Atheists and God's Existence #1

Welcome to the Truth Pulpit with Don Green, Founding Pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hello, I'm Bill Wright. Thanks for joining us as we continue teaching God's people God's Word. Don begins a new message today, so without further delay, let's join him right now in the Truth Pulpit. Well, we come this evening to the final installment of our series, How to Know That God Exists. And we've established the conclusive nature of the way that God has imprinted himself in a way to be known in every aspect of life, be it external or internal, things written and things visible in creation, in the canon of Scripture, in the principle of human conscience, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and for the Christian in his own conversion, God has shed light into our souls and made himself known in a uniquely particular way to each one of us that are in Christ. And what we've said is that these things are not a probability case for the existence of God.

They are conclusive. They are established, and there will be no excuse for anyone before the throne of God who has rejected his revelation. But that leaves a question for us that we need to answer before we move on to other aspects of building a Christian mind. If all of these things are true, if God has made himself known, then why are there atheists?

Why do there exist people who outspokenly deny the existence of God, write books and make millions in royalties off of the books that proclaim their atheistic philosophy of life? Isn't that a denial of everything that we've said? If it's so clear and so obvious, then how could it be that anyone would deny it? It's important for us to have a fundamental framework of understanding the answer to that question. You know, because we need to address squarely the accusation perhaps, or to consider the question, is God's self-revelation actually unclear? Is it actually disputable in a way that men are justified in rejecting it or justified in having an agnostic approach, which agnostic saying, I don't know if there's a God or not, atheist saying there is no such thing as a God or a God? How are we to reconcile these things?

How do we explain unbelief in light of creation and the canon and conscience and Christ and conversion? Well, to deal with that question, I invite you to turn to Psalm 14, which we'll consider in a verse-by-verse manner here this evening. Psalm 14 helps us have perspective, especially as we interpret it with the benefit of other scriptures that address this same theme. We do not need to be intimidated.

We do not need to be troubled by the existence of atheists. Scripture makes it plain for us and helps us have a coherent worldview, a coherent view of life that accommodates everything that God has done to reveal himself and also those who descent from his revelation. Psalm 14, I'll read it from beginning to end, and then we'll go back verse-by-verse. In Psalm 14, verse 1, we read this. It is a psalm of David, and David, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, giving us the word of God on the matter, which is all that matters, is what God says about it.

We read this beginning in verse 1. The fool says in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They do abominable deeds. There is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside. Together they have become corrupt.

There is none who does good, not even one. Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord? There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You would shame the plans of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge. Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion when the Lord restores the fortunes of his people. Let Jacob rejoice.

Let Israel be glad. In a very broad, general sense, what we have here in Psalm 14 is this. David examines the corruption, the spiritual corruption of the human race, and he longs for Yahweh to establish his kingdom on earth. He looks at what's happening in the world.

He analyzes it. He mourns over it, and then he turns his attention to God who will restore his kingdom, restore his people, and vindicate them in their weakness and under the assault of the world. God will ultimately come to their rescue and prove that his truth was abiding all along. Now, Psalm 14 is a biblically prominent text of Scripture. It is repeated with some minor variation in Psalm 53. You can read those side by side and see the very close parallels between those two Psalms at another time. As we'll see in a little while, Psalm 14 is quoted at length in Romans chapter 3, where the apostle Paul establishes the universality of human guilt. And right in the core of perhaps the most important book in the Bible, if you can say such a thing. I do not like to say such a thing, but there is a reason why the book of Romans is put first at the head of all of the epistles throughout the church.

It's been recognized as having a unique singular importance because of the systematic way that it presents the foundational truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, with that little glimpse at Romans, what we need to understand to appreciate Psalm 14 is that the argument of Psalm 14 is central to the conviction and the condemnation that the apostle Paul brings against the entire human race as he's building his case and explaining the gospel in a systematic way from beginning to end. And so Paul, as he's making this great foundational document, what some have called some of the greatest literature in all of the history of man, Paul draws upon Psalm 14 and makes it a cornerstone of a central part of his argument. And so as you and I come tonight to Psalm 14 and we see how Scripture views Psalm 14, we come with humbled hearts, we come somewhat chastened, we come needing, recognizing that we need its instruction and we bow before the word of God and receive everything that it has to say. And we receive the word of God, we receive Psalm 14 over against those who would mock it and deny and criticize and try to undermine everything that we've been teaching in this series. It's so very important for you to know and to understand that to be a Christian is to take a decisive stand for the truth.

He just sang the hymn, More Love to Thee, O Christ, More Love to Thee. Well, one of the ways that we manifest our love for Christ is to stand for truth over against error, no matter how strong the error may seem to be, no matter how persuasive, no matter how powerful, no matter how intimidating, no matter how historical the error may be, we align ourselves consciously in submission, devotion, and loyalty to the truth of the word of God. And that's part of being a Christian, that's part of coming out of the world, standing apart from the world, standing apart from its thinking, rejecting this perverse generation to entrust ourselves to Christ and turn over to Him in the totality of our heart, soul, strength, and mind, our body, soul, and spirit, totally sanctified in the sense that we're totally set apart for the truth so that, you know, it would be the desire of our heart never to do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. And if that means that we have to oppose people who are better educated than we are, more articulate than we are, more eloquent than we are because of the way that they frame their lives and frame their philosophies against the word of God, then so be it. Beloved, remember the broader thing we're doing here is we're building a Christian mind. We're building a Christian mind, and part of that Christian mind says, I will stand against the world, I will stand against the lies, I will stand against those who contradict the word of God with all of my heart, soul, strength, and mind. And so Psalm 14 helps us because it explains so much of the worldly philosophies that we face as we uphold the existence of God before an unbelieving world. The title of tonight's message, atheists and God's existence.

Let's look at our first point tonight. What can we say about atheist? Number one, first point for this evening, the fool defies God. The fool defies God. And as we open this Psalm, David is weighed down by the environment in which he lives. He looks out on humanity. He assesses it rightly and realistically under the leading and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And he says this in verse one. He says, the fool says in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They do abominable deeds.

There is none who does good. What do we say about an atheist? More accurately, what does scripture say about those who deny the existence of God?

It holds back nothing. It convicts them and says those who take that position are fools. The term fool is a negative moral term. This is not a statement about someone lacking human intelligence.

It is a moral term indicating that there is culpability. The term fool marks someone who has made a moral decision, has made a volitional turn of his heart toward evil, toward rejecting God's testimony in order to pursue the wicked desires of his heart. He lives and speaks as if there is no God. James Montgomery Boice says this. He says the reason the person is a fool and not merely mistaken is that he knows there is a God and yet chooses to believe and act as if there is none, end quote.

He's not simply mistaken. As scripture makes plain and we'll see in a moment, it's not merely a mistaken lack of information, a mistaken judgment. Scripture says that God has made it known to every man about the reality of his existence so that to reject that testimony is the most foolish, evil thing that a man could do to reject it and say something to the contrary. It is to look into creation. It is to look into the canon of scripture. It is to look into the human conscience.

It is to look at the person of Christ. It is to look at Christian conversion and say, no, I deny it all. There is no God despite everything that has been said in all of those realms. And so the fool, the atheist, rejects the testimony of God. He rejects the fear of the Lord that could have led him to wisdom. And as a result, he consigns himself to a path that leads to ever increasing darkness and ultimately leads to eternal perdition. Beloved, what you and I have to understand as Christians, what you and I have to understand as we seek to build a biblical mind is that those who oppose the testimony of God are guilty of a morally culpable corruption in their heart. These men are destructive.

They have no redeemable trait. Look at verse one again with me as we emphasize what the Word of God says. And look, it's ultimately our responsibility. You know, it's not our desire to accommodate false religion. It's not our desire to accommodate those who oppose the Word of God. That's not our job. Our job is to be faithful to what the Word of God says because ultimately our loyalty and our accountability at the source of our life both physically and spiritually come from the person of God, from the person of Christ.

It is Christ who has redeemed our soul. And so the idea of trying to make amends and to make apologies to men who oppose the revelation that God has given and the work that God has done in our soul is just unthinkable. David says they are corrupt. They do abominable deeds.

There is none who does good. Think, for example, of college professors who try to rob sincere young people of their faith with mockery and intimidation in the classroom. This is corruption at its highest level. And it is no less demonic when it is done in a calm, soothing voice than if it was done by a raging lunatic on a city sidewalk someplace. The devil clothes himself in all kinds of different philosophies, clothes himself in all kinds of different demeanors so long as the deception is worked out, so long as the intimidation is worked out, so long as others are corrupted by the corruption in the heart of the one speaking. You know, the outward appearance of it is a matter of indifference to the devil. What you and I have to do is we have to look beyond the outward appearances and say, oh, but he's such a nice person.

Oh, but she's so pleasant to deal with. We have to look past all of that and let the Word of God interpret what we see rather than relying on our human perceptions of the people who propagate such philosophies rather than being intimidated by them or being sympathetic to their teaching because somehow we like them personally. That's an entirely wrong way to live. That is not operating according to a Christian mind. We must let the Word of God tell us what the truth is. And then interpret things accordingly rather than looking at the human outward manifestation of a kind of philosophy and then try to impose it on the Word of God, distort the Word of God, marginalize the Word of God, make apologies for someone's condition. No, we start with Scripture. And we start with Scripture alone. And Scripture here tells us what God has to say about the atheist, about the one denying his existence. He looks at them all and says, fool.

It's not that complicated. Now, the question is, why would they do that? Why would they look at all of this obvious testimony? Why would they suppress and deny the very thing that God has placed in their own heart as a testimony to his own existence?

Why would they do that? We'll turn over in the New Testament to the Gospel of John chapter 3. John chapter 3. And side by side with the wonderful verse of hope found in John 3.16, the promise of eternal life to every sinner who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Side by side with that, we see both the invitation and we see the reason for the rejection. Let's remind ourselves as believers gathered here together tonight, verse 16, of the wonderful grace of our marvelous Lord as found in the words of John 3.16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

A statement of the grace and the goodness of God and the reason that he sent Christ into the world. God is a saving God. God delights in the salvation of sinners. He is a forgiving, gracious, loving God and he delights in. He delights in forgiveness. He delights when men repent. Angels in heaven rejoice over the repentance of a single sinner more than they do over 99 righteous men who need no repentance.

This is the goodness of God, the kindness of God, the mercy, the love of God that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Verse 17, God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe, okay, now we're getting a pivot point here. We've seen the promise to those who believe but there are those that won't believe. And what are we to think of them?

What does Scripture say about them? Whoever does not believe is condemned already. He's living in a state of condemnation.

It's not just that he will be condemned at the final day. He is condemned now for his unbelief because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And so Scripture, side by side, you know, John 3.16 is, you know, is probably rightly described as the most famous verse in the Bible. What you and I need to do as we build a Christian mind is to keep reading, not stop at verse 16 as if that's the only verse in John chapter 3, let alone in the whole Bible.

Keep reading and see where Scripture goes. What are the consequences of unbelief? What are the consequences of rejecting Christ? The consequences of rejecting the gospel? It is condemnation. The gospel should not be trifled with.

It should not be taken for granted. The grace of God should not be abused or neglected simply for a failure of reading Scripture in its context. It's a state of condemnation, verse 18.

And why does this happen? Verse 19, this is the judgment. The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his works should be exposed.

Our Lord points to the human heart and says that heart is the reason for the rejection. It's not because the testimony is inadequate. It's not that there is something defective in God's revelation. The revelation is perfect.

It must be perfect. It comes from God himself. The corruption is found not in God, not in his revelation. The corruption is found in the human heart that refuses to bow the knee, refuses to receive the revelation that God has given. And why do they do that? Their works are evil.

There is moral corruption. They hate the light. They don't want the light because they don't want their works to be exposed. In other words, they love their sin as it is. They love self.

They love the world. They don't want to surrender that. They would rather have sin than God, and therein lies the foolishness of it all. Therein lies the moral corruption of it all. Don't let their rhetoric bully you, beloved.

They have a hidden agenda. Several years ago, there were a series of debates taking place between an atheist and someone who was at least theistic in his worldview. And in the course of one debate, there was a news report out in California about it, and they quoted one atheist saying this. One atheist said that religion is, and I quote, religion is a human-invented delusion that is sexually repressive and a threat to human survival, end quote. Now think about what that's saying, and think about it in light of the words that we find in John chapter 3. Jesus says they don't come to the light because they don't want their works exposed.

Their works are evil. This is a perfect interpretation of that statement. He rejects religion because it's sexually repressive to him. Acknowledging the presence of God means that there is a judge, and that would restrain sin. That would hinder his enjoyment of his lustful condition.

And so what does he do? He denies God in a futile effort to liberate his flesh for a time so that he can pursue things contrary to what his own conscience tells him. They hate the light. They don't come to the light lest perchance their works be exposed. Atheists, according to Scripture, this is not my interpretation of it, this is the teaching of the Word of God. Atheists are repressing. They are actively stifling what they know to be true. They stifle the truth. They silence their conscience as it speaks to them in order to deny God, and that's why they are such a fool. That's why it is so morally culpable to do that. They are saying these things and teaching these things contrary to what they know themselves to be true inside.

And as a result of that, mental and moral oblivion are the necessary result. Psalm 10 verse 4 says, In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him. All his thoughts are, there is no God. That's Psalm 10 verse 4.

And so, beloved, let me give you a simple illustration here. It's not that atheists don't get it. They get it.

They don't want it. And an atheist and a professing atheist is like a judge in a courtroom, a judge who has taken a bribe before hearing the case. What you have to understand is you look at a judge who has taken a bribe that no amount of evidence will cause that judge to render a right verdict in the case. The judge has a vested interest in the outcome that overrides considerations of the truth. In a human courtroom, a bribe judge has a financial interest in the outcome so that it doesn't matter how much evidence is presented.

It doesn't matter how persuasive the attorneys are. The outcome is decided in advance by things that are external to the actual evidence in like manner. Atheists have a vested interest in their self-autonomy and their sinful lives. If they acknowledged God, they would have to change. God is a threat to the way that they want to live, so in vain, they try to kill Him. That is why Scripture says, Scripture says this is why you see the phenomenon of atheists. It says nothing about the adequacy of God's self-revelation.