Is Anyone Up There? Looking for Clues - Part A

I give you a piece of wise philosophy that I heard a little little axiom summed up this whenever there is a thing there must've been a preceding thought wherever there is a thought.

Must've been a thinker that is the cosmological argument. Everything in the universe or sufficient and everything that is a cause must have a first cause for this white first uncaused cause famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes said I make a point of never having any prejudices in the following dose that we were ever fact merely today on connect with Skip Heitzig Skip helps you get to know your God better.

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Take back your life new book by Levi Lesko personally bided tell you about this all around this idea of taking back your life at the 40 day interactive journey thinking right so you can live right is to be really powerful and special. I think some people to have this bellies in hardcover, which just makes me happy because I never had a booklist hardcover but has a ribbon so you really keep track of your progress through these 40 days. It would be an incredible gift to someone who is looking to grow in their faith or for any of us you want to maybe conduit and oil change for your heart check up on on your wellness where you're at all deal with internal difficulties and help you deal better with external circumstances that are challenging as we explore how to get to the very best version of ourselves that we are meant to be.

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Take back your life with a donation of $35 to connect with Skip call 1-800-922-1888 online and connectwithskip.com this hardcover book by Levi Lesko will help you take back your life. It's a 40 day interactive journey to thinking right so you can live right 1-800-922-1888, Chapter 119 for today's much joint skip. Now, to say a sentence when I do to be able to guess what game I'm referring to Col. mustard in the library with the candlestick you you know exactly what game that is its clue and that the game of clue is set in a mansion.

Somebody has died.

Murder is been committed and the player gathers clues as he or she moves through the game into each room and has to determine who is the perpetrator where it happened and what was the weapon that was used in you. When the game of clue was we look around in the universe. What clues do we have of God's existence.

We started a series called the biography of God in last week we consider two great realities into great responsibilities.

The great realities is that God exists and he's personal and the responsibilities is faith and pursuit. That's we examined last week but we want to get even more general today.

How do we know what are the clues that God has left. Start with a story that is a reprint from an article in the London Observer, a family of mice lived in a grand piano. They enjoyed listening to the music that came from the great player who they never saw but who they believed in, because they enjoyed the music that came from the piano one day one of the little mice got especially brave. He climbed deep into the bowels of the piano. He made an astonishing discovery.

The music did not come from a great player. Rather, the music came from wires that reverberated back and forth a little mouse returned to his family tremendously excited. He informed his family that there was no great player who made the piano music. Rather, there were these little wires that reverberated back and forth. The family of mice abandoned their belief in the great piano player. Instead, they had a totally mechanistic view.

One day, another one of the little mice got especially brave and he climbed even further up into the bowels of the piano to his amazement he found that indeed the music did not come from reverberating wires, but rather from little hammers that struck the wires was those hammers that really made the music so he returned to his family with a new description of the source of the music. The family of mice rejoice that they were so educated that they understood there was no great piano player but that the music came from little hammers that struck wires the family of mice did not believe there was a player playing the piano. Instead they believe that there mechanistic understanding of the universe, explained all of reality. But the fact is that the player continued to play his music. What those mice did in explaining music without a piano player. Mankind is done in explaining the universe without God.

So what what are that the evidences or the clues for God's existence today I'm in ask you to do something a little bit different though.

You are always very careful to listen and engage. This is a call to worship the Lord with your mind. You know the Bible says are to love the Lord your God with all of your heart mind soul and strength and I want to engage your thinking a little bit and I know I know you might be thinking, well, you know, Skip your to talk a little bit about the evidences for the existence of God. This is a church service.

Skip your preaching to the choir. We don't need this well it could be that you've never struggled with the existence of God. The rest of us. However, at some point in our life have an even if you're beyond that, I bet you have kids or grandkids that one day well.

Or maybe you been in Starbucks and you had a conversation with somebody who didn't believe in God and as they postulated their argument, you sort of felt weird and you thought I wish I had answers for this weather out there. I want to give you some of them today very very meaningful. I remember being a kid walking outside one day looking up and saying are you really there. Do you exist and and how could I know that you exist. I found that I wasn't alone. I was reading a book.

Just this week by J. Carl Laney simply called God. He said when he was a teenager he wanted to know if God existed, listen to his scientific means to discover the rich in his pocket, grabbed a coin and flip a coin heads there's a God tells there's not it was a little more direct. He actually said God if you exist then make the coin turn up heads he flipped it and amazingly, it turned up heads, but now he thought. Could that be coincidence. So without a better try again reflected a second time at turn details this time. So now is caught in a dilemma does not exist or doesn't it decided to flip it 1/3 time and it turned up heads and the rights I decided not to try this test again.

I wanted to quit my little experiment with the weight of the evidence on the side of God's existence is at all it is is it just wish fulfillment, or are there clues that we can follow as the creator left clues. Now we could say look, I know there's a God because the Bible says so that's that's good for us.

There are people that argument doesn't work with you had to go back before you get them to the Bible before you get them to the place of acknowledging God's revelation to something more general so we want to look at three places for clues. We want to look for something we want to look at something we want to look in something we want to look for a cause cause for the universe for all things that exist. We want to look at the natural world itself. The cosmos is it's called we want to look within the conscience of man.

Psalm 19 and in Romans one, the writers reflect some of these very thoughts. Psalm 19 verse one.

David is writing the heavens declare the glory of God the firmament or the expanse shows his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech night into night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone through all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In them he has set a tabernacle for the sun which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices like a strong man to run its race. It's rising is from one end of heaven, that circuit to the other end is nothing hidden from its heat. David is simply acknowledging that God is readily seen in the natural world and, as a shepherd boy he noticed that there were routine things that happen there seem to be design and order and regularity and predictability and that's called philosophically, the teleological argument for the existence of God, don't care if you remember that term but that's what they call it, then Romans chapter 1 Paul is writing and he sort of picks up on this idea, but takes it from another angle. Romans chapter 1 verse 18 for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest or shown plainly in them. For God has shown it to them. Notice those two phrases in them and to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Paul is saying is that God has left his imprint both in the world, as well as within us blaze and indoor conscience and philosophers would call this the cosmological argument and the moral law again. Doesn't matter if you remember those terms but to work our way through these three clues today. I've taken philosophy courses. Once I was starting for a Masters degree in biblical studies and I had to read to reams of philosophical thought. I found out, philosophers are a confused bunch of folks made.

I would read through a lot of different positions and at the end of it. I go all lot somebody I think was right when they said philosophers are people who talk about things they don't understand and they make it sound like it's your fault today. What I want to do and taking these three clues is I hope to put the cookies on the bottom shelf to make these usable tools for us in the days ahead. The first clue that God is left is that we look for a cause that is everything that exists must have a cause everything that is contingent as a because what is the first cause I give you up a piece of wise philosophy that I heard a little a little axiom summed up this way whenever there is a thing there must've been a preceding thought wherever there is a thought there must've been a thinker that is the cosmological argument. Everything in the universe must have a basis or a sufficient reason and everything that is a cause must have a first cause or put it this way. First, uncaused cause, so you can go back all the way you remember when you were a kid and you so I believe in God and your friend would say: who created God. If you could come with an answer will then who created and who created and that's called infinite regression.

You can't do that. There has to be somewhere a first uncaused cause and this is the very argument that Plato and Aristotle and some of the ancient philosophers grappled with and articulated very well in some of the greatest minds in history have held to this and if you've heard of Moses Maimonides 12th-century Jewish scholar or Anselm or Thomas Aquinas or even Spinoza the cart. Leibniz German mathematician and philosopher.

In fact, German mathematician Leibniz said the first question that must be asked is why is there something rather than nothing.

I just think about that first question that must be asked, why is there something rather than nothing. Other words, why does anything exist at all and answer nothing happens without sufficient reason, some of you will remember a movie with Julie Andrews and it it was the sound of music, but that he saw that film. Member the song she sang. That's a dumb question because she sang a lot of songs in the movie, but when she was having a romantic tryst with the thing was Col. von Trapp and she was singing about that lyrics to one of her songs were nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could see you did know Julie Andrews was a great theologian and philosopher digit that is very true. Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could.

So ask that to your atheist friends. If nothing comes from nothing and why is there something the very basic question because everything must have a cause. So there was a Christian.

Walking through the woods with an atheist and they came upon a large 8 foot in diameter glass ball.

The Christian said ha where that come from the atheist said, I don't know but someone must've put it there. They both agreed so than the Christian thought, okay, what if the ball was a little bit larger, say 16 feet in diameter with that also need a cause the atheists. It will sure smaller balls need causes and larger balls also need cause so than the Christian smiled and said okay will. What if the ball was 8000 miles in diameter and almost 25,000 miles in circumference and size of the earth.

And so, the atheist saw the trap coming in so sure you're right. If smaller balls need causes and larger balls need causes that are really big ball needs cause so the Christian said okay now what if you make the ball the size of the universe doesn't need a cause in the atheist said of course not. The universe is just there. That's just a little argument that is thrown out in some philosophy courses, but that's about as good as the explanation for the universe gets with some people you know it is used to laugh at us for saying someone made something out of nothing but used to laugh at us for that.

Now we can laugh at them for saying nothing, made something out of nothing. I wonder Paul says from the time the world was created. The people of seen the earth and the sky and all that God has made.

They can clearly see his invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, so they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God. We've learned a few things over the years we've learned that our universe is expanding this debate as to the rate of expansion, but we know that it is expanding. Now if you put that process in reverse. What happens universe collapses into nothingness and you get back to where there isno time and no matter according to the theory of general relativity.

You can never have space without time and you can never have space and time without matter, so if matter had a beginning and we know it does. Or had been time must've had a beginning in the universe, therefore, is not eternal. So what is the first uncaused cause of it all is the question that must be answered to go all the way back to the beginning in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The Bible opens up with the first uncaused cause opens up with the cosmological argument. Second clue is not looking for a cause, but looking at the world itself.

Looking at the cosmos as it is called Carl Sagan love the call that the world in which we live.

The cosmos and, as we look around. Boy it it looks as though this with all say it looks as though it's been designed. It appears to be an ordered system. It even seems as if the universe anticipated us.

Funny, I've heard this language from very astute scientific minds who do not believe in God as the first cause bill say it looks as though just so happens it looks as though the universe is finely tuned to anticipate advanced complex carbon-based life like ours. This is the teleological argument. The argument from design. Even the ancient Greek philosophers were impressed by the order of the universe and Plato and in refuting atheism successfully in his time said, quote the order and the motion of the stars shows on my mind that ordered it course he was polytheistic, but theistic none the less, believing that it didn't come by random chance.

So David writes in Psalm 19. We just looked at it day after day they pour forth their speech, and night after night they display knowledge recommend to you.

We did about a year ago will do it again.

A great book now turned into a film called the privileged planet. It's excellent it's excellent and the researchers in the book and in the film show that the earth is uniquely situated within the Milky Way galaxy at a place that they call the galactic habitable zone.

There the very sin margin of space that could accommodate the advanced complex carbon-based life that we enjoy in earth it could happen anywhere in the galaxy just this very tiny little corner and we happen to be there. It's perfect for habitation. It's also perfect for observability for us to look at the universe around us and to enjoy. So think about it just so happened that the earth is 93 million miles away from the host.*The sun that has a surface temperature of 12,000°F great that it just so happen to be that way because if if our orbit was just a little bit closer like Venus would all burn up just a little bit further away like Mars would all freeze to death.

Life couldn't happen, it just so happens that the earth is spending 365 1/3 times on its axis, as it makes its yearly jaunt around the sun by when a 30 times within the days and nights would be 10 times longer and there be alternate periods of very very hot and very very cold freezing and life couldn't exist. We can enjoy it just so happens that the Earth is tilted 23 1/2° on its axis stabilized by a large moon very important that enables the four seasons that bring us this kind of constant stable life on earth just so happens that the gravitational force and acceleration of gravity is 9.8 MS squared is what it is was a little heavier weed not be able to move.

It was a little bit less. We fly off. It just so happens that our atmosphere on this privileged planet is combination of oxygen to nitrogen 79 to 20% with 1% of varying gases.

This happens to be that way if it were 50% and 50%. The first got a light a match for scatter light up a cigarette, boom would be blown off this planet just so happens that the oceans are the dimension that they are in that in that a fluke of nature that the ocean and landmass are the ratio that they are. It's estimated that if the oceans were half of the present size. We would only have one fourth of the rainfall annually that we get on the earth.

You know what that would mean the New Mexico places like dry deserts don't get a whole lot of it be horrible if the oceans were just 1/8 larger than they are. We have four times the amount of rainfall in the earth would be a swamp and what about all that space up there just so happens that all of that space and placement of the planets in our galaxy are there perfectly and needed for life on earth that skintight message from his series, the biography of God. Now you Skip to share how you can keep these messages coming your way to connect you and others to God's word. Did you know that God wants us to use our brains to think deeply about him and growing in our knowledge of his word is part of that. Your generous support not only keeps these teachings that you love coming to you, but it also helps so many others expand their knowledge of the Bible and God himself. I invite you to keep making that happen here so you can give today give us a call at 800-922-1888 to make a donation.

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Forgive online connectwithskip.com/donate that's connected skip.com/donate support is five to help connect more people like you to Christ. Thank you for giving generous now before we go watch connect with skip. I took on the heels on channel on Saturdays at 4:30 PM on catch on TBN on Sundays at 5:30 AM Eastern. Check your local listings sure to come back again next Skip looks at the cosmos within the country examining substantial pieces of evidence God's existence. So with Skip presentation of connection communications through ever-changing time