Sharing the happiness of God, part 6; Cosmic #2; John 15:11.
length: 1:02:26 - taught on Mar, 27 2012
Class Outline:
Title: Sharing the happiness of God, part 6; John 15:11.
Review: Cosmic One.
Cosmic Two: the hatred complex - fighting God.
Room #1: Negative volition. At three places: God consciousness, gospel hearing, post-salvation NVTD.
A subject that is near and dear to my heart is science. Not too long ago, in no small part to amendment 14, science was separated in popular education from theism.
Theism is the science of hypothesizing the existence of God. Theism is not Christianity or any other religion, although Christianity is theistic.
To say that science has no part in theism is criminal and academically dishonest. The facts of modern science as we claim to know them force us to look at theism under even more scrutiny and with the tools of more evidence.
Our technology has grown exponentially in the last century, from which we can see more of our natural world. By reason of this we should be seeing more of God who created it. The voice of nature is from the source of God, yet that is not what has happened. Theism has been removed so as to keep unregenerate man in darkness and occupied with his new toys. Therefore we see that an increase in the knowledge of the universe is not an increase in the knowledge of God or of benefit to man’s real problems.
To say that scientific laws just leapt into being is to put blinders on and commit the worst crime a scientist can make: assuming that something is known and reject or accept it as known without absolute evidence and data and experimentation to prove it as law.
For instance:
Law of conservation of matter: Matter cannot be created or destroyed in any physical or chemical change.
Law of conservation of energy: Energy cannot be created or destroyed …
Man cannot do this. For the atheist, agnostic, and in several other divisions of scientist, they account for this by hypothesizing that matter and energy are eternal.
The assertion that the creation of matter is impossible is based on the observation that the creation of matter is impossible to man.
The atheist boasts of his slavery to reason when his entire belief system is based on the unprovable hypothesis that all matter is self-existent.
To say that is scientific is the silliest way of accounting for a thing; one that has no basis in fact. Cause and effect are all around us and so say that matter, which produces effects on its own (Sun) and can be used to produce effects (burning fuels), has no cause is downright unscientific.
What has been done is to make the foundational premise about science to be atheism and then go from there. Since none of this is based on fact or data and cannot be empirically derived makes these types unmovable when they take their stand on this position.
You must remember, that as an ambassador for Christ, it is God the Holy Spirit who convicts the unbeliever and makes the gospel understandable, so we communicate the truth.
However, it is very helpful to know the theistic arguments for God since they can lead to God consciousness.
Theism at one time was studied within the parameters of science and without any deference to any denomination or religion, to which students could make their own conclusions.
For obvious reasons Satan pursued the abolishment of theism from all secular schools and even into private universities.
God has made the world and everything in it. God has also given revelation to mankind through the scriptures. The world must therefore contain God’s signature and the material world and its creatures must not conflict with His Biblical revelation. To the saved who are students of doctrine, Biblical theism is superior to natural theism; however, the student of doctrine should know them both.
The voice of nature and the voice of revelation proceeding from the same source must harmonize; nor can either be slighted with impunity.
ROM 1:18 For the wrath of God [just anger of God] is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth [doctrines of salvation] in unrighteousness,
ROM 1:19 because that which is known about God is evident within them [God consciousness]; for God made it evident to them.
God has revealed His existence through rationalism and empiricism at God consciousness. Then the gospel can be understood through the Spirit and mixed with faith.
ROM 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made [what God has created], so that they are without excuse [every normal person reaches God consciousness].
ROM 1:21 For even though they knew God [knew His existence at God consciousness], they did not honor Him as God [rejection of the gospel], or give thanks; but they became futile [vacuum of the soul that sucks in evil]in their speculations [evil thoughts], and their foolish [ignorant]heart was darkened [blackout of the soul in cosmic one and two].
This is how reversionism is formed among unbelievers.
Just as reversionism is formed among believers by saying no to doctrine, in effect the same thing is true for the unbeliever. He says no to a specific portion of doctrine dealing with salvation.
He says no to the gospel, even though he fully understands it. The more times he says no to the gospel the farther and farther into reversionism he goes; deeper into the darkness of cosmic 1 and 2.
ROM 1:22 Professing to be wise [blind arrogance], they became fools [insipid or tasteless],
The word for fools also means tasteless or saltless. It means to become dull as a fool or dull as in bland, without flavor. A believer is to be dynamic, alive, and free to be himself, as God made him to be. In the cosmos a person becomes dumb, dull, and without taste.
Here is the reason for the decline of the client nation.
When enough people within the client nation rejects the gospel the nation fills with fools, families are broken, stupid policies are made, and fools look to the government for sustenance and security.
ROM 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures [idols].
Now comes deliveries over to divine judgment.
The first delivery is of the reversionists; verses 24-25.
ROM 1:24 Therefore God gave them over [delivered to divine justice] in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them [loss of freedom through the degradation of the body - poor health, poor grooming, poor in social skills, etc.].
The body houses the soul and so it should be protected to a certain extent.
ROM 1:25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie [traded in the gospel for evil], and worshiped and served the creature [satan] rather than the Creator [Jesus Christ], who is blessed forever. Amen.
Worshipping the creature [satan] rather than the Creator produces a strong delusion in the soul of the reversionist leading to demon influence or even demon possession.
Naturalistic theism is the theistic research from the sphere of creation, or nature, and is subject to human reason.
Naturalistic theism does not prove God, nor does its understanding redeem anyone, but it may open the eyes of an unbeliever past the age of accountability to the understanding of the existence of a cause, and a design, and a designing creator.
It is a restricted appeal to creation and reason with a glimpse into a grand design by a divinity of superior intellect, goodness, and grace. Unregenerate men, especially the educated, are groping in the sphere of these truths.
However, it is Biblical revelation that must give us the knowledge of God’s love and saving grace.
Arguments for the existence of God from the limited source of nature and reason fall into two categories the argumentum a posteriori and the argumentum a priori.
The argumentum a posterior is inductive and so it proceeds from the particular phenomenon back to the ground.
The a posteriori argument is employed when from the mechanism of a delicate and intricate instrument or work of art the fact of the master mind is implied with its power to design and form.
As the writer puts it:
For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. That is, as the house proves the fact of a builder, so the universe proves the fact of a Creator.
There are three primary a posteriori arguments.
The argumentum a priori is deductive is its procedure as it goes from the ground to the phenomenon.
The argumentum a priori advances from ground to phenomena. It is based on something that has gone before and is assumed to be a reality.
A priori goes from principle to particulars, from antecedent to consequent, and from cause to effect. This form of reasoning is employed by the astronomer when from the laws which govern the movement of the solar system he determines the time of the return of a comet or of an eclipse; or when the paleontologist determines by the principles of comparative anatomy the size and form of prehistoric animals from some geological fossil.
First, the three a posterior arguments:
Cosmological argument: The intuitive credence that every effect must have a cause and so there must be a First Cause. Ex nihilo, nihil fit—out of nothing, nothing can arise—is an axiom which has been recognized by philosophers of all the ages.