WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.140 To the choir master, the text says, of David, the fool says in his heart, there is no God. 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:13.960 They are corrupt. They do abominable deeds. There is none who does good. 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:20.339 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 00:00:20.900 --> 00:00:23.780 They have all turned aside. Together they have become corrupt. 00:00:24.379 --> 00:00:27.420 There is none who does good, not even one. 00:00:27.420 --> 00:00:34.060 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord? 00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:38.679 There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. 00:00:39.900 --> 00:00:43.420 You would shame the plans of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge. 00:00:44.219 --> 00:00:47.100 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion. 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:53.420 When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice. Let Israel be glad. 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:56.079 This is God's holy word. Let's pray. 00:00:57.420 --> 00:01:11.240 Lord, as we turn now to your word, we ask that you would silence all the voices in our hearts and deep down in our souls that are blocking our ability to see, to hear, to receive your word tonight. 00:01:11.480 --> 00:01:21.560 And we ask, Lord, that you would do the work you love to do, the work of the Spirit, to open our minds, open our hearts to receive Christ and to receive your word tonight. 00:01:21.560 --> 00:01:23.760 And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:01:26.240 --> 00:01:33.240 This is a wisdom psalm, and it's a wisdom psalm because it's in the category of wisdom because it talks about the nature of the fool. 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:42.459 So the work that it's doing for us is trying to say what a fool is so that we can know, so that we don't become fools or stop being fools. 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:46.239 And, you know, foolishness, the nature of foolishness, that's something we all want to know about. 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:48.299 We don't want to be fools in our lives. 00:01:48.299 --> 00:02:02.560 But when you look at the concept of foolishness, it has been defined in lots of different ways across world history and in cultures and genres and literature and music and lots of different ways people think about the fool. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:16.599 So in Shakespeare, the fool is the commoner who critiques the king, the person of power, and plays the role of the cynical jokester, you know, the court jester image of the fool. 00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:21.340 But that is not at all like what Tina Turner says about the fool, right? 00:02:21.420 --> 00:02:28.199 And when you read, listen, to Tina Turner about the fool, she says that when I fall in love, I become a fool for you. 00:02:28.199 --> 00:02:34.879 And so a person in love, we say, that person has become a fool in love with somebody. 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:39.359 That's not at all like what Alexander Pope said about foolishness. 00:02:39.459 --> 00:02:45.079 And Alexander Pope, the English poet, he coined that very famous phrase that people use, 00:02:45.579 --> 00:02:48.439 fools rush in where angels fear to tread. 00:02:49.019 --> 00:02:55.699 And he meant by that that the fool rushes headfirst into a situation that they have no experience in, they know nothing about, 00:02:55.699 --> 00:02:57.699 or even an angel wouldn't do that. 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:00.839 You know, they're reckless, they're dumb, they're foolish. 00:03:01.619 --> 00:03:04.419 So that's probably the most common way we think about the fool. 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:09.839 And in Psalm 14, really none of those definitions are in view. 00:03:10.079 --> 00:03:12.780 The fool in Psalm 14 is a technical term. 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:14.639 The fool. 00:03:15.659 --> 00:03:21.099 And David comes and gives us a real definition for it, a very clear definition for it. 00:03:21.979 --> 00:03:24.219 What does the Bible say about the fool? 00:03:24.219 --> 00:03:26.359 What makes a person a fool? 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:28.939 So let's look at that. 00:03:29.300 --> 00:03:32.060 I just want to point out two things to you about the definition of the fool. 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:38.560 First, David says the fool is someone who believes that God is not real. 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:42.680 And so in verse 1, he says it really explicitly. 00:03:42.819 --> 00:03:45.139 The fool says in his heart there is no God. 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:49.620 And that means that to be a fool is not an issue of intelligence. 00:03:49.860 --> 00:03:51.500 It's not about being smart or not smart. 00:03:51.500 --> 00:03:53.280 So you can be a genius. 00:03:54.020 --> 00:03:57.539 You can have had so much education and so little education. 00:03:57.819 --> 00:04:06.759 You can be very successful in life and be very wise with money and not succumb to what Alexander Pope was talking about, recklessness, that type of foolishness. 00:04:06.759 --> 00:04:11.299 And yet the Bible comes and says in the biblical sense of the technical term, be a fool. 00:04:12.079 --> 00:04:15.979 Because a fool is simply a person who says that God is not real. 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:19.680 And you can see what David says about that. 00:04:19.740 --> 00:04:22.680 He says the fool says in his heart there is no God. 00:04:22.779 --> 00:04:23.039 Where? 00:04:23.899 --> 00:04:28.039 And he puts that very, very important little phrase in his heart, in her heart. 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:34.720 And in the Old Testament, in the Bible, the heart is the epicenter of the self. 00:04:34.900 --> 00:04:37.120 And it's different than the way we think about the heart. 00:04:37.700 --> 00:04:42.860 So for modern people, even when we're talking about the heart metaphorically, we think about the heart as the place of emotion. 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:46.680 But in the Old Testament, the heart is far more than that. 00:04:46.740 --> 00:04:49.600 The heart is that from which we reason. 00:04:50.420 --> 00:04:51.660 That from which we think. 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:54.180 It's really the very center of the soul. 00:04:54.180 --> 00:04:55.519 And so it includes the emotions. 00:04:55.699 --> 00:04:57.040 It includes the will. 00:04:57.379 --> 00:05:01.220 But it's the place of desire out of which we make decisions, out of which we reason. 00:05:01.939 --> 00:05:04.400 And so David comes here and effectively tells us this. 00:05:04.459 --> 00:05:04.980 Here's the point. 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:05.560 Here's the point. 00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:17.819 The fool, the Bible teaches, is a person whose heart is willfully proud and therefore refuses to believe in the real God. 00:05:17.819 --> 00:05:24.560 So the fool is the person whose heart is blocking them from believing in the real God because of pride. 00:05:25.219 --> 00:05:29.240 And the pride of the heart reasons that there is no God. 00:05:29.339 --> 00:05:29.980 There is no creator. 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:31.159 There is no master of the universe. 00:05:32.159 --> 00:05:35.579 And that the real God, the God of the Bible, is not the master of the universe. 00:05:35.579 --> 00:05:48.439 Now, there is a temptation tonight to come into, if you're a Christian, if you're a person who believes in the spiritual realm, to come and say, 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:51.620 David, I'm with you 100%. 00:05:51.620 --> 00:05:52.879 The atheists. 00:05:53.919 --> 00:05:55.240 The atheists are the fools. 00:05:55.579 --> 00:05:57.279 The fool says in his heart there is no God. 00:05:57.899 --> 00:06:01.919 And it's the atheist who David is talking about here, the intellectual, the theoretical atheist. 00:06:02.259 --> 00:06:03.039 They are the fools. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:12.680 And is David talking here about the Dawkins and the Hitchens of the past decade or the Alex O'Connors of today? 00:06:13.140 --> 00:06:14.379 Is that who he's talking about? 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:16.000 And the answer is yes, but wait. 00:06:17.320 --> 00:06:18.920 Because he says, hold on a second. 00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:21.660 Because there's a temptation to say, you get them, David. 00:06:22.840 --> 00:06:23.540 The atheists. 00:06:23.860 --> 00:06:26.720 Then there's a progression here and you've got to keep going in the text. 00:06:26.860 --> 00:06:29.220 And you just look down to the next line. 00:06:30.220 --> 00:06:31.920 He says, they are corrupt. 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:33.480 They do abominable deeds. 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:35.819 Who is this they that's being talked about here? 00:06:36.460 --> 00:06:41.319 And when you read the rest of the passage, the they shows up, verse 3, verse 4, verse 5. 00:06:41.819 --> 00:06:43.020 They have all turned aside. 00:06:43.540 --> 00:06:47.300 They eat up my people like they eat bread. 00:06:47.400 --> 00:06:49.379 They eat the flesh of my people as they eat bread. 00:06:49.620 --> 00:06:51.160 Who is the they that's being talked about? 00:06:51.300 --> 00:06:58.319 And the commentators will say that David has all this language here that's referencing all these other moments in the Old Testament. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:03.360 And he's pulling into his mind the history of Israel right here. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:13.300 And he's thinking about all the evildoers, the corrupt, the abominable deeds of the nations that have eaten up the flesh of God's covenant people, Israel. 00:07:13.840 --> 00:07:14.759 And so who's he thinking about? 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:15.580 He's thinking about Egypt. 00:07:15.579 --> 00:07:19.539 He's thinking here about, in his own time, the Philistines. 00:07:19.599 --> 00:07:24.879 He's thinking, well, he's not thinking, but later the same thing we'll see in Babylon and Persia and Rome. 00:07:25.060 --> 00:07:30.680 And you see the history of Israel as so many different pagan nations that come and say, 00:07:31.099 --> 00:07:35.539 the Lord is not God, and come and eat up the flesh, metaphorically, of the people. 00:07:35.620 --> 00:07:36.219 They crush them. 00:07:36.279 --> 00:07:36.799 They kill them. 00:07:36.860 --> 00:07:37.599 They take their land. 00:07:38.039 --> 00:07:39.360 David's thinking about that here. 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:40.920 Now, who's the they? 00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:44.620 Egypt, Babylon. 00:07:45.280 --> 00:07:48.720 The they are polytheists, not atheists. 00:07:49.699 --> 00:07:54.720 And there is nobody in the ancient Near East hardly at all who was an atheist in the way we think about it. 00:07:55.340 --> 00:07:59.960 There's nobody in the ancient Near East who was a theoretical, intellectual atheist like Richard Dawkins. 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:00.699 Nobody at all. 00:08:00.699 --> 00:08:10.800 But David says they, the pagan nations, the polytheists, the world religions, they also say in their heart there is no God, and they are the fools. 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:12.839 And so what is the fool? 00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:14.879 What does that extend our definition to? 00:08:15.060 --> 00:08:26.279 He's teaching us here that the fool is the person not only who says there is no God, but who says the Lord of the Bible, the God of the Bible, is not the real God. 00:08:26.279 --> 00:08:33.839 Including the spiritualists, the pagans, the polytheists, the world religions, the atheists, the intellectual atheists, the theoretical atheists. 00:08:34.980 --> 00:08:39.139 Boy, there's a temptation here to stop and say, David, I'm with you. 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:51.519 If you're a Christian tonight, if you come here as a confessing, professing believer, and you say, agreed, it's the atheists that are the fools in the technical sense of the world, and it's polytheists and the world religions. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:58.340 But the text, again, says, hold on for a sec and keep working your way down. 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:05.100 And in the third line here, verse 1, David, it's almost as if I think David realizes something. 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:08.199 He goes from saying, the fool says in his heart there is no God. 00:09:08.319 --> 00:09:10.419 They, the nations, are corrupt. 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:11.659 They do abominable deeds. 00:09:11.740 --> 00:09:14.539 But then he says, there is none who does good. 00:09:14.539 --> 00:09:24.500 And it's as if David looked at himself and realized, when I said the fool says in their heart there is no God, I forgot for a moment. 00:09:24.740 --> 00:09:26.719 But I've got to include who. 00:09:28.740 --> 00:09:30.199 And just go down to verse 2 with me. 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:35.139 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:36.059 And that's language. 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:36.799 Where's that language? 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:41.839 If you've read the Old Testament or the first few books of the Bible, you may recognize that language. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:53.259 That is language being drawn from the moments before the flood and the moments before the Tower of Babel where God looks down and he says, is there anybody who understands? 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:57.019 Is there anybody who says in their heart the real God is God? 00:09:57.379 --> 00:10:00.019 And the answer that God comes to in Genesis was no. 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:00.899 There's nobody. 00:10:00.899 --> 00:10:05.740 And then David gives us, we don't need any more proof than this in verse 3. 00:10:06.519 --> 00:10:08.579 He says, they have all turned aside. 00:10:08.959 --> 00:10:10.059 Together they've become corrupt. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:12.319 There is none who does good, not one. 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:27.860 And we saw tonight already in the call to worship that that is the famous text that Paul quotes in Romans 3 to say, Jew and Gentile, covenant people or not, there is none who does good. 00:10:27.860 --> 00:10:34.740 You see, David realized what he started to come to as he asked the question, who is the fool who says in his heart there is no God? 00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:41.460 And the only right answer that David realized he has to come to is it's the person sitting in this pulpit or this chair. 00:10:41.620 --> 00:10:42.259 It's me. 00:10:43.100 --> 00:10:43.899 It's everybody. 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:46.840 He said, it's not just the pagan nations. 00:10:46.899 --> 00:10:48.279 It's not just a theoretical atheist. 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:49.180 It is everybody. 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:51.960 The fool says in his heart there is no God and that is me. 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:53.680 That's who the fool is. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:11:08.819 And tonight you can come and say, you know, your head may say the Lord is the real God, but you still know that when you pull back the layers of the heart, even as a Christian, that the heart still struggles so much with practical atheism. 00:11:09.959 --> 00:11:18.179 And saying all the time in our day-to-day lives, well, I believe with my head that there is a God, but my heart all the time is overwhelming that and saying there is no God. 00:11:18.179 --> 00:11:21.419 And David realizes it's him. 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:22.599 It's us. 00:11:23.879 --> 00:11:35.679 Now, if you are an intellectually committed atheist tonight or agnostic and you come to a passage like this that does talk about atheism and you think, I'm not convinced that the evidence is there. 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:40.359 I'm not convinced yet that God has revealed himself and that there is enough there. 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:52.720 I don't want to try to do an apologetic argument or anything like that right now, but I do want to say that this text says, I want you to face something and it's at least to understand what the Bible teaches. 00:11:52.940 --> 00:12:02.659 And the Bible says that it is the pride of your heart that is blocking your ability to reason that there is a real God. 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:06.680 In other words, it's not ultimately a problem of the intellect. 00:12:06.899 --> 00:12:07.860 It's a problem of the heart. 00:12:08.060 --> 00:12:09.279 That's what David teaches here. 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:18.799 But, and the Bible is in no way picking on an atheist in this room or anywhere else because David turns around and says, it's the same problem that I have. 00:12:19.740 --> 00:12:27.959 It's the same problem that all of us has, that the pride of my heart is blocking me in my day-to-day life from saying the real God is God in every way. 00:12:28.779 --> 00:12:30.220 He's saying it's universal. 00:12:30.740 --> 00:12:32.179 It's not an intellectual issue. 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:33.259 It's not a theoretical issue. 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:37.139 It's a heart issue and it's a pride issue at the bottom of our souls. 00:12:37.139 --> 00:12:39.059 You could go down a layer. 00:12:39.439 --> 00:12:50.080 I think you can read this in the light of the whole Bible and uncover a layer, a layer of the heart with the New Testament calls epi desire or the deepest domain of desire. 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:56.020 And if we were to pull that back, that curtain on all our hearts, I think what this text is teaching is this. 00:12:56.139 --> 00:13:06.040 The real issue is that the heart, all of our hearts set up rival gods that stand against the real God. 00:13:07.300 --> 00:13:10.700 The issue is not an issue really of atheism or theism. 00:13:10.700 --> 00:13:18.680 The issue is that in every single one of our hearts, we've got rival gods that we are chasing after and worshiping that have replaced the real God. 00:13:19.160 --> 00:13:24.900 And the rival, the little gods in our hearts are going to war against the fact that the true God really has revealed himself. 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:25.720 That's the issue. 00:13:25.800 --> 00:13:28.120 That's the issue how Paul teaches it in the New Testament. 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:29.420 That's what the Bible says. 00:13:29.419 --> 00:13:37.259 You see, the heart of atheism, both theoretical atheism or practical atheism, is actually a religious heart. 00:13:38.759 --> 00:13:41.139 And it's that every single one of us are religious people. 00:13:41.939 --> 00:13:45.039 And we're worshiping something, we're chasing something, we're pursuing something. 00:13:45.379 --> 00:13:51.639 And it's actually blocking or getting in the way of seeing the truth about the real God as he's revealed himself. 00:13:51.639 --> 00:14:05.379 Now, I know that earlier this week, I decided to quote David Foster Wallace long before David Quirt decided to quote David Foster Wallace this morning. 00:14:06.100 --> 00:14:17.700 But he was up first today, and it just so happened, without us talking at all, that David quoted the exact quote that is written in my sermon notes from David Foster Wallace. 00:14:17.700 --> 00:14:23.080 And so what I decided to do this afternoon was to quote around David's quote to fill in the context. 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:30.960 Because David Foster Wallace, the late agnostic novelist, gave this very famous address at Kenyon College, a commencement speech. 00:14:32.200 --> 00:14:35.560 And I'll just give you a bit of what David quoted from him this morning. 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:40.520 In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, he says, this is coming from an agnostic. 00:14:40.660 --> 00:14:45.140 He says, in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. 00:14:45.139 --> 00:14:48.740 There is no such thing as not worshiping. 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:50.120 Everybody worships. 00:14:50.179 --> 00:14:52.960 The only choice we get is what to worship. 00:14:54.360 --> 00:15:02.340 And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of God or spiritual thing to worship is that pretty much anything else you choose will eat you alive. 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:08.759 If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough. 00:15:08.840 --> 00:15:10.059 You'll never feel like you have enough. 00:15:10.679 --> 00:15:14.179 On one level, we all know this stuff, he writes. 00:15:14.179 --> 00:15:20.059 It's been codified as myths and proverbs and cliches and epigrams and parables. 00:15:20.419 --> 00:15:22.459 It's the skeleton of every great story. 00:15:24.319 --> 00:15:27.620 Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid. 00:15:27.819 --> 00:15:32.599 And you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. 00:15:32.899 --> 00:15:34.120 And here's what I really want you to hear tonight. 00:15:34.279 --> 00:15:37.159 This is exactly what Psalm 14 is teaching. 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:42.980 But, he writes, the insidious thing about these forms of worship is that they are unconscious. 00:15:45.139 --> 00:15:47.379 He says they are our default settings. 00:15:48.500 --> 00:15:52.360 They're the kind of worship you just gradually slip into day by day. 00:15:52.719 --> 00:15:58.779 Getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that's what you're doing. 00:15:58.779 --> 00:16:02.399 Now, Wallace is picking up on exactly what Psalm 14 is saying. 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:03.039 He gets it. 00:16:03.779 --> 00:16:14.860 Psalm 14 is saying it is the default setting of the human heart to slip into putting a rival God in the heart set against the real God who is revealing himself. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:20.039 And Wallace points out the insidious thing is most of the time we don't realize it. 00:16:20.539 --> 00:16:21.620 We're not aware of it. 00:16:21.620 --> 00:16:25.899 We're always slipping into worshiping something and we don't know it. 00:16:26.019 --> 00:16:30.500 And it's pride that's pushing away the truth of the real God as he has revealed himself. 00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:40.200 And so the heart, the real heart of theoretical atheism, the real heart of practical atheism is that our hearts say with Friedrich Nietzsche, what did Nietzsche say? 00:16:40.259 --> 00:16:45.440 He said, if God exists, then I am not God. 00:16:46.139 --> 00:16:47.480 Therefore, God does not exist. 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:53.340 And that's really what's going on in the bottom of all our hearts according to the biblical diagnosis. 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:58.080 And Dostoevsky, the Russian author, also, he talks about this. 00:16:58.139 --> 00:17:01.060 He talks about the motives that are in play underneath this. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:03.820 He said, the heart presupposes this. 00:17:03.960 --> 00:17:05.460 What's really going on in the bottom of my soul? 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:05.860 It's this. 00:17:06.120 --> 00:17:08.860 If God doesn't exist, all is permitted. 00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:12.059 If God doesn't exist, all is permitted. 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:14.460 If God doesn't exist, my heart says I can do whatever I want. 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:15.720 I can be with whoever I want. 00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:21.400 And Thomas Nagel, the NYU philosopher, put it so well in his book, The Last Word. 00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:31.200 He said, I want atheism to be true, and I'm made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. 00:17:32.019 --> 00:17:36.500 It isn't just that I don't believe in God and naturally hope that I'm right in my belief. 00:17:37.259 --> 00:17:40.720 He said, it is that I hope there is no God. 00:17:41.360 --> 00:17:43.019 I don't want there to be a God. 00:17:43.019 --> 00:17:45.619 I don't want the universe to be like that. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:49.980 And you see, he's expressing the truth of the heart. 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:52.920 He's saying, at the bottom of every one of our souls is the desire. 00:17:53.579 --> 00:17:56.279 It's to say, if there is a God, then I would not be. 00:17:56.379 --> 00:17:57.400 Therefore, there is no God. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:17:58.299 And that's the real issue. 00:17:58.400 --> 00:17:59.660 That's at the heart of all atheism. 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:03.099 Practical atheism, theoretical atheism. 00:18:03.099 --> 00:18:13.039 And Leo Tolstoy, also in the 19th century, he thought about this so much, and it led him into this existential crisis when he was 50 years old. 00:18:13.079 --> 00:18:14.779 You may have heard of this, the famous Russian author. 00:18:15.299 --> 00:18:26.179 And he wrote very famously, if this is true, if there is no God, is there any meaning in my life that the inevitable death awaiting me will not destroy? 00:18:26.180 --> 00:18:32.519 If there is no God, is there any meaning in my life that the inevitability of death will not destroy? 00:18:33.299 --> 00:18:36.880 And you see, what he's pointing to there is the greatest problem of atheism. 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:38.620 The atheism we all struggle with. 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:40.299 And the greatest problem is this. 00:18:41.560 --> 00:18:44.440 The little rival gods will not save us. 00:18:45.700 --> 00:18:48.620 The little rival gods will die just like we will. 00:18:48.619 --> 00:18:56.559 The little rival gods that we put and we worship and we chase after cannot bear the weight of intellectual and existential needs of truth. 00:18:56.899 --> 00:18:57.719 They can't save us. 00:18:57.779 --> 00:18:58.619 They can't do it for us. 00:18:58.679 --> 00:19:00.379 They can't bring us satisfaction. 00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:08.919 And so the Bible says here that we know the true God, but our pride says, I am the master of my own life. 00:19:09.939 --> 00:19:11.259 And therefore, God does not exist. 00:19:11.259 --> 00:19:20.480 Secondly, finally, to the rest of us, to all of us in this room, I wonder if anybody feels like this tonight. 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:26.180 Most of us in this room will come tonight and say, I am not a theoretical atheist. 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:27.859 I'm a believer. 00:19:28.039 --> 00:19:29.099 I believe in the spiritual realm. 00:19:29.180 --> 00:19:30.099 I'm a Christian believer. 00:19:30.259 --> 00:19:32.079 In fact, I'm a Christian theist. 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:37.920 But I struggle with not wanting God on a day-to-day basis. 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:41.380 I struggle with not thinking of God on a day-to-day basis. 00:19:41.500 --> 00:19:44.100 I struggle with prayerlessness on a day-to-day basis. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:46.900 I believe, but I don't. 00:19:48.300 --> 00:19:56.259 And I know, if you know yourself, I know we can say I really do struggle with what this text is talking about, practical atheism on a day-to-day basis. 00:19:56.440 --> 00:20:02.900 And the text is coming to say to you, David is saying to you, God is saying to you, that is the default setting of the human heart. 00:20:02.900 --> 00:20:11.100 You see, in other words, you can come and be justified by faith and yet struggle with returning to the default setting of the heart, the flesh. 00:20:11.640 --> 00:20:18.100 Coming back every single day and forgetting and not really believing and not applying the gospel to every aspect of life. 00:20:19.040 --> 00:20:25.820 And in verse 5 here, there's this moment where the text tells us, David says, 00:20:25.819 --> 00:20:33.259 When a person realizes that their heart has denied the real God and not worshipped and not followed him, it says in verse 5, 00:20:33.899 --> 00:20:35.819 There they are in great terror. 00:20:37.059 --> 00:20:39.339 There's a psychological dread that comes upon us. 00:20:40.039 --> 00:20:40.539 And then it says, 00:20:40.779 --> 00:20:43.319 For God is with the generation of the righteous. 00:20:43.319 --> 00:20:49.659 And if you have a Bible in front of you, you might see that there's probably a cross-reference, if your Bible does cross-references. 00:20:50.200 --> 00:20:56.460 And it picks up with Psalm 24 in the cross-reference in almost every version of English translations of the Bible. 00:20:56.859 --> 00:20:59.599 And it's almost as if you could just continue reading in Psalm 24. 00:20:59.740 --> 00:21:00.319 Because you say, 00:21:01.639 --> 00:21:03.319 I don't want to stand in great terror. 00:21:03.460 --> 00:21:06.819 I don't want to be in the psychological terror of the pride of my heart. 00:21:07.419 --> 00:21:09.139 Standing before God, having said, 00:21:09.220 --> 00:21:10.039 There is no God. 00:21:10.500 --> 00:21:11.319 What can I do? 00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:12.299 But the text says, 00:21:12.859 --> 00:21:14.659 God is with the generation of the righteous. 00:21:14.839 --> 00:21:15.200 And you say, 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:16.000 What does that mean? 00:21:16.379 --> 00:21:19.899 What does that look like to be the generation of the righteous? 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:22.259 And in Psalm 24, 6, it says, 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:25.399 Such is the generation of the righteous. 00:21:25.859 --> 00:21:27.579 It is those who seek him. 00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:30.480 Those who seek the face of the God of Jacob. 00:21:31.980 --> 00:21:32.480 And you say, 00:21:32.819 --> 00:21:33.119 Tonight, 00:21:33.379 --> 00:21:34.359 This is a wisdom psalm. 00:21:34.399 --> 00:21:34.579 You say, 00:21:34.619 --> 00:21:35.460 I don't want to be a fool. 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:36.419 I want to be wise. 00:21:37.159 --> 00:21:39.939 What does it mean to have the Lord as my refuge? 00:21:39.940 --> 00:21:41.519 What does it mean to have, 00:21:41.860 --> 00:21:43.880 To be counted amongst the generation of the righteous? 00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:45.820 And Psalm 24 picks up and says, 00:21:46.059 --> 00:21:46.460 Here it is, 00:21:46.519 --> 00:21:47.559 The generation of the righteous. 00:21:48.019 --> 00:21:50.680 The one who seeks the face of the God of Jacob. 00:21:50.759 --> 00:21:51.259 The real God. 00:21:52.299 --> 00:21:52.680 Now, 00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:54.539 It is our natural default 00:21:54.539 --> 00:21:56.779 To foolishness. 00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:58.759 To set for our heart to say there is no God. 00:21:59.180 --> 00:21:59.840 But wisdom. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:00.779 What is wisdom? 00:22:00.980 --> 00:22:01.400 Wisdom 00:22:01.400 --> 00:22:03.840 Is when you are seeking the face of God. 00:22:03.900 --> 00:22:04.440 In other words, 00:22:04.900 --> 00:22:06.779 Maybe this is the most important point tonight. 00:22:06.779 --> 00:22:06.859 Right? 00:22:09.259 --> 00:22:10.940 The fool is the person, 00:22:11.259 --> 00:22:11.899 In other words, 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:14.099 Who wakes up every day 00:22:14.099 --> 00:22:16.180 And refuses to believe that they are a fool. 00:22:17.940 --> 00:22:20.139 And the wise is the person 00:22:20.139 --> 00:22:21.779 Who wakes up every day and says, 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:22.980 I am a fool. 00:22:24.359 --> 00:22:24.619 You see, 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:26.500 The foolish person thinks they are wise 00:22:26.500 --> 00:22:27.440 While remaining foolish. 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:29.519 But the wise person knows they are a fool 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:30.799 And thus becomes wise. 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:34.680 And what does that search for wisdom really look like? 00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:35.720 The fool becoming wise. 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:36.960 It says that you wake up every day 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:39.059 And seek the face of the God of Jacob 00:22:39.059 --> 00:22:39.519 By saying, 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:39.759 Lord, 00:22:40.099 --> 00:22:41.079 I am a fool. 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:41.819 I know it. 00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:44.619 But by the grace of God. 00:22:45.539 --> 00:22:47.039 Only by your gift 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:48.919 Could I ever become a person of wisdom. 00:22:50.119 --> 00:22:51.619 And that leads us to say, 00:22:51.720 --> 00:22:52.700 Where is our help? 00:22:52.839 --> 00:22:53.919 Where can it be found? 00:22:54.099 --> 00:22:56.599 And what power could we do such a thing? 00:22:56.740 --> 00:22:58.460 Seek the face of the God of Jacob. 00:22:58.460 --> 00:23:00.279 And so the last thing is in verse 7. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:02.360 And in verse 7, 00:23:02.600 --> 00:23:04.299 David prays this. 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:05.000 You see this prayer. 00:23:05.140 --> 00:23:05.299 He says, 00:23:05.779 --> 00:23:05.900 Oh, 00:23:06.120 --> 00:23:08.539 That salvation for Israel 00:23:08.539 --> 00:23:09.640 Would come out of Zion. 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:11.920 And then notice in the next clause, 00:23:12.059 --> 00:23:12.720 The certainty. 00:23:13.340 --> 00:23:13.740 He says, 00:23:13.980 --> 00:23:16.460 When the Lord restores the fortunes of the people. 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:18.220 So first he prays, 00:23:18.860 --> 00:23:19.180 Oh, 00:23:19.500 --> 00:23:21.940 That salvation would come from Zion. 00:23:22.120 --> 00:23:22.259 Oh, 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:22.819 That it would. 00:23:23.160 --> 00:23:24.019 But then he turns and says, 00:23:24.100 --> 00:23:24.940 When it does. 00:23:25.819 --> 00:23:26.380 When it does. 00:23:26.380 --> 00:23:28.100 And so he's got this real certainty 00:23:28.099 --> 00:23:29.419 When, 00:23:29.419 --> 00:23:31.599 When salvation comes. 00:23:31.719 --> 00:23:32.599 Where will it come from? 00:23:32.659 --> 00:23:33.939 He says it will come from Zion. 00:23:35.619 --> 00:23:38.179 Zion is the hill. 00:23:38.659 --> 00:23:39.059 It gets used, 00:23:39.179 --> 00:23:40.819 That language gets used all across the Bible. 00:23:41.240 --> 00:23:42.679 A lot of times we read it and we think, 00:23:42.859 --> 00:23:44.159 I don't really know what Zion is. 00:23:44.639 --> 00:23:46.099 Zion is the hill 00:23:46.099 --> 00:23:48.459 Upon which the temple was built 00:23:48.459 --> 00:23:49.359 In the city of Jerusalem. 00:23:50.099 --> 00:23:51.819 But Zion really became 00:23:51.819 --> 00:23:54.119 Another way of just talking about the temple. 00:23:54.119 --> 00:23:56.739 And in David's time, 00:23:56.859 --> 00:23:58.219 The temple had yet to be built, 00:23:58.339 --> 00:23:58.579 Right? 00:23:58.899 --> 00:24:01.299 So the tabernacle was there on Zion. 00:24:02.259 --> 00:24:05.219 Solomon would come and build the temple. 00:24:05.739 --> 00:24:07.000 So David looks up and he's, 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:08.359 He's probably in Jerusalem. 00:24:08.479 --> 00:24:09.579 He's probably looking and he says, 00:24:09.679 --> 00:24:10.239 And he says, 00:24:10.579 --> 00:24:12.679 When I see the tabernacle, 00:24:12.759 --> 00:24:13.559 When I see the temple, 00:24:13.639 --> 00:24:14.759 When I see the tabernacle, 00:24:14.959 --> 00:24:17.039 I know salvation will come from there. 00:24:17.980 --> 00:24:19.899 Now we could spend a long, long time, 00:24:19.940 --> 00:24:20.420 And I won't, 00:24:21.700 --> 00:24:24.200 Talking about all that the rest of the Old Testament says 00:24:24.200 --> 00:24:26.099 About Zion and the tabernacle. 00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:28.159 But when you flip to the Gospel of John, 00:24:28.339 --> 00:24:30.379 On page one of John's Gospel, 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:33.379 John says something incredibly important. 00:24:33.659 --> 00:24:34.819 And he comes and says, 00:24:35.059 --> 00:24:36.740 It says about the Son of God, 00:24:36.819 --> 00:24:39.680 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:24:39.700 --> 00:24:40.599 But in the Greek text, 00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:41.460 It doesn't say dwelt. 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:43.759 It says the Word became flesh 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:45.659 And he tabernacled among us. 00:24:45.660 --> 00:24:48.759 And we beheld his glory. 00:24:50.540 --> 00:24:51.300 And you see, 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:54.040 David didn't know all that he was talking about here 00:24:54.040 --> 00:24:55.380 In Psalm 14 verse 7, 00:24:55.460 --> 00:24:58.940 But he knew that salvation was going to come from Zion. 00:24:59.140 --> 00:25:00.220 And when he says Zion, 00:25:00.360 --> 00:25:02.279 He means from the tabernacle. 00:25:03.060 --> 00:25:04.860 And John's Gospel comes and says, 00:25:04.980 --> 00:25:06.759 When the incarnation happens, 00:25:06.840 --> 00:25:08.960 When the Son of God takes on human flesh 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:09.700 And becomes human, 00:25:09.840 --> 00:25:10.420 John said, 00:25:10.420 --> 00:25:13.900 We looked at him and we saw the tabernacle. 00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:16.180 God come to us. 00:25:16.560 --> 00:25:17.000 In other words, 00:25:17.060 --> 00:25:17.620 John's saying, 00:25:18.040 --> 00:25:18.720 There is Zion. 00:25:19.720 --> 00:25:20.360 It's Jesus. 00:25:20.560 --> 00:25:21.440 He is Zion. 00:25:22.200 --> 00:25:24.700 David was talking about the Zion himself, 00:25:24.820 --> 00:25:25.460 The tabernacle, 00:25:25.560 --> 00:25:25.980 The temple, 00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:28.000 Jesus Christ himself, 00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:29.360 In verse 7. 00:25:30.320 --> 00:25:31.600 And when you ask, 00:25:31.900 --> 00:25:32.920 Look, tonight you come and say, 00:25:33.220 --> 00:25:34.220 I don't want to be, 00:25:34.620 --> 00:25:36.820 I don't want to be found in great terror 00:25:36.820 --> 00:25:37.519 Before the Lord, 00:25:37.560 --> 00:25:38.180 In psychological, 00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:40.080 In real dread of judgment, 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:41.119 As a fool, 00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:42.559 I want to be found in wisdom. 00:25:43.619 --> 00:25:45.839 What does it look like to seek the face of the God of Jacob? 00:25:45.919 --> 00:25:49.179 What does it look like to be found in the generation of the righteous? 00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:50.539 It's not, 00:25:51.299 --> 00:25:53.980 It doesn't just stop with the fact that there he is, 00:25:54.039 --> 00:25:54.539 The incarnation, 00:25:54.859 --> 00:25:55.279 The temple, 00:25:55.399 --> 00:25:56.839 The Zion himself has come. 00:25:56.939 --> 00:25:57.119 And no, 00:25:57.159 --> 00:25:57.839 It's more than that. 00:25:58.779 --> 00:25:59.980 It's something more like this. 00:26:01.099 --> 00:26:02.119 It's to say, 00:26:02.419 --> 00:26:03.500 With Paul, 00:26:03.500 --> 00:26:07.059 My foolish heart says, 00:26:07.579 --> 00:26:08.579 There is no God, 00:26:08.900 --> 00:26:11.059 But Jesus Christ became the fool for me. 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:13.339 It's to look up, 00:26:13.720 --> 00:26:15.480 According to the language of 1 Corinthians 1, 00:26:15.900 --> 00:26:16.359 And say, 00:26:16.539 --> 00:26:20.799 The foolishness of the cross is wiser than the wisdom of all men. 00:26:22.059 --> 00:26:23.279 And it's to look and say, 00:26:23.380 --> 00:26:24.539 He, the wisdom of God, 00:26:24.660 --> 00:26:25.920 Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 00:26:26.420 --> 00:26:28.059 He was treated like the court jester. 00:26:28.539 --> 00:26:29.880 He was mocked. 00:26:29.880 --> 00:26:30.880 He was spit upon. 00:26:31.319 --> 00:26:32.339 He was laughed at. 00:26:32.660 --> 00:26:33.339 And that was me. 00:26:33.339 --> 00:26:34.039 That was my heart. 00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:34.299 You see, 00:26:34.379 --> 00:26:37.759 He was treated like the fool because of my foolishness. 00:26:39.139 --> 00:26:40.179 And in other words, 00:26:40.279 --> 00:26:41.759 David here is pointing to something. 00:26:41.859 --> 00:26:44.480 To truly become wise is to day by day, 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:45.579 Wake up every day and say, 00:26:46.199 --> 00:26:48.000 He, you, Son of God, 00:26:48.119 --> 00:26:49.740 Were treated like a fool for me. 00:26:50.139 --> 00:26:50.879 What a paradox, 00:26:51.079 --> 00:26:53.500 That the wisdom of God would be treated like the ultimate fool. 00:26:54.599 --> 00:26:55.339 It's to say, 00:26:55.579 --> 00:26:58.159 He who knew no foolishness became my foolishness. 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:00.679 So that I might become his wisdom. 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:02.220 I might receive his wisdom. 00:27:02.220 --> 00:27:05.259 And so it could be the case that tonight, 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.900 As I finish, 00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:11.880 Because it is the human heart's default setting 00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:16.579 To let pride block the revelation of the real God in our lives 00:27:16.579 --> 00:27:18.579 And to chase after so many little gods, 00:27:18.980 --> 00:27:21.539 It could be the case that it has been for some of us 00:27:21.539 --> 00:27:24.980 The default setting of our lives to stay right there 00:27:24.980 --> 00:27:27.759 And to never really deal with the fact that 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:30.099 If we uncover the layers of our heart, 00:27:30.220 --> 00:27:32.160 There are little gods that we are chasing 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:35.220 And allowing to be God for us right now 00:27:35.220 --> 00:27:36.400 That will never do it, 00:27:36.440 --> 00:27:37.360 That will never satisfy, 00:27:37.559 --> 00:27:39.860 That will never give us what we really need. 00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:43.579 And what does Paul say? 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:46.140 Look, here's how you know that that's where you are. 00:27:46.360 --> 00:27:48.220 If you're still sitting in the default setting, 00:27:48.299 --> 00:27:48.799 Here's how you know, 00:27:48.839 --> 00:27:49.940 And this is what the Bible says. 00:27:49.940 --> 00:27:51.480 In 1 Corinthians 1, 00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:51.720 It says, 00:27:52.080 --> 00:28:02.320 The wisdom of the world says, 00:28:02.539 --> 00:28:03.360 That is foolishness. 00:28:03.460 --> 00:28:04.400 Cosmic child abuse. 00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:05.400 What a weak Messiah. 00:28:06.180 --> 00:28:07.320 It's another myth. 00:28:07.779 --> 00:28:10.360 But here's how you know that God is transforming your life. 00:28:10.920 --> 00:28:12.740 Maybe tonight God is changing you. 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:13.680 And here's how you might know. 00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:15.620 It's that when you can look back and say, 00:28:15.620 --> 00:28:16.840 I used to say, 00:28:17.060 --> 00:28:18.960 What a foolish gospel. 00:28:19.259 --> 00:28:19.759 The cross. 00:28:20.080 --> 00:28:21.019 But now I say, 00:28:21.120 --> 00:28:22.320 What I once thought was foolish 00:28:22.320 --> 00:28:23.700 Has become wisdom to me. 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:26.220 That the wisdom of God 00:28:26.220 --> 00:28:27.220 And the foolishness of the cross 00:28:27.220 --> 00:28:29.120 Is wiser than all the wisdom of human beings. 00:28:29.880 --> 00:28:31.620 And that means that you really experience change. 00:28:33.080 --> 00:28:34.660 Let's give the last word to David here. 00:28:35.180 --> 00:28:35.840 At the very end, 00:28:35.900 --> 00:28:36.640 The last sentence, 00:28:36.840 --> 00:28:37.560 The last clause, 00:28:37.700 --> 00:28:38.160 He said, 00:28:38.660 --> 00:28:39.380 If that's you, 00:28:39.420 --> 00:28:40.140 If you get that, 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:42.840 If you transition from foolishness to wisdom, 00:28:42.839 --> 00:28:44.500 Only because you say, 00:28:44.699 --> 00:28:45.279 I'm the fool. 00:28:45.959 --> 00:28:46.759 Apart from Christ. 00:28:48.159 --> 00:28:49.019 David says, 00:28:49.439 --> 00:28:49.639 Therefore, 00:28:50.259 --> 00:28:51.579 Let Jacob rejoice. 00:28:51.879 --> 00:28:53.000 Let Israel be glad. 00:28:53.059 --> 00:28:53.939 That's another way of saying, 00:28:54.399 --> 00:28:55.659 Let God's people 00:28:55.659 --> 00:28:57.099 Who have realized their foolishness 00:28:57.099 --> 00:28:58.799 And sought wisdom outside of themselves 00:28:58.799 --> 00:28:59.959 Rejoice. 00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:01.199 And another, 00:29:01.319 --> 00:29:02.980 Let me put that in more modern language. 00:29:03.659 --> 00:29:04.859 Another way to say it is this. 00:29:05.859 --> 00:29:06.339 Atheism, 00:29:07.339 --> 00:29:08.139 Atheism, 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:10.740 If you're really honest, 00:29:10.859 --> 00:29:12.500 Atheism produces existential, 00:29:12.839 --> 00:29:14.139 Crisis of meaninglessness. 00:29:14.980 --> 00:29:15.599 It has to. 00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:18.019 You have to come with Sartre and Camus tonight 00:29:18.019 --> 00:29:18.859 And say, 00:29:19.139 --> 00:29:20.819 If I say there is no God, 00:29:21.159 --> 00:29:24.199 There is no blueprint for reality. 00:29:24.359 --> 00:29:25.099 It's meaningless. 00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:26.539 I'm just making my own way. 00:29:27.099 --> 00:29:27.839 And with Tolstoy, 00:29:27.939 --> 00:29:28.720 You have to say, 00:29:29.179 --> 00:29:30.799 Death will take everything from me. 00:29:32.179 --> 00:29:35.220 But when you realize the truth of Christian theism 00:29:35.220 --> 00:29:36.559 And the truth of Christian theism 00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:38.939 Through the lens of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 00:29:39.139 --> 00:29:41.379 You can really hear what Jacob says here. 00:29:41.380 --> 00:29:41.980 He says, 00:29:42.340 --> 00:29:44.100 Let the people of God be glad, 00:29:44.380 --> 00:29:44.900 Rejoice. 00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:45.640 In other words, 00:29:46.020 --> 00:29:47.640 Christian theism is a happy thing. 00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:48.640 Boys, 00:29:48.760 --> 00:29:49.800 It's a happy thing. 00:29:49.940 --> 00:29:50.380 Tonight, 00:29:50.820 --> 00:29:51.800 If you believe that, 00:29:51.860 --> 00:29:52.740 You can come tonight 00:29:52.740 --> 00:29:53.840 And be happy, 00:29:53.980 --> 00:29:55.000 Even in the midst of sorrow, 00:29:55.420 --> 00:29:57.100 Because you can say something like, 00:29:57.840 --> 00:30:00.560 It's not just that I want to be valued, 00:30:00.559 --> 00:30:01.480 I actually am. 00:30:03.299 --> 00:30:03.759 You know, 00:30:03.819 --> 00:30:05.500 If you're with Sartre and Camus and Nietzsche, 00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:06.279 You have to say, 00:30:06.500 --> 00:30:07.259 I want to be valued, 00:30:07.379 --> 00:30:08.559 But I know that there is no value. 00:30:09.659 --> 00:30:10.899 But in Christian theism, 00:30:11.019 --> 00:30:11.720 You can come and say, 00:30:11.839 --> 00:30:13.460 I'm made to be valued and loved, 00:30:13.579 --> 00:30:14.399 And God does, 00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:15.299 Because He is love. 00:30:15.700 --> 00:30:16.700 He is infinite value. 00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:18.259 You can come tonight and say, 00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:19.659 Love is more than a feeling. 00:30:20.460 --> 00:30:21.240 Not just the song, 00:30:21.339 --> 00:30:21.720 But really, 00:30:22.139 --> 00:30:23.799 Love is more than a feeling. 00:30:23.899 --> 00:30:25.579 It's more than just brain synapses firing, 00:30:25.579 --> 00:30:26.740 Because God is love. 00:30:27.399 --> 00:30:28.419 Justice is just, 00:30:28.480 --> 00:30:29.240 Because God is just. 00:30:29.319 --> 00:30:29.980 Goodness is good, 00:30:30.039 --> 00:30:30.939 Because God is good. 00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:33.799 Christian theism is a happy reality, 00:30:34.339 --> 00:30:36.720 Because love and mercy, 00:30:37.059 --> 00:30:38.799 And justice and peace are real. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:43.939 And if you choose atheism, 00:30:44.519 --> 00:30:46.599 You don't have purpose and meaning in love. 00:30:47.179 --> 00:30:48.359 You have valuelessness. 00:30:49.379 --> 00:30:50.679 But it's not true. 00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:53.579 Because God is, 00:30:53.740 --> 00:30:54.079 You're loved, 00:30:54.159 --> 00:30:54.500 You're valued, 00:30:54.500 --> 00:30:55.019 You have purpose, 00:30:55.099 --> 00:30:55.519 You have meaning. 00:30:55.579 --> 00:30:58.500 Because of the God of the gospel, 00:30:58.639 --> 00:30:59.119 Let us pray. 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:00.720 Father, 00:31:00.879 --> 00:31:01.759 We thank You 00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:03.059 For 00:31:03.059 --> 00:31:05.599 The fact that You overwhelmed 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:06.740 Our foolish hearts, 00:31:06.879 --> 00:31:08.419 And we come tonight and ask 00:31:08.419 --> 00:31:10.259 That You would help us once again 00:31:10.259 --> 00:31:11.000 To recognize 00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:12.159 The foolishness 00:31:12.159 --> 00:31:14.099 That is so deep within us, 00:31:14.259 --> 00:31:15.139 What's at the bottom, 00:31:15.240 --> 00:31:16.919 The core of our souls, 00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:18.859 And we recognize our need. 00:31:20.259 --> 00:31:21.659 We remember once more 00:31:21.659 --> 00:31:23.500 Tolstoy's question, 00:31:23.500 --> 00:31:25.559 If there is no, 00:31:25.559 --> 00:31:25.940 God, 00:31:25.940 --> 00:31:27.279 Then what do we have 00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:29.019 That death is not going to take away, 00:31:29.220 --> 00:31:30.200 And when we think of that, 00:31:30.299 --> 00:31:31.599 We come and say, 00:31:31.740 --> 00:31:32.419 Let us be glad, 00:31:32.519 --> 00:31:33.200 Let us rejoice 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:34.119 That it's not true, 00:31:34.299 --> 00:31:36.019 That because there is a God, 00:31:36.079 --> 00:31:36.980 And because there is a God 00:31:36.980 --> 00:31:37.659 Who saves, 00:31:38.159 --> 00:31:40.000 We know that there is so much meaning, 00:31:40.099 --> 00:31:40.659 So much purpose, 00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:41.440 So much value, 00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:43.619 That will never be taken away from us. 00:31:44.179 --> 00:31:45.019 And so we thank You for that, 00:31:45.099 --> 00:31:46.239 I pray for those tonight 00:31:46.239 --> 00:31:47.259 That may be struggling 00:31:47.259 --> 00:31:49.419 With theoretical atheism, 00:31:49.539 --> 00:31:50.339 Intellectual atheism, 00:31:50.379 --> 00:31:51.179 And agnosticism, 00:31:51.639 --> 00:31:52.779 And I pray for all of us 00:31:52.779 --> 00:31:53.259 Who are struggling 00:31:53.259 --> 00:31:54.939 With practical atheism, 00:31:55.459 --> 00:31:56.079 And we ask, 00:31:56.219 --> 00:31:56.299 Lord, 00:31:56.359 --> 00:31:57.279 That You would break through, 00:31:57.439 --> 00:31:58.259 And we ask, 00:31:58.399 --> 00:31:58.619 God, 00:31:58.659 --> 00:31:59.339 That You would help us 00:31:59.339 --> 00:32:00.279 Tomorrow morning 00:32:00.279 --> 00:32:01.719 To wake up and say, 00:32:01.819 --> 00:32:02.079 Lord, 00:32:03.079 --> 00:32:03.899 I'm a fool 00:32:03.899 --> 00:32:04.899 Apart from You, 00:32:05.739 --> 00:32:06.199 And so, 00:32:06.299 --> 00:32:07.199 Help our foolish hearts, 00:32:07.339 --> 00:32:08.099 Give us wisdom 00:32:08.099 --> 00:32:09.359 That only Christ can give, 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:10.979 We pray that in Jesus' name, 00:32:11.319 --> 00:32:11.519 Amen.