Turn with me, if you can, to John chapter 20. We'll be reading two of the key verses from this Gospel account. John chapter 20, verses 30 and 31. We're coming to the conclusion of this series. Lord willing, in May we'll begin a new series. I'll begin a new series from the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes. So pray about that series and look forward to that. There's still some great passages yet to look at here in the Gospel according to John. We call this series, Truth on Trial. Today, the title, I'll call this message, The Ultimate Failure of Unbelief. And I must tell you that I have deliberately chosen the title because I'm often accosted by not so much but in print or social media or in other literature, criticisms of Christianity and its faults and its failures. Now, I'll be the first to admit that Christians do have faults and failures. I'd like to point out a couple of people here. No, no, I can point to me. Some people get nervous, right? I'll just point to me and say, yes, I know Christians fall short and not only the glory of God, but Christians fall short of the expectations of other Christians and other people. And sometimes people are not saved, have some very harsh criticisms of Christians. And I'm sad to say sometimes I understand why they have those criticisms of us and find us inconsistently living our faith. And I have to say, yes, you know, you're right. But I find no fault in Christianity. The fault of Christians is not the failure of Christianity. It's actually what makes the gospel good news. We're saved by grace, not by works. So every one of our foibles and failures and falling short, it's just a reminder that it isn't good news that the gospel is of free grace, a gift from God. But I do read about criticisms of Christianity, sometimes about the doctrines we believe the Bible teaches, or the God we say we worship. And some criticism of Christianity is, philosophically unsatisfying and there's some kind of flaw in the argument and you Christians don't know, you're so heavenly minded, you're no earthly good and they have all kinds of criticisms of faith and the whole idea of faith as though it's some laughable, scornful, ridiculous argument. gospel, which calls us to saving faith in Christ. And so, just for a few moments today, I'd like to turn the table and say, I have some criticisms of unbelief. I find some shortcomings in unbelief. I find some ultimate failure in unbelief. Now, I don't suppose that those who are not believers may be swayed, but I hope they'll understand I mean this love genuinely, it's easy to criticize what other people say. And maybe they'll rise up and say, wait a minute, you've misrepresented my unbelief. You've misrepresented my atheism or my agnosticism. And that may very well be, but you have a responsibility. If you're not a believer, you have an intellectual and apologetic responsibility to make your case. And just criticizing Christianity is not the antidote. Say, well, Christianity is flawed A failure? What's your solution? What's your answer? What's your antidote for the human condition? Sometimes we don't ask that. People say, well, you Christians have too many rules. You Christians have too many laws, and your expectations are too lofty. Well, my question is, what do you expect out of people? If there are no rules or no expectations, How come you criticize Christianity? I mean, really, if it's all just a matter of opinion, what makes your opinion better than my opinion? You say, well, your opinion's wrong. Well, your opinion that I'm wrong might be wrong. Checkmate. We're not going to get anywhere in that line of thinking. I'm just saying this argument that, well, you Christians need to prove it. You've got to make sure your archaeology backs up. You've got to make sure history backs it up. You've got to make sure human experience backs it up. I'm ready to go to, I'm not afraid to go to war, apologetically or archaeologically or historically, but I'm going to say this. I think sometimes atheism needs to be held to account. What's your argument? What's your solution for making the world better? What's your answer for the human condition? Don't call it sin if you can't, but what do you want to do for the bad things that you see in the world? I'm going to suggest to you that ultimately unbelief is a failure. There are some reasons for that, Verse 30, you can begin reading verse number 30. Many other signs truly to Jesus in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book. He's talking about John, the Gospel according to John. But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through His This is an extraordinary summary, isn't it? In the beginning of the book, he's made this case that Jesus, we learn Jesus of Nazareth, we learn that he is the Word of God. That in eternity past, and we have no better way to describe it, he was in the, Trinity with the Father and the Spirit, and they were face-to-face, as it were, and somehow creation is the work of God, specifically the Word of God. And we learn that Jesus is light and life, and he's the Lamb. John makes this case by looking at specific events in Christ's life and specific events testimonies about Jesus, and we looked at Nicodemus' testimony, we looked at the woman at the well, we look at a nobleman in chapter 5, and the interaction that Jesus has with his enemies and his friends and his disciples, proving that he really is God. And what we'll do is, Tremendous miracles that he's able to perform, including the resurrection of the dead. And by this point, he has proven himself to have the power to not only lay down his life, but to take it up again. This is post-resurrection appearance conversation that John's having in chapter 20. He says, the Holy Spirit has inspired me to write down these words that whoever reads these might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing might have life through his name. And I know the Gospel According to John is often used as an evangelistic tool. I'm told that the Gospel According to John is the most published portion of scripture in the world, in more languages and more dialects. this portion of the Bible, when they don't have the entire Bible, when they don't have the entire New Testament, the Gospel according to John is the most published, printed, mass distributed portion of the scripture. I believe I can make the case that it may be of all literature, the most widely distributed piece of literature over from the invention of the printing press to the modern times through the distribution of this portion of scripture, these chapters that John writes. It's phenomenal, the acceptance that it's had worldwide. And John says, I've written these that you might believe. I know it's an evangelistic tool, but I think here he's talking to believers. I think he's talking to Christians here. I think he's talking to people who already believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, but he says I've written these things that you might believe that Jesus is the Son of God and but something more not only believe that he's who he says he is but that believing In other words, continuing to believe, continuing to have faith, present tense faith, you might have life through his name. Now I know there's a point at which you turn from your sins and trust Christ and you're born again. But Christianity is not just a once and done, it's a once and never done experience. When you receive Christ, you continue to receive Christ. I'm trying to be philosophical here. I'm just saying, once you believe on Christ, you do not stop believing in Christ, and you do not stop receiving the blessings that come through His name. There is, first of all, coming to faith. When you hear the case for Jesus Christ, historically and testimonially from eyewitnesses, And that's what John is about. It's about recording a history of what really happened in the earthly life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When you read this inerrant record and you hear the historical case that's made, I believe the case is proven that Jesus is the Son of God, that he is the Word, that he is the Lamb, that he is the Resurrection, that he is who he says he is, that he is the I Am. His Jewish listeners understood that that was nothing less than the claim of deity. He's claiming to be the Jehovah that revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3.14, He's claiming to be God incarnate. And his enemies are outraged. His enemies call him a blasphemer. But at least his enemies understood his claim. They rejected it, but they understood what he was saying. But I think Jesus not only says it, I think he proves it. And I think the resurrection is historically verifiable. It's testimonially verifiable. Jesus will spend 40 days proving himself a resurrected living being who has conquered death, hell, and the grave, and then he will ascend back into heaven. I think the case is made. So when you come to faith, you're not coming to just a wishful, mythical, idea that well, it would be great if there was some way out of all this trouble that we have. Maybe if there was just some kind of philosophy that would help us to just kind of muddle through. I believe the case for Christ is made. Now when I was saved as a child of eight, I did not understand all the apologetical arguments. I didn't understand all the historical arguments. I didn't understand the archaeological evidences and the ins and outs of the doctoral verities. I didn't understand the inerrancy of the Bible. I just didn't. I didn't understand the incarnation. I didn't understand a lot of things. I do tell you what I did know. I knew I was a sinner. The Bible got that right. The Bible says all who sinned, I knew I was a sinner. And I believe that Jesus, the son of God, died for me on the cross. And I trusted him as my savior. And I was saved. I would offer my life as a testimony. I don't have the credentials or the credibility of these eyewitnesses of Jesus' day, but I do have my life, and what I have, I give. I believe Jesus makes the case. I believe the truth goes on trial, and the verdict is Christ is truth. He is the way, the truth, and life. He is the resurrection, and the life. He is the land of God, which takes away the sin of the world. Took away my sin. If you'll turn from sin and trust Jesus Christ today, you'll take away your sin. You say, well, there's so much I don't understand, and there's so much theology, and so much of the mysteries. It's like, well, get used to that, because I have to tell you, the mysteries don't ever go away, nor would I want them to. My mind is not God's mind. My thoughts are not God's thoughts. And His ways are higher than my ways, and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts. But what He does tell me is true. and you can believe and receive Jesus Christ as your Savior. You've come to faith today. And so that's why verse 31, it has this event of faith, I'll call it. I don't think we're gradually being saved from our sins. I believe when you agree with God that you're a sinner and you believe Christ died for your sins, then you are converted. You're born again. I believe that is a once for all. I said it's not a once and done. It's not something that has to take more than a moment. I think conversion comes in a moment. and you don't have to wait till the end of the service, you don't have to walk the aisle, you don't have to shake my hand, you don't have to join the church, you don't have to be baptized to agree with God, you're a sinner, accept Jesus Christ, you're saved, you can be saved right now, right in your city, right this moment. I pray that you would come and profess Christ publicly. I pray that you would follow him in baptism, but I want you to know that those things are not necessary to your conversion. Coming to faith is coming to Christ. And then there is continuing in faith. He says, I'm saying that believing, we do believe that once for all event when we trade our sins for the righteousness of Christ, but we go on believing. We continue to believe. I know sometimes I've heard preachers and Christians make the case that Well, you know, in heaven we won't have to believe. I understand the argument, because so many things will be replaced by sight in heaven, right? We're going to see Jesus. We're going to see the fulfillment of those promises. But I gotta tell you, I hope this doesn't rattle your orthodoxy, I don't know that we ever stop believing in God. We're never going to fully comprehend everything about God. We'd only have God's Word that eternity is eternity. Now, and that's not a criticism. I don't know how that works. I don't know how eternity works. I don't know how forever works. I believe it does. But I think we'll go on through eternity trusting God. We will still move and breathe and have our being in Him. There are aspects of our trust and our faith in God, I don't even think sight replaces them. The first century Christians saw Christ visibly. Some of them believed and some of them doubted. We will always go on continuing in faith. And then 1 John says we conquer by faith. That faith is the victory. In this life it doesn't look like we're winning sometimes. It looks like the enemy is winning. It looks like the atheists are winning. It looks like the secularists are winning. It looks like evil is winning. But it's not. That's a deception. The very means the devil uses to discourage and defeat Christians is a lie. Evil is not winning. Grace is winning. The gospel is winning. The good news is accomplishing the purpose of God. It is accomplishing the purpose of God in those who believe unto salvation. It's also accomplishing the purpose of God in judging those who don't believe. God's work is being done. The world is not out of God's control. God's on His throne. God's sovereign. God's all-powerful. We don't have to be anxious. We don't have to be fretful. We don't have to be wringing our hands or lying awake at night saying, well, what's going to happen? We can trust God. Trust God. He works all things after the counsel of His will. Things I understand and things I don't understand. It's a great comfort if you really do believe that God has your life in His hands and has the whole world in His hands. Christians should be the most comforted and the most encouraged and the most optimistic people. Not optimistic that people are going to figure it out or that politicians will figure it out or that education or capitalism or communism or some ism is going to figure it out. I just believe God knows what he's doing. And he's working things after the counsel of his will. So we are conquering by faith. The only way to be victorious is just put your faith in God. Put your faith in God. I want to talk to you briefly, as I said, about the ultimate failure of unbelief. I don't think unbelief works. I don't think it's a legitimate competitor to faith. I don't think it's like, well, some people are believers, and they think certain things, and then there are other unbelievers, and they've got strong arguments, and compelling reasons, and I think that's a lie. I think unbelief is ultimately a failure. I just hope you see the obverse here, because maybe it will be the time when we're defending the faith. I get that. And the critics and the anti-Christ and the anti-Christians will have their say. They'll say, well, I found an error in the Bible. I found a mistake. I found something that, oh, this is the... When some Christians, I think, were overly being anxious or excited about the eclipse, I think, The atheists and the humanists, I think they laughed. Of course, they might have been whistling past the graveyard themselves because they don't know everything, but I think they just chuckled and said, oh, these Christians are always trying to predict the end of the world. Well, not this Christian. You've never heard this preacher predict the end of the world. I've never set a date. I've never had anybody in this pulpit that set a date. If I have had somebody in this pulpit that says it, they won't be in a pulpit again. We don't need to hear that. We don't hear, well, it's gotta be. No, no man knows the day or the hour. We're supposed to be working and waiting, but we don't. But, oh, there's so many things that cause unbelievers to mock Christianity. And sometimes Christians do behave obnoxiously and un-Christianly. That's sad. But I don't accept the premise that, well, agnosticism and atheism, it has such integrity, and there are people of conviction, and they're just scientific, and they look at things so objectively. That's a lot of nonsense. I don't think unbelievers look at things objectively. I don't think they look at it scientifically. You say, but they do, they talk about, I think that's a smokescreen. You say, aren't you worried about making the atheists mad? I'd at least like to get their attention. I mean, they're probably mad already, so at least listen to what I have to say. I started to call it the artifice of an atheism, the deception of atheism. I think sometimes it appeals to people like, oh, this really aggravates the Christians. It doesn't aggravate us so much as it makes us sad. It just makes us sad. It's like when a child gets angry at you and says, I don't love you. I'm talking about a little child. You think, oh, that's a hurtful thing to say. That's a painful thing to say. You know what you think? I don't think they really mean it. I don't think they understand what they're saying. I feel that way about most people who consider themselves atheists. Let me just add a footnote here. I'm not talking about the person who says, I'm not sure if what you're telling me is true. I would like to know, I would like to believe, you're in a different category than the atheist, what Dr. Moeller called the angry atheist, like, oh, Christianity's what's wrong with the world, and this gospel nonsense, and believing in the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus Christ, that's just myth and fable, I'm not talking about the person who says, I don't know if what you're saying is true. I'm not asking you to believe just what I say. I'm not asking you just to hear what I say and say, well, he thinks he's the authority. I'm not the authority. But I got to tell you, the atheists are not the authorities they would have you believe either. They're not the objective, rational, dispassionate, looking at it with clear vision. And you Christians, you're prejudiced, and you're biased, and you're just hoping that it's that way. And meanwhile, here at the Atheist Ranch, we're the real people. We're the smart people. You're the dumb people. We're the smart people. I reject that premise. I know Christians sometimes can behave in foolish ways, but I gotta tell you, I've read some atheistic, unbelieving arguments that are absolutely stupid. I don't know if that's a scientific term for it, but it don't make good nonsense. Unbelief contradicts reality. You say, well, they would disagree, but of course they disagree. Unbelief contradicts reality. Romans says that the invisible things, which are not seen, are clearly evidenced by the things that are seen. Reality itself, Christians be encouraged by this, reality is on your side. You're not preaching mythology and fable. You're preaching things like they really are. I use this example so much it constantly reminds me. When I read what the Bible says about sin and the human heart, I have not discovered any evidence in my heart or anybody else's heart that what the Bible says about the sin nature and about our hearts isn't true. I've never met anybody outside of Jesus Christ and met Him by faith. I've never met anybody who said, Well, that's like the angel from heaven, except my wife. I've never met anybody, and I have to include my mother in this. I have to include my loved ones, and I've never met anybody that I thought, man, they are absolutely perfect. How many of you husbands think your wife is perfect? I jabbed you there, I said, Steve was good here. He's got a problem with truth-telling, but that's okay. I won't ask Carol about him. So I'll just say, I've never met anybody that didn't actually at some point say, well, you know, the Bible prepared me for that. I see sin in us. And I don't have to go anywhere but a mirror to prove that. But I mean, I could be the exception, couldn't I? You're the only one. You're the only sinner amongst us, preacher. And what am I doing up here and you're sitting out there? That seems to be not a good idea. I've never seen anything in human experience that doesn't verify the Bible tells the truth about us all being sinners. I've never seen anything that contradicted the Bible's warning that it's appointed men once to die. One of my ministries is ministering to people whose families have loved ones who passed. I've attended so many funerals. I've been to so many cemeteries. And I haven't experienced anything that makes me think. And people say, well, don't worry about it. Medicine's research, and we're conquering this, and we're conquering that. And I have seen some remarkable successes medically. But I still see people dying. I still see people sick and battling cancers and heart disease and all manner of ailments. And I haven't seen anything that contradicts what the Bible teaches about life and death. I think unbelief contradicts reality. But I do know this. Every human being I've ever talked to thinks there's something more than just flesh and blood and mechanical, chemical reactions Everybody I've talked to, even the atheists, talk about arguing for what is best and what is noble and what is good. Every atheist I've talked to says something like, you know, the problem is that Christians are teaching things that aren't true. How do they know there's such a thing as truth? Why would the subject, if there is nothing like truth, how would anybody know that something wasn't true? They've judged this with their own logic. I'm telling you, unbelief contradicts reality. R.C. Sproul's favorite illustration about the origin of the universe is with a shoe, believe it or not. He said, suppose you have this empty room, nothing in the room, no materials in the room, no equipment in the room, no people in the room. And you leave the empty room one day, and I don't know who this person is, since there's nothing, but this person comes back the next day, and in the middle of this room, there's a shoe, a perfectly designed shoe. I wish he had said two shoes, because what good is one shoe? But anyway, he said a shoe, and it's masterfully crafted, and you think, where did this, The door was locked, nobody, where did this shoe come, did it spontaneously appear? No, you think, somehow a shoemaker somewhere designed and made this shoe and either brought it here or prepared it here and then left with all his tools, but somebody made a shoe. You know, the universe is like that. Unbelief doesn't make any sense. That this universe somehow spontaneously appeared out of nothing. Nothing became something. That's nonsense. I've got to call nonsense on that. You think, well, there's no other explanation. I understand your dilemma. They have a dilemma. Something has to come from nothing because they have nothing with which to work. But then something comes from nothing and then not only you have something, but then life has to come from that something. You got this rock, but now you have to have an amoeba. And I don't know if you know a lot about rocks and amoeba. They're different. There's a big gulf between a rock, an inanimate object, and an amoeba. There's a great gulf there, and you just can't get from the rock to the amoeba without... I mean, unbelief just doesn't make sense. Well, just something... The rock just sort of compressed and sweated out the amoeba. Nope. Unacceptable. That's nonsense. And then you've got to get from life to sentient life. Somewhere along the line, you've got to get plants in there, but then you've got to get animals. And I can tell you there's a great gulf between plants and animals. There's a greater gulf between animals and man. And you think, well, it just sort of happened. Unbelief contradicts reality. Nothing in human experience or human rational thought Verifies that. Something coming from nothing. We don't expect that in any other arena or category. We all know that you gotta have something to get something else. And usually somebody has to work on it, or do something to it, or add something to it, or put some information into it. Unbelief contradicts reality. Unbelief, ultimately, I think this is why it's a failure. It's a camouflage for rebellion. He said, oh, now you're judging motives. Well, perhaps, but I know that atheists don't hesitate to judge our motives. Atheists combat Christians, and they think, eh, you're just trying to get people's money. Well, I beg to differ. But I understand. Criticism, you Christians just want to tell other people how to live. Well, that's possible, possible. Most Christians I know really would rather not be bothered by it. They'd just rather be left alone. But I guess there are some nosy do-gooders that find their fulfillment in going around and finding out if somebody's enjoying life and wants to stop it. And I guess that's true. But I sometimes think that atheists are self-imposing their own personalities on others and saying, you just want to control people. And I'm thinking, what do atheists want to do? Don't teach that to children. Don't teach that. Don't talk about, don't mention the name of God. Don't bring God into this. Oh, that'll be a terrible thing if you mention God because that's, So you can tell other people how to live, but you don't want other people to tell you how to live. I see your problem, but unbelief really is just a camouflage. It's just a disguised rebellion. The atheist knows in his conscience that there must be a creator. And if there's a creator, someone to whom the atheist may be accountable, And that, Romans 1 says, that's the thing that they are willfully unthankful, and they are rebelling against the image of God of which they are made, and their atheism, their unbelief, actually is a camouflage, not very subtle, It's camouflaging rebellion. I will not have God tell me what to do. I will not have a sovereign to whom I'm accountable. I will not be answerable to anybody. I'm the captain of my own fate. I decide where I go, what I want. And they can't even guarantee their next breath. And yet they think they're in charge. I've at least got the good sense to know I'm not in charge. I basically go around making suggestions to people. as emphatically, as kindly as I can, but I realize when it boils right down to it, you can't hardly make anybody do anything. I'm not sure that's a bad thing, but I'm thinking, I think unbelief is just an emotional temper tantrum. I don't want you to be the boss of me. I don't think they've settled this question of if there is a boss, or if there is a judge, or if there is a maker. I think they've just stomped their foot and decided, I don't want anybody telling me what to do. I think it's a camouflaged rebellion. I think unbelief causes regression. I think cultures and... Individuals, I think they regress when they lose their understanding of a Creator God or a Sovereign God or a Providential God. I don't see cultures moving in the right direction when they reject God. I don't see cultures moving in the right direction when they reject morality or ethics. I see cultures that try to superimpose morality and ethics without any basis for it. And when you say, who says it's wrong to do this? Well, we just all sort of voted and thought maybe it was a bad, well, let's vote again. That's why if you don't have an absolute authority, if you don't have ultimate authority, you really don't have any authority. Because you only have as much power as you can gather and you can't really make people behave in a certain way. You can for a while, but at their opportunity they'll try to overthrow you and replace you. Unbelief causes regression. I think relationships and families and cultures and nations regress Even the spiritual possibility that there's more to life than just mechanistic, chemical, mechanical relationships. Because then you have nations trying to teach patriotism or sacrifice. And it doesn't matter what your political identity is, by the way, the West or the East. It's like, you need to do this for mother country. Why? Why do I need to sacrifice my life and do that for my country? Are you being unpatriotic? No, I think Christianity can make a case for the powers that be and authority, but I don't think atheism's got a leg to stand on when it goes around saying, well, we just need to do this for the greater good. What? Who told you there was a greater good? Who told you there was any reason to deny yourself anything? I mean, if it's the survival of the fittest, Why should anybody be allowed to have anything you want? If you're strong enough, take it. I can preach atheism. Only thing is, it's not true. But I, all this phony baloney of like, well, we're just doing this because it's better for society and it's better for everybody. Just look at reality. I think they deny reality. I think they're camouflaging a rebellion. And I think the whole thing's regressing. It's unraveling. I think it's going to pieces. I think unbelief causes recrimination. I think it causes great regret. I think there's a great sadness, a great pathos in unbelief. We were created in the image of God. We were created to know Him and enjoy Him forever. And I think unbelief robs the atheists of that hope, of that possibility. We desperately need to be unconditionally loved. The problem is seeking that unconditional love from people is we can never be quite sure. Do they love me because of who I am, or what I am, or what I give back? We can't really know. But God loved us and gave his own son for us. And I think that unconditional love is desperately needed by every man, woman, boy, and girl who ever graced the face of the earth. And I think they know it. That's why Dr. Moeller says the atheists are so angry. That's why they're so aggressive. They act out in defense of their fear. And that's what called, by the way, for us to be compassionate toward them. They don't know what they're talking about. They pretend to be intellectuals and pretend to be scientific and they're not. They're so wrapped up in their emotions, they can't even see it. They're so wrapped up in anger and hatred and fear, they don't even know it. I'm not rejoicing in that, I'm just saying unbelief causes terrible regrets. Unbelief contradicts reality. Well, you're going to have to make a case for that. I think you can make a case, Christian. I think there is an apologetical argument for the existence of God. I think there is an apologetical argument for the nature of the existence of God, not only in the cosmos, but in our creation, in our existence as a reflection of the image of God. I think there are logical, plausible arguments to be made for a first cause And without getting into the design and all that, I'm simply saying, I think Christianity does have a logical case to be made. Now, do I think logic brings people to Christ? Do I think you argue people into believing? I do not. But I think sometimes Christians have to push back and say, look, you make Christianity like it's some kind of fiction. You're the one that's pushing the fiction. He said, well, they're not going to be happy with that. Well, they're not happy with us now. I'm prepared for that. And Christian, all I can say is you've got truth on your side. It contradicts reality. It camouflages rebellion. When someone is arguing against the existence of God, when someone is angry about the existence of God, I guarantee you that in their heart they are at war with God. They don't know his name. They don't know who he is. They don't know what he's like. They don't know that he's offering salvation to those who believe. They just know there's something they hate. And there is no other explanation for the vitriol. There's no other explanation for the anger. There's no other explanation for the evangelistic fervor that unbelievers have who are the professional atheists. They put some Christians to shame with the fervor of their case. I say that to our sheep. They are at war with God. They are at enmity with God. Their world is falling apart and there isn't anything they can do about it. I understand in previous centuries why people got so excited when they thought the scientific revolution and the industrial revolution is like, we got it fixed. We got machines that make work easier. We got machines that make all the food we need. We got electricity, and we got central air. Now we got automobiles, and we got airplanes, and we are going places, and we are doing stuff, and we're figuring things out, and then the world blows up, ever so often. And I'm not mocking this. I mean, this is tragic. You build a Titanic, and it sinks. You pursue science and find out we know how to blow ourselves up and do on a regular basis. And missiles are flying, and warheads are flying, and drones are flying to wreck havoc on cities and innocents. And we think, but I thought we had it figured out. I thought we had a United Nations, and I thought we had science, and I thought we had all these smart people working on this, and the world's in chaos. It's in chaos. The only answer is the good news of Jesus Christ. These things are written, verse 31 says, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ. Do you believe that? I'm not just talking about intellectually, I'm talking about with your heart. Romans says, with the heart man believes. Man and woman, Lord of girls, believes unto righteousness. What I'm begging you to do right now is turn from unbelief and turn in faith in Jesus Christ. And if you're a Christian and you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm reminding you that we must continue to believe on him. Oh, not to keep our salvation. That's secure in the assurance of God's payment for our sins. But we go on believing because we walk by faith. We live by faith. We tell people things they can't see. And sometimes we become defensive and apologetic because we're telling people things they can't see with their eyes. Invisible doesn't mean imaginary. It just means you can't see it. I just always remind people, you know, those stars were there long before the telescopes. That cell structure in your body, that was there long before the microscope. All the telescope and the microscope let you do is see things that were already there. That's all faith is. That's enough. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I think unbelief is ultimately a failure. Let's bow our heads. Life, you might have life. We know about physical life. What the Bible tells us about physical life is true. I believe what the Bible tells us about eternal life is true. I wonder while heads are bowed and eyes are closed, there might be someone who just today realizes, I am a sinner. I know the Bible tells the truth about that. Let me ask you another question. As I pray for you, you raised your hand. Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins? I believe the case is made in the Gospel according to John. I believe the Bible makes the case. I believe the testimony of Christians over 2,000 years makes the case that Jesus is who he says he is. Would you trust him today? Right where you're sitting, say, dear God, I believe I'm a sinner. I agree with what you say about my sin, and I agree with you that Jesus is the only Savior. Would you trust him right now? God bless you. In a moment, we'll stand, we'll sing a hymn. Nothing would please me more than to have you come and say, Pastor, I just want you to tell these people, you don't have to say anything to anybody else, but just come and say, I've trusted Christ as my Savior, and I wanna publicly let people know I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to come. Maybe God wants you to come and or church membership, or re-dedicate your life. Maybe you just need to come and say, let me have more courage. I don't want unbelievers. I don't want to just be angry at them or frustrated with them. I want to love them. I want to give them the good news. Christians, maybe we need to make some things right between us and God, too. Father, I pray you bless this service to that one somebody. I want to raise their hand to others who raise their hands. Father, help them if they need to come for questions or for encouragement. I pray you bless this invitation in Jesus name. Amen. Let's stand with