Don’t Check Your Brains @ the Door

1 Peter 3:15

• Defense Ready!• You took a step of faith when you accepted Jesus,

but it was not a blind leap of faith. • Neither did you have to check your brains at the

door when you accepted Him as your Savior. • Many incorrectly believe when you arrive at church,

you have to check their brains like you check your coat and hat at a nice restaurant.

• In actuality the opposite is true. • Coming to Jesus doesn’t compromise your intellect. • It completes it!

• Many of the greatest minds in history belonged to believers:– Sir Isaac Newton– Galileo– Johannes Kepler– Copernicus– Sir Francis Bacon– Mendel– Lord Kelvin– George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver• Discovered more than 300 uses for the peanut. • Carver asked God for the secrets of the universe,

but God gave him something much smaller—the peanut.

• He attributes his great discoveries to God.

C. S. Lewis• Lewis avoided the Christian Faith because he

deemed it an unintellectual system. • When he did surrender to Christ, he was “surprised

by joy” that he was wrong. • He found that his newfound faith in Jesus ignited his

creative and imaginative powers.• Chronicles of Narnia, Screwtape

Letters & Mere Christianity

Lew Wallace• He set out to disprove Christianity by the use of his

powerful intellect and his attention to details. • But, in the middle of his study, he became a believer

and wrote the classic Ben Hur.

Frank Morison• Morison, a British trial lawyer, sought to disprove

the resurrection. • He would do it by using his legal and investigative

skills. • After an exhaustive research, he came to an

unavoidable conclusion: Jesus had indeed risen from the dead!

• He then became a follower of Jesus Christ.

• Wrote: Who Moved the Stone?

• Each man, intellectual and educated, surrendered their lives at the feet of Jesus but didn’t have to check their brains.

• No, the gospel does not require that you check your brains at the door before you proceed.

• Rather, it requires the full use of your mind.

• You can then with confidence make the same declaration as Paul: Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (NASB)

• Many are ashamed of the gospel. • The reason: Popular culture has floated the idea

that faith and brains are on opposite poles. • There is nothing to be ashamed of here!

• Rather, we have knowledge of the greatest truth available to mankind.

• We know the answer to misery, suffering and pain! • Why be ashamed of that?• But, there are people in our culture who question

our faith and some are even quite hostile toward it.– Is God real?– Is He trustworthy?– Is Jesus really the Son of God? – Did He really die on the cross and rise from the dead?– Is the Bible Reliable?

• These are questions which most of us here have settled personally.

• But you may not be quite sure how to articulate it in clear, well-defined answers when challenged.

• This series of teachings has been designed to help you be able to defend your faith when questioned.

• You will encounter these 10 questions or variations of them sometime in your life.

• Are you ready to defend your faith?

• The Bible actually mandates us to be able to give a defense for our faith when asked.1 Peter 3:15 – . . . Always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you, but do it courteously and respectfully. (AMP)

• This verse tells us 2 things:1. Be Prepared – Peter encourages us to be ready

when questioned about our faith. • We need to know why we believe what we believe.

But do it courteously and respectfully.2. How you say your answer is as important as what

you say.• The most convincing proof you can give someone

is with your life. • A life of love will speak louder than all the logical

arguments in the world. • You are not responsible for them receiving Jesus. • But, you are responsible for presenting Him in a

loving, intelligent manner.

• You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

• Old timers say: But you can put salt in his oats.

• Your life is the salt that makes them thirst for the waters of salvation.

• Let’s briefly recap last week:1. How can you know for sure that anything is true?

Is there such a thing as truth?• It’s like the college professor who proclaimed that

there are no absolutes. • Absolutely! • To state that there are no absolutes or there is no

truth is actually an absolute and a truth in itself. • This is a self-refuting argument. • It contradicts itself.• At its core . . .

2. Is God a human invention? Did man make up God?

• It is popular today to believe that man invented God to deal with the fear of death.

• On the surface this may have some credence. • Man generally creates his gods to look like himself. • The ancient Greeks had gods who looked white

and the Ethiopians had gods who looked black. • Man does create his gods to look like himself.• But, we’re talking about the REAL God—the God of

the Bible.

• If you think about it, the opposite is more reasonable.

• Man has an inner desire for God to exist because there is a God who satisfies that desire.

• The desire is there because there is a God.

• Why else would we desire a God or even desire to create one?

C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity: Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger; well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim; well, there is such a thing as water ... If I find in myself a desire, which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only arouse it, to suggest the real thing. (pp. 136-137)

• Our desire for God is there because there is a God that fills that desire.

• He wired us that way and the emptiness of the human soul will never be satisfied until God fills it.

• Further, if we created the God of the Bible, why would we create One that demands holy living from His followers?

• Why didn’t we create a god who allows us to live pretty much how we want to?

• No, man did not create the God of the Bible, but rather, He created us in His image.

3. Doesn’t the Big Bang Theory disprove creation?

• The Big Bang Theory is the idea that an incredibly large explosion took place in ages past.

• From this explosion, the universe was formed. • There is a common misconception that the Big

Bang disproved God created the heavens and the earth.

• The opposite is actually true.

• Former atheist Antony Flew, in his book, There is a God:

• He explains that the Big Bang Theory eventually led him to believe in a God who created the universe.

• The reason for this is that it pointed to a definite beginning point to the universe.

• And to Someone behind that beginning who is too big for science to explain.

• It is interesting to note that many atheists are downplaying this theory.

• They’re doing this because they believe it points to God.

• Look at what 2 major atheistic writers have to say about the Big Bang Theory:

• John Maddox: “Philosophically unacceptable” • Stephen Hawkins: “Smacks of divine intervention“• His challenge is philosophical and not intellectual.• I thought they were the keepers of reason.

Hebrews 11:3 – By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. (NASB)

Hebrews 11:3 – By faith we understand that the worlds [during the successive ages] were framed (fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose) by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible. (AMP)

• For us, this verse says 2 things:1) God created the universe by the spoken word. • He spoke it into existence. • Science even tells us that the universe is still

expanding. • Makes sense to me. • God’s Word is still going out and creating as it goes. • It may have all started as a great explosion when

God spoke.

2) God created everything out of nothing. • This is where I differ from the Big Bang Theory. • Where did the matter come from that exploded in

the 1st place? • This verse clearly states that God created

everything from nothing. • There wasn’t any matter to explode.• Instead of disproving God created the universe, it

actually points toward intelligence behind the formation of the universe.

4. Are not the majority of all evangelists, pastors and Christian leaders dishonest and hypocritical?

• We have all heard reports of Christian leaders who have fallen.

• The media seems to be all too happy to report it when it does happen.

• You never hear in the media about an insurance salesman running off with his secretary, but you do a preacher.

• The media’s attention has led to this perception in popular culture.

• This is similar to the claims that Lisa and I have received when talking to people in this community.

• Many will tell us about a pastor who committed adultery or embezzled money.

• As a result, they do not want to have anything to do with the church.

• Unfortunately the media rarely reports of the countless faithful Christian leaders who continue to serve the Lord with integrity.

• The lives of the faithful are overshadowed by the deeds of the unfaithful.

• Take for example the 70 year ministry of Billy Graham.

• He has reached millions and his life has never contradicted his preaching.

• He once stated that: I was frightened—I still am-–that I would do anything to dishonor the Lord.

• That is a good definition of the fear of the Lord. • This is the key to his sustained success.• Fortunately Billy Graham is not alone!

• The vast majority of Christian Leaders live quiet and godly lives.

• Their lives have closely reflected their teachings.

• But, our culture seems to have bought into the lie that preachers are corrupt and not to be trusted.

• But it is only a lie perpetrated by the devil.

2 Peter 2:1-2 – But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves.

• Peter warned that there would be false teachers who would rise in our midst.

• We should not be surprised when it happens.

2 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. (NLT)

• This is what we’ve seen happen in our culture. • When a Christian Leader falls, the truth of the

Gospel is brought into question. • That is why it is so tragic when a leader falls. • He brings down others with him when he does. • There are people today who have not darkened the

door of a church because of something that happened 30 years ago.

• Where is their faith—in Jesus or in a man?

• This is why the devil works so hard to bring down Christian Leaders.

• And to perpetrate the perception that they are all corrupt.

• He wants the teachings of godly men & women to be brought into question because of the lives of a few.

• He knows if you question the messenger, you will also question his message.

• Your life validates your message.

• The devil also knows if he can bring a leader down, it will have a much greater impact.

• That is why you need to pray for your Christian leaders.

• We are not superhuman. • We need our backside covered in prayer. • Christian leaders are under great spiritual attack

right now, and we need your prayers.

• Here’s the point: Truth is Truth regardless of what others may say or do.

• No matter how many people stumble, Jesus is still the only way to salvation.

• We are still saved by grace through faith.• God also still possesses the power to keep you from

falling: Jude 24 – Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into His glorious presence without a single fault.

• We may be ashamed at how some people act, but we never need to be ashamed of the Gospel.

Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel, • Why do we not need to be ashamed of it?

It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes . . .

• It is the answer to all of man’s inner longings and desires.

2 Peter 3:17-18 – But you, friends, are well-warned. Be on guard lest you lose your footing and get swept off your feet by these lawless and loose-talking teachers.

• Peter warns us not to allow those who are corrupt to contaminate our faith in Jesus.

• Don’t allow their lives to cause your faith to shipwreck.

• The reason their teachings can be so lethal is because people like to have their own sins justified.

• When a leader justifies it, it is easy to follow after them.

• It is subtle but deadly spiritually. • Be careful who you are listening to.

18 Grow in grace and understanding of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

• But, Peter’s remedy to this is grow in your own knowledge of and relationship with Jesus.

Conclusion• You don’t need to check your brains at the door

when you become a Christian. • In actuality, your mind is renewed and comes alive

when you become a believer. • Coming to Jesus doesn’t compromise your intellect. • It completes it! 

Don’t Check Your Brains @ the Door

1 Peter 3:15