned with first the Ammonites and then the Ephraimites that that doesn’t always work.  He had tried to put his trust in his fellow Israelites to save him from a foreign invader, and they didn’t like him putting his trust in God when they refused his request.  You may experience friends’ or relatives’ pressure for you to follow their advice or examples, but often their ways run counter to God’s Word.  Adam and Eve experienced this in Genesis 3:1-6.  As a Christian, we must always follow God’s way.

II. 1 Samuel 13:8-12.  We can misplace our trust by putting it in others, circumstances, or ourselves.  When Samuel was later than he said he would arrive and King Saul was watching his army grumble and disperse, he justified in his own mind that offering the sacrifice, a job only for the Levites, was okay for him to do.  God ripped the kingdom away from him because of his disobedience.  Sin is not trusting in a good God to follow His perfect plan in His perfect way in His perfect timing for you.  Worry is trusting only in ourselves (Matthew 6:25-33) as is having little faith (Matthew 14:28-31).

III. Psalm 20:4-7.  A Christian will firmly place his trust in God, knowing that His ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8) and that God never forsakes those who put their trust in Him (Psalm 9:10).  Indeed, for that which is most important–salvation–Jesus Himself tells us to put our trust in Him (John 14:1-3).

We might examine ourselves in light of Scripture and ask if we are placing our trust in God and He is just using the people and circumstances around us as tools for His plan or if we are trusting in those people, circumstances–even ourselves–to save us.