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Listen to This to Conquer Your Unbelief (Reasons I'm Not an Atheist) · Off The Kirb Ministries

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OK, we're going to do something very different here.
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Normally on this channel, I have coffee with Christians and we
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study the Bible. But today I want to give an open
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invitation to all atheists out there, all agnostics, all
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skeptics, all those who sit on the fence.
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I'm wondering, would you be willing to sit down with a
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Christian right now? Get yourself a nice hot drink, a
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cup of tea, a cup of coffee. I've got green tea here today.
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Have a drink with me. And let's talk about some
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apologies because I've got some things that I want to share with
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you. I want to try and help you
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believe if we can. And if you are someone who
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normally watches this channel and you're already a Christian,
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would you also watch the video and also send this to an atheist
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or a skeptical friend that you know, Because I do hope there
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will be some value in this. OK, without further ado, get
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your drinks ready. I've actually got some some raw
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honey here today, raw Australian honey because I've got green tea
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and it can be a little bit bitter.
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I wonder, have you ever heard of the Nicene Creed?
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Well, did you know this year it is the 1700 year anniversary
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since the Nicene Creed was put together in 325AD.
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Now, if you've never heard of the Nicene Creed, it's
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effectively where the early Church Fathers, they came
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together and they put together a kind of document, a creed, a
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sheet of A4 paper, if you put it like that of, of certain tenants
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of certain doctrines that are very important to Christians on
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what we believe. And, and that phrase, I believe,
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just repeats itself over and over again in the Nicene Creed.
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So really the theme of this video is, do you believe?
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Well, many of you would say no. Let me read a little verse to
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you in the Bible and then we'll get straight into the questions.
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So we're in Mark Chapter 9 and verse 24.
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And the context of this verse is effectively Jesus has just come
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down from the Mount of Transfiguration, A glorious
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moment where Moses and Elijah had appeared to him and three
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disciples. Now as he comes down the
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mountain, he finds the remaining disciples in chaos.
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Here a father has his young man, his son with him, but his son
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has got an unclean spirit inside of him.
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And the disciples, they're powerless.
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They, they can't get this unclean spirit, this demon out
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of this young man. So then the father begs Jesus to
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help him. And Jesus sort of says, you
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know, do you think I can do this?
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And, and, and you can see the Father, he's kind of wrestling.
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I think you can. And then he says this verse, he
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says this line immediately, the boy's father exclaimed, I do
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believe help me overcome my unbelief.
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Well, that's what I want to talk to you about right now because
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some of you, you are on the fence.
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Some of you, you're flat out strong atheists.
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But some of you, you're saying I do want help to overcome my
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unbelief. So what would I say to you?
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Well, the first thing I'd say is this.
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If you and me were right here right now and we put a piece of
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paper in front of you, what would be the tough questions?
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What would be the big questions you'd write down on that piece
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of paper that prevents you from believing?
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What kind of things would you write down?
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Maybe you want to write them in the comments section right now.
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If you've got a minute, I reckon top of the list for most of you
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would be this one. Why does God allow suffering?
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Well, can I put it this way to you?
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I don't know what time it is. I think it's about, I don't
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know, about 8 minutes past three over here right now.
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Now, if at 9 minutes past three, God wipes out everything which
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causes suffering, everything which causes pain, where would
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that leave you and me? Because you say to me, you know,
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why can't God stop all of those terrible things that happen in
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schools in America that we hear about?
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Why can't God stop, you know, all of the, the sadness, all of
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the pain? You know what my grandma's going
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through or what I myself am going through?
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Why can't God just stop all of this pain?
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If he's really up there, how can he sit down and watch us suffer
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like this? Well, if God is to be truly
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thorough, if he wipes out everything which causes pain,
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well, to be truly thorough, he'd have to wipe you and me out,
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wouldn't he? You see, the man looking at you
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right now has caused pain in this life.
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I've stolen things, I've got angry, I've got into fights.
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I've, I've said things, I've, I've wrote things about people,
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I have caused. I've contributed to pain.
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And so have you. You've made people cry.
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You've contributed to pain. We're all sinners.
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And the reality is God one day is going to wipe out everything
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which causes pain. He's going to get rid of all
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pain, all sin, and all suffering, but he's waiting for
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a day when you and I will repent.
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When the final Sinner comes to him and cries out, have mercy on
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me, that is when suddenly all of this is going to be dealt with.
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But he's just being very patient right now.
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He's been very long-suffering, as the Bible says.
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He's waiting for you to turn to him.
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Now, of course, that's a very simple answer and there are many
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different other ways to answer this question.
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We could talk about Adam and Eve, couldn't we?
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You know, it was never God's plan.
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It was never his design to have pain and suffering.
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But God gave us free will, didn't he?
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And we ate of that fruit and then rebellion came into the
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world and sin entered into the world because we are the ones
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who caused it. It was never part of plan, but
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again, that could be seen as too simplistic.
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Another thing that I sometimes share is this.
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Can you see any good that comes out of suffering?
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Now I can see some of the atheists right now shaking their
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heads or you know, writing some sarcastic comment in the
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comments section. But sometimes good can come from
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suffering. Let me give you an example.
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What about a mother who loses her precious son in a war very,
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very young? What does that mother do?
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She then sets up a charity. Or you've got the, the, the, the
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husband whose wife gets that horrible thing that none of us
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would ever like to to hear we've got.
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And his wife gets that. So what does he do?
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He starts a fundraiser. He starts running marathons.
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He does all of these different things and he builds community
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and he and people come together and we can see that sometimes a
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positive can come from a negative.
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You know, people who've suffered, people who've had
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children, who've who've had all kinds of pain and difficulties.
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Often those parents are the most compassionate, loving people
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you'll ever meet. Far more than that, the brats
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that are in Hollywood who have iPads coming out of their ears
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and they have everything that they can ever want.
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So there is some good we, you and me, we can see a little bit
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of good that comes from suffering.
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So if we can see a tiny bit of good that comes from suffering,
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what about the God who sees all things, who sees the bigger
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picture? Perhaps he can see more.
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And as he looks out, he can see the good that it does to us when
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he allows some of these things to enter into our lives.
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Now here's a very common thing that atheists say and it's this.
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There's no proof of gods. Well, you are right in one
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sense. I, I can't 100% prove to you
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that God exists. But I'll also say this.
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There are very few things that you can 100% prove to me.
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I mean, you can't 100% prove to me that you're not in a dream
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right now. Your, your mind is completely
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sound and, and you can trust your senses.
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We can't trust it even even when we go to science, many things
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are just theories. We can't 100% prove something to
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be absolutely true, but what we can see with God is the
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fingerprints of God all through this world, all through this
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universe. The first one is this just a
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very simple question for my atheist friends and I don't mean
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to talk to you elementary or or like children, but it isn't.
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It's just a very simple question and it's this.
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What is 0 + 0? Well, you know it's zero, don't
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you? So if there's nothing in the
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beginning, no God, no creator, how do we get a universe from
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nothing? How does everything come from
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nothing? It's just a simple question.
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Just common sense tells us we can't have everything from
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nothing. You know the line that Ray
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Comfort uses a lot that he's, if you don't know who he is, he's a
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very well known evangelist from New Zealand who now lives in in
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California. And he's made many videos for
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many years and that many of us Christians love it, love his
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stuff. We've got a lot of time for Ray
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Now. Ray has a line that he says, and
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it's this. How do we know that a building
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once had a builder? Well, the building itself is
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evidence there was once a builder.
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How do we know that a painting once had a painter?
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Well, if I put a painting in front of you, you know it had a
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painter because the painting itself is evidence there was
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once a painter. So when we look at the world
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around us, the moon, the sun, the stars, the trees, the
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giraffes, elephants, how do we know that creation has a
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creator? Because creation itself is
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evidence there was once a creator.
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I mean, your eye, your eye is far more complex than any mobile
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phone camera that you've got. And as good as mobile phones
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are, as good as your, your Canon camera is, it's not as complex
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as your eye. And yet you would say it's
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madness to believe that that camera was caused by an
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accident, that it didn't have a thinking mind behind it.
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The computers that we use, you know, the computers are great,
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but they're not as advanced as our brains.
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And yet you would say, of course, there had to be an
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engineer of mind behind a computer.
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So why is it we believe that our eyes and our brains came from
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nothing, came from accident, came by chance over millions and
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millions of years? To me, maybe you just say, Joe,
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it's, it's just evolution, mate. But to me that just, it just
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doesn't make sense. Here's another question for my
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atheist friends. How many people are there in
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Earth right now? How many people live on Earth
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right now? There are 8 billion people,
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aren't there? So we've got 8 billion thinking
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minds on Earth right now. You've got to admit we think.
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We do things, we create things. We've got 8 billion thinking
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minds. So how is it as an atheist, you
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can say these 8 billion minds came from no mind, which doesn't
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make sense. We, we, if you're an atheist,
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you believe that all of this came from no mind.
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It just happened. It just made itself.
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But then again, I know you'll say to me, OK, Joe, it was The
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Big Bang. The Big Bang caused everything.
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Well, I want to know what went bang.
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If you hear a bang on the other side of of your house right now,
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you'd be thinking someone's caused a bang.
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You know, has a gun gone off as a car backfired, as a piano
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fallen from the building? What has caused that bang?
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Something caused it. So the big question is what
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caused the first Big Bang? If you believe a Big Bang
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created the universe, what went bank?
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These are big questions we've got to ask ourselves, haven't
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we? But OK, OK, OK.
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I know exactly what some of you are saying right now.
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It might even be a comment in the comment box right now.
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You're saying, Joe, I understand what you're saying.
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Everything around us has a designer.
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I understand the intelligent design argument.
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I get that. You know, you believe that
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everything has to have a creator.
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Everything has to have a maker. But I want to ask you, Joe, who
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made gods? Well, you might have noticed
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that I have some children's blocks here.
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These are my my little girls, Lois's children's blocks.
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And now why have I got them in the background?
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Because I want to try and answer that question for you.
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As you look at these three cubes, you see the blue one.
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What is holding up the blue block?
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It's the green block. Now tell me what is holding up
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the green block? It's the red one.
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OK, So what is holding up the red cube?
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It's the table. OK, so tell me now, what is
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holding up the table? Well, it's the ground.
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Well, what is holding up the ground?
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Nothing. It the ground holds everything
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together. If you like, the Earth holds it
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all together. Or you could say gravity holds
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it all together. Do you see what I'm trying to
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say there? Eventually when you go so far
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back, you find a force that is bigger than everything, that
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holds everything together. And that is what God is.
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He is the force that holds everything together.
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Eventually when you go so far back, you have to have something
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bigger than it all. It's like the question of, you
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know, who made God? Well, it must have been a bigger
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God or a bigger God or a bigger God than that made the bigger
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God. Does that make sense?
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Eventually you have to come back to the God of the Bible that
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says by him, through him and in him all things were made right.
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So what's another fingerprint? What is another fingerprint that
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shows us that God is real? Well, the big one is this, for
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me, morality. Now, a question that I know many
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atheists like to ask Christians, and they ask me is you're only a
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Christian because your parents are Christians.
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You know, were your parents Christians?
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Well, what do you think? Yes, they were.
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My parents were Christians. And actually, I'll be honest
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with you, it kind of messed with my head a bit.
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And I thought, is it just because, you know, when I was a
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child, my brains like a sponge and I just believed everything
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that my parents taught me and that's why I believe in gods.
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And so at uni I had sort of not quite a quarter life crisis
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because I wasn't that old yet, but a kind of crisis in my mind.
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Do I only believe in God because of my parents?
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And so I started listening to many different debates, many
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different atheists, Matt Dillahunty, Christopher
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Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, later Alex O'Connor came along.
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I was listening to all these different atheists.
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Sam Harris, he was a big one as well.
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And I was trying to figure out, you know, am I only a believer?
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Do I only believe in God because of my parents faith?
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And I looked at the arguments and there was one thing that I
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could not solve and it was this, Where does morality come from if
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there is no God? To be really consistent as an
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atheist, you have to say that morality is relative, right?
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And wrongs are just moral constructs in our minds and they
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don't really exist. It's just like a choice.
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Like, like, you know, one man might say I like bacon with my
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chips and another man might choose steak with his chips.
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Both are equally fine. Neither is right or wrong.
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It's, it's just a choice. So this this is a question to my
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atheist friends, those sitting on the fence.
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Where does morality come from? It's either one of these three
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places. Either it comes down to the
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individual, it comes down to society.
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Collectively, we as a society come up with right and wrong, or
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#3 it comes down to gods. Well, if we start with #1 it
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comes down to the individual. I want you to find a man who
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says, right, I believe it's really good.
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A doctor says, I think it's so good to help people, to look
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after them, meds and all these things.
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These are wonderful things. I want to help society.
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OK. This is an individual who
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believes that's right, that's good.
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And then you get another individual who says, no, I think
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I get the most enjoyment. What makes me happy, what I
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think is right, is to punch people in the face.
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I just love it. I love fighting.
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I love doing all of that, you know, so these two men stand
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next to each other. If they're on an island all on
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their own with no one else and they've got to come up with
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their own rules. It's sheer arrogance for, for
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this individual or this individual here to say my way is
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better than your way. If it's just down to the
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individual, again, it's it's just a choice.
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One way isn't better. They're just both equal choices.
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OK. But then you say, yeah, but
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that's why we have society, Joe. So we're down to #2 we as a
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society, collectively, we come up together and we say, come on,
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we need to be altruistic. We need to look after one
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another. We need to help one another.
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OK, I understand what you're saying there.
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But then what do you do with a society like Nazi Germany, who
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they said, let's get rid of all Jews?
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You know, Jews are worse than people.
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You know, we don't want the Jews around.
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What do you do with that? Well, that literally is a
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scenario that happens during the Second World War.
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You might have heard of the Nuremberg trials.
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And what happened was the Nazi leaders were put under trial and
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they were judged by the other remaining countries who were
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saying what you're doing is wrong.
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But what the Nazi leaders said, and it was quite clever of them,
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they said, listen again. It's sheer arrogance for you in
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Britain to say that what we've done is wrong.
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You can't say that we as a country, we came up with our own
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moral system. You can't say that yours in
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Britain is better than ours. And then the chief prosecutor, a
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man called Robert Johnson, stood up and said, no, that isn't
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right. And I'll tell you why that isn't
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right, because you know that there is a law above the law.
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And the Bible says very clearly that God has written the work of
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the law upon man's heart by giving us a conscience.
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And that's why I truly do believe that the conscience is
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evidence of God. And just to say, if you want to
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know who got me out of this sticky situation, this is going
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to perhaps fascinate you or make put a smile on your face.
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You ever heard of a guy called Cliff Connectly?
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Give me an answer who just very recently has gone very, very
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viral. Well, I was watching him back in
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in 2013, 2014 years ago before he went mega, mega viral.
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And it was actually Cliff who helped me with these things.
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Just watching his videos, they really helped build my faith.
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So that's the question I think every atheist has to wrestle
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with. Where does morality come from?
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And then another fingerprint, again, inspired by brother
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Cliff, is this, where do we get purpose from?
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Where do we get value from? Where do we get meaning from?
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It was, I think it was Nietzsche who said, listen, the only
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question that modern man has to ask himself is why live?
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What's the points alive? Because the reality is this.
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If there is no gods, you know, we're just atoms just bouncing
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around. We're just, you know, we're
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just, everything is just stripped back and, and there is
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actually no purpose and no meaning.
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We can create our own purpose, our own meaning, but ultimately
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it is meaningless. And going back to what we said
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before, you know, one man who says, I just want to sit around
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all day on a sofa and, and eat, you know, crisps all day and and
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eat popcorn. There's no more meaning in that.
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The man who says I want to go and help tribes or I want to go
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and find a new medicine or I want to go to Africa and and
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feed the poor, There's no more meaning in that because again,
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we're just creating meaning in our mind.
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And I find that very interesting because again, you know, you get
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atheists and they might say to you, yes, Joe, I do think
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morality is relative. I agree with what you're saying,
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but then they don't live it out. And an example of this is, you
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know, you're you're a married, you're a married man.
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OK. And let's say if if we just
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strip everything back to black and white science and evidence,
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what is love? Then it's just a chemical
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reaction in the brain. So here you are.
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You're married to your wife and your wife's walking down the
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streets and let's say Dwayne Johnson, The Rock a look alike
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like him or I don't know who you who you find attractive.
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I can't think of any other names.
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Johnny Depp, someone who's who's very, very attractive, walks
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past, OK, they smile at your wife and then they take your
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wife off and your wife goes off and has an affair.
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Can you condemn your wife for having that affair?
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Because what has happened is she's seen this other person.
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If love is just a chemical reaction in the brain, who's
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given her an even bigger chemical reaction in the brain?
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So she's ran off with this other man.
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Can you condemn her for doing that?
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Well, if you strip it back to just evolutionary science, well,
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no, really, you can't condemn her for doing that.
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But when you really do look inside that we have a conscience
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that science cannot explain, we've got a soul.
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We've got a will. When you stand before, I don't
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know where you got married, but you stand before people and you
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say I'm going to marry this person.
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You say I will, I will be faithful.
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That's what you hold it to because you've got an act of the
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will and we've got purpose, we've got meaning, we've got all
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these things. And I would look at any of you,
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whether you're an atheist or not, I would say to you, you are
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immensely valuable. God has created you in his very
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image. You are so valued, you are so
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special, and you have an eternal soul that lives on and on.
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And I just don't think science can explain these things.
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Now, do I have permission to change gears a little bit, I
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wonder? I may not have covered your
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question, and you probably have so many questions, but can I say
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I wonder if these questions are just an excuse for the real
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heart of the matter. And it's this.
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You don't want to believe in God.
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It's inconvenient to believe in God.
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It's even scary to believe in God.
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Shall I say it like this? Imagine I am a bank robber, OK?
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And, and every week I'm stealing thousands and thousands of
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pounds or hundreds of thousands of dollars and I'm putting them
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and storing it all in my house. Am I going to buy a house next
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to the chief constable of Manchester or the chief
21:58
detective in wherever country you're in?
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Am I going to buy a house next to a police officer if I want to
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continue my lifestyle as a bank robber?
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Of course I'm not, because I'm going to get found out.
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And so I think many atheists, many agnostics, it's not a case
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of the questions necessarily because they don't hold the same
22:18
scrutiny that they hold to other things that they hold up to God.
22:21
They don't have, you know, they say I need X amount of evidence
22:24
before I believe. Well, many atheists, they don't
22:27
do that with other things. They just sort of say, there's
22:29
so many questions. I don't believe in God.
22:31
And it's the real heart of the matter because if you believe in
22:35
God, you've got to then change your ways.
22:39
You've got to accept that one day you will be judged and
22:43
suddenly it makes you uncomfortable about certain
22:46
things. You know, the Bible is very
22:48
clear about sin, that we've got to turn from sin.
22:51
If you become a Christian, you can't watch certain things.
22:55
You can't get blind drunk. You can't, you know, sweat you.
23:00
You can't be the captain of your ship anymore.
23:02
If you put your trust in Jesus, suddenly you have a new marching
23:07
order, you have a new master, and it's Jesus Christ.
23:12
I do think there is something else that stops mainly young
23:15
people, and I admit to this myself when I was younger, from
23:21
from becoming a Christian or from believing and it's FOMO.
23:25
What does FOMO stand for? Fear of missing out.
23:30
And as I've just said, all of these things, it's not very,
23:34
it's not a great marketing strategy, is it, for young
23:37
people who want to go out and they want to sew some wild oats,
23:41
they want to have some fun. They want to live their life to
23:44
the full, you know, and as a Christian, it seems like, you
23:47
know, you just put in a big wet blanket on their phone.
23:51
I did used to believe that. And I then went into the
23:55
world's. I only actually became a
23:57
Christian that sort of 1819 years old.
24:00
And I went into the world's and I went to parties and I did all
24:04
the things that young people do. And the best way I can describe
24:07
it is my heart was like a bucket of water with holes at the
24:11
bottom. I kept topping up with girls.
24:13
I kept topping up with, drink, with, I won't say, but you know,
24:17
various other substances, various other things, and it
24:21
just kept seeping out of the bottom.
24:23
Why? Because all of these pleasures,
24:25
they are temporary, they don't last, they don't give you a
24:29
lasting pleasure. But when I became a Christian,
24:34
when I put my trust in Jesus Christ, suddenly that book, it
24:37
got a solid base to it. Why?
24:39
Because I got peace. There is no better feeling than
24:43
knowing than knowing that you have peace, you have friendship
24:48
with the God who made you. And I know it sounds crazy, but
24:51
my happiest times, way happier than doing those things was when
24:55
I was on mission, when I was on what we call United Beach
24:58
Missions, which you know, if you are a Christian listening right
25:01
now, and especially if you're in the UK, I'd advise you to go and
25:05
check out ubm.org.uk. Go and check them out and do a
25:08
United Beach Mission. There you will meet people who
25:11
have a desire to share the gospel and you yourself will
25:14
share the gospel. Some of the happiest times
25:16
there. Some of the happiest times have
25:18
been sitting listening to a sermon where I know that God is
25:22
speaking to me through that message.
25:23
Some of the happiest times have been putting ACD on and
25:28
listening to worship songs about the Lord.
25:30
It's just on my soul good. Some of the greatest times is is
25:34
getting up early, getting this this Bible open and reading and
25:39
letting God speak to me. I'm not just saying this.
25:42
I promise you I'm not just saying this.
25:44
It's the greatest joy in the world to know the living gods
25:48
and of course as well with my ministry online, just such a
25:51
thrill to lead souls to the Lord Jesus.
25:53
They are the things which really lead to to happiness.
25:57
So I hope that that's not something you're you're letting
25:59
the devil trick you into that you're missing out because
26:02
actually, if you're not a Christian, you should have FOMO.
26:05
You are missing out on so much innocent, joyful peace that
26:09
lasts. And again, if you're a young
26:15
person, even if you are a bit older, you might have a fear
26:18
that people will laugh at you or, you know, they will sort of,
26:24
I don't know, reject you. Or what were your friends?
26:26
What were your family? What will my spouse think if I
26:28
become a Christian? And there is an element to that.
26:31
And there is no two ways about it, Christians are the most
26:35
mocked people in the world. Let me give you some examples.
26:38
Do you remember when Madonna put a self on a cross?
26:41
We've got Madonna on a cross. We've got Tupac who put himself
26:44
on a cross. Little Dicky, do you remember
26:46
not so long ago he put himself on a cross mocking Jesus.
26:50
Kendrick Lamar wore $1,000,000 crown of thorns and you say he
26:53
wasn't mocking, He was being respectful.
26:56
I'm telling you right now, the Lord Jesus Christ, there is only
26:59
one who wore a crown of thorns and it didn't cost $1,000,000.
27:02
It was pierced into his brow. That is mocking Christ and the
27:06
devil knew what he was doing. We've got Demi Lovato putting
27:10
herself on a cross. We've got little Uzi who had
27:13
upside down crosses. You've got Conor McGregor.
27:15
Do you remember a few years ago he said there's not a man alive
27:18
who could beat me, I could even beat Jesus Christ.
27:21
Conor McGregor said mocking Jesus.
27:23
He would not say that about another religious figure, Woody.
27:27
And then of course, the very famous one, this time literally
27:30
12 months ago, the Paris Olympics, mocking the Lord's
27:35
Supper. Have you noticed that it's
27:38
always aimed at Jesus? And this is a literal question?
27:40
If you're an atheist watching this, you need to answer this
27:43
question. Why do we always mock Jesus?
27:47
Why is it never Buddha? Why is it never Gandhi?
27:50
Why is it another religion? Why is it not even Elvis or
27:54
Michael Jackson? Why do we always mock the name
27:57
of Jesus? Well, could it be this?
28:00
Think about it. If there is really a devil who
28:02
really hates the Lord Jesus Christ, where would you aim all
28:06
of your your your arrows at? Where would you aim all of your
28:09
attention, all of your armour? At your ammunition?
28:12
Would you aim it at a false God who doesn't exist?
28:15
Would you aim it at someone who isn't real?
28:17
Or would you aim it at the Son of God who rose from the dead
28:20
and can empty dead men and dead women's graves and give them
28:23
eternal life? I think that in itself speaks
28:27
volumes because just look at the music industry.
28:29
It's always against Jesus Christ.
28:33
Hey, now this next bits a little bit important.
28:36
So I really want you to catch this when people, atheists do
28:41
reaction videos and I'm going to name names actually now Emma
28:44
Thorne and she's done quite a few of my videos.
28:47
Bionic Dance, I think that was her name.
28:49
She's done some cirrus. I think he was another guy.
28:53
Whenever, whenever atheists take my videos and they do a reaction
28:56
to it, they always miss out this bit.
28:59
And again, to me, that's just more evidence that you do not
29:02
want to think about the real proof in the pudding, the real
29:06
message, Jesus Christ. They always skirt over this as
29:09
if it's the sort of afraid of the gospel, which the Bible does
29:13
say it's it does. It makes even the demon shudder.
29:16
So if you're not right with God, I can understand why you do
29:18
this, but I'm going to ask if you do do a reaction to this,
29:21
this video, please do not skirt past this part of the gospel.
29:25
Do not do not skip this bit. Now let's I want to hear your
29:28
reaction when I share this with you.
29:30
Because the reality is this everything I've said, apart from
29:33
what I just said about mocking God previously, all the rest of
29:36
it really we could apply to any religion.
29:39
You could put the evidence for God in in any religion.
29:42
But what I want to do is answer this question.
29:46
Why Christianity? Why Jesus?
29:50
You've just shown me that God exists, but why are you saying
29:53
you are right? Well, not me.
29:55
But why are you saying your faith, your belief in Christ is
29:58
right over all the other faiths? Well, I think there are two main
30:03
reasons for this, and the first one is this.
30:06
Every other religion is a religion of works.
30:12
What do I mean by that? Well, every other religion says
30:14
do this. Do that and you will win your
30:17
way to heaven. Just just be a good boy, be a
30:19
good girl and God will let you in.
30:22
But Jesus Christ doesn't say that.
30:24
He doesn't say do this, do that. He says it is finished, it's
30:27
already done. Everything that I did on the
30:29
cross, I completed it. You don't have to do anything.
30:32
You just have to rest. You have to lean on me.
30:34
You have to trust in me. That's what salvation is.
30:37
You see, heaven is a gift. It's not a reward.
30:42
You might want to write that down.
30:43
Heaven is a gift. It's not a reward.
30:46
You're not rewarded for being a good boy.
30:48
It's a gift from God Almighty. And then there's this question.
30:53
I want you to imagine you're doing a test right now and you
30:57
get 99% on the test. Have you passed the test?
31:03
If you get 99% on a test, have you passed it?
31:07
It depends what the pass rate is, doesn't it?
31:09
Well, the pass rate for God is 100%.
31:13
His standard is total perfection.
31:16
And that's what a true God of justice, a true God of holiness,
31:20
he can't allow any sin into heaven.
31:23
You know, we'd ruin heaven like we've ruined planet earth
31:27
because we have, we've made a mess of this earth.
31:29
So God's standard has to be perfection.
31:31
And if you've got rights, if you say I'm not just going to let
31:34
anyone into my house, I guarantee many of you have
31:37
certain criteria for who's allowed into your house.
31:39
You don't just let everyone go through your house.
31:42
If you're allowed to choose who comes into your house, is God
31:44
not allowed to choose who comes into his house?
31:47
And his criteria is you have to be perfect.
31:50
You have to be totally perfect. But here's the big problem.
31:54
Joe Kirby isn't perfect. You know that.
31:56
And shock horror, you're not perfect either.
31:59
We're all sinners, aren't we? The Bible says all have sinned
32:03
and fallen short of the glory of God.
32:09
Let me put it another way to you, because I know some of
32:11
you'll be saying yes, but I get it.
32:14
I get that God needs to punish sin, but really I am a pretty
32:18
decent person so I think God should allow me to get into
32:22
heaven. Well, let me put it this way to
32:24
you now. I've not counted out how many
32:26
pieces of paper there are here, but let's just imagine there are
32:30
100 pieces of paper here, OK? And every single piece of paper
32:34
represents one sin. Now the Bible tells us that sin
32:39
has separated us from a holy God.
32:42
We cannot see the face of God because our sin blocks the way.
32:46
So if I've got 100 sins in front of me right now, that is
32:50
blocking the face of God. I cannot see God with these 100
32:53
sins. But now watch this.
32:59
OK, I take one piece of paper. One sin.
33:02
Does that still block the face of God?
33:05
Of course it does. As I said, just one sin.
33:08
One sin is enough to keep you out of heaven.
33:10
The Bible says that all liars will have their part in the lake
33:14
of fire. Just one sin is enough to block
33:16
the way. And again you say to me, But
33:19
Joe, come on. I really am better than you
33:21
making out. Well, let's put it this way.
33:25
I don't know. I think I probably, I'm not
33:27
going to put a number on it, but I think most of us would commit
33:31
around 15 sins a day. Being for some of us like
33:34
myself, I'd say that's being very generous.
33:36
You know, I think I commit more sins than that.
33:39
But let's just say the average person commits 15 sins a day.
33:42
And again, I think it's probably a lot more than that.
33:45
But how many sins is that at the end of the week?
33:48
It's 105 sins, isn't it? OK, so how many is that at the
33:52
end of the year? Around 5200 sins.
33:57
So over 10 years, how many sins have you committed?
34:00
52,000 sins. And if you live into your 70s or
34:03
into your 80s, you're looking at 383,000 sins in your lifetime.
34:11
And that's just if you've committed 15 sins a day.
34:15
Do we honestly think we're just going to waltz into heaven and
34:17
say, Lord God, I'm a good person?
34:19
I expect you'll let me in. We've got no chance.
34:21
We've got this huge big pile. All of us has this big invisible
34:25
pile of sin that's in front of us.
34:28
We can't see it, but God can see it.
34:30
So this is the problem. So how do we get into heaven?
34:34
Well, believe it or not, as I've said, I am a married man.
34:39
Now. Do you think I've ever made my
34:41
wife cry before? What do you think I have now?
34:45
Have a good, good look at my eyes.
34:46
OK, I want you to imagine that there was a screen behind me and
34:50
everything I've ever seen, all of my Internet history over my
34:53
entire life was put on this screen behind me.
34:57
Would I be embarrassed? Would I be ashamed of anything
34:59
I've ever looked at? I would.
35:01
You see these fists here? I know I'm a dweeb, but do you
35:03
think that these fists have ever hit anyone before?
35:07
Well, believe it or not, I have. But now ask me this question.
35:11
Am I going to heaven? I am, but not because I'm a good
35:16
person. As you can see, I'm not, I'm not
35:17
a nice person at all. I'm a Sinner, but because there
35:20
are two types of people that get into heaven, as I said earlier,
35:24
perfect people and forgiving people.
35:27
Now there's no one listening right now who's perfect, but
35:31
every single one of us can be forgiven.
35:33
Why? Because 2000 years ago this God,
35:37
man, Jesus Christ entered into this world.
35:40
He didn't leave us in our sin. He didn't leave us in our mess,
35:43
but He took in His body, my pile of those, all those thousands,
35:49
hundreds of thousands of sins. He took my pile in his body.
35:52
He took your pile in his body. He took the sins of the world.
35:56
The weight of the sins of the world was laid on Jesus Christ.
35:59
And there the Father crushed Christ Jesus in our place so
36:03
that you and I can be forgiven. Because God cannot, the God of
36:06
the Bible, he cannot turn a blind eye to sin.
36:09
He must be a just God. He must deal with sin.
36:12
And so He lays all of our sins on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
36:15
that is him completing His justice by punishing innocent
36:19
Jesus in our place. He deals with our sin.
36:23
But then he also can show us mercy.
36:26
Now, another attribute of God by anyone who calls on the name of
36:30
the Lord Jesus Christ. Any you say, Lord, please just
36:34
wash away my sins. The blood that you shed at
36:36
Calvary when you were pierced, when you had a nail, so your
36:39
hands and your feet, when you had a crown of thorns, that
36:41
blood that was shed, let it scrub away my sins, Let it wash
36:45
away my sins. Let it give me a new start.
36:48
Anyone who calls on his name alone for salvation, God can
36:52
show mercy and grace and not just take away their guilt but
36:56
actually give them Christ Jesus perfect track record.
37:00
The one who'd never done anything wrong, the one who had
37:02
all these amazing works written to his name, the Lord Jesus
37:05
Christ. Suddenly that gets transferred
37:08
into our accounts and any who call on his name, who trust in
37:12
Christ, suddenly they don't see God doesn't see Joe Kirby and
37:16
his, his lies and his blasphemy and his hatred anymore.
37:20
He sees the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
37:23
That is the wonderful message. Now behind me, I've got a
37:27
subscribe button. Now don't worry, I'm not going
37:29
to cheapen the moment by asking you all to subscribe.
37:32
But on the other side of this rock is, is sin.
37:36
Now why have I got this stone here?
37:38
Well, the Bible also says this. It says our sins for those who
37:44
trust in Christ, they have been buried at the very depths of the
37:47
sea. And I don't know what sin you
37:50
often commit. I don't know if there's anything
37:53
you're embarrassed of, anything you're ashamed, any skeletons in
37:56
your closet. But I want you to picture
37:58
whatever it is, whatever that sin is, just picture the name of
38:01
it written on this stone. And then without being flippant,
38:05
let's picture the hand of God and let's imagine Him casting
38:09
that sin, that stone, into the depths of the sea, and it sinks
38:13
right to the very bottom of the ocean.
38:16
If that sin is at the bottom of the ocean, is it coming back
38:20
again? No, it's gone.
38:23
And a lovely Christian of the past called Corrie Tamboom said
38:26
where God casts our sins, he also puts a sign that says no
38:31
fishing allowed. My friend, God is waiting to do
38:35
that for you right now to take your sins and to plunge them in
38:39
the depths of the sea. And is all you have to do is
38:42
call on his name and ask him to do it and put your trust in the
38:46
everlasting Saviour, the mighty King of kings, the Lord of
38:50
Lords, the Lord Jesus Christ. So what's #2 Then what is the
38:55
second thing that makes Christianity completely
38:58
different to every other religion?
39:01
Well, all the other religious figures, all the greatest public
39:05
figures, all the greatest men and women of the world, you can
39:09
stand by their graves. Buddha is dead, Aristotle is
39:13
dead, Gandhi is dead. Guru Nanak is dead.
39:17
Again, Elvis is dead. But what makes Jesus different?
39:21
Jesus Christ is alive, only he alone is the one who can raise
39:27
himself back from the dead. Only God alone can raise the
39:30
dead. And that shows us who Jesus is.
39:33
Can I say it like this? My pastor put it beautifully on
39:36
Sunday. He said, I want you to imagine
39:38
you're having a nap right now. Here you are, you're having a
39:41
nice sleep. What is it?
39:43
What would it take to wake you up?
39:45
For some of you, it'd just be a family buzzing around.
39:49
It buzzes and oh, that, that's woke me up.
39:51
For some of you, it'd be a knock at the door that would wake you
39:53
up. For some of you, it might be a
39:54
call from from a loved one wake up.
39:57
Or for some of you it's an alarm clock.
39:59
But all these things, we're easily awoken, aren't we?
40:02
But what is it that can wake you up from the sleep of death?
40:07
You see, the Bible says when people die, it says they've gone
40:10
to sleep. Nothing can wake you up from the
40:13
sleep of death. Except for the voice of the Lord
40:17
Jesus Christ, the same Christ that said Talitha, Arise, little
40:22
girl, arise. One day when you go into that
40:25
grave, all those believers who've trust in the Lord Jesus
40:28
Christ, he will say, whatever your name is, arise and he'll
40:32
give you eternal life. And that is what I'm saying to
40:35
you right now. You have a grave that awaits
40:38
you. There is a grave that is
40:40
beckoning you. There is a grip of death that is
40:42
so strong and it'll grip you, it'll take you down.
40:45
And only Jesus Christ can give you that power.
40:50
He can break the power. He can break the chains of
40:52
death. Only Jesus Christ can conquer
40:54
your grave. And that is why you'd be so wise
40:56
to trust in him. That is why you'd be so wise to
40:59
trust in the one who died and then three days later came back
41:02
from the dead. Because if you died and then
41:04
three days later rose from the dead, I'd listen pretty
41:07
carefully to what you have to say.
41:09
And that's why we listen to Jesus, who says I am the way,
41:13
the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father
41:16
except through me. Now, if you are a serious
41:19
atheist, I expect you'll have done some reading and read
41:23
different philosophers and different great minds of the
41:26
world. You'll obviously have heard of
41:27
CS Lewis. He was very famous for writing
41:31
the book The Chronicles of Narnia.
41:33
He also wrote Mere Christianity, various brilliant books.
41:37
But what I wonder if you've ever heard of before is called the
41:40
Screw Tape Letters. Now, if you've never heard of it
41:43
before, it's going to sound a little bit weird, but it's
41:45
basically about this chief demon called Screw Tape who is
41:49
teaching a younger demon how to deceive as many souls and get
41:53
them down to hell. And one day the younger demon
41:56
says to Screw Tape. So just tell me, what are the
41:59
three most poisonous lies that I can infect into a person's mind
42:04
to deceive them and bring them down to hell?
42:06
Well, Screw Tape, thought it was Christmas, come early and he
42:09
said, OK, line number one, tell them that they're a good person.
42:13
Remind them of all the good works they've done.
42:15
Remind them of the time they gave a homeless man a sandwich.
42:18
Remind them of the time they helped that little old lady walk
42:21
across the road. Remind them how good they are
42:24
and say God sees your good works and he welcomes you into heaven.
42:27
That's line number one line #2 tell them that science has
42:32
disproved God. Remind them about evolution, The
42:35
Big Bang. Tell them to to read the books
42:37
of Richard Dawkins, the God Delusion.
42:40
All of this is good stuff. Don't read the Bible.
42:43
That's nonsense. And then he said he took a deep
42:46
breath, a step backwards and he said line number three, that
42:50
will ensure that millions upon billions of souls will be
42:53
trapped in hell forever Is this. Tell them they have plenty of
42:58
time. Tell them they have all the time
43:02
in the world to make a decision. Oh, my dear friend, have you
43:07
been trapped by that lie? Because some of us do not have
43:11
plenty of time. We often think we've got years
43:14
and years. But we've all got a friend that
43:16
died far too young. And none of us can guarantee
43:19
that we will be here tomorrow, next week, next year.
43:23
And so while you can hear the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ
43:26
knocking, because it gets quieter the older you get, while
43:30
you can hear his voice, open that door, receive him, and
43:34
believe as that man cried out, help my unbelief.
43:39
It's time that you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ believed
43:44
in him. So if you're a Christian, you're
43:47
still here. Now I'd really like to hear from
43:49
you in the comments section and just tell me, do you think that
43:51
this would be a good thing to to send to a non Christian in your
43:55
family? If that is the case, please,
43:57
please do share this. I really want to get this
43:59
message out. I will.
44:01
I'm sorry if you have bought one of the mugs and I haven't put
44:04
your face up on the screen like I normally do.
44:08
I am going to get round to emailing some of you again.
44:10
I've just been very very busy with lots and lots of different
44:14
ministry that I've been doing. But thank you so much for your
44:17
friendship. I really do love this channel.
44:19
I love having a coffee or a green tea with you.
44:22
I'm so grateful for your time and let's just pray for
44:25
unbelievers. If you are an unbeliever
44:27
watching this, we're always here for you.
44:29
We're always praying for you, and we just want you to find the
44:33
wonders of the Lord Jesus Christ because he really is a
44:36
wonderful, wonderful Saviour. God bless you all and thank you
44:40
for watching.