Sunday Night Meditations 03 Message and Song - 1950's — Welcome Detweiler

For the temporal mercies we enjoy from thy good and gracious hand from day to day.

But above and beyond all of these we thank thee for the gift of thy blessed Son. We thank thee he left heaven's highest glory, he came to the cross of Calvary, he died for guilty sinners and rose again.

We thank thee he is seated at thine own right hand, a prince and a savior, offering salvation to whosoever will. We pray that thou wilt bless this gospel program especially to the hearts of those who are still out of Christ.

We ask these petitions in his worthy and precious name. Amen. We are right to refuse to believe, to challenge his claims and doubt them. For the wounds are the signs of the Christ, and he will not come without them.

Vain are the saviors of men who can show no wounds for a token. False are the Christs of the world whose hearts have never been broken. We are right to reject their claims since only the one may dare it.

We are right to deny their name since only the one may bear it. Can they spread the nail-pierced palm that the finger of doubt may feel it? Uncover the ribbon's side and to doubting eyes reveal it? The wounds are the sign of the Christ, and only the one can show it, and only those who have touched his wounds will prove him Lord and know it.

For it is not enough for our faith that others have seen and know him, for each for himself must see, and each for himself must own him, and each must touch the print of the nail, the proof of his claim receiving, and each must cry, My Lord and My God, and fall at his feet.

Believing. A medley of choruses and hymns as recorded in the first chapter of the Bible.

Genesis 1 and the Order of Creation

Is very interesting and is becoming more popular since honest scientists are finding that the Genesis record of creation is the most logical of any that can be found. In the first four days we have the establishment of the conditions of life, which are light, atmosphere, food, and rule.

Then on the fifth day life itself is introduced. God is the living God, and he delights in life. God's order is intelligent and important. First the conditions of life, then life itself. In a boy's mind the theory is, you build the dog-house first, then you buy the dog.

Creation Out of Nothing and the Preparation for Life

God did not have piles of material from which to make a dwelling-place or life. The materials had to be created, and he made them out of nothing. He covers the barren waste with a carpet of green grass, shrubs, and fruit trees.

Then a wonderful lighting system is installed. The bright sun is turned on by automatic control. The dimmer switch fades out the brightness, and a silvery moon plus millions of stars sparkle in the sky.

The marvelous time-clock regulates days, months, and seasons of the year. After the furnishings are all placed, it is in order to bring life upon the scene. And on the fifth day God said, I am reading from Genesis 1, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath light, and fowl that may fly above the earth, and in the open firmament of heaven.

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind. And God saw that it was good, and God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the sea, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after his kind. And it was so, and God made the beasts of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind.

Darwinian Evolution and Its Claims

And God saw that it was good. Just about one hundred years ago, Darwin published a book on the general theory of evolution, which became very popular. His idea of creation, and especially the creation of life, were quite different from the Genesis account of creation, and quite a few men fell for Darwin's theory of evolution.

I believe the book was published in 1859. Since that time, the field of knowledge has greatly enlarged, and all of Darwin's theories have been proved to be untrue by real scientific experts. Dr. Albert Fleischmann, a professor of zoology in Germany, acknowledged even by evolutionists to be without a superior, made this statement.

The Darwinian theory has not a single fact to confirm it in the realm of nature. It is not the result of scientific research, but purely the product of imagination. The doctrine of descent has not been substantiated.

Up to the present moment, evolution can tell us nothing about the origin of things, nor can it produce any evidence to account for the gaps between the various kingdoms of life, between the inorganic and the organic, between plant and animal life, between animals and man.

No missing links have been found. Not one instance of intermediate forms can be produced. New species do not arise. When schoolchildren are taught that low-browed, hairy creatures span the gaps between animal and man, it's time for the parents to protest against deliberate lies being taught to their children.

Creation According to Its Kind

The word evolution simply means progress, and we see growth, development, and change everywhere, but only within the limits determined by God. It is true that man's body is similar to that of some animals in structure and in function.

This is only natural, as both animal and man live in the same world, breathe the same air, and cope with the same environment. But that does not mean that man's body is derived from the animal. It rather proves that the same divine architect has been at work in both creations.

While there is progress in the process, each form of life is a separate creation by God. In the verses that I read from Genesis 1, a very important phrase is mentioned many times. I wonder if you notice these words.

After his kind. An unchanging instinct causes the bee to build a hive and to make honey. The bee has no capacity for changing itself into another species of insect. By divine, iron-clad law of its nature, it must remain a bee.

The first bee was created by God, with its seed in itself, and it reproduced after its kind. The theory of transformation from one species to another has no foundation either in the book of nature or in the holy scriptures.

Why Evolution Appeals to Unbelief

Perhaps I should raise the question, if the absurd theories of evolution are not true, why do so many apparently educated men lean toward this imaginary theory rather than the clear and proved facts of the word of God?

I am very anxious to answer this reasonable question. First of all, I must remind you that there has always been a great controversy within the field of science and learning. If I would tell you that all scientists and experts believe the record of Genesis 1 regarding the origin of life, it would be untrue.

If I would say that all scientists and experts are agreed upon some theory of evolution, it would also be untrue. The experts dogmatically disagree, and if you have been of the opinion that an overwhelming majority of scientists have turned from the bible record of creation, you are wrong.

There are still many honest experts in the field of science who believe that the Genesis record of creation and origin of life is the only one that is logical. But you may raise the question, why don't they all believe it?

The answer is this. The unproved theory of evolution has a tremendous appeal to the unsaved man. It rules God out of the picture, and puts him so far away that he need not trouble about him. It relieves man from the sense of ever meeting God, and giving account for deliberate disobedience.

It gives unbelief a plausible excuse for refusing the gospel. Evolution is not a discovery, but a bias against the idea of God. If a sinner can convince himself that there is no God, or at least if there is one, he will never have to meet him, it sets the sinner free to live like the devil.

He becomes bold and says, why should I be restrained or corrected? I am living to please myself, and to gratify my lusts and passions. The human heart craves for independence. If the common theory of evolution can make him a carefree, independent, unrestrained person, it's a valuable possession.

Or, perhaps I should say, it appears to be valuable. But no one has ever been able to fully convince himself. The man who will say I have found a comforting, valuable possession in the theory that my great-great-grandfathers were apes, and I don't think I will ever have to meet God, that man is a big bluffer.

He finds no comfort. He is a miserable specimen of humanity. When I meet a man who confesses that he does not believe the Genesis record of creation, I like to take a long look at his face. It has to be a long look, because his face is always long.

After I have given him the once-over, I am justified in saying, wouldn't he make a wonderful undertaker? Logically speaking, evolution has no room for pity or help for the needy. It has no room for repentance, prayer, and worship.

No room for singing. It's a very gloomy, monotonous existence, much worse than a dog's life. Before the First World War, the evolution theory saturated the thinking of Germany's philosophers, and it gave a great impetus to the creed that might is right.

Evolution, Political Ideologies, and the Gospel

Nazism, like Communism, is the political outworking of the deliberate rejection of the gospel of the grace of God. The only effects that the evolutionary theory has produced thus far are detrimental to the progress of any nation.

They are opposed to God, and must, therefore, be energized by the devil. In sharp contrast, the gospel of Christ has produced the greatest permanent effects for good. I may have some sincere, honest listeners, rather confused, because you have heard so many loud voices against the simple and proved facts of God's word.

If you want to find the best in life, turn to God, and dismiss all these unconfirmed reports. God's word still stands as the only logical answer. If you are tempted to reject the word of God, it only proves that you don't like facts.

The Gospel's Call to Sinners

God says you are a sinner, and need to be saved. You may not like that, but it's true nevertheless. Those who are saved ought to know, and they all join to say that life is worthless until you come to know the Savior.

Christ died for our sins, in order that He might redeem us. Through His substitutionary death and resurrection, you may be forgiven, pardoned, cleansed, and made fit to dwell in heaven for all eternity.

Don't miss it, my friend. It's the grandest reality in all the world. It's not a mere feeling, not an imagination. It's a deep, abiding reality, and you will never be happy until you can say, Now I know that I am saved and on the way to heaven.

May God bless you as you have listened to this message. And now, our gracious Father, we ask that Thy blessing may rest upon Thy word, and that some precious soul may close in with Thy offer of salvation.

We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.