All right. How are you guys? Good, good, good. OK. I'm scanning to see. All right. I think I'm going to go quickly through the first part because I think everybody here has seen it redundantly over and over and over again, which I partly do because we've had new people every single time. And I don't want just to lose any one person even. And partly as I want you to really get it, but I'm thinking I'm hoping most of you guys have it we're gonna go Pretty quick and and kind of review a lot of what we talked about last week and then and then make Begin to start making application, but I think after the idea the hope is after today We should be at a place where we can really start to develop. How do we go about apologetics now? the practical more and so the plan is next week I'll be out of town and so Lord willing the last two Sunday or Wednesdays in August we'll go two more times and really kind of do the meat of how to how does this how does this foundation stuff that we've been talking about what does it look like in apologetics for two weeks and then that will go back to the normal I think Sean should be back September And I'll go back over there and all that kind of stuff. So that is the plan go So anyway, you guys know all that. Okay, I am gonna take the time to read this because we should be familiar with this passage Okay, probably the most well-known passage in regard to apologetics defending the faith, but sanctify Christ is Lord in your hearts always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you yet with gentleness and reverence and so Again, the point that I've tried to emphasize is the first step of making a defense of the faith is to what? Sanctify Christ as Lord of our hearts. In other words, we need to do it in a way that honors Christ. Now, I'm gonna do a thought experiment for you before we go for the rest of today, and that is this. I want you to think about, you don't have to answer out loud, but I want to tell, I can't remember all the details, but I'll give you the gist of it. But my grandpa, he passed away when he was 60. I was 15, so it would have been a while ago, 20 years ago. 30 years ago? 30 years ago. Wow, look at that. All right, just gained a decade. But he had six kids, but one of them was younger. My Uncle Jeff was younger, so he didn't have them. So he would have had four or five kids through the, I guess it would have been, in the 60s, 70s. And so obviously, if you pay for educating your kids, obviously it's a lot more now than it was then, but it was expensive. And so he was considering sending his kids to the public school. And so he had the elders of his church, which is considered from his family a liberal church. He talked to me about that afterwards. It wasn't liberal. But it was considered liberal because he left the more conservative church. And so the elders from his church came to him. They caught wind of that, whatever. They came to him and confronted him and said, when I say confronted, I don't mean like they were bullies or anything, but they had a meeting with him to talk to him about this decision and that. And essentially, I don't know exactly how it was communicated or whatever, but basically the idea was, If you send your kids to the public school, you're gonna undergo church discipline, okay? You're gonna get churched, okay? Because this is a serious issue. And they ended up, he ended up continuing in Christian education, and he worked multiple jobs to do it. There's some positives and negatives in that, not getting into all those details. But the point is, this is my point that I want us to think about, okay? That sounds very surprising to most of us, does it not? Does it kind of sound shocking? And why might that be, do you think? I think there's multiple reasons, but why might that be? I can think of two big reasons. What's that? Okay, it's a value of education that we don't have. A value of Christian education that we don't have. Yeah, okay. I think that's one that's very different than what we have. And the other one would be is if churches did that. Yes, I mean, it'd be like, yeah. And I think those are probably the two things why it comes across as really surprising. And I think if we're honest and thinking about it, people might think, well, it kind of almost sounds cultish to be that involved. Anyway, the church was furthest thing from a cult. But anyway. My point is just think about that and resonate. Again, I'm not arguing that it was good. There was negatives and positives. But my point is just that the mentality was there in that place, in that culture, at that time. And we'll come back to that later. But I just want you to think that the point of it is to think who is more Who is more out there, if you will? Us or them? That's what I want us to think about. Now, what we're gonna do is, so we've gone through most of this stuff. Remember, we've looked at three stages, okay? We've looked at how we understand mankind, how we understand the world, how we understand God, well, not God, but how we understand those things in three different places, at creation, at the fall, and at redemption, okay? And it's important to understand the world and mankind at those three places. And why is that? Because at creation, how much sin was there? There was no sin. So when you talk about a prelapsarian world, you're talking about a world with no sin, how God created the world. This is really big because people today look at the world and they say, well, how could God make the world that has whatever it might be? The issue is, is the world isn't how it was created. So this is significant, okay? And then secondly, the fall changed things, okay? Because it introduced sin into the world, which obviously changed all mankind, okay? And it also changed the world. Specifically within mankind, remember, what are the two areas we really tried to focus on to lay a foundation for apologetics? Two areas. Sin affected us in two, well it affected us in virtually every way, but two ways we've been focusing on. Ethics and epistemology. How we know, how we come to true knowledge and, which is epistemology, which is a big fancy word, sounds philosophical, but everybody has an epistemology. Everybody has a way to determine what's true and what's not. If you have to decide whether you're going to watch Fox News or CNN, you have an epistemology. You might not call it that, but you are thinking, how do I come to truth in this world? Everybody has it. And so the point is, is we're looking at how is it that we should come to truth? How do we come to true knowledge? And morality, how do we know what's right and wrong? And so again, creation and the fall, there's a huge difference. At creation, before there was sin, Adam and Eve were completely dependent upon God. They recognized there's a God and I ain't him. They recognized that creator-creature distinction. And so while Adam and Eve didn't have all knowledge, they had true knowledge because they looked to God for it. They were dependent upon God for how to interpret and understand the world. And then in the same thing, how do they know right from wrong? Again, they looked to God to know what's good, what's evil. The fall, the serpent, it wasn't just about disobeying and eating the fruit, okay? Satan tempted by saying, what? You will be like God, knowing good and evil. It's really important to understand that that is a sinful place, to be where I don't need God, I'm gonna evaluate the world on my own. I'm gonna determine good and evil. See, that in and of itself is not how mankind was created. You understand that? It's super, super important. Because then you see that Eve and Adam, what they did then is they became the judge to determine, OK, God says you shall surely die. Satan, the serpent, says you shall not surely die. And so they're now going to interpret the world and think, well, which one's true? OK? See, is that a good, proper way to go about it? OK? It's not. And it's not, well, OK, it's not proper. And then Jesus is the model that I've tried to say when Jesus was tempted to doubt God's Word Did he sit back as a man and evaluate both when Satan tempted him? He says what it is written He went straight to the Word of God as a man dependent upon God for how to interpret the world That's Jesus is showing. Okay. I mean he came to provides salvation for us, his perfect life and his death on the cross, but he's also an example of how to be the perfect man in the world. And when he was confronted, he didn't sit back and judge. He said, was dependent upon God. It is written, man shall live by bread alone. Okay? And so that's really, really important. So we don't measure God, creation, things like that. We don't measure it by our own ruler of carnality. Okay? And so, And so we've looked at those, and then so when it comes to man redeemed then, what happens? When man is redeemed, he's now, just think about salvation in and of itself. What is salvation? How is a person saved? Is it by evaluating things and coming, or is it by humbling ourselves before God and saying, God, I can't do it. You understand that? I mean, that alone, just the gospel call is a call to what? to turn from yourself and to turn to Christ, to humble yourself, okay? And so the point is, it's the same thing in regards to knowledge and morality. Now, as believers, we still have our sinful hearts, okay? We've been redeemed and changed, but we still have sin. And so, do we depend upon God perfectly? Does sin blind us still? Okay, yes, I want to make sure you're good. All right, so but the point is guys is redeemed people This is the issue as redeemed people. We don't evaluate the world and Determine the world on our own. We are we look to God We're dependent upon God to understand the world to understand ourselves to understand right from wrong and guys I'm just telling you I mean it's beyond where we're gonna go with this, but people who reject the Bible have no basis to know what's right and wrong. And you can see the craziness it leads to now. All we're leading to is it's secular. It's the fruit of secularism. Secularism for a long time argued you can be neutral, you can be neutral. But guys, if you reject dependence upon God, there's no reason that you can't win a debate by killing people. I mean, it sounds extreme, but there's no reason. There's no rationality. There's no basis for it. And that's what we're trying to get at. We need a standard. We're created that way. That's why the Bible says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. It's the beginning. It's not the end of knowledge. That's how we tend to think. We tend to think, well, we'll evaluate everything and see. And then once we have all the facts and stuff, then we'll have the knowledge. No. The Bible doesn't teach that. The Bible says it's what? The fear of the Lord. Recognizing there's a God, humbling ourselves, looking to him. That's the beginning of knowledge, not the end of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Why do they despise wisdom and instruction? I think I shared this last week, but I don't want to be overly redundant, but this is an important point. Because most atheists, guys, do they claim to be dumb and have no knowledge and wisdom? Or do they claim to be smarter? Yes, so it's not that they they despise knowledge despise knowing things. They think they know more Okay, they despise it because they reject their creator where true knowledge comes from you understand that if the Bible says Psalm 36 9 in God's light we have light if if we reject God's light we're in the darkness and Hence by rejecting God we hate we despise wisdom and instruction. That's what we need. It's a hard issue Okay And so again notice this contrast we're gonna walk through this quickly again Ephesians 4 really shows the contrast it starts out with a negative Okay. Now this I say in testifying the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do who are the Gentiles? Unbelievers, it's a euphemism for unbelievers there. Okay, don't walk don't live like the unbelievers Well, how do they live in that? futility The emptiness of their minds. Why is their mind empty? Why is their thinking futile? Because they've rejected the one who teaches true knowledge. Does that make sense? Hence, all their thinking is deceptive. Okay? It's all that way. Now, again, do they get some things right? Do unbelievers get some things right? Yes, because by God's grace, they're inconsistent. Thankfully. Can you imagine what the world would be like if they weren't? It would not be pretty, okay? At all. So don't walk like the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds, independent of God, thinking they can figure it out on their own. Don't do that. They're darkened in their understanding. Again, you reject the light of God, you're in the dark. They're alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, okay? But that ignorance isn't innocent, it's due to their hardness of heart. Again, the refusal to recognize God and to bend on Him. And then, oops, they become callous, have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ. See, that's not how the gospel is. If, he says, assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him. Again, remember, how much wisdom and knowledge is in Christ according to Colossians chapter 2? All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ. Why? Because Christ is God. And so we look to Him. The fullness of deity dwells in Him. That's what that passage in Colossians goes on to say. So assuming that we're taught in Him just as the truth is in Jesus. So you're seeing a contrast between what? The feudal way of thinking of unbelievers and the believer learning Christ, depending upon Christ. You're seeing this contrast right here in this passage. And that's why 1 Corinthians 3 says what? The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are feudal. Why are they wise? Why are they feudal, I mean? Again, is it true wisdom that he's talking about there? Wisdom of the world. Why is the wisdom of the world futile, vain? Because they've rejected the one who true knowledge comes from. This is all over the scriptures. And so the point that this book right here, I think, pictures it in a helpful way is that all non-Christian philosophy, that's a big fancy word, but all non-Christian way of thinking, It doesn't matter whether it's Islam, secularist, atheist, it doesn't matter. All non-Christian philosophy way of thinking is what? It's committed to independence. It doesn't need God. It seeks to do it on its own. It seeks to collapse that creator-creature distinction. That's the issue. And so turning from God, this is what I laid out last week, and this is a little bit hard to get, But I had others say they thought it was really helpful and good. But this is how he does it in this book, Every Thought Captive. But when a person, when the unbeliever turning from God, they assert their own absolute certainty. They have to be absolutely certain. But there are also results then, total uncertainty. And the reason there's total uncertainty is because they have no basis. for their knowledge. Some of the examples I get, and this is why all non-Christian philosophy contradicts itself. All of it. It's just a matter of getting to it. We're not going to go through all the specific details of it, but it all does. Some of the examples I gave, just to hopefully help illustrate it, was what? There is no God. Does that sound certain or does that sound uncertain? Does that sound absolutely certain or totally uncertain? When a person says, there is no God. They're claiming that's absolute certainty. But the problem is, is what? They're not infallible. They're not all knowing. It's impossible for somebody to say there is no God. Because it could be on the side of the moon that they can't see. Definitive proof that proves there is a God. I mean they would have to know everything to say there is no God Okay, so the point is is you have this this this tension? Okay, same thing with God's existence is uncertain. What is this called? not atheism, but What's that agnosticism, okay, not does that sound certain or uncertain It's a trick what you say James Did you say it sounds certain It sounds uncertain, but which is it really? It's certain, right? Because the agnostic is saying, I know beyond a reasonable doubt, or not reasonable, I know definitively, absolutely, that God has not revealed himself in a way that all men are accountable. I know it for sure. And again, it's the same problem. How can they know that if, again, the proof for that could be on the backside of the moon that they've never seen? You'd have to be all knowing. This is probably easier, but it's the same concept, okay? Often said, there's no such thing as absolute truth. See, it's internally inconsistent. That's not true then, right? If there's no such thing as absolute truth, is that absolutely true? See, it's not. So it's internally inconsistent, okay? This is the problem all non-Christian philosophy has in it, guys. You pick your, however deep, high you go. We used to work for a philosopher. What was his name? That guy out in Deals Gap? Bailey. Yeah. And anyway, he was a super nice guy. Super nice. Fun to talk to, OK? But he was a philosophy teacher. But the point is, guys, is it doesn't matter how high. The guy, incredibly intelligent, OK? But there was nothing in it that was beyond with the Bible. Just understanding the scriptures was a far more founded. This is where Psalm 119 says, basically talking about God's word, you'll make me wiser than my teachers. I mean, it's just where it is. If you reject God's word, it doesn't matter how intelligent you are. One of the examples I gave, this is imperialism. All true knowledge comes from our sensory experience or empirical evidence. This used to be a really, really popular way of knowing. The way we know things is by our senses. We sense it empirically. We see it. We can feel it, whatever. What's the problem with that? You can't see that. You can't prove that with empirical evidence. So every single thing. So that's why Greg Bonson, he said, the strongest evidence and argument for the existence of God is that without a belief in God, you can't prove anything. If you reject God, all you have is absurdity. That's the strongest argument. There is nothing in the world that you can point to to say, there's a God. And see, this proves it. Because everybody interprets things a certain way, whether you're dependent upon God's word or independent. That's the point. You're not going to find anything. Now, the believer, then, in opposition, or the contrast, I should say, looks to God as our Creator now, as our Redeemer, and we have dependent certainty, but there also results dependent uncertainty. So what's the consistency there? Both of them are dependent. Instead of total and complete or whatever, now both of them are dependent. So we can know things and be certain of it. Why? Because God has said so in His Word. So we can know certain things are wrong. Absolutely. Because we're dependent upon God's word and we know it. But we can also have an uncertainty. Because we're dependent on God, do we know all things? So this is a crucial point. Logic, reason, those have limitations. They're created things. It's really important to understand that. They're within God's world to function the way God created. And that's why there's laws of logic that apply to everybody all over the place. But guys, they're created things. They're limited. And so that's why probably the best example of this, one of the best, would be the Trinity. How many gods are there? One God, but in how many persons? Three persons. So it's not a contradiction. It would be a contradiction to say God is one being and God is three beings. That would be a contradiction, right? But God is one being and he's in three persons. It's not a contradiction. But can our reason understand that? Will we ever understand that in this world? Will we understand it in the next? I'm not so sure. Probably better, at least. The point being is there's truths that we know of that we have uncertainty because we can't understand them, but we know they're true because of the word of God. Does that make sense? This is really, really crucial, okay? So it's by faith, Hebrews 11 verse three says, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God so that what was seen was not made out of things that are visible. So the point is, guys, it's what? By faith, we then understand. That's the crucial point. This is what the Bible teaches all over. We don't understand in order to believe. We believe in order to understand. One of those statements is Christian. The other one is the opposite. But which one do we tend to think? We need to understand in order to believe. Is that not how we normalize? And again, that's normal because Augustine, way before These type, apologetic type things, he wrote, I believe in order to understand. Anselm says, I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. And the point is, guys, is they recognize the crucial issue, what's the problem that the unbeliever has? Is it lack of knowledge, or is it a different problem? It's a different problem. Nobody is lost because they lack knowledge alone. Again, if somebody's never heard, don't misunderstand me. There is knowledge that needs to go, but nobody lacks knowledge. We're going to look at a passage in Romans 1 that's very, very, very, very, very clear, at least in regards to atheism. And so the point is, guys, is Christian philosophy, Christian way of thinking, It hinges on this what? Commitment not to independence, but commitment to depending upon God. Does that make sense? So we see that difference. Now, last week, and I'm going to take some time because this is important to understand and several, especially young people who aren't here and you need to understand this, is lots of people will say though, well, that decision to be committed to dependence is an independent decision. It's an independent decision. Does that make sense? Especially in our culture, even Christian culture, that presents salvation like it's a decision. In other words, you follow the logic here? You have non-Christian is all fundamental down to what? Thinking independently. Independent thinking. Christianity is what? Dependent. And absolutely committed to being dependent. Some of you guys were here last week, so if you guys will hold up. So you young people, or anybody who wasn't here last week, do you understand the issue? People would say, well, you're making an independent decision to be committed to dependence. So you're just as dependent on independence. I know it's confusing, but is that making sense? I have decided to follow Jesus. That's it. That's an independent decision, okay? That now, you're dependent. So what's the solution to that? What's the biblical solution to this conundrum? Because... Faith is a gift. Very good, okay? Oh wow, I got ahead of myself, okay? Well, I'll come back to that anyway. Anyway, so Ephesians 2, just really quickly, says what? You're dead in your trespasses and in the sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, whereby nature, children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. So what happened then? You guys know the next two verses? The next two words? Glorious words. You should know these words if you don't know them. But God. Okay? But God. What did He do? Being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, He made us alive. And so the point is, guys, is our commitment to... If you're a Christian, your commitment to dependence is not based on your independent decision to follow Jesus. If you're trusting Jesus, it's because God made you alive. Not in response to anything you did. He made you alive. How? Through the power of his word. Just like Jesus said, what? Lazarus, come forth. And his words gave life and ability for Lazarus' dead ears to hear, and a dead body suddenly had life to get up and obey. It's the same thing for Christians, except spiritually. The word of God, the gospel, gives life. That's the point. That's what we see. And we see this again and again and again. Romans 9, talking about salvation, says what? It depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. It's not an independent decision to trust Jesus. We should press people to trust Jesus, but if you do, guys, the Bible is very, very clear that if you trust Jesus, the reason you've done so is because God's Spirit has worked in your heart. because it's not in you to do it yourself, okay? And so the London Baptist confession, this is an important thing. Again, we teach the confession because we think it's biblical, okay? It's a good way to understand the Bible. It's not enough to say, well, I just believe the Bible, okay? Cults do that, guys, okay? And so the Lenten Baptist Confession is very helpful here. This first paragraph explains to us what gives the Bible authority. Why should we trust the Bible? Why are people obligated to obey the Bible? It says this, the authority of the Holy Scriptures obligates belief in them. Why? Why are people obligated to believe the Scriptures? What gives the Bible its authority? Does anybody know? Without reading? Or if you've read, I don't care. What gives the Bible its authority? Huh? Because it's God's word. You understand that? Because it's God's word. This authority does not depend on the testimony of any person or church, but on God the author alone, who is truth itself. Therefore, the scriptures are to be received because they are the word of God. The Bible is authoritative And every person is obligated to obey them because it's the Bible. Because it's God's word and God has authority over them. Does that make sense? Now, some people might say, well that's kind of circular. But how do we know it's God's word? And the next paragraph explains how. The testimony of the church of God may stir and persuade us to adopt a high and reverent respect for the holy scriptures. Many of you guys have grown up in the church. And so you have a high and reverent respect for the Holy Scriptures. The church may be helpful to you in that regard. But is that what gives the Bible its authority? Is it because mom and dad said it? Or pastor said it? No. Moreover, and it gets all these other things, the heavenliness of its contents, the power of the system of truth, the majesty of the style, the harmony of all the parts. 40 different authors over 1,500 years on four different continents and yet it reads as one book, okay? All these things point, you could say, fulfilled prophecy. There's all these things that add to it, okay? But none of those things is definitive on how you can know the Bible is the Word of God. How can you know the Bible is the Word of God is the last sentence right here. Even so, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority of the scriptures comes from the internal work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by in the word in our hearts the only way you can know the Bible is the Word of God is if the Holy Spirit has enlightened your heart and then guys you'll see God's fingerprints all over his word to the point where it's like how can people not see this okay and how can people not see it because they've not been in light they're in darkness I mean that's It really is same thing with creation. Okay, God's fingerprints are all over creation. Are they not? They're everywhere. I mean we live in a beautiful place and yet how many people think they're not Why? Is it it's because people don't see it but they're there see and that this is what I said so the point is guys is The person who rejects the word of God, the person who doesn't see the work of God all around them, what is their problem? Is it that they lack more facts about this world or about the Bible? That's not the problem. The problem is they need a new heart. That's the problem, not facts. This is creating the issue. So the point is, I'm coming back, I'm going to skip back over here. The point is this, guys. This is what I want you to see. Actually, let me go right here. All thinking is either Christian or non-Christian. This is the issue. Christian thinking is characterized by dependence upon God. Non-Christian thinking is characterized by allegiance to independence from God. All thinking is Christian or non-Christian. So you're either what? Alienated from the life of God and how you think. Ephesians 4, or you're set apart, okay, to God's truth. These are the two issues, okay? Sorry, I was running late today, so I couldn't think through as much. Oh, see, I had it all coming up again. Look at that! All right. All right, so right here, Greg Bonson says it this way, okay? I'm trying to, so all thinking is either Christian or non-Christian. One has to make this basic choice in his thinking, okay? You're either set apart by God's truth, or you're alienated from the life of God. In the way you think, you're either set apart by God's truth, by the word of God, or you're set apart to the world. Those are the two options. He says that one shall be set apart, set against, or alienated from either the world or the word of God. So again, if we're gonna begin apologetics by setting apart Christ as Lord in our hearts, Which one do we want to be? Do we want to be set apart from the world, or do we want to be set apart from the Word of God? Set apart from the world, right? We want to be sanctified to the Word of God. And think of these passages in this regard, guys. Whoever is not with me, Jesus says, is against me. Whoever does not gather with me scatters. James says it this way, you adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? So the point is this guys, can we reject being set apart by the word of God and seek to think independently apart from God and can we do that in a way that is honoring to God? See this is what I'm trying to make the point. Friendship with the world is entity with God you can't okay if you go back and to try to think like an unbeliever to go back into being alienated from the life of God's the futility of your thinking and Think that way to try to argue somebody into the kingdom My point is guys you're not set apart to the Word of God. Okay, and what is it if the unbeliever? What's their biggest problem? They need a new heart. What gives a new heart? God, regenerate, those are all good. But what's his means? It's faith. It's the preaching. It's the word of God. It's the gospel. It's not facts. That's my issue, my thing, trying to bring in. 2 Corinthians 10 verse 5 says this, we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to Christ. Now my point is this, once you understand this, this has huge implications for two things. Education and apologetics. Now it's more than that, but there's huge implications. So now think back to those pastors who went and talked to my grandpa. Do you see why they would come and address that? Because in their thinking they're saying, You can't raise your kids up in the faith in the dark. You understand that? Now again, I'm not saying that we need to go back to that, don't worry. But my point is, is we do need to capture and understand that guys, Christian thinking is not just having a prayer at the beginning. The difference between Christian school and public school isn't that you pray at the beginning of the day and maybe do the Pledge of Allegiance and that's it. It is everything. Everything, how you think. And I would say the greatest danger in the public school is it's training people to live and think in a way that says, I don't really need God for this part of my life. What's that? And many Christians. Yes, and that's true. Unfortunately, it's very true. They've lost that. But now, my point isn't to talk about the education, but just to say, this is why this is a big, big important issue, okay? Think about this, Romans 1 says it this way. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. See, this is the issue, guys. The reason people, okay, look at the next verse. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. In other words, God doesn't believe in atheists. That's what that verse says. God doesn't believe in atheists. There's no such thing as an atheist, according to God's word. Now, don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that the atheist is lying. The person who says he's an atheist is lying. But what it is is, in their thinking, what are they? They're deceived. They're futile in their thinking. They might really think, oh, there's no evidence. They're suppressing the truth. The best example I've heard, if you've ever been to the lake, is take a beach ball and put it underwater. And what do you do if you let go of that beach ball? What happens to it? It pops back up. And see, that's what the truth of God is in the unbeliever's heart. It's constantly coming up. And they've got to push that down, and push that down, and push that down. And our job as apologetics is to tickle them. So they take their hands off, and it pops right up in their face. I mean, that's just kind of a joke. But that's it, guys. That really is. That's what we want to do, to be faithful. Because, guys, they're suppressing that truth, but it's there. They know it. And it's the Word of God, the proclamation of the Gospel, that brings life. And so that's why, again, apologetics is very closely associated with evangelism. They're different, but they're close. It goes on to say, although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to the Lord, not dependent upon Him. They think they can do it without him, and so what happens? They became futile in their thinking. It is just like Adam and Eve. It's the exact same thing. That's why I spent so much time going over that and over that and over that, because I wanted you guys to get that, and I wanted you to realize that right there is secularism. Right there. It's what? It's not honoring him as God. There's a God. I'm not him. I look to him for understanding the world I live in. for understanding what's right and wrong. They don't do that, and so they become futile in their thinking. Their foolish hearts are darkened, and claiming to be wise, what do they become? Fools. See, that's the Bible. I don't even have my watch, so I have no idea what time it is. I'm sorry if it's late. But in closing, what I want us to realize is this. is the main thing I wanted to press. I know that was a lot of review from last week for those of you who are here, but the main thing I wanted to press is there is no such thing as neutrality. There's no neutral ground that every fact, if you will, is interpreted as either in a Christian way or a non-Christian way. Every fact, okay, is. We need to recognize that, okay? And so as we move forward, Lord willing, in a couple weeks we'll begin to look at how we do it. That's why this passage, I mentioned it last week, but I wanted us to look at it. It says this, there's two verses right in a row. Answer not a fool according to his folly. Why? Lest you be like him. What's that mean? From an apologetic standpoint, the fool is the person you're defending the faith against. And apologetically, the idea is don't take his independent way of thinking and answer him according to it. You don't want to be like him yourself. As a Christian, you want to be dependent upon God's word. Stand on God's word. Well, he doesn't believe it. He's obligated to. Why is he obligated to? Because it's God's word. Don't give that up. Don't answer a fool according to his folly. But then, answer a fool according to his folly. In other words, help him to see he's standing on air. Or usually he's standing on the Bible, ironically. But anyway, and that's what we want to get to, to see how we do both of those things. And so that's the plan as we move forward. So do you guys have any questions or comments? The big thing is there is no neutrality, which means Again, for education or for facts. This is why Answers in Genesis, you can read stuff on, I mean I like Answers in Genesis and a lot of the creation type stuff they do, but guys, like Richard Dawkins looks at the same world and he argues there's no design to it. Again, Dawkins' problem, he's a well-known atheist, but his problem isn't that he just lacks the facts. Because he knows more about the world, like, the actual how the world works in specific areas than probably any one of us in here, right? But what does he lack? See, he lacks a heart dependent upon God, okay? That's willing to humble himself. That's the need, okay? And so that's where we want to go from apologetics, from these things that come up about apologetics, we want to move from that to being able to share the gospel. Because that's what they, that's the only hope that they have. That's the way we give a defense of the faith. Any questions or comments? How late am I? I'm not hardly even late. Look at that. None. So I've done it perfectly. You guys all understand it perfectly? Huh? Yeah. All right, so again, in two weeks, Lord willing, we're gonna look at the practical, how to answer a fool, not according to his folly and according to his folly, and how to do both of them. That's not a contradiction, but we wanna be able to do both of those. So let's pray and then we'll be dismissed. So, dear God, we do thank you again for your word. And Lord, we recognize how apt we are to think we're self-sufficient, to think we can know things on our own, to think independently. like the Gentiles. And so, Lord, forgive us for that. Help us to recognize, indeed, how dependent we are upon you, not just for the gospel, for life, for the ability to honor you in our lives, but, Lord, for, indeed, all things, the things we think about. Help us to take every thought captive. Help us to take these truths seriously, that we would be the kind of people that would honor you as we seek to defend the gospel in a hostile world. So help us to that end we ask, in Jesus' name. Amen.