Admonition Podcast

We won't take the time to sing it, but if you would, go ahead and get your songbooks back
out and look at number 23.

Number 23, our God, is alive.

Read with me these words.

There is beyond the azure blue a God concealed from human sight.

He tinted his skies, tinted skies with heavenly hue and framed the worlds with his great
might.

There is a God.

He is alive.

In him we live and we survive from dust our God created man.

He is our God.

The great I am.

Brothers and sisters, there are many people in this world today who want to tell us that
God is dead.

There are many people in this world who will boldly proclaim, is no such thing as God and
if there were, He's gone.

There's no reason for us to assemble.

There's no reason for us to sing praises.

There are those who would say this, yes, but the facts do not add up to this.

The facts are not in their favor, but rather in the favor that there is indeed a God.

and not only that there is a God but that our God is alive.

And so today we're going to be considering three points concerning this proving, this idea
of proving that there is a God.

Proving that the God of the Bible is the God and that He is alive.

To begin with we want to notice a look at the Scriptures.

First and foremost that is our basis as the Scripture reveals to us what the truth is.

The scripture gives us all truth that we need.

And so we're going to first notice Psalm 19.

Psalm chapter 19.

As we look at the words of the Psalmist here, we consider the fact that this world around
us is so powerful, is so wonderful, and pointing our thoughts, our understanding to God

and to the fact that He is alive.

Starting in verse 1, The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament, showeth His
handiwork.

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.

There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

Their line is gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world.

In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his
chamber,

and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

His going forth is from the end of the heaven and his circuit unto the ends of it.

And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof." The psalmist points our thoughts, our
minds to the skies, to the world around us and says, look at what we see.

Look at the sun.

Look at the beauty of God's creation.

And in looking at this, we can't help but say there had to be a God.

There had to be one who fashioned this world.

One who took the time to paint, as it were, the canvas of the sky.

And looking at the detail, the fine detail, the fine tuning of this world.

Psalmist says that this is showing the handiwork of God.

This is pointing our thoughts, our minds to God.

Well, we also notice that in this, there is no language, that there is no people that
can't understand this.

In other words, God gave us a truth that can be understood no matter where you are on the
globe.

No matter what language you speak.

No matter if you've even heard of God, you can understand that someone had to have made
all that we see.

It can be easily understood that someone or something had to create the world we live in.

And the Bible tells us who that is.

The Bible tells us exactly who the one who made the world is.

We also look at Romans chapter one in verse 20.

And in Romans one in verse 20, Paul shows us that

We are without excuse.

We can't make the argument to say, there was no reason for me to believe that there had to
be a God.

Well, God, I know that you tell me in your word that I was supposed to do this, but I
didn't really think you were real.

We can't validly make that claim as if it excuses us.

But rather, we are held accountable by the fact that all can understand there is a God.

The world that God made points to the fact that He is real and that He is all-powerful.

And in so doing it should point us to a belief in God, a belief that leads us to obeying
His Word, or to obey His Word.

That's what God has left for us in this world.

And that's how we can know that there is a God, but we also look at the words that God has
left for us.

The Word of God shows to us that there is a God.

Now, you might say, well, we've just been looking at Scripture.

But, and while that is true, we have been looking at Scripture from the standpoint of
looking at the world.

But in Scripture, we find two specific things that point us to the fact that there is
indeed a God, that He is alive and that He is powerful.

The first being that of prophecy.

When we think about prophecy, one very important prophecy that comes to mind, one very
powerful prophecy, is that that's mentioned in Isaiah 44 concerning Cyrus.

If you would turn with me there to Isaiah 44.

We'll start in verse 28.

Thus saith that Seth of Cyrus, he is my shepherd, and he shall perform all my pleasure,
even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built, and to the temple thy foundation shall be

laid.

Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand have I holden, to subdue
nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings to open before him the two leaved

gates, and the gates shall not be shut."

when we look at this prophecy here.

Isaiah is writing to those Jews who were in error.

They were living their lives outside of God in violation of the law of God and Isaiah says
there's coming a day when you're going to pay for this.

There's coming a day when judgment is coming upon you because of your sin but not only
judgment.

Isaiah does not leave them with a message solely of judgment but a message of judgment and
then hope.

hope that after this judgment there will come a deliverer.

Ultimately that deliverer would be Christ, but along the way there would be other
deliverers.

And one that is pointed to is Cyrus.

Now, if you have studied any in world history, you know that Cyrus was king of the
Persians.

He was the one who united the Medes and the Persians into a formidable empire that
conquered the known world.

But when Isaiah was writing this, there was some 200 years before Cyrus was even born.

Isaiah mentions by name an emperor, a king who would come and who would lead Israel,
rather allow Israel to go back to Jerusalem to repair the temple, to rebuild the city of

Jerusalem.

And this is 200 years before.

I don't know about you, but I would say that's a fairly accurate prophecy.

Is it not?

And in this prophecy, Isaiah is not telling of himself, but rather pointing people to God.

He is saying that he got this prophecy from God.

And the prophecies that we read in Scripture, the prophecies that come from God, they
prove that there is a God.

They prove that there is a God who is powerful and who is all-knowing.

One who exists outside of time as he is able to see the future, the past, and the present
all at once.

Understanding all things.

But we also notice the prophecy in Daniel.

And Daniel chapter 2 verses 36 through 45, this is no doubt one that's very familiar to
all of us, as this is the image that Nebuchadnezzar dreams.

Nebuchadnezzar has this nightmare, the king of Babylon, he has this nightmare in which he
sees this image, this statue.

And as Daniel breaks down the meaning of the dream, as he is

Revealing the truth that God had revealed to him He notes that the head of gold of this
statue is that of Babylon But the the chest and arms that that's Medo-Persia and then as

you go down the statue you have Greece and Rome and finally concluding with this rock that
is not cut with hands that is cast at the bottom of the statue and the whole thing comes

crumbling down, but that rock stays firm

Now, we might say, okay, that's a funny story, but what does that have to do with
anything?

Well, as we understand that this prophecy is revealing the next several hundred years of
world history, and this one prophecy we have revealed for us uh a map of the world, if you

will.

A map of world history in a time when such a

Such a thought would be impossible to predict.

It would be impossible to guess correctly all the things that Daniel reveals in this
prophecy.

Of course, culminating in the kingdom of God coming to earth.

Rather, the kingdom of God being established and the kingdom in which we live in today as
Christians.

But thinking about this idea of prophecy, Daniel would not have been able to guess this.

He would not have been able to prophesy this correctly if it were not for God.

And so again we see that prophecy demands God.

Prophecy proves God.

but we also notice miracles.

First Kings chapter 18.

In First Kings chapter 18, we have one of the most powerful uh challenges, if you will.

A challenge that's issued by Elijah as he looks at these prophets of Baal, as he looks at
the prophets of Ashtaroth, and he looks at Israel as a whole and he says, how long, Hachi,

between two opinions?

How long are you going to straddle the fence as it were?

saying, well we serve Baal, but we also serve God.

Oh well you know sometimes we're more so following God, but then at other times we're
following Baal.

You know they're on equal levels.

Elijah says, how long are you going to do this?

In essence he says, pick a side.

If Baal be God, serve him.

But if God be God, serve him.

And so this challenge is issued where the prophets of Baal and Asheroth will

build an altar to Baal.

They'll build an altar that they will not light.

They'll lay the sacrifice on the altar, but they will not light it.

They'll have to pray to Baal and see if Baal would burn the sacrifice, would accept the
offering.

Elijah, of course, would do the same, but as Baal is given the first go of it, so to
speak, nothing happens.

The prophets of Baal, they pray.

They're screaming out to their God.

Even going so far as to cut themselves.

Begging their God to perform this act, this feat, this miracle.

But nothing happens.

It's quite humorous to see what Elijah does here as he looks at these prophets and he
says, oh, cry a little louder.

Maybe your God's on a far trip.

oh You know, maybe he's in the restroom and he just can't hear you right now.

but of course there is no such thing as Baal.

And as is seen here, nothing happens.

But then it's Elijah's turn, then it's God's turn.

And Elijah says, just lay the sacrifice on the altar, no.

I want you to cover it in water.

I want you to dig a trench around this altar and fill it with water.

There is no way on earth that this altar would have been dry enough to have caught fire.

There's no way by my man's hands that this altar would have been caught ablaze.

But yet after one prayer that Elijah offers, fire comes down from heaven and consumes the
offering, the altar, the water, and even the dust.

of that area is lapped up in this fire, thus proving indeed our God is alive and He is
powerful.

He is mighty, far more so than any false God that men can think up, that men can try to
put their faith in.

God is more powerful.

And we see this also in the book of Exodus with the ten plagues.

Each of these ten plagues that are levied against Egypt attacks one of their chief gods.

Keep in mind Egypt was a place where idolatry was rampant and they had many gods.

Many idols that they worshiped and some of them became quite interesting in what they did,
how they

were supposed to have looked, but as we go through the list of the plagues, these
magicians of Pharaoh, they try to recreate these plagues as if to say, yeah, your God is

doing this, but that's nothing special.

But when you get down to verse 18 of chapter 8, you find that they were unable to recreate
the plague of Lys.

Though they tried to match God's power, they failed.

And they continue to fail again and again.

because no one can stand up to God.

No one can match God's power.

but he's powerless if he's not alive.

If God is not real, then what was going on here?

No, brothers and sisters, God is real.

God is real and He showed Himself in the Old Testament through miracles.

He showed Himself in the Word of God through prophecies and miracles, but He did not leave
us with words alone.

And in some cases people will look at what we claim as Christians and they say, well,
that's all well and good, but that's just your Bible.

You know, I can't believe something just because it's written in your Bible.

Well, as we can readily attest, yes you can, because the Bible is the truth.

It is the Word of God.

But for those who do not believe such, there are other ways available to us to show that
God is alive.

To point people to the fact that, God exists, yes, He is alive, and yes, His Word is
truth.

And so, for the next two points, we'll be considering two arguments that are made.

in defense of the existence of God.

One is that of the moral argument.

In this argument, we have two premises and a conclusion, just as in any logical argument
that is made.

The first premise being, if God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not
exist.

Premise two.

Objective moral values and duties do exist.

Therefore, conclusion...

God exists.

In essence, we're saying that the fact that morality exists, the fact that we can have an
objective standard of morality points to the fact that there is a God.

Because if not, then who created the standard?

Who established the standard?

People today will try to look at us and say, well, I believe in moral relativism.

Well, that's all well and good until you steal their wallet and then they start suddenly
believing in the standard.

We cannot say with any form of logic, with any form of truth and sincerity that morals are
subjective.

They are not.

There is an objective moral standard and that standard originates from God.

When we look at moral absolutes, we consider Romans chapter 2.

Look with me there.

Romans chapter 2.

starting in verse 14.

For when the Gentiles which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law,
these having not the law are law unto themselves which show the work of the law written in

their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while
accusing or else excusing one another.

Paul is saying here that these Gentiles, these heathens, while they didn't have the law of
Moses, they were still keeping tenets of the law of Moses.

They were still following after things such as is wrong to murder, such as it is right to
treat others fairly.

Things that are revealed to us in the scripture, revealed to us in the law of Moses, but
these Gentiles were doing it anyway.

And Paul is pointing to this to say that they had a moral standard.

They had morality within themselves.

That they understood this standard.

Because in every single one of us as human beings we have innate within us a moral
standard.

Now this is not to say that we have some kind of miraculous direct knowledge, no.

But God did place within each of us

an understanding of what is and is not morality, is and is not moral.

Sadly though, there are those who have corrupted their sense of understanding.

Who have over time corrupted their understanding of what is and is not moral.

Paul again would talk about these in his letter to Timothy as he would say that they had
their conscience seared with a hot iron.

They did wrong over and over and over again until that little voice in the back of their
head, that conscience that they have,

decided to let them win, gave up trying as it were.

but within each of us is an understanding of moral absolutes.

We also look at 1 Corinthians 5 verses 1 and following.

And writing to the church in Corinth, Paul is addressing many issues as Corinth had its
share of struggles, its share of misunderstandings of scripture.

But in chapter 5, he addresses a situation which is terrible.

A situation in which a man had his father's wife and Paul rebukes this situation and he
says this is not even named among the Gentiles.

As bad as these people who are following their own lusts who are completely ignoring God
as bad as they are, they haven't done something as bad as what you're promoting, as what

you're condoning within you, within your church.

And so Paul is warning them, he's telling them, you need to cast out this leaven.

You need to get rid of this sin.

And so that the lump is not corrupted.

So that the whole church is not corrupted.

He is telling them to address the problem.

But don't miss the fact that he points to the fact that the Gentiles understood this was
wrong.

Were the Gentiles following God?

Not these that Paul is speaking of.

They were not following God and yet they understood that what this young man was doing was
wrong.

How?

How can this be?

How can we understand that something is wrong without having a standard?

Without having a moral standard?

It's not possible.

Murder, adultery, all these different things we could list, we understand that they are
always, always

Always wrong.

but we can if there is no standard.

at the close of World War II, the Nazi officers and soldiers were put on trial for war
crimes, for crimes against humanity.

And in these Nuremberg trials, it was argued, well, they were just following their law.

They were just following their orders that they had been given, so they did not commit any
kind of crime, any kind of wrongdoing, because they were simply following orders.

But as the justices presiding over the case considered what was happening, they realized
that no, they didn't break German law.

But what they did break was a higher law.

They broke a moral law.

and where, pray tell, did that law come from?

It came from God.

He is the only one who is morally pure enough, who is morally superior enough to give us a
standard by which we can understand right and wrong.

When we think about God giving us this standard, is not some kind of flippant uh
subjective thing, no.

The standard of morality is the character of God.

What God would or would not do as his character determines is what morality is.

God is not a God who lies, therefore we understand that lying is immoral.

And on and on we could go talking about this, but the point remains that it is never right
to do wrong, but it is never wrong to do right.

There is a moral standard.

And that moral standard points to the fact that there is indeed a God, for God is the
absolute standard of morality.

We also note what is called the teleological argument.

Now, it's a big word, but it's a rather simple argument.

The argument goes that every design has a designer.

For instance, we understand that the watch you see on the screen has a designer.

It did not just poof into existence.

Then we note that the universe has a highly complex design.

It appears to be designed, therefore,

the universe has a designer.

The universe in and of itself points to the fact that it has to have a designer.

It has to be designed.

But who did the designing?

Who was the architect behind this world?

That of course we know as Christians is God.

We'll look at some examples of the design that we see in nature.

We'll look at the flagellar motor.

Now, on the screen you see an electric motor rotor.

That's a tongue twister if you say it three times fast.

But what this thing is, is as it suggests, it is a motor.

When electricity is sent into this motor, it runs through those copper wires you see and
it produces a movement of the shaft.

We would not look at this and say, well, isn't this an amazing evolution?

Isn't it amazing that when all these things came together in a junkyard and a massive
explosion happened this motor came into being isn't that just incredible?

If it were true, it would be pretty incredible, but it's not and no one in their right
mind would believe that

But I want you to look at what's on the screen now.

This

is almost an exact replica, is almost exactly the same as this, as the motor we just
showed.

And yet that exists within yourselves.

That exists within a bacteria, a tiny microscopic bacteria, and yet it works the same with
sending electricity and protons through it that allows the movement, that allows the shaft

to turn.

and produces motion.

But all these things that go into making this motor, all the fine details, all the little
pieces by themselves would not work.

By themselves could not produce this motor.

There is no way in which it could have evolved.

And so we ask the question, as we look at this man-made motor,

and we look at this motor that's within the cell, we ask the question, well, which one was
designed and which one evolved?

If it is so impossible to believe that a man-made motor that's not as special, that's not
as finely detailed as this thing that exists in the cell, how on earth

Can we think how on earth could we claim that it evolved?

It's not possible.

We also look at the cell in general.

Within the cell is a lot of things that I couldn't tell you about as I am not a biology
professor or even did, I didn't do that good in biology in school.

But even I can understand.

There's a lot going on there.

There's a lot going on in the cell.

And as you look at the very center of that cell is the nucleus.

That's what some people would refer to as the power plant of the cell.

But when we consider this idea of power plants, we wouldn't look at a nuclear power plant
and say, well, this is a nice evolved thing that we see before us that it just poofed into

existence.

Hey, free energy.

It's great.

No, we understand that it took time to build it, that it took time to design the processes
that the safety features to make sure that there wouldn't be a meltdown like we had in

Chernobyl.

That there is care taken, there is careful design taken in making a nuclear power plant or
any power plant for that instance or for that matter.

And so if we were to say that it's logical to say and it's logical to conclude that that
power plant had a designer, why is it so impossible to say that a cell had a designer?

That the cell that exists within each of us has a designer.

I'd argue, and many others would as well, that it's not illogical.

It's not impossible, but rather it proves and it points to the fact that we indeed have a
designer.

One who is far, far wiser than any of us.

Who knew exactly how to make this world so that it worked perfectly.

One final example we'll notice is that of DNA.

DNA is...

something that is amazing.

If you ever have a spare couple hours and you want to do some deep dive, look up DNA.

Look up just how intricate it really is.

And every single person has a different DNA, has a different set of DNA.

It's unique to each individual person.

There are some eight billion people on this world today and yet each one of them has a
different set of DNA, has a different

chain of DNA.

The evolutionists would look at this and they'd say, well, that's a great example of
evolution, of how simple organisms evolved and got new processes, new mutations and

different things to form what we have today.

But there's just one problem.

DNA can't It's not that it would be difficult, it would be hard to explain.

No, it physically could not evolve.

Because in order to make DNA, you have to have a cell.

In order to have a cell, you have to have protein.

Well, how do you get protein?

It doesn't just poof into existence, it comes from DNA.

DNA gives the information that's needed by the cell to produce protein, which then
reproduces and repairs the cell and the DNA.

It's a chain that if one link is broken, the whole chain falls apart.

DNA could not exist unless it was every bit that was needed was put there at the exact
same time.

It's amazing to see the design that God shows us in this world today.

It's amazing to see how complex a designer our God is.

Look with me at Psalm 139 and verse 14 as we begin to close.

Psalm 139 and verse 14.

Here the psalmist writes, will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well.

I think we can all give David a hearty amen when looking at who we are, when looking at
this world around us that indeed it is beautifully made.

And indeed our God is an amazing designer.

But the fact is

We can understand through logic, through science, through the Word of God itself that
there is a God and that He is alive.

But the question that comes to each of us is, is He your God?

Is He my God?

We sing the song, Our God is Alive, but sometimes I fear that He is not our God.

He cannot be your God if you have not put Him on

the throne of your heart.

Now God, is who He is regardless of whether or not we believe in Him, but if He is not the
Lord of your life and He is not your God, you have no claim to Him.

You have no claim to the reward that He's offering.

But praise be to God, praise be that He provides for us a way to be saved, a way to make
Him the Lord of our lives.

a way to be in the church the kingdom that was prophesied a Way to be on our way to the
most beautiful and wonderful place that's ever existed that being heaven But if you have

not become a Christian, then you're not on that path you're on the path that leads to
destruction and many there are that go in there at but

you can make that right today.

We stand ready to help you fix any problem that stands between you and your God.

If we can help you to have a right relationship with God, to truly say that He is your
God, then please come forward now.