Sermon

Ep. 014 An Atheist Enabled me to Believe

Potter's House Church - Salmon Arm, BC Canada

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  1. Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located

  2. in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship

  3. Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism,

  4. discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church

  5. and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bickford and I will be your

  6. host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing

  7. to you and bring you closer to God.

  8. Hello and welcome back to the podcast again. My name is David Bickford. I'm the pastor

  9. here at the Potter's House in Salmon Arm. And today, before we jump in, I just want

  10. to give you a little bit of a background of who I am so that you know a little bit more

  11. about me and what we're doing up here at the Potter's House in Salmon Arm.

  12. My name is David and I was sent out last year to start a work for God in the town of Salmon

  13. Arm, British Columbia. My background is a little complex. If you've been listening,

  14. you know I was in the United States Marine Corps from when I was 18. And I spent five

  15. years there as a helicopter crew chief and mechanic on CH-53 Sikorsky, which is a large

  16. helicopter. I loved my time in the Marine Corps. I got to deploy to Japan and I also

  17. spent some time in the Middle East for the Iraqi freedom. And so I spent about nine months

  18. over there in theater in Kuwait and Iraq and way back in 2003. After getting out, I had

  19. actually had the opportunity. I worked for the Navy overhauling the same aircraft. And

  20. then I also did some time in the Air Force Reserve as an aerial porter loading aircraft.

  21. And all that time, I was also working towards my bachelor's and my master's degrees. So

  22. to kind of give you an idea though, I got saved when I was in the Marine Corps when

  23. I was about 19 years old. And it was life changing, obviously. It was a dramatic change

  24. in my life. I was headed down a dark path. I was a drunk and I was quite violent. And

  25. I was destroying the thing I'd worked so hard for, which was to become a United States Marine.

  26. And so I got saved in February 2001 while I was deployed just on a training operation

  27. outside of Yuma, Arizona. And it was my friend, John Morris, that led me to the Lord there.

  28. And so that's where I started going to church with the Christian Fellowship Ministries at

  29. the Quarterstone Church in San Diego. As time went on, I ended up getting married. And my

  30. wife being from Canada, we ended up moving up to Canada. And I started going to the Potter

  31. South Church in Chilliwack, British Columbia. I went there for about a decade, I believe,

  32. before getting sent out to start this work for God. So that's just a little bit about

  33. me. And I'll try to give some more information about who I am and what's going on. But me

  34. and my wife, Sarah, we're pioneering this church here in Salmon Arm. We're dedicated to reaching

  35. the lost and seeing people set free from the bondage of sin in Jesus' name. And so with that,

  36. I'm going to go ahead and jump in with the message I have today. So it's titled, An Atheist

  37. Enabled Me to Believe, a Spiritual Transformation is the subheading. And the text we'll be working

  38. from is Matthew 7, 15 through 20. So one of the things I was looking at when working and

  39. putting together this sermon is I was reading the book, The Mission Drift by Peter Greer.

  40. And in there, there's a segment where it uses that term, An Atheist Enabled Me to Believe.

  41. And so it says, It was an atheist who convinced me, Chris, that our world needs more than just

  42. good humanitarianism. Matthew Paris, a British journalist, wrote in the London Times,

  43. As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God. In a day and age in which many in our

  44. society believe Christianity to be irrelevant or at best, irrelevant at best or dangerous

  45. at worst, Paris's conviction shocked me. In his article, he repeatedly asserted his belief,

  46. his unbelief in God, but he admitted that his own beliefs are insufficient to solve the issues of

  47. corruption and poverty in our world. Shortly after a trip to Africa, he wrote, Now a confirmed

  48. atheist, I have become convinced the enormous contributions that Christian evangelism makes

  49. in Africa, sharply distinct from the work of the secular NGOs, non-governmental agencies,

  50. or organizations, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not,

  51. will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa, Christianity changes people's

  52. hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good. Paris is

  53. clear. The message of Jesus is the solution. Christianity frees people. African Christians

  54. stand tall because they know they are made in God's image and they understand their personal

  55. responsibility to make a difference in their communities. They submit to a higher moral code.

  56. So I find this to be a pretty interesting admission and that's why I believe it and I truly

  57. believe it takes a lot more faith to deny God and to be an atheist than it does to see what God could

  58. do in your own life and have that transformation become real in you. So let's look at our text in

  59. Matthew 7, 15 through 20. A tree and its fruit. Beware of false prophets who come to you in

  60. sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits.

  61. Are grapes gathered from thorn brushes or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good

  62. fruit, but the diseased bear bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a

  63. diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into

  64. the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Amen. So a powerful message even in today's

  65. world. We see we're starting to see something happen in the world. We're seeing movie stars,

  66. we're seeing recording artists come to the Lord and we're seeing a lot of them actually make stands

  67. immediately for the Lord and even to the point of some of them stepping out of the industries

  68. they've been a part of for years because they feel led by the Lord to be something different,

  69. their new creation in Jesus name. And so we obviously pray and hope that that continues and

  70. that they're they're they mature in Christ and that they continue to bear good fruit because

  71. that's exciting to see a changed life, a very exciting thing. Our world today is constantly

  72. being bombarded with the idea that religion is for the weak and it is something that people who

  73. are unintelligent or lacking in logic fall into. This is on purpose and I can't emphasize that

  74. enough that this is on purpose. In fact I was just reading a quote from C.S. Lewis. I'll see if I can

  75. find it here off the cuff real quick. I find it to be a pretty poignant, I apologize it's not from

  76. C.S. Lewis, it's from G.K. Chesterton. It says the Christian ideal has not been tried and found

  77. wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried. So again that's from G.K. Chesterton.

  78. And the quote is the Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found

  79. difficult and left untried. And that's certainly true in our day and age. Oftentimes people are not

  80. complaining that the Christian way of living or to live as a Christian is difficult or is easy,

  81. right? They're saying it's too hard. They're saying it's too difficult to live as a Christian.

  82. They're saying it's too hard and that because it's hard therefore I'm not even going to try.

  83. I'm going to discount it and not try because it's difficult. But it is fruitful and that's

  84. something we want to look at. In 1 Corinthians 1.23 it says, but we preach Christ crucified,

  85. a stumbling block to the Jews and a folly to the Gentiles. Romans 11.7-10 it says, what then?

  86. Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened.

  87. As it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that

  88. would not hear down to this very day. And David says, let their table become a snare and a trap

  89. and a stumbling block and retribution for them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see

  90. and bend their backs forever. The scripture points us to the reality that without a knowledge of a

  91. living God, we will be like a ship without a rudder. We were chasing the wind and we are only left

  92. with our fickle nature and our own desires to move us forward in this world. That might seem cruel,

  93. but it is for the sake of the elect. It is for those who open their hearts to Christ and allow

  94. themselves to be changed by the message of Christ and receive salvation by grace through Christ.

  95. That brings me to my first point, which is purpose, point, and price. As we think about the

  96. excerpt from the illustration, it's helpful to ask yourself, what is the purpose of atheism?

  97. The reality is there is no purpose in the belief of atheism because it is the belief in nothingness.

  98. And how can it bring purpose to life if it at its essence is the belief in nothing?

  99. If you were to go to American Atheist website, you would see that they define themselves this way.

  100. Atheism is one thing, a lack of belief in gods. Atheism is not an affirmative belief that there

  101. is no god, nor does it answer any other questions about what a person believes. It is simply a

  102. rejection of the assertion that there are gods. Atheism is too often defined incorrectly as a

  103. belief system. To be clear, atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods, it is a

  104. lack of belief in gods. Older dictionaries define atheism as a belief that there is no god. Clearly,

  105. theistic influence tates these definitions. The fact that dictionaries define atheism as

  106. there is no god betrays the monotheistic influence. Without the monotheistic influence,

  107. the definition would at least read there are no gods. This self-description identifies the reality

  108. that even within the atheist community, there is an acceptance of lacking. They adamantly say that

  109. unbelief is different than belief. And I'm not here to debate the logic of atheism because I know

  110. that Christ died for me and that through him I am saved by grace. I had a personal encounter with

  111. Jesus Christ and I see him at work within me, my family, and all around the world. As I mentioned

  112. in the beginning, that time out in the desert of Yuma, Arizona, when I came to the cross in my own

  113. life and I gave my life to Jesus Christ was a personal transformative experience. And to me,

  114. it's undeniable that I came into relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, what I want to highlight is

  115. that without purpose there is no point and that when there is no point, there is no price. The

  116. system of unbelief causes many to falter and stumble because it focuses all energies inward

  117. on the individual. And as we know from the Bible, the human heart can be deceitful and wicked.

  118. And Jeremiah 17, 9 through 10, it says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick.

  119. Who can understand it? If I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind to give every man

  120. according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds. It just as an aside too, I heard

  121. another quote, I can't remember where this one was from, but it was actually I think just an

  122. Instagram post where a kid was talking about atheism. And it was a comedian and he was saying

  123. that atheists will deny God, but yet they believe in nothingness and that when you die, you return

  124. to nothingness. So in a way they believe that their creator is nothing and they return to their

  125. creator of nothing when they die because there's nothing after death. So it's almost a circular

  126. logic too, because they believe in a theology, whether they deny it or not, that requires

  127. a tremendous amount of faith. But when we look at the rise of 20th century socialism, communism,

  128. we see a world that is striving to worship itself. The idea of evolution is one of where

  129. humanity pulls itself up through force and makes a utopia of a world by eradicating God

  130. and while proving his very existence. There are several examples of the cruelty when you remember

  131. the cruelty when you remove the boundaries of God's morality. During the Holomor or the

  132. Ukrainian genocide of 1932 to 33, the people of Ukraine came under the control of Soviet Russia.

  133. As communism swept the land, starvation quickly followed. The Workers' Party stole the land from

  134. farmers and created a famine that within a very short window drove many crazy. Starvation quickly

  135. led to all sorts of wickedness, including cannibalism. The governing authorities posted

  136. propaganda posters saying, remember, it's wrong to eat your children. I'll let that sink in for just

  137. a second. It's they had to post propaganda posters to remind people who were starving,

  138. remember, it's wrong to eat your children. This isn't the first time this happened in the Soviet

  139. happened during the 1921 famine in Russia.

  140. Remember, it's wrong to eat your kids.

  141. My point here is not to highlight the wrongs

  142. of the Soviet Union, but rather what quickly happens

  143. to man when we refuse to acknowledge God.

  144. Christ in the gospel is our purpose,

  145. salvation is the point, and there is no price too high

  146. for the grace that we have received.

  147. This is why an atheist like Matthew Paris

  148. knows that Christian missionaries will do more with less

  149. to see Africa saved.

  150. In 2 Kings 6, 24-31, we see the image of the siege

  151. of Samaria, Ben-Hadad's siege of Samaria.

  152. So in verse 24, afterward, Ben-Hadad, king of Syria,

  153. mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria.

  154. And there was a great famine in Samaria,

  155. and they besieged it until a donkey's head was sold

  156. for 80 shekels of silver, and the fourth part

  157. of a cab of doves dung for five shekels of silver.

  158. Now, as the king of Israel, Jehoram, son of Ahab,

  159. was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him,

  160. saying, help my lord, oh king.

  161. And he said, if the lord will not help you,

  162. how shall I help you?

  163. From the threshing floor or from the wine press?

  164. And then the king asked her, what is your trouble?

  165. She answered, this woman said to me, give your son

  166. that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.

  167. So he boiled my son and ate him, and on the next day

  168. I said to her, give your son that we may eat him,

  169. but she has hidden her son.

  170. And when the king heard the words of the woman,

  171. he tore his clothes, now he was passing by on the wall,

  172. and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth

  173. beneath on his body, and he said, may God do so to me,

  174. and more also, if the head of Elijah, the son of Shaphat,

  175. remains at his shoulders today.

  176. So this portion of scripture shows us that even God's

  177. chosen people can fall so far away from his calling

  178. and his purpose.

  179. In fact, if you look at the reaction of Jehoram,

  180. it's pretty startling.

  181. Instead of repenting and turning to God,

  182. he curses the prophet Elijah and calls for his head.

  183. And that brings me to my next point,

  184. which is secularism and relative truth.

  185. In today's age, we are told to let go of our biblical faith.

  186. What we are given in return or in place of our faith

  187. is secularism and relative truth.

  188. That's what they want to replace God and absolute truth with,

  189. is secularism and relative truth.

  190. Secularists can also be defined as atheists or agnostics.

  191. An atheist is one who says there is sufficient evidence

  192. to show that God does not exist and agnostic is one

  193. who says there's insufficient evidence to know whether

  194. or not God exists.

  195. The functional atheist is one who is apathetic

  196. concerning God's existence.

  197. For the purpose of this profile, the term secularist

  198. will be used to indicate all three.

  199. So during the time of the Renaissance

  200. and with the invention of the printing press,

  201. there was an explosion of information.

  202. And not unlike our own time and the invention

  203. of the internet, smartphone, social media.

  204. This expansion of accessible information allowed

  205. for the Protestant Reformation, but it also allowed

  206. for the contesting ideas to be pitted against each other.

  207. The rise of the scientific method was often being used

  208. to contest belief in God.

  209. This was not by mistake, but was done purposely

  210. because some groups were afraid of losing power

  211. in order to maintain control.

  212. They wanted to separate and divide people into camps.

  213. Here's an excerpt from an article I found highlighting

  214. this point written by Dean Halverson,

  215. director of apologetics for the international students.

  216. Toward the end of the Renaissance, the modern method

  217. of empirical science began to develop the key players

  218. or develop the key players were Nicholas Copernicus,

  219. Johann Kepler and Galileo Galilei.

  220. Although it may seem ironic now, each of these men believed

  221. in a Christian God.

  222. They viewed science as a studying the handiwork

  223. of the Almighty Creator discerning his natural laws.

  224. Galileo considered God to have written two books,

  225. the Bible and nature.

  226. Contrary to popular belief, the cause for diversions

  227. between Christianity and science originated not

  228. with the church, but with the university professors

  229. who were threatened by Galileo's revolutionary ideas.

  230. These professors were steeped in Greek scientific method

  231. which included observation to a small extent,

  232. but mostly explained the workings of nature

  233. through rational deduction from first principles

  234. or assumptions, an entire view

  235. of the universe had been built up.

  236. Consequently, the professors embraced such misconceptions

  237. as the sun having no imperfections,

  238. the moon being a perfectly smooth sphere that's shown

  239. with its own light and the earth alone having a moon

  240. since the earth was at the center of the universe.

  241. Galileo's recently invented telescope quickly demonstrated

  242. the incorrectness of such assumptions.

  243. Not willing to be thwarted by Galileo,

  244. the professors decided to make the controversy religious

  245. rather than academic.

  246. They argued that the heliocentric sun centered view

  247. contradicted scripture.

  248. They pulled from Psalm 10422 saying the sun rises,

  249. therefore the sun must revolve around a stationary earth.

  250. In fact, in the face of what at the time appeared

  251. to be genuine contradiction between scripture

  252. and the heliocentric theory,

  253. the theologians of the Roman Catholic Church had no choice

  254. but to condemn Galileo's view because the conflict

  255. had challenged the authority of the church.

  256. And as a result, the controversy,

  257. the schism between reason and faith had begun.

  258. And there were now two apparently irreconcilable sources

  259. of truth, the church and science.

  260. So what point am I trying to make with this?

  261. Like, let's look at our text again.

  262. And before I jump back into the text,

  263. just think about this, think about how it had to be

  264. non-believers twisting the scripture

  265. in order to fit a narrative that they wanted to push

  266. so that they could try to maintain their power.

  267. Because that's what we see a lot in today's day.

  268. We see people who don't believe in the word of God

  269. try to take pieces of the word of God,

  270. twist it to make it either make themselves look better

  271. or make Christians look worse.

  272. And then they try to push it back

  273. as being a religion problem

  274. when it's actually an unbeliever issue.

  275. It's the unbelief of those individuals

  276. that can cause schisms to be created.

  277. And just like with the example of Galileo

  278. and what happened to a lot of early Protestants even

  279. is this idea that the power sources

  280. are going to be contested.

  281. And so then therefore they're gonna make it an argument

  282. that it never was intended to be.

  283. So in our text again at 15, it says,

  284. but where false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing

  285. but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

  286. We see that from this example from history.

  287. You will recognize them by their fruits, just dissension,

  288. just trying to cause problems within the body.

  289. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

  290. So every healthy tree bears good fruit,

  291. but the diseased trees bear bad fruit.

  292. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit

  293. nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

  294. Every tree that does not bear good fruit

  295. is cut down and thrown into the fire.

  296. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

  297. As Matthew Paris recognized in Africa,

  298. we need to recognize within ourselves.

  299. Our truth as Christians must come from the word of God.

  300. We must base our beliefs on the Bible,

  301. our morality, our passions, our purpose

  302. must reside in the word.

  303. In the article above, we can see that the natural human

  304. reaction to pressure is to divide and separate.

  305. The goal is to assert power and relativism is a tool

  306. that's used for this purpose.

  307. And John 18, 37 to 38 says, then Pilate said to him,

  308. so you are king, Jesus answered.

  309. You say that I am king for the purpose I was born

  310. and for this purpose I have come into the world

  311. to bear witness to the truth.

  312. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.

  313. Then Pilate said to him, what is truth?

  314. The world will use relative truth in order to obfuscate

  315. or make unclear Christ's message.

  316. That is why so many will try to fit Jesus

  317. into other faiths or pantheons.

  318. It's also why so many will give up so much of the word

  319. of God while claiming to still hold true to Christ.

  320. In reality, this is folly because Christ proclaims

  321. he is the truth and the light and that through his words

  322. and teaching that's the only way we will find

  323. a path to salvation.

  324. Which brings me to my final point, which is Christ died

  325. so that others shall live.

  326. The truth of the gospel is very succinct.

  327. Christ is the son of God, the fulfillment

  328. of all the Old Testament prophecies and promises.

  329. He came to earth to be a sacrifice that we needed,

  330. to be the sacrifice that we needed

  331. and to atone for our sins.

  332. He died and rose from the dead so that those who believe

  333. in him will be saved.

  334. In Philippians 2, 9 through 11 it says,

  335. God has highly exalted him and bestowed upon him

  336. the name that is above every name

  337. so that the name of Jesus every knee shall bow

  338. in heaven and on earth and under earth

  339. and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord

  340. to the glory of God the Father.

  341. Second Timothy 4, 1 through 5 says,

  342. and it's a charge to us to preach the word,

  343. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus

  344. who is to judge the living and the dead

  345. by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word,

  346. be ready in season and out of season,

  347. reprove, re-prove, rebuke and exhort

  348. with complete patience and teaching.

  349. For the time is coming when people will not endure

  350. sound teaching, but having itching ears,

  351. they will accumulate for themselves teachers

  352. to suit their own passions and will turn away

  353. from listening to the truth and wander off into myth.

  354. As for you, always be sober minded, enduring suffering,

  355. do the work of an evangelist and fulfill your ministry.

  356. And Romans 3, 23 it says,

  357. for all of sin that falls short of the glory of God,

  358. the world will contend for our attention

  359. and it will use every opportunity to distract us from Jesus.

  360. It will try to embarrass you for holding on

  361. to the absolute truth of the gospel.

  362. It will try to move you with words and phrases

  363. like open your mind, find your own truth, love is love.

  364. The danger of relativism is that it allows

  365. for every individual to live according

  366. to their own desires.

  367. Why do we need absolute truth?

  368. It is not enough to understand

  369. why we need absolute truth.

  370. With no absolute truth, there are no longer any standards.

  371. I believe it's safe to say many of our standards

  372. which were once considered absolute truths

  373. are now under attack in our society.

  374. Not just here in Canada, but in America,

  375. but all around the world, when the standards are removed,

  376. the people are free to do what they want.

  377. And we become a society that lives by relative truth.

  378. While some may see this as liberating,

  379. I see this as disastrous.

  380. We would become like Israel

  381. at the end of the book of Judges.

  382. In those days, Israel had no king, all people did

  383. whatever seemed right in their eyes.

  384. Judges 21, 25.

  385. And we're starting to see this today, right?

  386. We see the conflict in Israel

  387. and the terrorist attack that caused

  388. this main thrust of this war that's going on right now.

  389. And we're only like a month beyond

  390. when this war really kicked off because of that terrorist act.

  391. And already we see the leading Ivy League colleges

  392. in the United States trying to make exceptions

  393. for genocidal rhetoric of one group

  394. while claiming the other group that is actually the one

  395. that is defending an actual attack that happened onto them

  396. and saying that they were wrong, even though there was peace,

  397. there were opportunities for negotiation on October 6th

  398. and then on October 7th, there was none.

  399. But it's interesting that the highest thinkers

  400. of our society are making excuses and saying,

  401. oh, well, we need to understand the context

  402. of why people are calling for genocide of the Jewish people.

  403. These same people were telling us about the importance

  404. of watching the way we speak because words are violence

  405. and silence is violence.

  406. And if you were to take any group and replace

  407. what people are calling the genocide of the Jews,

  408. if you were to replace Jew and place any other group

  409. in there, then those same college professors

  410. would immediately claim, those college presidents

  411. would immediately claim that it is against their code

  412. of conduct, but they can't bring themselves to saying

  413. that it's against their code of conduct right now

  414. because of moral relativism.

  415. And because all their learning has allowed them

  416. to come to a place where they cannot see truth for truth.

  417. In John 14, six, it says, Jesus said to him,

  418. I am the way, the truth and the life.

  419. No one comes to the Father except through me.

  420. This statement shuts the door to any other way

  421. of getting to the Father and any other hope of salvation.

  422. If you believe this, you will experience the benefit

  423. of this truth.

  424. However, your belief is not necessary for this to be true.

  425. This will be true whether you believe it

  426. or choose not to believe it.

  427. Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father

  428. and that will never change.

  429. So as I close, let's review.

  430. Michael Paris has a self proclamation as an atheist

  431. was able to clearly identify the need for Christianity

  432. in Africa because his own truth was insufficient

  433. to meet the needs of the African people.

  434. Without the necessary spiritual change in the people,

  435. there could be no lasting improvement.

  436. Also, secular organizations are not equipped

  437. for this task at hand because they have no message for hope.

  438. Even if they were to lift people up out of poverty,

  439. it does not deal with the spiritual, emotional,

  440. or societal issues that will still be present

  441. in their situation.

  442. And this is a problem that we also see in our own country.

  443. Another thing that we see in our own country

  444. is that the people who are in need

  445. are just not able to do what they want to do.

  446. So they don't have the ability to do what they want to do.

  447. Another aside to that is that much of the secular world

  448. when they go into Africa are trying to push

  449. what the first world considers green initiatives

  450. that make it very, very difficult

  451. for these emerging economies to be able to grow

  452. and sustain themselves.

  453. So that's a problem that we've come to.

  454. But while not recognizing the reality

  455. of what made the Western society strong

  456. was these energy sources that we've been able to use

  457. for the last 100 plus years.

  458. And they've gotten much cleaner since then.

  459. So, but yet we want to make it more difficult

  460. for these other countries.

  461. So what hope does that bring?

  462. It doesn't bring hope.

  463. The secular world doesn't have answers for that.

  464. The secular world also doesn't have answers

  465. for the sickness that is in our soul.

  466. Our ailment is sin.

  467. And no matter how hard humanity tries

  468. to solve the sin problem while denying the sin problem,

  469. they can never be successful because Christ is the only way.

  470. The Soviets in Russia, China, Vietnam,

  471. and throughout the world tried an atheistic route

  472. that leads to horrible pain and atrocities.

  473. Other countries strive and fail.

  474. Western democracies are rotting because of the sin problem.

  475. The only answer, the only truth is Christ.

  476. But they shun and ridicule the answer

  477. while continuing to tear each other apart.

  478. And that is why we as Christians must hold to the truth.

  479. I want to reiterate the words of Paul

  480. and what he said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4.

  481. I charge you in the presence of God and Jesus Christ,

  482. who is the judge of the living and the dead,

  483. by his appearing in his kingdom,

  484. preach the word, be ready, end season and out of season,

  485. reprove, rebuke, and exhort

  486. with complete patience and teaching.

  487. For the time is coming when people

  488. will not endure sound teaching,

  489. but having itching ears,

  490. they will accumulate for themselves,

  491. teachers to suit their passions,

  492. and will turn away from listening to the truth

  493. and wander off into myths.

  494. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering,

  495. do the work of an evangelist and fulfill your ministry.

  496. Finally, our text tells us, in Jesus' word,

  497. thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

  498. We must then strive to live a life that bears fruit

  499. so that those who are still lost

  500. will be able to recognize God through our fruit, our works.

  501. Christian testimony challenges Michael Paris's unbelief

  502. because we have more to work for and live for

  503. than the belief of nothing.

  504. And we know the King is on his throne,

  505. and we should strive in patience to work

  506. so that others will come to the absolute truth.

  507. Humbly we serve a living God so that others might be saved.

  508. So if you're driving, obviously keep your eyes on the road,

  509. but if not, if you're just listening along,

  510. you know, I like every head bowed, every eye closed,

  511. because at the end of every message, there's an invitation.

  512. If this message is resonated with you,

  513. if you feel the pull of the Holy Spirit

  514. and you know that you're a sinner

  515. and you wanna get right with God,

  516. then right now signify that with an uplifted hand.

  517. I can't see it, but God can.

  518. And if you did raise your hand,

  519. if God is speaking to you now

  520. and you know that he's speaking to you now

  521. and you wanna get your heart rate, it's very simple.

  522. Just repeat after me, dear Lord God,

  523. I know that I'm a sinner.

  524. I know that I have fallen short of the mark,

  525. but I repent of my sin.

  526. I turn away from my sin and I accept you

  527. as my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

  528. I let you into my heart to be my Lord, to be my King.

  529. In Jesus' name, I give you all the praise and glory, amen.

  530. Very simple prayer.

  531. All that is, is the recognition of sin

  532. and acceptance of Jesus as your Lord.

  533. And so that, that is salvation.

  534. That is that simple admission of repentance

  535. and acceptance of God's grace

  536. is what it means to be saved.

  537. And I pray that God would fill you with the Holy Spirit,

  538. overflowing, and that you would go

  539. and you'd find a church to lock into.

  540. If you're in Sammonar,

  541. we'd love to have you come and join us.

  542. But if you're not and you wanna reach out,

  543. I would be more than happy to point you in the direction

  544. of one of our 3,000 fellowship churches globally,

  545. because God is moving in these last days.

  546. And we want you to be part of the body of Christ.

  547. So I just, I'm gonna close in prayer real quick.

  548. Dear Lord, I thank you for everything

  549. that you're doing in our lives.

  550. And I pray that this message goes to the root,

  551. goes to the heart of everybody listening

  552. and helps us to be more fruitful as we go forward

  553. in the service of our Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

  554. Thanks for listening.

  555. And I can't wait for you to come back next time.

  556. Thank you for listening to the PHA Potter's House

  557. Sammonar podcast.

  558. Be sure to follow us on Instagram

  559. at pottershouse underscore Sammonar

  560. to keep up to date on what we're doing.

  561. Join the conversation and discover how Jesus Christ

  562. can revolutionize your life.

  563. And we'll see you next time.

  564. I'm Sammonar, and I'll see you next time.