Help Me Defend The Christian Faith

Apologia Studios

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

Hey guys, welcome. Thank you guys for coming to hang out with me. All right, so how many of you guys are

00:06

Baptists? All right, how many of you guys are Presbyterian?

00:13

Look at the Presbyterians! Do you see that? Do you see the difference? That was hilarious. I expected nothing less.

00:20

Baptists were like this, Presbyterians literally did this. In true

00:26

Presbyterian form. Don't get too excited guys, okay. How many of you guys are Baptists pretending to be non -denominational?

00:33

Raise your hand. All right, good, all right. Well, any other kinds of Christians around here?

00:40

Raise your hands. Any other kinds of Christians? Are there any others? I don't know. Okay, all right. So let me see if I can get this working here.

00:47

Oh, that'll be fun. Okay, well I'm Pastor Jeff Durbin and I am grateful that you guys came out to spend time with us and to get into the

00:55

Word together. I'm encouraged that these sort of things are happening and I consider it a blessing.

01:02

I'd like to spend the next two days together just really trying to dig in.

01:08

So we've made time for questions and answers. We've also tried to do this in such a way where there's going to be an opportunity for fellowship and to have conversations to ask questions.

01:17

And so I'd like you guys to feel free to do that, to try to grab us in the hallway and ask any questions, because the whole goal here is not ultimately just to fill your minds up with information, but to really get you guys on your feet to go out and to engage the world with the gospel.

01:32

Amen? All right, so let me pray. Yeah, if you could, there you go. I'm not very good with technology.

01:40

You can ask Luke. He'll tell you. There you go. Okay, good. When things are broken in my house,

01:46

I call real men to come fix it. Okay, all right, so there you go.

01:52

All right, so if you would, join with me real fast as we pray to get ready. Father, I want to ask

01:57

God that you just bless the next two days. God, this is about you, Lord. It's not about me.

02:03

It's not about us. It's about God, you, your message of peace and reconciliation.

02:10

Lord Jesus, we first come and thank you. You are the Savior. You are Lord. You're our master.

02:17

We are your slaves. We are your servants, and Lord Jesus, we desire to be used by you as broken and unworthy as we are.

02:26

We desire to be used by you for your glory. Thank you most of all for saving us. Thank you for laying yourself down on our behalf.

02:33

Thank you for dying a death that we deserve. Thank you for conquering death, and Lord Jesus, we know that you are the

02:40

King of kings, and you rule over heaven and earth, and we just plead with you.

02:45

Please, God, we pray for mercy, Lord, on our families, Lord, our loved ones.

02:52

We pray for mercy on this nation, and we pray, God, that you would put your gospel powerfully on our lips so that it would go forth,

03:01

Lord, and it would draw your sheep to yourself in God, that I pray that your words would be on our lips, and they would be fire, and the world would be wood, and I pray,

03:13

God, that you would get me out of the way in this conference. I pray, God, that people would forget me, my name, that I would decrease,

03:21

Christ would increase, and I pray that we would leave here, Lord, better prepared to give an apologia.

03:28

In Jesus' name, amen, and yes, I just used Dr. White's pronunciation for those of you guys keeping score.

03:35

So, just by way of an introduction, the whole enterprise of apologetics ultimately is wrapped up in the gospel, and that is,

03:48

I think, hopefully one of the distinctive things that you should carry away with you in terms of leaving this conference and thinking, okay, what is it that Jeff really wanted to communicate with us?

03:58

I want to communicate, ultimately, that the task of apologetics, of defending our faith, is really wrapped up in our theology.

04:08

It's wrapped up in what we believe about God, and you might think that's kind of an odd thing to start with, right? I mean, that should be sort of an intuition for us, right?

04:17

Like, apologetics, defending the Christian faith, should be wrapped up in the theology of the Christian faith, but believe it or not, if you've never been involved in this at a higher level discussion, that isn't always the case.

04:28

There are popular Christian apologists that love Jesus, that are men of God, that have served

04:34

Christ faithfully in many ways, many apologists that don't necessarily connect

04:39

Christian philosophy and theology with the defense of the faith. So, here's what

04:45

I'm calling us to. So, if you remember anything as you leave, I'm calling us to be consistent servants of Jesus Christ.

04:53

I'm calling us to be consistent in our witness to the world. I'm calling us to wrap up our apologetic in our call to faith.

05:03

That's really the introduction. That's what I want to communicate to all of us, and the reason, by the way, the reason

05:08

I brought up at the very beginning, how many of you guys are Presbyterian, how many of you guys are

05:13

Baptist, and everything else, is because I want to point something out here. We have so much essential unity in the church.

05:24

There really is tremendous essential unity. To have a room tonight, where some of you guys have traveled from so far away, that is mixed with Baptists, the non -denominational denomination,

05:39

Presbyterians, and others. We have essential unity about who Jesus Christ is, the nature of God's word, our call to faith, the gospel itself.

05:50

There is such essential unity that I want to say, before we fight, ultimately, and don't be offended by this, the little battles with each other, we need to come together on the essential things that really firm us up together in unity as followers of Jesus Christ.

06:07

It's vitally important to get, and I want to say that what we're talking about the next two days, in terms of our theology and our apologetic, these are the sorts of things that really, ultimately, provide the foundation of our faith.

06:20

So, while I believe that it's possible for Christians to disagree on the issue of methodology of apologetics,

06:27

I still believe that what we're talking about today cuts at the very heart of God's revelation, our faith, the foundation of our faith.

06:36

I believe that what we're talking about today really strikes at the core of the essentials of the Christian faith, because it has to do with the lordship of Jesus Christ.

06:44

It has to do with the biblical revelation and God's own self -attesting authority. Now, if you're new to all of this, and some of this is going over your heads right now, believe me, there is a high level of discussion in this area, and there is a low -level

06:57

Sunday school way of saying this. Ultimately, what I'm getting at in apologetics is this.

07:03

God said it, and that settles it. Now, if a lot...

07:09

I was on the radio today. I didn't expect to be on the radio for two hours getting into the kind of discussion we had today. Some people were like, that was way over my head today.

07:16

So, I could have said in two hours on the radio discussion, over and over and over, this simple thing. God said it, and that settles it.

07:24

That's ultimately the foundation of what we're talking about when we talk about apologetic methodology. Now, you might be thinking, well, that seems overly simplistic.

07:31

Oh, it can get complicated. Oh, it can get diverse, and it can get very, very erudite, and it can get complex and intellectually rigorous and academic, but the fundamental assertion is that Jesus Christ is

07:44

Lord, and he has all authority in heaven and on earth, and that authority doesn't stop in Neverland, in heaven, right, where he's at.

07:55

That authority is over our minds. That authority is over our passions and desires, and that authority has no realm that it can't touch.

08:07

So, what I'm saying is that Jesus Christ is Lord over literature. Jesus Christ is

08:14

Lord over science. Jesus Christ is Lord over ethics.

08:19

Jesus Christ is Lord over me. Jesus Christ is Lord over you. Jesus Christ is Lord over my family. Jesus Christ is

08:26

Lord over my church. Jesus Christ is Lord over the governments. Yes, Jesus Christ is

08:33

Lord. Now, here's the point. If you want to get to the heart of what makes a completely Christian apologetic and,

08:40

I might add, a philosophically consistent Christian apologetic, we have to start with that assertion.

08:47

Jesus Christ is Lord. Now, don't let that be a simple bumper sticker or glib slogan.

08:54

I'm not talking about something you just simply put on a t -shirt. I mean that is an assertion. That is a claim that ultimately encompasses everything, and when

09:04

I say Jesus Christ is Lord, I mean he's Lord over education.

09:10

He's Lord over everything, and so that's the basic introduction. So, just quickly on my story.

09:17

My story is not overly important, and it really has no impact on everything that I'm talking about, just by way of just telling you how

09:23

God, by his grace, has really, really encouraged me, changed my outlook, shaped the way that I view the world, and it's really dramatically impacted my apologetics and my defense of the faith.

09:34

I wasn't raised in a Christian home. I wasn't raised under the hearing of the gospel. I heard the gospel early on, somewhere around 16, 17 years old, by Billy Graham on television.

09:45

I question, at this point in my life, whether my conversion early on was legit, whether I was truly regenerate, but as time went on, went to Bible college,

09:54

I ended up going into drug and alcohol addiction. After about a year of depravity and drug and alcohol addiction,

10:01

God smashed my life, brought me to repentance, and changed me forever, and in my walk with Christ, I was always passionate about truth and engaging the world on their own ground, and I loved apologetics.

10:16

That was my thing. I mean, two things, really, eschatology, the study of end times, and apologetics, okay?

10:27

All right, so, I'm just glad it wasn't me. Grand sin in church.

10:34

No, just kidding. No, I'm not. Okay, so, the next thing was the apologetics. I loved

10:39

Christian apologetics, and so, when I was in Bible college, I studied Christian apologetics, took courses in apologetics.

10:46

I was on the street doing evangelism. I went to the Mormon temple during Easter pageant and preached the gospel to hundreds of thousands of Mormons out there, handing out tracts, proclaiming the gospel.

10:57

I got to hang out with Dr. James White and do evangelism out there with him, and so, I was always very passionate about apologetics, and here was the change.

11:05

Here was the turn. I used to try to memorize the dump truck of evidences and proofs and piecemeal replies to unbelievers, and it really was quite a task.

11:15

I still loved it. If you look at my library, I think I have a library that would rival most of my atheist friends' libraries in terms of their own leaders and authors and those that propagate their worldview.

11:29

I love Christian apologetics. Well, I decided to continue my seminary education, and I took a course on apologetics, and in the course on apologetics,

11:38

I was told to listen to the Bonson versus Stein debate, Dr.

11:44

Greg Bonson versus Gordon Stein, and it was a debate over the existence of God, and so,

11:49

I remember that I listened to this for the very first time, and when I listened to it, I immediately recognized something in that debate that I hadn't heard in any other debate between a

11:59

Christian and an atheist in my life. I noticed immediately, one, that Dr.

12:04

Stein was thoroughly refuted in a way I have never seen an atheist destroyed in my life.

12:11

His worldview was left absolutely obliterated, and it was done in such a gracious and respectful way, and I also noticed that Dr.

12:20

Greg Bonson had approached Gordon Stein in a way that was more consistent as a

12:26

Christian than I had ever heard before. There wasn't a moment where he gave way. It wasn't a moment where he was pretending to be neutral.

12:35

There wasn't a moment where he let go of his convictions and commitments to Christ as Lord.

12:40

Not a moment, and that was compelling to me, so as I started to engage this course,

12:46

I remember the book came in. I was on my way out the door one Saturday morning, my hair messed up, wearing, you know, sweatpants and whatever, and I walk out the door, and the

12:56

UPS man comes and gives me my book, and I'm about to go to Starbucks, Christian crack houses, and so I grabbed the book.

13:04

I go to Starbucks, and while I'm in Starbucks, I crack the book open, and I'm waiting for my coffee, and I had planned to just go right back home.

13:12

I ended up reading over a hundred pages in the book Always Ready right there in Starbucks, and I remember that as I read the first hundred pages,

13:20

I was having my teeth kicked in philosophically, theologically, and it wasn't so much that I was learning all of these really grand new arguments for God.

13:31

I was. It was that my entire view of the world was being annihilated as a

13:37

Christian. I realized the conviction I was coming under, that I did not truly have

13:44

Christ Lord over my thinking, over the education of my kids. I realized that my thinking as a

13:52

Christian was inconsistent, and so I immediately began this work over on myself and the way that I think about God and His world, and so that's my own story in terms of apologetics, and as God began to change me as a

14:08

Christian. Listen closely. This is the distinctive. As I became more sanctified as I followed

14:15

Jesus Christ, I became a much more effective apologist and defender of the gospel because I was approaching the world now as a consistent

14:24

Christian. I was approaching the world now in a way that they could not ultimately destroy because I was standing on God's revelation the entire time, and when you approach the world with the truth, nothing can destroy that, and I began to realize that I can let go of my own attempts to try to wow people with my own philosophical and theological fancy footwork.

14:48

I realized that ultimately salvation was of God, and it's up to God to open the eyes of the blind and to give hearing to deaf people, and I realized that I can actually now calm down, and I can actually just preach the word, preach the truth to people, and I also began to realize that when you abandon the lordship of Jesus Christ over your life, your world, and your thinking, you are reduced to absolute absurdity, and so I realized that when you come to Jesus Christ and submit to him and his revelation, the world has nothing to offer, so my study ultimately of the lordship of Jesus Christ has changed not only my view of the world but my life.

15:32

My walk with Jesus has been absolutely changed because of my study of apologetics, and so this is an important subject, so let's get to the text.

15:41

1 Peter 3 15, of course, we can't do a conference on apologetics without touching the charter verse of all

15:48

Christian apologetics. 1 Peter 3 15. I'm going to quote it as it's often quoted.

15:53

I'm sure you've heard it before, right? So here's 1 Peter 3 15.

16:00

I'll let you guys get there. I hear the turning of pages. Some of you guys are using your phones. That's cheating, but fine.

16:09

Here's how the verse is often quoted. Christians, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, you do it with gentleness and reverence, gentleness and respect, and we hear that verse, and Christians love that verse because we know that we have nothing to fear in Jesus Christ, so we love to engage the world on their own ground, and Christians love this passage.

16:34

Christians love to be Christian apologists, right? We love the fact that our faith is rooted in truth and evidence and facts and reason, and so we tell people, always be ready to give an apologia, a reasoned defense for our faith, right?

16:49

But what's wrong? What's wrong with that? Did you catch it? What did

16:55

I do wrong? I missed the first part of the verse, and you might think, well, what's the big deal?

17:01

It just says set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts, but in your hearts honor Christ the

17:07

Lord as holy. What's the big deal? How does that change ultimately anything?

17:12

I'm going to say from an apologetic standpoint, the defense of the Christian faith, that changes everything.

17:20

Set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to give an apologia, a reasoned defense to everyone who asks of you a reason for the hope that's within you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence.

17:35

I want to start by pointing out three parts to this particular passage here. First and foremost,

17:40

Peter starts off this call to apologetics and defense of the faith. He starts off with first a call.

17:48

Christian, brother and sister, set Jesus apart as Lord in your hearts to sanctify

17:55

Him. You realize that when something was sanctified in the temple or in any kind of Christian rite, it is set apart, it is sanctified, it is revered, seen as a holy thing.

18:06

And so Peter tells believers, you are to set Jesus apart, sanctify

18:11

Him as Lord in your hearts. First and foremost, Christian apologetics is to be done with a commitment to Jesus Christ.

18:19

And you're going to see in a moment here, while that might seem like redundancy and like something you would, well, obviously it's

18:25

Christian apologetics. Believe me, apologetic methodology can go off on this particular point.

18:31

Set Jesus apart as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to give an apologia. Second part here, apologia is the

18:38

Greek word there behind a reasoned defense. Apologia is essentially courtroom terminology.

18:45

Imagine for a moment you go into a courtroom, you're standing before the judge. I want to say that there's a horn honking in the background and it's throwing me off here.

18:57

I'm getting like a little beat behind me as we're going. So it's getting me, okay, so here we go.

19:05

Reasoned defense, it's courtroom terminology. You stand before a judge and here's the thing, any of you guys ever been to court before?

19:11

Don't be afraid to raise your hand. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault, okay? All right. You know the feeling, right?

19:17

When you go into court, the atmosphere, you can cut it.

19:24

I went to court about, I've been to court a lot for members of Apologia Church.

19:30

We started in a drug and alcohol rehab, so I kind of ended up there a few times. I remember going to court one time and it was on behalf of somebody that had turned to Christ out of heroin addiction.

19:44

His life had totally transformed. He was a new creation to this day, now a new creation. He injected himself with heroin and he used his urine to make it work because he didn't have any water.

19:55

He was found by the grace of God and God's providence in a bathroom minutes before he would have died if somebody didn't find him in that bathroom.

20:04

There's no reason that he should have been found. His life had been transformed. He had been robbing people, breaking into houses, and he was caught for it.

20:11

Now he's a new creation in Jesus. I remember that I had been to court before. It wasn't my fault either.

20:17

Calm down. No real big deal. It's the sense of justice.

20:22

You can cut it with a knife. I remember that I went to stand before the judge to speak on his behalf.

20:28

Let me tell you, for the first time in my life, I was at a loss of words. I was standing before this judge to give a defense for my brother in Christ and to testify that his life has been transformed and he's a new person and he's under my care and my authority at church.

20:45

And I remember that I stood before the judge and I couldn't even get a word out. I had to take a breath and about 60 seconds went by.

20:51

It was embarrassing. The court is waiting for me to say something and I couldn't get a word out because I was so terrified. But this word here, apologia, fits that context of standing before a judge to give a reasoned defense.

21:03

It's a well thought out answer for our faith. It's not going into court willy -nilly or with a cavalier kind of attitude.

21:12

Christians have a faith that can be defended. It is a rigorous intellectual faith.

21:18

It is not a blind faith. That needs to be stated in our culture over and over and over again.

21:23

Christians in our culture today professing believers will say something like, well, it's just faith. You just got to believe.

21:29

I want to say that is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard. The Christian faith does not come into the world with, well, you just got to believe.

21:35

It's not fideism. It's not, well, it's just blind faith and I just happen to believe it. It is an intellectually rigorous faith that comes into the world and cannot be stopped.

21:46

And so Peter says to believers to be ready with an apologia, a reasoned defense.

21:52

But it says something that's kind of terrifying, right? Let's admit it. It says something kind of terrifying to us as Christians.

21:57

And it says to everyone who asks of you, right? And you might think for a moment now, maybe you spent time studying a particular cult or religion.

22:06

Maybe your expertise is say Mormonism. Maybe it is the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.

22:12

Maybe it's just basic unbelieving thought, atheistic thought, agnostic thought. Maybe you have a brother or a sister, a mother or a father that's wrapped up in the new age cults and movement.

22:23

Maybe you have crossed paths with a Rosicrucian. They're still around, believe it or not.

22:29

Maybe you've talked to a Christian scientist. Maybe you've talked to a Muslim today in our context. Maybe you spent time.

22:35

But here's the call, ready? Every Christian is to be ready with a reasoned defense for everyone who asks of you a reason for the hope that's within you.

22:45

Wow. Everyone. And here's the thing. If our apologetic methodology is wrong, that call is nearly impossible.

22:57

But if our apologetic methodology, how we approach the world with the gospel is right, if it is honoring to God, it is possible to have a reason for everyone who asks of us.

23:09

It's possible. And here's the fundamental part of it. We need to first start our apologetics with a commitment to Christ as Lord, setting him apart as Lord.

23:19

And the third part here, and this is what we often miss, it says to do it with gentleness and respect.

23:27

And that's the tough part, right? Because there's a certain level of pride in every single one of us.

23:33

Now, I thank God. I thank God that YouTube was not around when

23:38

I started doing evangelism when I was 18. Some people are like, oh, praise God, Pastor Jeff, your videos really bless me.

23:45

And it's just so wonderful how respectful and gentle and kind you are to people. I'm saying, didn't see the old videos, right?

23:53

Nobody will ever see those. Maybe we'll watch them in heaven together and we'll just laugh, right?

24:00

Honestly, it was my theology that changed my apologetic. And because of my theology, it actually changed my behavior in discussions with unbelievers.

24:10

But it says do it with gentleness and with reverence. Now, here's what we do. Watch. Sometimes we neglect the top part, setting

24:18

Christ apart as Lord. We pretend neutrality with the unbeliever. And sometimes we forget that bottom part.

24:25

Sometimes we forget both. We don't obey either one. But here's the point. I'm calling us to see 1

24:30

Peter 3 .15 as really the call on how to do this. One, set

24:36

Jesus apart as Lord. Two, be ready with a reasoned defense.

24:42

Prepare yourself to meet the unbeliever on their own ground. And the third thing is to do it with gentleness and with reverence.

24:49

Here's the thing. People today, Christians in particular, especially with social media, social media has just revealed the devil in all of us, right?

24:56

It could be a blessing. It could be a curse. We have to realize there is a massive difference between being a prophet and a jerk, right?

25:09

Here's the deal, ready? God is not glorified. The truth is not glorified and magnified because you destroy an unbeliever and your behavior is anti -Christian.

25:23

If you're a jerk, you'll answer for it. If you're a jerk in how you approach unbelievers, you might be tempted to say to yourself as you approach the world with your apologetic and your mean -spirited and rude, you might be tempted to say, well, they just can't handle the truth.

25:40

And that's just the kind of persecution Christians got to get. The world doesn't love the truth and it's the stench of death to them. And you start quoting

25:45

Bible verses about how that's why they treat you the way that you do. There's a possibility here.

25:51

Maybe, maybe nobody wants to talk with you because you're a jerk. It's possible.

26:02

Maybe nobody wants to have dinner with you and hang out with you, not so much because you're a believer and you speak the truth, but because you are absolutely, insanely rude to people.

26:14

And what we need to recognize is there's a massive difference between being a prophet and a jerk. See, if you're a prophet in a biblical sense, you do what you do and say what you say to the world, not for your glory, not so that you win an argument, but you do what you do and you say what you do for the glory of Jesus Christ.

26:36

It's so that he is made big. It's so his name is made famous. And there's something my friend often says, and I've stole it from him.

26:45

And that is you are to win the man and not the argument. And if we approach apologetics, recognizing that it is only the grace of God that separates us from the unbeliever that we're talking to.

26:58

We weren't more spiritually wise. We didn't have a better upbringing. And that's the main cause.

27:04

Maybe God blessed us with that. But what separates any of us from any member of any cult or any unbeliever is one thing, the grace of God, the grace of God.

27:13

And what will ultimately transform the heart of the person you're talking to is not your sophisticated argumentation.

27:21

It's the grace of God. And you recognize that you can approach them with gentleness and reverence. And I'll just do this by way of one story.

27:28

By the way, I know we have like it says nine o 'clock. Trust me, I pay no attention to these things.

27:37

I have so many stories I can share with you guys in this respect. But this this, I think, was one that really blessed me. Maybe some of you guys heard this before, but I remember this because the day was really big in my life.

27:47

We decided to start going out to abortion mills to go preach the gospel and to try to rescue some babies.

27:52

We didn't know what we were doing. We weren't good at it. We just knew the truth. We knew the gospel and we wanted to help these women and these fathers and these babies.

28:01

And so we started going to the abortion mill. That was about three years ago. Our church knows of confirmed over 55 babies saved from death locally at local abortion mills.

28:12

I have no idea what the number actually is because they don't always tell us when they're not going through with it.

28:17

And we know of over 20 ministries that have popped up across the nation as a result of just hearing us talk about it.

28:23

So at this point, I don't even have any idea. Hundreds and hundreds of babies saved just from going out and just being present preaching the gospel.

28:30

Well, on one day in particular, we went to Glendale Planned Parenthood. We go to Glendale Planned Parenthood and when

28:36

I pull up, there's a man outside just tearing into my people that are out there.

28:41

I could just see the faces were red. He was irate, throwing his arms around and I pulled over.

28:47

I got out of the car and I walk up and this guy is an atheist. He is a rabid, fire -breathing atheist.

28:55

He is on fire. He is yelling. He is screaming. And so I walk up and try to see what

29:00

I can do to start engaging this guy. He had dropped the woman off inside to kill her baby and now he was going to leave, but he decided to stay to just rough us up.

29:11

And so I started to engage him. And so I start to engage him and as I'm refuting his position point by point by point, he's complaining that we're there.

29:20

I'm reminding him that he believes he's a descendant of bacteria. He didn't like that so much. And so we're engaging and engaging and I've said, well, you don't really have any basis for morality at all.

29:31

You believe that you're just protoplasm in a purposeless universe. And he's like, yeah. And so we're going on.

29:38

And so I'm like, the problem is you're a sinner like me before Christ. You need to come to Jesus to experience peace with God and forgiveness.

29:45

And that's why you're out here arguing with us because you know the God that I'm talking about and we're reminding you of him and you need to come to Jesus Christ for life.

29:54

And so we're talking and finally he gets to the point where he's so worn out he's done. And he finally says something to me.

30:00

He says, you know, I disagree with everything you're saying and I don't want you guys out here, but I have to tell you,

30:12

I really like you. He likes me.

30:18

And what was amazing is that about 10 seconds earlier, I had told them that if he doesn't turn from his sin to trust in Jesus Christ as his savior and Lord, if it doesn't come to him to submit to him, then he will be separated from God and spend an eternity in hell.

30:34

And he said, I really like you. And here's the point of that story.

30:41

It's possible. It is actually possible to tell someone the truth and let them be angry with the message and not with you.

30:50

And let them, here's what's important, let them have their hostility with God and not with you.

30:57

You see, ultimately every unbeliever that we engage who's denying Christ and the gospel, their war is really not so much with you as it is with Jesus Christ.

31:08

And it's our role as ambassadors of Jesus Christ, not to create a new enemy for them to target, but to keep the light on the fact that they are a rebel against the

31:19

King and Christ calls them to come to him for life. That's the goal. And that's how the gentleness and reverence

31:26

I think can be done. So first part, let's go. And by the way, we really need like two weeks together.

31:33

We really, really do. And so I'm going to do my best tonight to give you some foundations.

31:40

We'll start to do some more and apply it tomorrow. The point was tonight foundations, tomorrow application.

31:45

Okay. And so I'll do my best to try to contain this all and make it a benefit to all of you.

31:51

So let's start with the foundation. How does Christianity start? How does this all begin? It begins with the revelation of God.

31:58

So if you're taking notes, you need to understand that is the distinctive of the Christian faith in terms of how we approach the world.

32:05

We have, and you might want to write this down, a revelational epistemology.

32:11

Now, if you want to know what the word epistemology means, please do not let that throw you off.

32:18

You can't as believers hear a difficult discussion, maybe with words you never heard before and say, well,

32:23

I'm going to check out. I have no idea what that means. Listen, it's a, it's a 25 cent term. It just means a theory of knowledge.

32:30

How do you know something? How do you know anything at all? Unbelievers have very, very creative systems of how they can know anything at all.

32:40

And Christians have a distinct revelational epistemology. How do we know something is true?

32:47

Is it because we're sympathetic to it? Is it because our reasoning processes got us to this point where we think that that is true?

32:55

Is it a personal preference for us? Is it because we've observed it somehow, tested it scientifically?

33:01

How do Christians ultimately know with certainty anything at all? Answer, revelational epistemology.

33:08

What's that mean? Ready? It's very difficult. So if you're writing down, I'll try to do it as slow as possible.

33:14

Here's what it means. God said so. God said so.

33:22

Revelation epistemology. God says. That's how I know. Now, by the way, watch. You might think, well, that's overly simplistic.

33:28

Can that really be defended? Oh, yes. It can be defended. The unbeliever system is nothing but a house of cards.

33:34

And the fact that we have the revelation of the ultimate authority, the self -attesting

33:40

God, it provides us an epistemology that cannot be defeated in a discussion because the truth has nothing to fear.

33:48

Truth always overcomes darkness. Amen? Isn't that the nature of truth? It's like light and darkness.

33:54

What does darkness do in the presence of light? It scatters. And so, revelational epistemology.

34:01

Let's start at the very beginning. I need to tell you the story because that is the foundation. You notice I have two chairs here? I figured out years ago this is probably an effective way to actually do this, so that's why the chairs are here, to represent what we're standing on.

34:13

Tonight, this is going to represent the Christian worldview. This is going to represent ultimately the revelation of God in history.

34:19

This is how do we know? We know God says so. We stand on Him. He's our reference point.

34:25

So, first, God, the God of the Bible. I'm not, as a believer, defending any general form of theism.

34:33

I think general forms of theism can be ultimately easily refuted. I think Christians that defend general theism are being ultimately inconsistent as Christians.

34:43

And I think as a believer, it is a moral failure ultimately to defend general theism.

34:51

Jesus says what? If you are not with me, you are against me.

34:56

To pretend neutrality and to point people to some kind of God is ultimately sin and idolatry.

35:06

So, when we as Christians defend a general theism and point people to some kind of God and not the triune

35:14

God of the Bible, we're ultimately pointing people to an idol. And so, we're not defending general theism.

35:21

And I want to say, the story is there is one God. Isaiah 43 .10,

35:27

before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. Psalm 90 verse 2 says, from eternity into eternity, you are

35:35

God. The Bible says there is one God who is sovereign over everything.

35:41

One God who, according to Isaiah, declares the end from the beginning. And according to Nebuchadnezzar, does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.

35:53

And no one can stay his hand and say, what have you done? He does according to his will.

36:00

He is the sovereign. He is so sovereign that he actually mocks idols and false gods.

36:07

He mocks them. He makes fun of them, which is why I think it's okay, completely okay, to make fun of false teachers and idols in a loving and respectful way, okay?

36:20

Because God does it. What does he do? He actually says to people in the book of Isaiah, read chapters

36:26

Isaiah 40 through 46, what does he say to the idols? He mocks them. And this is just sort of a rough reminder of what he says.

36:34

He says, people with these idols, what do they do? They take the stuff that I made and they give it to somebody and they take money that they made from working and they give it to a guy who creates the idol.

36:44

And then they take that idol and they put it up on something and there it sits. It doesn't move.

36:52

And then they worship it. And God says, what? What benefit is that to you? It's a false god.

36:58

And then God says another challenge about the idols. He says, have your idols tell you the future. And that's difficult for two reasons.

37:05

One, idols don't do a lot of talking. And two, idols have no power.

37:11

They're not sovereign. They don't control history. God controls history.

37:17

This is the unique thing of the Christian faith and why you all need to be Calvinists, okay? Is that the future in the

37:24

Bible is something that God owns and decrees. Listen, he doesn't just look through time and decide how can

37:30

I organize events so I can make things work out for the best. It says ultimately in the scriptures that God's knowledge or his decree is wrapped up in his knowledge.

37:42

He knows all things, decrees all things. He controls the future.

37:47

And aren't you glad that he does? Romans 8, 28, God causes all things to work together for good to those who love him, those who are the called according to his purpose.

38:02

This is a sovereign God that we worship. God is sovereign over the future. He decrees the end from the beginning, but he does something else.

38:09

He says to false gods, he says to false gods, have your gods tell you the past and why?

38:19

Why did it happen the way it did? See, here's the thing. You and I can tell people what happened in the past, maybe in your own life, maybe today, what happened in your life today, what happened in the world today.

38:29

Maybe you can tell somebody in history, this happened 50 years ago, but you know what no one can do except God.

38:35

Nobody can tell anybody the why. God is the sovereign and can say why.

38:42

God has revealed himself as the one eternal being of God and yet God has shown us that he exists eternally co -equally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

38:55

You see, here's the basis of my apologetic, of I think consistent Christian apologetics, covenantal apologetics call it, presuppositional apologetics, is that it's based upon the triune

39:08

God of the Bible. It's distinctly Trinitarian.

39:14

Distinctly Trinitarian. If you remove the Trinity from the Christian system, you do not have a

39:20

Christian system and you do not have a consistent philosophy. You do not have a consistent epistemology.

39:25

It's a little over what we're talking about today, but I want to say this is specifically an apologetic that is about the

39:33

God of the scriptures. There is one God, eternal. He is in all of his attributes perfect.

39:40

God is just. God is holy. God is love. God has an eternal nature.

39:46

God is merciful. Here's the point. You might be saying, why bring all that up now? Because when you defend the

39:53

Christian faith against the unbeliever's system, all of those attributes come into play as you're answering questions.

40:01

So for example, just as a little bit of a taste, when the unbeliever says to you, what about all this genocide in the

40:08

Old Testament? What about God telling people to wipe out entire populations of people?

40:13

First and foremost, ask the unbeliever to stop tugging at your heartstrings because that belongs to us.

40:21

The emotional response of being upset with death belongs to Christians, not unbelievers.

40:30

And you need to point out to the unbeliever that not only does he or she not have a basis to complain about what one bag of biological stuff does to another, and you need to point out to the unbeliever the borrowed capital they are living on right now, borrowing from the

40:47

Christian worldview in order to argue against the Christian worldview, you need to point out the holiness and justice of God.

40:54

Do you see how the attributes of God come into play when you do apologetics? When an unbeliever says, what's this? God says to kill these people.

41:01

That's not fair. God seems like a big meanie. And you could point out, well, here's the problem.

41:07

All of those people, including you and me, are sinners who stand before this holy

41:13

God who is righteous and blameless, worthy of his justice. And here's the question.

41:18

It's not so much why in the world would God send the Israelites against the Philistines to kill them all.

41:25

The question is, why did he let the Philistines live a day past their sin?

41:32

When God exercises his justice in the world, that's not a question as to why. What we need to ask is, how come

41:38

God shows mercy to any one of us? And the thing to say to the unbeliever who says, what's with all the genocide in the

41:45

Bible? Maybe we should talk like Jesus does. And what does he say in his day when they brought up these questions of death and destruction in the world?

41:52

What did he say? Unless you repent, you'll also perish.

41:59

That's how Jesus responded to people bringing up these incidents of death like that. Ultimately, we need to stand on the revelation of God in history.

42:07

So two points here you need to understand in terms of the revelation of God. And listen closely. This is very, very important because this becomes foundational as you actually engage in conversation with the unbeliever.

42:19

Two points of revelation, two points of contact that get through. Number one, in revelational epistemology, there is general revelation, general revelation.

42:30

And quick thing, and let's go ahead and poll the audience here, so you guys can participate in this right now. General revelation.

42:36

Give me an example from scripture that talks about general revelation in nature.

42:43

But come on, give me some scripture, y 'all. Come on. Yes. Romans 1.

42:48

Tell me how. What's it say in Romans 1? Okay.

42:57

Revelation 1, starting in verse 18 and moving on. What does it say? Since the creation of the worlds, his invisible attributes, everything about God, essentially

43:09

Paul is saying, is preaching to us constantly. Psalm 19 .1,

43:14

the heavens, what? Declare the glory of God. It says there is no speech, there is no language where it is not heard and understood.

43:25

That's vitally important to get. The creation itself is another form of speech from God.

43:32

You got to grab a hold of that because the unbeliever says there's not enough evidence for God. What does God say about that?

43:37

It says that he has been talking to them constantly. Revelation is another form of speech from God.

43:46

It is God testifying to us. It's amazing. By God's grace, we're actually planning, if he's willing, planning a church on the island of Kauai.

43:55

It's an extraordinarily dark spiritual place. They need Jesus badly out there.

44:01

It is dominated by the cults. It is a very, very difficult place to bring the gospel, but I'll tell you what, it's true.

44:09

When you go to Kauai, it's dang hard to be an atheist. Wow. It's just shouting.

44:15

Every wave that rolls in is just reminding you of the glory of Jesus Christ. Every bit of that place just testifies to the goodness of God and God is talking general creation to the point that God says in Psalm 14 .1,

44:30

it says the sophisticated atheist says there is no

44:36

God, right? The very intellectual unbeliever says there is no

44:42

God. No, what does it say? The fool says in his heart there is no God. God is saying that the revelation that he gives in the world to every single creature is so clear that the unbeliever is a fool.

44:59

Now get this, that is not God engaging in capricious name calling. He's not simply making fun of somebody saying you fool, right?

45:08

God's not engaging in that. He doesn't have to. Fool in the Bible is not simply an indication of your intellectual powers.

45:17

Being called a fool in the scriptures is a, listen, moral indictment.

45:24

It's the person that refuses to accept what is obvious to everybody. It's a person who refuses to accept the very words of their own creator.

45:35

It's the person who is held in the very hands of God and receives breath and life from God.

45:42

Every heartbeat is borrowed from God and that person refuses to give him praise. That's the fool.

45:49

General revelation gets through. The next part of revelation we can point to is special revelation.

45:56

This is revelation that God gives where God actually condescends and begins to give revelation that tells us about himself in a way that is different than general revelation.

46:08

It expands upon general revelation. It gives us more. Give an example.

46:13

Deuteronomy chapter 29 verse 29 says, The secret things belong to the

46:19

Lord our God, but what he has revealed belongs to us and to our children.

46:25

That's that revelation of God that gives us certainty. There are things, listen closely, that yes,

46:32

I don't know. I don't know. I'm happy to say, I don't know. People ask me questions all the time.

46:38

What do you think it is? I don't know. What do you think? How would you think I know that? I have no idea what you're talking about, right?

46:44

There are things that God has revealed that we can stand on with certainty and there's things that, well, we don't know. They belong to God, but what he has revealed, they belong to us and to our children.

46:55

You can know things with certainty because God has revealed himself in history. He's revealed himself.

47:01

Hebrews chapter 1 says, What about Jesus? That God spoke in past times to the fathers by the prophets, but in these last days, he has spoken to us through his son.

47:15

The revelation of Jesus Christ. John chapter 1 verse 1. What's that mean?

47:25

I want you to memorize it because that is the bomb. It is. It's the bomb.

47:31

That in the Greek is amazing about Jesus. It essentially says that Jesus always existed for all eternity.

47:38

He existed in intimate relationship with the father and he was God. And it says he made everything in existence.

47:45

It says God became flesh in John 1 .14. And then it says what? No one has seen

47:50

God at any time, but the monogamous theos, the unique and one of a kind God, Jesus, he has exegeted the father.

48:01

He has revealed the father to us. He has made him known.

48:07

That's special revelation, guys. Jesus has told us. So when someone says, how are you so certain?

48:14

It's not wrapped up in me. It's not wrapped up in my own understanding and my own preferences. That's arrogant and haughty to say that, you know, something with certainty when it hasn't been revealed by God.

48:27

But watch, if God condescends, God, who is all knowing by very nature,

48:34

God, who is the very reference point of all questions at all, God, who is the truth, if he condescends and he tells his creature something, though I'm fallible and finite,

48:48

I can know it with certainty. You see, listen, human beings might have certain limitations, no question about that.

48:55

We might have certain limitations. We got three pound brains. Most of us can't remember what we had for dinner last night, right?

49:02

Most of us blow it every single day in our relationship with God. Well, we all blow it every day in our relationship with God, with each other constantly.

49:10

We're inconsistent. We get things wrong. We need correction. Yes. And here's the deal. Listen, you might have a scenario where you have a prisoner chained to a wall in a dungeon, and this prisoner is locked against that wall behind bars and chained.

49:27

They have certain limitations, and that prisoner may not be able to reach out and touch the jailer's nose because they have limitations.

49:36

It doesn't mean the jailer can't step forward and touch his nose. And God, who is eternal and all -powerful, can speak in such a way that we can understand him with clarity.

49:50

So there is general revelation that gets through, and there is special revelation. Here's the point.

49:56

God, listen, is the ultimate authority. You might be thinking, well, that was special,

50:03

Jeff. Did they pay you to come out for that? Okay. God is the ultimate authority.

50:10

And listen, he has a self -attesting authority. He is the central reference point.

50:17

He is the source, the principium. That's important.

50:23

Here's why. Because all ultimate authorities are, ready, ultimate.

50:31

And anytime, listen, you say, this is the ultimate authority, and then someone says, well, how do you know that?

50:37

And as soon as somebody says, well, because of this, guess what? This is no longer the ultimate authority.

50:43

This is. And when we engage in apologetics and someone says, okay, prove

50:48

God's existence to me, and we start going to some other means to get around to some authority to point to Jesus Christ, guess what just became the ultimate authority?

50:59

That particular evidence or that particular argument, we need to stand on God and his own self -attesting authority and bring that into collision with the world and any system we confront.

51:13

You guys following me? We good? I know it's getting late, but you're going to be here for a while, so just relax, okay?

51:20

Okay, there you go. Ultimate authority, self -attesting authority. I'm going to show you an example. And this, by the way, we could do this all night, and I'm tempted to do it, but I'm going to just give you one, okay?

51:30

So just go for a moment now to Matthew chapter 7, just as an example of this being seen by others.

51:36

And there are so many places to go to to root this, but I want you to see it. In Matthew chapter 7, verse 24,

51:44

Matthew 7, 24, Jesus says, Sermon on the Mount. This is the wrapping up of the

51:51

Sermon on the Mount. It's the last thing he says here, the most popular sermon in the world, in the history of the world.

51:58

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock, and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock.

52:13

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand, and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

52:29

Listen, Jesus brings life down to this. There are people who hear his words.

52:36

There are two kinds. One's a fool, one's wise. One is on sand, and one digs deep.

52:44

In order to build that foundation, you had to dig deep. You had to contemplate the future.

52:49

You had to think about it. You had to work hard, dig deep, put the foundation down. Jesus says wise, foundation, fool, sand.

52:58

And he says this, that the issues of life are going to come. The rain, the storms, they're going to come, and they're going to come against both houses.

53:08

Both houses get it. And he says that the one that's built on sand ends in desolation, and the one that's built on the rock makes it through, weathers the storm.

53:18

And Jesus says that's how life is brought down to foundations. Which one are you standing on?

53:24

And he ultimately says the wise one is the one who builds their life upon his word.

53:31

Now notice their response. I want you to see it with your own eyes. Very important. And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

53:45

Listen, that according to Cornelius Van Till, whom you need to get to know, okay?

53:52

That according to Van Till was where the entire question of Christian epistemology lies.

54:00

The entire question of how do you know lies here.

54:07

Here. I'm going to hang here just for a moment, okay? Here's why. This is exactly why.

54:13

Notice their response. Jesus did something, and you've got to really grant this and stop thinking so Christian for a moment.

54:19

Now be really careful what I just said, okay? But in terms of actually stepping into another position to think about it.

54:27

You're thinking like Christians because you love Jesus. He says it. He has a right to say it. You're submitted to him, and so you're like, well obviously.

54:34

But can you consider for a moment that if I said that to you, if I said what

54:39

Jesus says, you would have every right to stand up, call me a heretic, and walk out.

54:46

I mean think about the kind of claims that Jesus made. He says, well whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

54:54

Okay, that's everybody in the world. Okay, great. Jesus says, but if the Son sets you free, you'll be free indeed.

54:59

That he'll set free every person that comes to him for life. How about this one? I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

55:07

No man comes to the Father but through me. Contrary to the teachings of Joel Osteen, Jesus is the only way to God, right?

55:17

He's the only way. That's an audacious claim, and here's the point. If Jesus isn't the authority, if he isn't who he says he is, then he is a menace to the world.

55:29

He is one of the worst people who has ever walked this earth. Think about it for a second.

55:34

If he's a false teacher, if he's a false prophet, if he's not God in the flesh, then he is a fraud. But if Jesus truly is who he claims to be, then we need to recognize that authority.

55:46

Notice that Jesus did never ask for their permission. He didn't ever ask for their stamp of approval. He didn't ask for this to be corroborated with any other evidence.

55:54

Notice what happens here. He says, all of life, full, wise, sand, rock, and they said what?

56:01

He speaks as one having authority and not as the scribes, because you know why? The scribes would say, well, here's this teaching, here's this teaching, and here's because Rabbi Shmuley says this, and Rabbi Such -and -Such says this, and Rabbi Such -and -Such says it.

56:17

That's how you know because Rabbi, Rabbi, Rabbi says so. Jesus comes in, he says, all of life, like this, you're a fool or you're wise.

56:27

The difference is those who actually build their house on my word. And notice that Jesus didn't actually say, and here's how you guys know.

56:37

And here's the proof, guys, so that you know for sure. Jesus says it, he says it with authority, and they caught it.

56:47

Why is this important? Because here's the point. It is only, I believe, the consistent presuppositionalist or covenantal apologetic, apologist that can ultimately handle and appeal to evidences in a consistent way.

57:03

But watch, if we pretend neutrality and we just say, well, let's just see where the evidence takes us. We all just need as much evidence as possible.

57:10

If we do that, then not only are we unfaithful to Christ, but we're inconsistent because watch this, the

57:16

Christian who pretends to be neutral in their apologetic methodology, what do they do? They say, well, let's just see here.

57:22

Let's take the biological complexity, the irreducible complexity of life. Let's look at the anthropic principle.

57:28

Let's take the cosmological argument. Let's look at all this historical evidences for the Lord Jesus Christ and the transmission of the text of the

57:35

Bible. Let's do some ethical arguments, and let's see if we can get as much as possible to the unbeliever.

57:42

Okay, you see? You see?

57:51

I'm just trying, I'm trying to, I'm just wanting to be animated so you guys know.

57:57

I'm throwing, okay? And it never sticks, see? I didn't hit anybody with it, okay?

58:03

But the point is, is you throw everything possible at the unbeliever, and then what do you do as a

58:08

Christian when you engage in that? Say the person goes, all right, I'll bite. I'll believe in Jesus.

58:15

I'll trust in Jesus Christ. All that evidence, all those arguments really convinced me, and so now

58:20

I'll believe in Jesus. You go, great! And then you get into a place where you go, and they ask more questions now as a

58:26

Christian. And they say, well, what do we believe about this? And you go, well, you would believe this.

58:32

Well, why? Because Jesus says so. Well, what do we believe about this? Well, you believe that.

58:37

Why? Well, because Jesus says so. Well, what do we believe about this in the world? Well, this, because Jesus says so.

58:44

Do you know what you did? You built a ladder, right, to get to God.

58:50

You go, well, here's, here's how you, okay, evidence, and then this proof, and then this proof, and then this proof, and then this proof, and this proof, and you climb that ladder.

58:57

You get all the way up to the top, and you know what you do? You get him up there, and you go, hey, guess what? You didn't need the ladder all along. He was always the ultimate authority.

59:04

We need to understand the myth of neutrality. The myth of neutrality.

59:11

Neutrality is a myth. The myth of neutrality. Don't forget it. Hashtag it.

59:16

Highlight it. Get a tattoo, okay? I'm just kidding. That's sinful. Don't do that, okay?

59:25

I'm just, okay. So, the myth of neutrality. Don't forget the myth of neutrality.

59:31

Now, here's the two points of contact for that, okay? Number one, scripture. Scripture tells us,

59:38

God tells us, neutrality is a myth, completely. And I give you two points of contact here for this.

59:47

Romans 1 was already brought up, so let's use that as a springboard. Romans chapter 1, verse 18 says, the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

01:00:06

Suppress the truth. Now, notice it says, actively. God's wrath is being revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

01:00:19

It says, that which is known about God is evident within them, for God has shown it to them.

01:00:28

Now, stop. If you take that passage, if you embrace it, if you say, okay,

01:00:34

I bite down, I believe it, then guess what? You have now abandoned the ability to believe any atheist when he or she tells you there's not enough evidence for God.

01:00:45

Because there is what John Calvin referred to as the sensus divinitatis. There is the sense of the divine.

01:00:51

God has shown himself to each and every single one of his creatures, every single human being in the world.

01:00:59

Whether you are in New Jersey or you are in Papua New Guinea, you know the true

01:01:05

God, not just some God, the true God. And here's the point. It says, one, there is a suppression of truth, an active holding down of truth.

01:01:16

Dr. Greg Bonson used to use the example of a pool. When you go to a pool and you take a ball and you try to shove that ball under the water, when you take that ball and you shove it under the water, what happens if you let go?

01:01:31

It's going to shoot back up by nature. The very nature of it is it will shoot back up.

01:01:36

What do you have to do to stop it from doing what it will do by nature? You have to actively hold it down.

01:01:43

Now listen, Romans 1 says that every unbeliever in the world, everyone made in the image of God, every single fallen person is actively suppressing the truth of God.

01:01:54

Now watch. It's not saying that the unbeliever goes, I'm lying.

01:02:01

It's that we are so self -deceived as fallen people that we suppress the truth and have suppressed it for so long that we deceive even our own selves.

01:02:14

We suppress the truth in unrighteousness and look what it says, that God has shown it to them. Now just grant this for a moment.

01:02:22

This one point, just grant it. Is God all -powerful? It says the all -powerful

01:02:28

God has revealed himself to everyone. So if the all -powerful God has revealed himself to every creature, every human being, does the message get through?

01:02:39

Yes or no? Yes. Now it doesn't mean that every unbeliever accepts the fact, yes, there's a

01:02:45

God. The problem is said in the next verse or the next few verses. What does it say happens?

01:02:50

After the creation is testifying to us about God, what does it say? It says that our thoughts become futile.

01:02:57

We profess to be wise and become fools and we exchange the glory of the immortal

01:03:05

God for an image and we worship and serve the creature rather than the creator.

01:03:12

And it says, therefore, God gave them over, over and over and over again.

01:03:17

God gave them over to do what? What is against nature. We know God, but it says this.

01:03:22

Listen, this is very, very important. It says they don't want God in their knowledge. Romans 1, they don't want

01:03:29

God in their knowledge. What's that mean? They don't want to know him. They don't want to think about him. They don't want him in their knowledge.

01:03:35

And so what do unbelievers do? They create very, very sophisticated worldviews that are so much exercises in futility.

01:03:45

And it says that the unbeliever switches God for an idol. Listen, if you get a chance tonight, go to our

01:03:52

YouTube channel. I know you're going to want to get some rest, but go to our YouTube channel and look up, well, maybe one of the better ways to do it is maybe go to YouTube and then in the search, just type in Jeff Durbin, just for reference, and then agnostic or atheist, or no, this one,

01:04:09

Jeff Durbin and Psy and Bar. Type that into YouTube. Jeff Durbin, Psy and Bar.

01:04:14

It's awesome. No, I'm just kidding. We were at a bar after the debate with the atheists last year.

01:04:21

It was a hotel bar. Relax, okay? It was a restaurant and it's a catchy title though, isn't it?

01:04:27

Okay. So we were there and this guy said he was an atheist. He sat down. What are you guys doing? What were you guys doing?

01:04:32

He started asking questions, says he was an atheist. In the conversation, he says he was an agnostic. If you listen to that conversation, it's about 30 minutes long.

01:04:40

As I'm talking to the guy and trying to witness to him and tell him about Jesus, I'm trying to answer his objections. It's amazing.

01:04:46

You know what he said? He rejected God. He says, no, I don't want to hear about him. He goes, just stop saying

01:04:52

Jesus. He was like, just stop saying him. Just, why can't you say him? Just don't say him. It was just so amazing, just revealing what he was saying.

01:04:59

But basically his worldview was, I don't want Jesus, so I worship mother earth. I said, Romans 1.

01:05:08

Romans 1. You don't want God in your knowledge. You hate God. Matter of fact, he said that when his mom died, when he was eight years old, he said,

01:05:16

F you to God. He was clearly angry with God, hostile to God. Know what he said? He said,

01:05:21

I don't want him. He said, so I worship the earth. What does Romans 1 say? We know God, we suppress the truth of God, and we worship and serve the creature rather than the creator.

01:05:31

Nobody is neutral. Everybody knows God. Further, Romans 5 says, what about all of humanity?

01:05:37

And this is another big one. For the whole weekend, get this and you'll get the whole thing. Romans 5 says all of humanity is covenantally wrapped up in one of two representatives.

01:05:49

We're either in Adam or we are in Jesus. Okay? So get this.

01:05:55

All of humanity, every single human being you know, every person you know or ever will know, every one of us is either in Adam or we are in Jesus.

01:06:07

And if we are in Adam, what does the Bible say? There is death. If we are in Jesus, there is the gift of eternal life.

01:06:13

There is righteousness. There is life in Jesus Christ. Now watch. Get this.

01:06:19

Very important. Christians, we have our own ghetto language, right? Right?

01:06:26

We know how to talk, right? It's in it weird too because you have some Christian ghettos that speak like one language and we all get it, right?

01:06:34

And then you have another Christian ghetto called Reformed Theology that has a whole nother set of language and we learn the language, start using it with each other.

01:06:43

Like we have our nerdy Reformed Theology jokes, right? We know, right?

01:06:51

It's our ghetto. We understand. If I say Paul Washer to you, what do you guys do? You go, right?

01:06:58

You're like, I have a love -hate relationship with Paul Washer, right? But you know what I'm saying. We all get it, okay?

01:07:04

So here's what we have to understand. As Christians, we have language like, and I know what we mean by it generally.

01:07:11

We say it's not a religion. It's a, see? See? I don't even know you.

01:07:22

You're from like St. Louis. Like, like he's from that ghetto. I'm like, no, it's okay.

01:07:29

So we know the language, right? What do we say? You need to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. It's not a religion.

01:07:35

It's a relationship. We tell people you're going to have a relationship with Jesus, a relationship with Jesus. Here's the point, ready? We all know what we mean when we say that.

01:07:42

We mean it's not works in any way of works. It's about Him. It's about an intimate relationship of peace with God.

01:07:48

And so we say to people, we say, you need to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, right? Here's the problem. Romans 5 says they're already in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

01:07:59

Already. And that relationship with Him is either marked by hostility or peace.

01:08:06

Nobody is neutral. Every single person you will ever meet, Richard Dawkins is in relationship with Jesus Christ.

01:08:17

Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Lawrence Krauss, all these militant atheists, all in relationship with Jesus Christ.

01:08:25

But that relationship for now, we pray for something better is marked by hostility. Here's the point.

01:08:30

Everybody is covenantally already in relationship with God. It's a question of how and what kind of relationship.

01:08:39

Nobody is neutral. That's from scripture. And ready? Here's what's important for us to get. Jesus says, if you are not with me, you are what?

01:08:51

Against me. Do you believe that? Come on. I know it's getting late, but come on.

01:08:56

Let's finish up here. Do you believe that? You believe that with Jesus Christ, it is all or nothing.

01:09:07

Jesus, watch. He tells people something different than our regular evangelistic call of the 21st century evangelicalism in the

01:09:16

West. He has crowds of people to come to Him, and He actually turns them away from Himself. He tells them, don't come.

01:09:22

Crowds, thousands come to Jesus, right? And He actually says to crowds of people who are following Him, He says, you're not believing.

01:09:29

And they would have probably said, if anybody asked them, is that the Messiah? They would have said, that's the Messiah. I'm following you,

01:09:36

Jesus. I mean, the one guy in Matthew chapter 8 says to Jesus, Master, I'll follow you anywhere you want to go.

01:09:42

And Jesus cuts right through His idolatry. He says, foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, the

01:09:50

Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. I'm homeless. You still want to come? Nope.

01:09:57

Next one. I'll follow you, Jesus, wherever you go. Just first, let me go bury my father. And Jesus says, let the dead bury their own dead.

01:10:05

You come follow Me. And He says to crowds of people, He says, if anyone comes to Me, does not hate father, mother, sisters, naming everybody you can love the most in your life.

01:10:13

And He says, if you love them more than Me, you're not worthy of Me. And He says this, and even your own life.

01:10:21

He says, you must take up the cross to come follow Me, or you're not worthy of Me. That's the kind of call that Jesus gives to people.

01:10:27

It's all or nothing. It's His full Lordship. It's your entire life and being, or it's nothing.

01:10:35

And we're afraid to preach a gospel like that today in our culture. We so want Jesus to experience life in Jesus, that we preach the gospel in a way that is contrary to the way that He preached it.

01:10:46

And we wonder why the Christian church today is absolutely undeniably impotent, because we are unwilling to preach the gospel with its sharp edges, with love and grace, in the way that the

01:10:59

New Testament authors did. The apostle Paul goes into cities, towns, and he says, what? As a result of his preaching, he says,

01:11:06

I've been beaten times without number. What's that mean? At some point he said, I should probably stop counting.

01:11:12

It doesn't matter anymore, right? And what is that? Five, six, ten? How many is like an acceptable,

01:11:17

I'm just going to stop counting? I've been beaten times without number. I've been shipwrecked.

01:11:23

I've been at sea. I'm in danger constantly, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from robbers.

01:11:29

And he calls it what? Ah, it's a light and momentary affliction. They go into places, they preach the gospel, and it wasn't because of their attitude.

01:11:37

It's because of what they said. Riots would break out. We say today, oh, should you have really done that?

01:11:46

I mean, you preach the gospel, but you made some enemies. I don't know if that's effective.

01:11:52

Maybe you should make friends first. Maybe you should earn the right to preach the gospel to them.

01:12:00

Tell that to the apostles. Tell that to the apostles who turned the entire Roman empire upside down in a generation for the gospel, and they did it in such a way that was risky.

01:12:12

And here's the deal. I say this often. If you heard me say it before, I'm going to say it again. In Acts chapter 9, it says when he preached the gospel in their synagogues, that people actually came together and said,

01:12:22

I want him dead. And it says, as a result of that preaching the gospel, he argued with people for the

01:12:28

Christian faith and proved to them that Jesus was the Messiah. Acts chapter 9, it says the church was built up.

01:12:33

They experienced peace, and the church was multiplied. Preach the gospel with the sharp edges in their religious context, causing problems.

01:12:42

They want him dead. People have said to us at Apologia Church, well, you guys do it in some tough context.

01:12:48

Should you really go to the Mormon temple and preach the gospel like that? Should you really go to the abortion mills and preach the gospel?

01:12:53

I say I've lost count as to how many people will come to Christ from both of them, and the 50 some odd babies alive today because of it.

01:13:00

Yeah, I'll take that, but I want to say this. Nobody has ever tried to kill me yet, and so I say maybe

01:13:07

I'm doing something wrong. It's true, but philosophically speaking, nobody can be neutral.

01:13:21

Philosophically speaking, it's absurd. Everybody has a worldview. Everybody has a worldview.

01:13:27

We're going to end on this. Everybody has a particular view of reality. The unbeliever does, and tonight, just because we want to go kind of quickly here, let's use the antithesis.

01:13:41

One is the Christian worldview based on the revelation of God, who believes in eternal, all -powerful, just, loving, merciful, triune

01:13:51

God, who has revealed Himself particularly in His Son in history, who gives us certainty, who has all knowledge.

01:13:59

All of our knowledge is derivative. He is the source of all that we believe and know, and the unbeliever also has a worldview.

01:14:07

The unbeliever's worldview, what they say they're standing on, has a particular view of origins, has a particular anthropology view of human beings, and what do they believe about the universe?

01:14:17

What do they believe? They believe that the universe started from nothing. Lawrence Krauss is proud.

01:14:23

He's happy. He's proud of his new book. Well, sort of new book. A universe from nothing.

01:14:29

Everyone goes, ah, ah. Yes. Good. They do.

01:14:39

They get super excited. It's a book that shows how the universe came from nothing, and it's funny.

01:14:44

He gets really upset when people laugh at him, when he'll say, well, you can get a universe from nothing, because you see all these little things there in this space called nothing, and everyone goes, ha, ha, ha.

01:14:57

Nothing. Nothing. What do you not understand about no thing?

01:15:04

Because as soon as you say there is no thing, and then you say, well, there's some things in the no thing, you realize that you have a problem, right?

01:15:13

And they just can't seem to get it, and that's what unbelieving thought does, right? Their thoughts become futile, right?

01:15:20

But the unbeliever says there was nothing, and then there was something, okay? That there was inorganic matter that became organic matter.

01:15:29

That the universe is ungoverned, unguided, and that we all ultimately came here through evolutionary processes that didn't have us in mind.

01:15:38

That our ancestors were highly evolved societies of bacteria. They went from bacteria ultimately moving through like little worms to fish to now we're on the land, and now we start moving our way up, and we are all

01:15:50

African apes. Richard Dawkins says in River Out of Eden, he says the universe displays there is no good, there is no evil, there is only blind and pitiless indifference.

01:16:01

That's what Dawkins says about the world, and that's what he's supposed to believe. That's his worldview.

01:16:08

Philosophically speaking, neutrality is a myth. The unbeliever approaches facts, and he interprets those facts through his overall system.

01:16:20

Either he or she is the reference point, or he is filtering, she is filtering this stuff through what they believe about the world.

01:16:29

The Christian is doing exactly the same thing. Here's the deal. The unbeliever is not neutral, and you're not supposed to be.

01:16:37

The unbeliever is not neutral, and you're not supposed to be. Jesus says whoever's not with me is against me.

01:16:45

You're not supposed to be neutral. We do have a view of the world. We are standing on it. It is self -attesting. It is our ultimate authority, and we follow his word.

01:16:54

Isn't it true? Shouldn't this be obvious to all of us? Isn't it true that when a

01:17:01

Christian looks at a newborn baby, isn't it true that the

01:17:08

Christian is supposed to be praising God? You know how many of you guys have kids, right?

01:17:14

It's insane. They come out, and you're like, wow.

01:17:21

I made that, right? And then you go, God is amazing.

01:17:27

God is glorious. Look at these perfect little fingers and these eyes. You look at this thing, watch, and what does it cause you to do?

01:17:32

If you didn't worship Jesus Christ, if you didn't worship Jesus Christ when you had that baby, or you held that baby, you saw that baby, if you didn't worship

01:17:39

Jesus Christ, you need to learn to taste and see, because that's what

01:17:45

Christians are supposed to do, is to look at the world and what happens in the world and say, glory to God. God is amazing. See, Christians don't just look at baby, watch, and say, human works like this, right?

01:17:59

Do you do that? Or do you recognize in the complexity of that child, and the beauty of that child, and the meaning, and the worth, and the value of that child, do you actually see in that child the glory of God?

01:18:11

Now watch, the unbeliever has a particular worldview. Now, the unbeliever is supposed to be looking at that baby through a particular grid, saying, human works like this.

01:18:29

But isn't it interesting that the unbeliever can't live consistently with their own worldview? Because when the unbeliever sees a baby, if they held to their worldview consistently, they can say, human being works like this, heart, lungs, eyes, brain, ears, fingers, toes, okay?

01:18:47

Baby. But the unbeliever actually looks at that baby, and they go, they look at it, and they go, it's so beautiful.

01:18:58

I would do anything for it. I love this baby. If you hurt this baby, I would hurt you.

01:19:03

I love this baby. I care for this baby. I'll give everything for this baby. And you look at the unbeliever, you go, look down at your feet.

01:19:12

What are you not standing on anymore? They go, no, there's no God. There's no meaning. There's no purpose. This baby is nothing.

01:19:17

It's just an accident of the universe. Do you see the point? The unbeliever, because he or she is image of God, cannot live consistently with their worldview.

01:19:25

They will constantly borrow capital from God, because they know God in their heart of hearts.

01:19:32

They're suppressing the truth of God in their heart of hearts. They know him, and they're at war with God.

01:19:39

The job of the Christian is not to pretend neutrality with the unbeliever. It's not to actually step into the unbeliever's world and say, yeah, maybe there is no

01:19:47

God. Let's see where the evidence takes us. We are supposed to firm up our commitments to Jesus Christ and approach the unbeliever consistently as a slave of Jesus, proclaiming the truth to the unbeliever and refuting their worldview, what they say about the world.

01:20:04

What does the Bible say? Proverbs 26. Go read it later. It says, don't answer the fool according to their folly, lest you be like unto them.

01:20:16

And then it says, answer the fool according to their folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

01:20:23

What we're going to do tomorrow, I'm going to teach you the twofold apologetic methodology. And that is, number one, don't answer the fool according to their folly.

01:20:31

Don't answer according to their own presuppositions. Don't pretend neutrality like them. You stand firm on your convictions and your presuppositions and your commitment to Jesus Christ.

01:20:41

And the next thing you do is you step into the unbeliever's world and you answer them according to their folly to show them that they will sink if they continue to live their lives abandoning

01:20:52

God. Cornelius Van Til said this, the unbeliever knows

01:20:58

God. The unbeliever is at war with God. The unbeliever cannot construct a consistent unbelieving system.

01:21:07

They will constantly borrow from God and the biblical worldview at every turn. He said the unbeliever is like a small child who slaps his father in the face.

01:21:20

He's dependent upon his father to hold him in his lap. Otherwise he couldn't reach.

01:21:27

The unbeliever is dependent upon God to argue against God. So we do have common ground.

01:21:36

Watch. People say, wait a minute, if you don't pretend neutrality, if you stand in your Christian convictions and you come as a complete antithesis against their whole worldview and system, that would destroy all common ground, right?

01:21:50

Because they don't have anything to stand on. Well, here's the point. If they held to their actual belief system, no, they wouldn't have anything to stand on, but there is common ground.

01:21:59

You want to know what the common ground is? God's ground. As the unbelievers in the image of God, there will be points of contact at every turn where the image of God floods out of them.

01:22:15

Can I give you an example? And then I'll let you go. First, it's a great way to put it.

01:22:22

They suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Think of it like whack -a -mole. I've said it a lot, right?

01:22:30

Some of you guys have heard me say it. You know that game? Whack -a -mole. You know that game?

01:22:35

That horrible, wretched game? Whack -a -mole, okay? When I'm at like Peter Piper Pizza or Chuck E.

01:22:44

Cheese or whatever, I will confess. I cheat every time, okay?

01:22:50

It's my child and I love him and I'm trying to get as many tickets as possible, okay? I will completely confess to it, okay?

01:22:56

Pray for me. Whack -a -mole. How's it work? What happens? Mole comes up and what do you do?

01:23:03

Got one, okay? And then it starts speeding up. Boom, boom. You go one, two. And then it's boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

01:23:08

And you're like one, two, three. Oh, I missed one. And then at some point you realize I'm getting a lot of them, but I'm missing one or two or three here or there.

01:23:16

That's the life of the unbeliever. They'll deny God. They'll reject God's revelation, but they will not be able to escape being image of God in God's world.

01:23:28

Listen, you can't help being what God made you to be. And though the unbeliever denies

01:23:34

God's existence, though he fights against God at every turn, he will constantly lose sight of image of God pouring out, image of God pouring out, image of God pouring out.

01:23:44

And this is a great example. There's so many examples to draw from, so many.

01:23:52

I was in a cafe when a guy, a shooter in Tucson, I was in Phoenix, a shooter was in Tucson and he went into a grocery store parking lot.

01:24:08

You may have heard about it. And he shot, I think, a politician, a woman, Kathy Gifford, and a bunch of other people.

01:24:18

And when it happened, I was in this cafe and there were screens everywhere. And I remember that it was all like on every screen and they were playing and everybody was coming into the place and everyone's stopping and they're like, and they're talking to each other.

01:24:34

And like, it stopped everyone in their tracks and everyone's just standing and staring. And I remember like people's jaws were on the floor.

01:24:40

I saw people crying and everybody, I mean, like a wife holding her husband, it was, everybody was in awe of this.

01:24:49

And I didn't know any of them. Nobody knew each other, but I watched all of these image bearers of God responding to what they saw on that screen.

01:24:59

I didn't know who was an atheist. I didn't know who was a Christian. At that point, it was image bearers of God witnessing what we knew in our heart of hearts was murder and wrong.

01:25:11

Now watch. If you stand on God's revelation, His self -attesting revelation, and you watch those screens, you hear about a man who went into a place and he shot people.

01:25:25

Do you have a justification to condemn it if you stand on God's revelation?

01:25:32

If you condemn it, will that be consistent with what's underneath you? Do you have a justification to say it is an absolute moral requirement that you do not do that?

01:25:46

Now stand over in the unbeliever's position now. The unbeliever's position.

01:25:54

They say that we're all protoplasm. We're just stardust in a universe that doesn't care. There's no good.

01:26:00

There's no evil. There is only blind and pitiless indifference. Dan Barker said in a debate with my friend

01:26:05

Douglas Wilson, he said that there is no cosmic objective good. Now the atheist who believes that about the world looks at that screen.

01:26:15

Do they have an ultimate justification for being indignant about it? Let me ask you a question.

01:26:23

What is ultimately morally wrong when one bag of protoplasm goes and puts holes into other bags of protoplasm?

01:26:35

Nothing. But here's the problem. The unbeliever, though they construct that system and they say that about the world, they will not be able to live that way in God's world because guess what?

01:26:49

They will still cry when they lose a loved one. They will still get indignant when they watch people murder other people.

01:26:57

They will still demand justice in the world. The unbeliever constructs their system as an attempt to get

01:27:04

God out of their knowledge. It's our job as believers to point out the borrowed capital, to show the foolishness of unbelieving systems, and to call people to repentance and faith and to experience life in Jesus Christ.

01:27:17

That is the point. And here is the foundation of it all. How is this all summed up?

01:27:23

Here it is. Jesus Christ is Lord and He is the very reference point of everything.

01:27:30

And it is only through Him people can experience life and watch. Jesus doesn't just save you for heaven one day.

01:27:37

He saves you, all of you, now including your intellect.

01:27:45

All of you. Let's pray. Father, please bless the message that went out today. I pray that you would, Lord, allow what was said that is true to bless the hearts and minds of your people.

01:27:58

I pray that you would use it to ignite within us a commitment to Jesus Christ, to love

01:28:05

Him, to serve Him, to proclaim Him, to herald His truth. Please bless what was said today,

01:28:10

God, not for people's intellects only, but for the purposes of the gospel and the glory of Jesus Christ.

01:28:17

Please, God, bless us to be able to understand what you say about all of us so we can communicate the truth of the gospel with the world.