You’re doing something right now that is such a part of your daily life you don’t often even think about it. Yet, it is necessary for your survival. I am talking about your breathing, specifically the fact that you breathe in oxygen and nitrogen. Even though you can’t see those two gases, you see their effects. If someone came up to you and said, "I can’t see oxygen or nitrogen so how do I know they’re real?" You could respond, "They’re keeping you alive right now!" God made us. Without Him being real, we would not exist.

Today, I’m going to be answering the question: If God is real, why can’t people see or touch Him?. I"ll be doing this in two parts. 1. God’s handiwork and 2. What about feelings?

The reason we cannot physically see or touch God is because God is Spirit. If you think about it, there are a lot of other intangibles we live with. Love, joy, peace, etc. You can’t see love physically floating around. You can’t grasp it. But you can see its effects on a loving person’s attitudes and actions. And you can see what it does to those who are loved. In the same way, we see the effects of God’s existence through His handiwork. "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–His eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:20 His creation is incredible! That certainly includes us.

Have you ever thought about how many things must work perfectly to keep us alive? We need oxygen in our air to survive. But if the air contained more than 21% oxygen, we could die. The chemical reactions in our bodies would speed up too much, causing strokes, heart attacks, high blood pressure, etc. If the percentage was raised even 10%, it is estimated that our life spans would be cut in half. Dr. Jay L. Wile, in Exploring Creation with Chemistry, wrote, "For ever 1 percent increase in the amount of oxygen in the air, the chance of natural forest fires occurring goes up 70 percent!" Thankfully, air continues to be made up of 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen, and 1% of other gases–a perfect mixture. And this is just one tiny part of the universe we live in!

Let’s move on to point two. What about feelings? Some people may think or say, "Okay. I see the evidence. The effects. But I just don’t feel like God’s real."

Psalm 14:1 says, "The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’"

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Proverbs 14:12

I think this has a lot to do with our feelings-based culture. For example, we have twisted what love is. Love is not just a feeling. If you love someone only when you feel like it, then perhaps you don’t truly love that person. Selfish love, which "loves" only when it is convenient, is not true love at all. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." True love never fails. We can’t just trust what we feel in our hearts. Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"

We must come back to absolutes. The Bible is inerrant. When the Bible and God’s creation clearly show that God is real, non-believers should believe–regardless of their feelings. True faith is not based on feelings. "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

I would like to conclude by encouraging you to see God’s handiwork in the amazing universe we live in. I want to encourage you not to be guided by your feelings. I really like something that was said in the movie Fireproof. Caleb’s friend, Lt. Michael Simmons, is talking. "Don’t just follow your heart, ‘cause your heart can be deceived, but you got to lead your heart."

"Teenagers think they know everything." It’s something adults say. But it can actually be close to the truth. As teenagers, we look back at our younger selves and see how much we’ve learned. We can be tempted to think-and even say-that we know quite a lot. We figure we’ve got a pretty good grasp on things. Without even realizing it, we have displayed our immaturity. The older and wiser we get the more we realize how much knowledge in the universe we don’t have. Dave Irish, a Christian singer, wrote a song entitled "The More I Learn The Less I Know". Two different lines that strike me as important and relevant are: The more I learn the less I know, with every turn along this road. AND I need Someone to guide me show me the way to go. I believe this is true. The more we learn, the more we realize how little we really know. Thankfully, we do have Someone to guide us–God. While we will always have more to learn, God is omniscient.

Today, I’m going to be explaining the meaning and significance of the omniscience of God. First, what does the fact that God is omniscient mean? The word "omniscient" means "all-knowing". Wayne Grudem, in Systematic Theology, defines the knowledge of God as this, "God fully knows Himself and all things actual and possible in one simple and eternal act." Obviously, God and only God fully knows Himself. 1 Cor. 2:10-11, "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

God knows everything that has actually happened, is happening, and will ever happen. Is. 46:9, "I am God, and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come." God also knows all things possible. Everything that could or could have happened. As Job 37:16 says, God is perfect in knowledge. In addition, God has never learned and cannot learn. If God were ever to learn anything, it would mean He is not eternally omniscient. This point is made using rhetorical questions in Isaiah 40:13-14, "Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed Him as His counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten Him, and who taught Him the right way? Who was it that taught Him knowledge of showed Him the path of understanding?"

Second, what is the significance of the omniscience of God? Personally, I would find it very heard to trust God if He is not all-knowing. How could I trust Him with my life, my salvation, my eternal future, etc.? I am very grateful that I do not have to worry about that because God is omniscient. As 1 John 3:20 says, "He knows everything." In addition, it is such an awesome thing to realize that God knows me perfectly. Psalm 139:1-4, "O Lord, You have searched me and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise, You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O Lord."

In conclusion, we have looked at the meaning of the omniscience of God and seen that He is all-knowing. And finally, what a comforting thing to know that nothing catches God by surprise and that He is familiar with all of our ways!

The following is a speech answering the question: If man is inherently sinful, why do most men lead relatively good lives?

Little kids can be amusing. Their innocence, naivety, and lack of self-consciousness is fun to watch. They’ll run to us with a drawing–very happy with it and believing it’s well done. Of course, we encourage them and say, "Good job!". They do not have a concept of what good art is so they truly believe they are good artists. Once they’re older, as teens or adults, they look back and realize their earlier attempts at art actually weren’t very good. They now have a higher standard. Stick figures and wiggly lines just don’t cut it anymore. Even those who are artistically talented and continued to be praised for their work will point out things they need to work on. They see their flaws and weaknesses so much more clearly and work hard to improve.

In a way, this serves as an analogy between non-Christians and Christians. Christians hold themselves to a higher standard. They will readily admit that they are sinners saved only by God’s grace. They are honest about their shortcomings and strive to meet God’s standards. Most non-Christians, on the other hand, have a very low standard. Many say, "I’ve never killed anyone or robbed a bank so I think I’m a pretty good person." Like a little kids, they do not grasp what good truly is and how far they fall short.

Today, I’ll be answering the question: If man is inherently sinful, why do most men lead relatively good lives? I’m actually going to be answering this question with 2 other questions. 1. Is this questions legitimate? and 2. What should our response be?

First, is this question legitimate? To answer this we must define "good" and see if it is even possible for inherently sinful people to do good. I think the 4^th definition of the adjective form of "good" from Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary is fitting. It’s defined as "having moral qualitites best adapted to its design and use, or the qualities which God’s law requires." Now, let’s look at some Bible verses.

Psalm 106:1,3, "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever...Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right." Here we see that the Lord is good and blessed are the people who constantly do what is right. Again, is it even possible for inherently sinful people to do what is right, much less constantly do it? Jeremiah 4:22 says, "My people are fools; they do not know Me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good." This verse shows us that people know very well how to do evil but they do not know how to do good. Psalm 14:2-3, "The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one."

I believe we can safely conclude that the question: If man is inherently sinful, why do most men lead relatively good lives? is significantly flawed. Since we are inherently sinful, none of us can lead even close to a good life. As Chuck Colson said, "Mere knowledge is not enough to undercut the evil in the human heart. Simply knowing what is right doesn’t enable us to do right." I think a more appropriate question is: If man is inherently sinful, what can he do? Is there any hope for him? Is there any way for him to be able to lead a good life?

This brings me to my second main question: What should our response be? Some people believe we should try to do all the good works we can and hope God will somehow be impressed and let us in to heaven. But the Bible says, "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." Isaiah 64:6. I believe this is because we are incapable of true righteousness and goodness on our own. Our very best deeds do not measure up to God’s standard. God’s standard is perfection–something we can never attain on our own. Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." How then can we ever lead a good life? The answer is found in Jesus Christ and in Him alone. When we surrender our lives to Jesus and make Him our Lord and Savior, we are washed clean. 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." What we need to do is repent and make Jesus the Lord of our life.

In conclusion, we have discovered that the question: If man is inherently sinful, why do most men lead relatively good lives? is not legitimate but is in fact, flawed. We have found that our response must be putting our trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. I would like to end with a verse that has been show true once again. Mark 10:27, "Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.’"

I gave my first apologetic speech on Thursday evening. I was supposed to "explain the meaning and significance of the Trinity." Here is the text of my speech (which was written out on 3 X 5 cards.) 

Growing up, I asked a lot of questions. There many things I wanted to know about. But the most important questions I asked were the ones about God. Most of them were relatively simple and easy to understand. But one of the hardest questions for me to understand the answer to was What is the Trinity? How can God be three in one? How can something go beyond reason but not against reason? After all, human reason cannot fully comprehend the doctrine of the Trinity. We know it only because God has revealed it to us through His Word, the Bible. This does not mean it is irrational or contradictory and there are still things we can learn about the Trinity.

Today, I am going to be explaining the meaning and significance of the Trinity. Wayne Grudem, in Systematic Theology, defines the word "trinity" as "tri-unity" or "three-in-oneness". Three statements help summarize the doctrine of the Trinity.

1. God is three persons.

2. Each person is fully God.

3. There is one God.

First, God is three persons. This means that God the Father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit. They are distinct persons. It is not as if God is an actor playing three parts in a play. In other words, the persons of the Trinity are not just 3 different ways of looking at God. This is evident in Matt. 3:16-17, "As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descend like a dove and lighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, Whom I love; with Him I am well pleased."" Here all three persons of the Trinity are present at the same time.

Second, each person is fully God. The Father is fully God. John 4:23, "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." The Son is fully God. Col. 2:9, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form." John 20:28-29, "Thomas said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God’. Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’" Jesus Himself is affirming that He is fully God. The Holy Spirit is fully God. In Acts 5:3, we read, "Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit...?" In verse 4, it says, "You have not lied to men but to God." In addition, we are told to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Third, there is one God. Though the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three distinct persons, they are one in essence and nature. They are all omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, infinitely holy, etc. One way to say it is that God is one "What" and three "Whos". Scripture is adamant that there is only one God. Deut. 6:4, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." In Isaiah 45:5, we read, "I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from Me there is no God."

Now, let’s talk about the significance of the Trinity. Why should it matter to us whether someone believes in the Trinity or not? I believe one of the reasons is that if a person denies any aspect of the Trinity, they are denying an essential doctrine of the Christian faith. To deny the Trinity is to call the Bible and God a liar. Though the word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible, the doctrine is clearly taught throughout Scripture. If you deny that there is one God, you are going against all the Scriptures that state there is only one God. If you deny that God is 3 persons, what is the explanation for Jesus praying to the Father or promising to send the Holy Spirit to the disciples? You would be forced to conclude that Jesus is either crazy or a liar. Again, this is heresy. If you deny that each person is fully God, you contradict all the verses in the Bible affirming the deity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

In conclusion, the meaning of the Trinity is that God is three persons, each person is fully God, and there is one God. The significance of a proper belief in the doctrine of the Trinity is that without it, the historic Christian faith shatters and the Bible is made out to be a contradictory book of lies.