One of the most common reactions I get on campus when I'm sharing the gospel usually goes something like this:
"I just don't see that there is enough evidence for me to believe that that is true!"
OR
"Why can't God prove Himself to me if He's all powerful?"
The Maccabean revolt began with a wrong, carnal view of the messiah - a false god was being worshiped. A false Christ exalted. Their end was horrible. Much like the theft of Laban's gods from his household in Genesis thirty-one, the false Christ that is exalted vanishes before them and is found to be subject to the same flaws and mortality as any man. Of what power is a god that can be so easily snatched away? Such is this required "evidence."
Romans chapter one has enough to say about this to explain the problem to a believer:
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds an animals and creeping things. (v. 18-24)"
Look at Luke chapter sixteen, verses nineteen to thirty-one - the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. In burning torment, this rich man was begging his "father Abraham" to send someone to his family to convince them of the judgement to come. This is a man belonging to the former covenant, whose ancestors were taken out of Egypt by His mighty hand, and all of the Old Testament Scripture is his history: "…but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. (v. 30)"
Abraham's response here is staggering:
"If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. (v. 31)"
Look over at the book of Revelation, the thirteenth verse of chapter eight down through all of chapter nine. This is one of the most horrifying passages in Scripture in my opinion: stars are falling from the sky, the ocean is being turned into blood and millions are dying as grotesque locusts and frightful angels are assailing the population. In all of this, chapter nine ends in verses twenty and twenty-one this way: "The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts."
Christ's explanation of this is very clear:
"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and the people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:19,20)"
There is a real sense of hopelessness that comes from this picture. It really seems impossible for anyone in this situation to be saved! How can one who has the Scriptures, all the evidence in creation, even seeing the destruction wrought in apocalypse say there isn't enough evidence? Think of trying to describe what it's like being wet to someone who's never seen water. Or what the color red is like to someone who can't see anything but gray-scale. It really is impossible for us. "Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.' (Luke 10:27)"
Dwell for a moment on the first chapters of Genesis. The creation of the universe from nothing. The continued existence of reality itself! "He upholds the universe by the word of His power. (Hebrews 1:3)"
If all these things are true, Christ's words in the tenth chapter of the gospel of Luke in verse two are also true: "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." What should we as believers come away with from all this?
First of all, reverence of Christ, humility in spirit, and thankfulness to God for His mercy. No doctrinal statement seems right to my ears if this isn't the immediate corollary thereof. Grand images of God's power and majesty leading to songs of praise and worship flow naturally to the minds, hearts and lips of the believer! Having been shown the true horror of our mutual enmity with God only to then be shown the divine pity and love for us so effulgent in Christ… it's beyond our ability to communicate fully.
As our thoughts are lifted up on the wings of eagles, soaring in the heavens with clear vistas of the Saviors compassion and sympathy - even those so hindered by our inability to take in the scene - our thoughts return to our loved ones who are outside of this love eternal, and intercessory prayer seems so natural. There is a clear imperative here! There is no way any one of us can argue someone into the kingdom, but we are commanded to work the fields. We can plant, water, till the soil… but the Lord gives the growth. (cr. 1 Corinthians 3:6) Bring your loved ones to the Lord as the persistent widow in Luke 18! Get them to Him as their only hope by tearing a hole in the roof and lowering them down to His presence like in Mark 2! The Creator God of the universe "is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think. (Ephesians 3:20)"
Christ's description of the church in Laodicea in the third chapter of Revelation seems to apply quite aptly: "…wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked." Consider seeing this type of person on the street, literally blind, naked, poor and wretched - this truly is one to be pitied. But also think of our Lord's work in the Gerasene Demoniac in chapter eight of both Matthew and Luke's gospel: this man was all of these traits and more, so illustratively under the influence of the god of this world as are all that are outside of the Lordship of Christ. This impossible case was not only sought out by our Lord, but he was then sent out to preach the good news!
Also consider me. An atheist only a year and a half ago, scoffing at the idea of Truth, mocking the preaching of the Gospel, demanding my need for evidence be met. "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. (James 5:16)" Take heart, brethren - truly, all things are possible with God!
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