Open Bibles to Proverbs chapter 26. And verse one. Like snow and summer and like rain and harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool. Like a sparrow and it's wandering like a swallow and it's flying. So a curse without cause does not alike. A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools. Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will also be like him. Answer a fool as his folly deserves. Let he not be wise in his own eyes. Well, tonight, I want to continue on in our series of defending the faith expositional apologetics and talk tonight about answering the fool as this passage speaks of. And you know, when you hear the word fool, you immediately think, oh, that's not very nice. But when the Bible refers to someone as a fool, it's not just casting insults. I mean, it's not a compliment. But at the same time, it's not just throwing names out there. It's not name calling. A fool is someone who refuses to see what is right before their very eyes. And so the Bible actually has quite a bit to say about foolishness and it has quite a bit to say about wisdom. And so that's what I want to talk about tonight and specifically how it is that we answer the fool. I don't just mean the person that acts like an idiot. I mean, the person who has a belief system that doesn't make any sense. The fact is, that's the majority of the world in which we live in. They have beliefs that are inconsistent. They say one thing and they do another. We all got to guard against that because there are blind spots in all of us whereby we might make certain claims to believe something, but then in how we act, it doesn't quite line up. And so we all have to guard against that, but the Bible speaks about foolishness and it speaks about wisdom. And so, when we look at that, we realize that when it speaks of foolishness, it's not just talking about an intellectual type of thing. It's not just talking about someone who may not be smart. You can have an extraordinarily high IQ and still be a fool. In fact, the world is full of people like that. And on the flip side, you can have a second grade education and be wise. And so, this doesn't have anything to do with education. It doesn't have anything to do with intellect. It has to do with speaking more in spiritual terms and seeing what is before you and denying what is before you and then giving an answer to those who do such things. In the past few weeks, we've talked about not only the fact that all Christians are called to defend the faith, but we've looked at specific examples in scripture of that in the last two or three weeks we've been in Acts chapter seventeen where the Apostle Paul was speaking of the pagans on Mars Hill and he brings the gospel to them and so what we've talked about up to now is how the Apostle Paul when he would speak in the synagogue to Jews or if he was speaking in a place like Mars Hill to pagans he would get to the same place. He would take both of these groups and as Spurgeon said, he would make a beeline for the cross. And so he would get there in different ways because he knew they had different backgrounds and different understandings. When he would talk to the Jews, he would bring the Old Testament scriptures into it. He would talk about the patriarchs and he would talk about the kings and the judges, these things that they were familiar with, and he would use their scriptures Bible says he would reason with them from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. And so he would take their very own Scriptures and show them that these Scriptures point to Jesus. Now that's the very same thing Jesus said of himself. Remember on the road to a mosque when he was talking to the disciples, their hearts were burning within them, right? Because he had spoken to them from the Scriptures, beginning with Moses, that these things spoke of him. And so that's what the Apostle Paul would do. He knew that he had a certain starting place with Jews because they had the Old Testament scriptures. They claimed to believe the Old Testament scriptures. There were various levels of belief between Sadducees and Pharisees, they all didn't have the same level of belief and faithfulness in the Old Testament Scriptures, but he had a starting place with them. Now, when he's talking to the pagans on Mars Hill, he doesn't bring David into it. He doesn't bring Moses into it. He doesn't bring Abraham into it. They don't know of these people, and they don't care about these people. What he does bring into it when he talks to the pagans is creation, because even they know they were created. They know that there is a God who created them, that they are accountable to, that he provides for them. God has not left himself without witness. And so Paul talks to the pagans. He begins with creation, but he ends in the same place. He ends at the cross. And so tonight I want to talk about answering the fool, as this passage here in Proverbs chapter 26 speaks of. And I want to begin by contrasting the fool. and contrasting the fool with the wise man. If you have an outline, by the way, it's a little bit different tonight. I've got two sides to it, so I don't know if we'll make it through the whole thing. We might. We might not, but I was working on it and I've got some points on the front, but then I've got several questions that you could address to various belief systems on the back, and hopefully we'll make it through the whole thing. If not, we'll finish it next week. But I want to start with contrasting the fool, contrasting the fool and the wise man. The Bible has many things to say about this, and these are some of the comparisons, the contrast that the Bible makes. The fool is hasty. The wise man is cautious. The fool is wasteful. The wise are prudent. The fool is hot-tempered. The wise man is patient. The fool acts wickedly. The wise act righteously. The fool, and this is really what it all boils down to, the fool has said in his heart, according to Psalm 14, verse 1, that there is no God, whereas the wise see that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And so it all boils down to a difference between foolishness and fearing the Lord. And so when we contrast the foolish and the wise, what is it that makes the fool fool? What is it that makes the wise wise? What makes the wise wise is that they have a fear of the Lord. They have a respect. They have a reverence. Their life is governed by the fact that God is there and I am accountable to him and that he has provided for me through Christ Jesus, his son. And so there is a fear of the Lord in those who are truly wise. Now, you can look at all different sorts of what you might think of as wisdom, and it's not necessarily what the Bible describes as wisdom. When we speak of wisdom, we speak of those who fear the Lord. It is impossible to adequately fear the Lord apart from Christ. And so some people say, well, you know, there's a little bit of wisdom in all different sorts of belief systems, all different religions. No, ultimately there's not. There's wisdom in Christianity and Christianity alone. And so you look at all the other belief systems. They might have proverbs that make sense. They might have certain standards which we would agree with in terms of right and wrong. They might say murder is wrong. We would say murder is wrong. But ultimately, in terms of wisdom, it's only in Christianity that we find true wisdom. Now, that is an extremely exclusive statement, isn't it? I mean, that's the type of statement that'll get you killed in a lot of places. But when we look in Scripture, that's what we see, because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and you can't know the Lord apart from Christ. And so even those who would say, well, what about Judaism? I mean, isn't Judaism where Christianity finds its roots? Well, Judaism is not wise if it rejects Christ Jesus as Lord over it. And so we see this contrast between those who are fools and those who are wise, contrasting the fool, secondly, convincing the fool. Now, how is it that you get a person from a state of foolishness to a state of wisdom? And how was it you came into being from a state of foolishness to a state of wisdom? Well, it begins by the grace of God, doesn't it? It is by the grace of God. It's by grace, ultimately, that a person is convinced. How are we going to convince the fool that he's a fool and he needs to turn to the Lord? Well, God has to open his eyes to that, doesn't he? And so it's by grace that God does this. For by grace are you saved through faith, not of yourselves. the gift of God and so it's by grace and it's more specifically by the gospel of grace. How is it that God has said he's going to do that. How is it that he's going to bring people out of darkness into light. How is it that he's going to bring them from a state of foolishness to a state of wisdom. Well it's by grace and more specifically it's by the gospel of grace. It's through the foolishness of the message preached right as Paul says in first Corinthians chapter one. And so when we Look at how it is we move people from foolishness to wisdom. We realize we can't move them. God has to move them. It's by grace. It's by gospel and it's by God's word. And so in terms of answering the fool according to his folly and how does this specifically apply to defending the faith and sharing the gospel and things of that nature. A lot of times there is a wrong assumption that Christians make when it comes to speaking with unbelievers. And the assumption is this, and I've talked about this some in the past, but the assumption is this. Well, the unbeliever is in a place of neutrality towards God. Therefore, if I'm going to reach them, I, too, am going to have to move to a place of neutrality. I'm going to have to be neutral. And you encounter this a lot of times, for example, on college campuses where they'll say, oh, I know you were taught all that religious nonsense at home. Leave that stuff at home. Come here into this classroom and let's just all be neutral. And then let's just all look at the evidence and then we'll decide for ourselves if there is a God or not, if the Bible is true or not, things of that nature. Now, that is that's an absolute trap. And Christians should not fall into that trap because and here's the reason it's a trap. The unbeliever will say to you that they are neutral. Therefore, you should be neutral. And let's examine the evidence from a position of neutrality. They are not neutral towards God. They're hostile towards God. The Bible says they're hostile towards God. Now, we talked about that in recent weeks. The myth of neutrality, the fact that unbelievers are not, in fact, neutral towards God at all. They may claim to be they may think they are, but they are not. They have minds that are hostile towards God. They will not submit to God. They cannot submit to God. And so the whole idea of the unbeliever being neutral is a myth to begin with. And so there's two things to remember when you think of this, and I've got it on your outline. Two things to remember. First of all, unbelievers are not neutral toward God. And second of all, you shouldn't be neutral towards God. I first heard this just to give credit where credit is due. I first heard this from a Christian apologist by the name of Greg Bonson. He passed away many years ago, but he said there were two things to remember, and it kind of stuck in my mind. A lot of times if people give me two things to remember, I can remember it. If they give me 20 things to remember, I can't remember one of them. But if they give me two, sometimes I can remember. And so this has stuck with me for years. Two things he said to remember in dealing with unbelievers when they claim neutrality. They aren't, and you shouldn't be. That's easy to remember, isn't it? They aren't, and you shouldn't be. They're not really neutral toward God, and you shouldn't be neutral toward God. I mean, God's opened your eyes to the truth of His Word. Why in the world would you pretend to be neutral? Why would you even want to be neutral? And so we go out into this world, not only do we refuse to act like we're neutral, we're honestly not neutral. I'm not neutral. on the side of God by his grace. And so when it comes to neutrality, they aren't neutral and we shouldn't be neutral. Now, a couple of questions that we can frequently ask unbelievers. I mean, we're going to go out into the world and share the gospel and defend the faith. We cannot do it apart from the Bible. And so if the unbeliever is going to say, well, I don't believe the Bible, I think it's a bunch of nonsense. Now, where the Christian will sometimes err is to say, well, OK, you don't believe the Bible, so I'm not going to muddy the waters with scripture. That's a mistake. I mean, that's a that's a sinking ship that the Christian has jumped onto to say, well, I'll just leave the Bible out of it then. After all, you don't believe the Bible anyway. Listen, what the Bible has to say is the only thing that's going to save them. All right, so pretending to be neutral is not going to help them. I mean, when you think of, I think of various analogies, you know, if I were to see some person swimming in a swamp and I could see alligators all around them, I wouldn't jump in the swamp with them and say, hey, it's actually pretty fun to swim in this swamp, isn't it? I mean, there's no alligators out here. Let's just swim together and then I'll trick you into getting out of the swamp. I wouldn't do that. You know what I would do? I would stand on the bank and say, hey, idiot, there's alligators. You're going to get eaten. I'm not going to pretend like the alligators aren't there, right? I wouldn't really call them an idiot, by the way. Actually, I probably would. But I'm not going to pretend to be neutral where alligators are concerned. I'm not going to dive in there with them. I'm going to stand on the bank and I'm going to say, you know what? I'm in a safe place. You're in a dangerous place. You need to consider your circumstances. And that's exactly how it is spiritually speaking. I'm not going to pretend to be neutral. I'm not going to toss the Bible aside, say, all right, since you don't believe it in any way, I won't muddy the waters with that. I'm going to tell them I believe wholeheartedly in the Bible and I will quote scripture without apologizing. And that's what we should do with the unbeliever. The Apostle Paul and Barnabas, when they came to Lystra in Acts chapter 14, verse 14. It tells us that they came to Lystra when they first came to Lystra. It's interesting to consider the unbelievers and Lystra pagans, if you will. They thought Paul and Barnabas were Greek gods. Remember this? They thought they were Zeus and Hermes. And when they first came into Lystra, They thought Barnabas was Zeus and they thought Paul was Hermes because Paul was the chief speaker in Greek mythology. Hermes was the god of speech. And so Paul did all the talking or most of the talking. And so they believed that Barnabas was Zeus and Hermes was doing the talking for him and they wanted to to offer sacrifices under them. And so, when Paul and Barnabas came to town, that was the reception they got. It tells us this in Acts chapter 14, verse 14, when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their robes, they rushed out into the crowd and crying out, And said, man, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you. And we preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. He does the same thing on Mars Hill, doesn't he? He goes to creation. He says, we come preaching the gospel, not so that you would worship us, but that you would turn from these vain things, that you would turn from your idolatry and turn to the real God, the one who created you and the heavens and the earth and all things. And so it says, Apostle Paul continued to speak to them and to those in mystery, says in the generations gone by, He permitted all the nations to go their own way, and yet he did not leave himself without witness. Now, why is it we believe the Bible? Because we do not believe that God has left himself without witness, that God has told us truth, that he has declared it. He has declared it in times past to the fathers, to the prophets. In these last days, he has revealed it and spoken it through his son. And where do we find the writings of the prophets? And where do we find the writings regarding his son? We find it in his word. We find it in the Bible. And so when Paul speaks of this, he says, God has not left himself without witness and he did good. He gave you raised from heaven and fruitful season, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. Even saying these things with difficulty, they restrain the crowds from offering sacrifices to them. And so Paul tells them that God has not left himself without witness. That's what we say to the unbelievers of the world as well. We believe the Bible. We believe that it's God's truth. We don't believe for a second that God would leave himself without witness. God has declared things to man. He has declared things to us in his word. Now, When you encounter people in this world, as you will, who say, well, I don't believe the Bible. I think that's a bunch of bunk. I think it's a bunch of nonsense. The interesting thing to consider when you think of that is how are you going to answer that? I mean, at the end of the day, you say, well, OK, well, I guess we might as well not waste time talking. I believe the Bible. You don't believe the Bible. Well, that may be where it ends. I mean, the conversation might end with him still rejecting the truth of the gospel and God's word and you still believing in it. But the point of the matter is, we don't move to a place of neutrality and say, well, if you don't believe it, that's fine. Let's pretend like it's not true. And then we'll see where we leave. That's answering the fool, according to his folly. That's what Proverbs tells you not to do. You don't act like a fool because he acts like a fool. But you don't reject truth just because he rejects the truth. Man is so fickle anyway. I mean, you know what happened in Lystra? Right after they were going to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas because they thought they were Zeus and Hermes, you know what happened right after that? They stoned Paul. That's where he got stoned was in Lystra. And so right after they were Convinced he was a Greek God right after that, they tried to kill him. They thought they did kill him. Does that not speak to the fickleness of sinners? I mean, how quickly they jump from one thing to another. Don't join them in that. Stay with your feet firmly planted on the shore, proclaiming to them that there is danger all around them by their beliefs. And so we declare without apology that we do believe the Bible is true. Now, an easy question to ask them a couple of questions I have on your outline there. Do you believe the Bible is true that they say, oh, no, that's a bunch of nonsense. I don't believe it. Then what do you believe is true? It's as simple as that. I mean, you can go all day and a lot of times you can you can get drawn into. debates that are just kind of going in circles, whereby you're trying to prove to them the Bible is true. Right. And they don't believe it. You say, well, what about this? Here's an example of something. And I mean, I'm not saying it's bad to do that. Well, look at this. Look at this example where this prophecy was fulfilled. I've used examples like that numerous times to try to prove that the Bible really is true. But when we do that, one of the easiest questions we can ask an unbeliever who doesn't believe the Bible, say, well, what is your standard for truth? And they will. Two things I'll say. First of all, they will almost always give you an answer for what their standard of truth is. And second of all. It will never make sense. I mean, ultimately, if you really question them, if you really delve into what they believe, they have a standard of truth and it doesn't make sense because their standard of truth is not God and his word. They will have something else by which they judge the world by. And it'll be different things for different people, but none of them make sense unless it's the truth of God's word. Sometimes they'll say it's science. Well, I just you know, I I saw a little placard by an agnostic recently where they were bragging that, of course, an agnostic is someone who says we can't know if there's a God or not. An atheist says there is no God. An agnostic says we don't know if there is a God or not. And the agnostic was bragging saying agnostics simply follow the evidence where it leads them. Well, that's not what they do. It's not at all what they do. And so What is your standard if you don't believe the Bible? I do believe the Bible. I believe that's a standard of truth. I believe God has not left himself without witness. I believe the Bible is true. What is your standard of truth? Well, I believe science. I just follow the evidence wherever it leads me. OK, so that is your standard of truth. What science says is truth in your mind. What the evidence says is truth in your mind. There was a time in which scientists were Without doubt that the earth was flat, right? And you know what they base that on? Evidence. They would say any fool can look and see that the earth is flat, right? Especially if you live in Louisiana. You just walk outside, right? What kind of fool would think the earth is round? And yet, what has time proven? That it is, in fact, round. I think I talked about this Wednesday night, the fact that The prophet Isaiah said it was round. Way back when everybody else in the world said it was flat, he said that God is enthroned over the circle of the earth and all its inhabitants are as grasshoppers before him. What is your standard of truth? Well, it's science. It's evidence. I just go wherever the evidence leads me out. Do you believe the Earth is flat? What about the stars of the sky? Do you believe that there is a set number? Science used to say that there's 100 stars because you know what they base that on? Evidence. Because they could count 100 stars or 150 or 300 or whatever the number was. I don't know what the number was. You know what science says today? We can't count. I mean, we can only see so far. We know that there's stuff even beyond that. And so. My point is this, when people make claims that they have a standard for truth, if their standard for truth is not the word of God, then their standard doesn't make sense. In fact, their standard frequently gets destroyed as time goes by. I mean, if it's evidence, if it's science, well, there are a lot of things that science has said wholeheartedly that have been proven wrong. And so sometimes it's that that's their standard for truth. Sometimes it's even scarier. Their standard for truth will be majority vote, whatever the majority of people think is true. That's what I believe is true, especially in terms of morals. I mean, if you talk to an unbeliever and say, well, how do you how do you know what's right or wrong? Now, we have an answer for that, don't we? God has told us what is right or wrong. I mean, that's our standard of morality. God's Word is our standard of morality. God's Word, by the way, as it's interpreted correctly, which is key, because a lot of times when you're talking to unbelievers, they'll go off in the weeds and drag Levitical law into it and say, oh, well, you believe this? You believe that we should stone adulterers and not eat pork and things of that nature? God's Word as it's interpreted correctly. We have an answer for that. By the way, a lot of Christians don't. But we do if you understand God's word in context, if you understand Old Covenant, New Covenant, if you understand the purpose that is declared in terms of these things, we have an answer and we have answers for the questions that they fire at us. And so sometimes their standard is science. Sometimes it's simply majority vote or whatever. The majority of people say is true. That's what I believe is true in terms of moral standard. Oftentimes, unbelievers will say that whatever brings the most happiness to the largest group of people is what is right, is what is moral, is what is correct. But what if the majority of the people are wicked? What if the majority of it, what if 51 percent of the people in America say that murder should be fine? What if they say rape should be fine? Is it all of a sudden become fine? Even unbelievers will say, no, no, no, no, no, no. Of course not. It's still wrong. On what basis do you say it's wrong? They can't answer that. See, we have an answer for that. But what is the basis whereby we say murder is wrong or rape is wrong or anything else that is wrong is wrong? God's word is our standard and it's unchanging. They don't have a standard. They don't have a reason for why they believe what they believe. This is what I'm talking about when I say there are inconsistencies in their belief system. Some say it's science. Some say it's majority vote. Others have a standard of truth that's simply feelings, right? And this is even more terrifying. Whatever feels right to me, that's what's true. Can your feelings be wrong? Can your feelings ever lead you astray? Even unbelievers, if they're honest, they're not always. But even they would admit that, well, you know, sometimes my feelings lead me to make wrong decisions. The only standard of truth that makes any sense whatsoever is the word of God. And so contrasting the fool, convincing the fool, third, the condition of the fool, look at verse one here in Proverbs 26. This is their condition. It's a place of dishonor, like snow and summer and rain and harvest. So honor is not fitting for a fool. Now, when you look at that passage, snow and summer, that just doesn't go together. Right. In fact, when you live here, snow and winter doesn't make sense either. But the passage is speaking of a place where it snows. OK. And so what it says here in Proverbs, chapter 26, verse one, like snow in the summertime. That doesn't make any sense, even if you live in a place where it's cold. Snow in the summer doesn't make any sense, nor rain in the harvest. I'm not saying that it can't rain during harvest time, but as a general rule, it rains in the spring, right? Makes the crops grow and then harvest time. It doesn't rain as much. And so the point he's making is these things don't make sense. And so it is giving honor to a fool. A fool is not worthy of honor. It just doesn't go together. In terms of a fool, I mean, this is somebody who has evidence right before them, and yet they reject it. Yet they deny it. Yet they say, well, my standard of truth isn't God and His Word. My standard of truth is what I feel. My standard of truth is science. My standard of truth is evidence. And yet there's overwhelming evidence right before their very eyes that God has not left himself without witness, not only through his word, but that he's also provided for you through rain and and through crops and through protection and through provision. And they see all of this stuff before them. And according to Romans one, what do they do with all that truth? They suppress it. They push it away. They reject it. They deny it. They play the part of a fool, don't they? And so that's what this passage is speaking of the condition of the fool. Next, the correction of the fool, the correction of the fool. Verse three, a whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey and a rod for the back of fools. This is a great verse to use, by the way, when you're defending the faith. Right. You talk to an unbeliever who rejects the truth of God's word, what do you say to him? You know what your problem is? You just need a good weapon. You just need a good weapon. Now, that might be true, but you're not the one to do it. That's not what this passage is saying. I know how I'm going to convince you to be wise. I'll beat you into wisdom. There is a place for that for children, by the way. Parents and children, but there's not a place for that in defending the faith and evangelism. But what this passage is telling us is what the fool has to be forced to do what the wise man wants to do. The fool has to be forced. And the analogy, of course, is a whip with a horse, a bridle for the donkey. I mean, what are those used for? They're used to force the animal, to train the animal to do what it doesn't naturally want to do. And so it is with the fool. They have to be forced to do what the wise man, by God's grace, will want to do. And so what does the fool need? The fool needs correction. And we're called to do that, not with a whip. That's an analogy. But we're called to do it in love. Apostle Paul speaks in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 14. As a result, we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, trickery of men, craftiness and deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head, even Christ. And so the correction of the fool. What does the fool need? The fool needs corrected. And finally, contesting the fool. Do not And the writer here of Proverbs gives us what to do and what not to do. Do not answer the fool according to his folly, lest you be like him. You know what he's saying? If the fool says, I don't believe the Bible, then your response is, OK, let's pretend like the Bible is wrong and we'll see if we can reason our way to a place of agreement. No. That's playing the part of a fool. That's answering the fool according to his folly and becoming like him. And so we contest that we do not answer him according to his folly, because what happens, by the way, when you do that? He tells us in verse five, doesn't he answer a fool as his folly deserves that he be not wise in his own eyes. You know what you're going to do if you answer the fool according to his folly and become like him? You're going to puff him up. You're going to make him think that there is actually credence in what he believes. It actually makes sense. That's one of the most foolish things a believer can do in talking to an unbeliever. Sometimes this happens. You talk to an atheist, for example, and sometimes Christians will fall into the trap of saying, I understand your atheism completely. It makes perfect sense. I mean, we can't see God with our eyes. And so I feel your pain. I understand why you reject God, because God hasn't adequately shown himself to you, has he? Well, I'm going to help you see God. That's kind of a psychobabble way of sharing the gospel, isn't it? And it's foolish, because that's not what we say, for example, to an atheist, we don't say to them that it's perfectly understandable that you deny God's very existence. No, that's answering the fool according to his folly. That's becoming like him. And so we don't say, oh, I understand completely why you reject God. I understand why you think there's no God, because you can't see. No, what you say to him is what Paul says to those in Mars Hill and what Paul says in Romans chapter 1 and what the writer of Proverbs says right here and what Paul says in Acts chapter 14. God is all over the place and only the fool would reject him. You are not using your rational faculties properly if you arrive at a position of atheism. And to pretend like that's a logical position for a person to hold is to simply lead them astray. And to make them wise in their own eyes. Do not answer the fool according to his folly, lest ye be like unto him. lest he be puffed up. And so how is it that we answer the fool? We contest them in love. All right. I mean, you know as well as I, there's a right way and a wrong way to go about that. On one hand, you don't want to say, oh, that's perfectly acceptable that you reject God. I mean, I understand why you're an atheist. I mean, that's one extreme. The other extreme is to get out the whip, right? You're a fool. I'll beat you into the kingdom. You can't beat him into the kingdom. And so, what do we do? We can test the fool regardless of what their belief system is. And what I have on the back of the outline is just various belief systems and just a couple of questions. Sometimes it's one of the best things you can do for someone to help them think through their goofy beliefs. To help them think through, right? Come let us reason together. I mean, you can Give them elaborate systems of why their beliefs are wrong. Or you can just give them a couple of easy questions. Think about it. And when you look at the atheists, for example, just a couple of questions, of course, an atheist, someone who believes that there is no God. How do you think we got here? How do you think? We got here and usually they got an answer and it's completely irrational because usually the answer is evolution, which doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Nor is there evidence for. Now, the science community tells you there is evidence, but it's not there. And so how do you think we got here then? I mean, you think that there was just piles of ooze that evolved? I mean, just very simple questions, right? Well, we used to be monkeys, but Now we're. People. Easy question, I've always wondered is. Why do we still have monkeys? What happened to them, right? I mean, how come they didn't evolve into a man? Why do we still have monkeys? How do you think we got here? What is our reason for existence? What is the reason we're here? You know what their answer usually is for that? They don't have one. It's all accident, right? It's all chance. I mean, we just happened into being. That's irrational. That doesn't make any sense. How do you account for order of the universe? These are questions that I don't think most atheists have adequately reflected upon. How do you account for the fact that the earth spins at such a constant rate for so long? How do you account for the fact that It orbits the sun at a constant rate for so long. How do you account for the fact that water always freezes at 32 degrees? It doesn't matter when, right? How do you account for the fact that water boils at 212 and not 210 and not 214, but 212 all the time, forever, or at least as long as we've known? How do you account for that? How do you account for that kind of order? An atheist doesn't have an answer. A Christian does. God has placed his order upon this universe and things happen the way they do, because God is there. God has not left himself without witness. And only a fool rejects that witness, the atheist, secondly, the agnostic now and agnostic, as I mentioned earlier, someone who doesn't necessarily deny God, but they say we just can't know. We don't know if there's a God. And I saw a T-shirt, again, an agnostic had on one day that said, an agnostic is an atheist who lost their faith. Because an atheist has faith that there is no God. And the agnostic says, well, I'm not sure. Maybe there is. Maybe there is. Maybe there isn't. We can't know. Now, how do you answer this type of fool according to their folly? Or not answer them according to their folly? Simple question. Do you believe things exist that you've never seen? Do you believe there are things that exist that you've never seen? Do you believe that there are stars way out there that you've never seen with your eyes, yet they still exist? And you know what? Unless the agnostic is completely harassed, you know what they'll say? Oh, sure. Yeah, I believe there are things that I haven't seen before. Do you believe that there are people that exist that you've never seen? I mean, both historically and today, I mean, if I were to describe to you my dad who lives in Oklahoma, would you say I've never seen this man in my life? Therefore, he doesn't exist. Or would you say, well, yeah, I believe he exists just because I haven't seen him doesn't mean he doesn't exist. Well, how on earth could the same not be true of God? I mean, just because you haven't seen him means he's not there. When there's evidence for him all over the place, The atheist, the agnostic, the universalist. Now, when I say universalist, of course, universalist is someone who believes everyone is ultimately saved. There are a lot of these types of people out there, various types of belief systems that would be universalist in nature. You encounter these all the time. They're the God is love crowd, right? Oh, God would never judge anyone. I mean, God loves everyone. I mean, we're all in the same boat. It doesn't really matter all that much what you believe. And so, what type of questions might you pose towards them? Well, the first question I have listed is this. Did you know the Bible warns us about you? The Bible warns us about people like you. And I'm not saying that in a mean way, but in a quite honest way. Second Timothy chapter four, verse three, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires. They will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to miss. The Bible warns us about people like you. I mean, if you have this mentality, well, God is love and it doesn't matter what you do. And he's accepting and he embraces us all. The Bible warns us about that type of mindset and people who espouse that type of mindset. So that would be the first question. Did you know the Bible warns us about people like you? Do you think it's just for God to ignore sin? That's just a simple question, right? God is all embracing and all inclusive, and it doesn't really matter what you believe. You believe it's just? Would God be just to ignore sin? If it was your daughter that got murdered, would you think it would be just to ignore sin? Now, usually when it gets personal, their views quickly change, don't they? No, that's not just at all. So if it's not just in that case, why should it be just in your case? Because, you know, most people, when it comes to things like God's justice, well, God should just forgive sin, right? I mean, it doesn't matter what you believe. Well, what most people believe is God should forgive my sin, but there should be justice regarding your sin against me. And that's what most people honestly believe. Their sin is no big deal. Your sin, if it's against me, is huge. And so, do you think it's just for God to ignore sin? Third, did you know God will hold you accountable if you're wrong about Him? And if that's their belief, they are wrong about Him. And so, the universalist God has now declared, as Paul says in Acts 17, that all men everywhere should repent because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness. Fourth, the cultist. The cultist. How do you answer the cultist? These are just simple questions. Obviously, I'm not diving deeply into all these. And when I say cultist, you know what I'm talking about. Primarily Mormons and Jehovah's Witness, although there are others. These are, quote, Christianized cults. In other words, they claim Jesus. But they're cults. They're not real Christianity. The first question to ask is, do you believe Jesus is God? You know what they'll say? Yes. The second question you should ask is, do you believe he was created? You know what they'll say? Yes. How is God? Created. If he's created, he's not God. Well, they believe that Jesus is created, they believe Jesus various forms, Mormons and Jehovah's Witness aren't exactly the same in their belief system, but they believe Jesus was a man who reached a status of godhood. Mormons believe that God used to be a man on a foreign planet who reached the status of godhood. Is that rational? That's not a rational belief system. That is foolish. I do not answer the fool according to his folly. Do you believe Jesus is God you believe is created? Did you know the Bible warns of another gospel? Galatians chapter one, verse six, Paul says, I'm amazed that you're so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel, which is really not another. Only there are some who are disturbing you want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed. And so the Bible warns of another gospel, which is really a false gospel. And even more specifically to the cultists, you would say, did you know the Bible warns of another Jesus, not just another gospel, not just a false belief system, but the Bible warns specifically about those who would preach another Jesus, which is exactly what the cultists do. They preach a different Jesus than the Jesus of Scripture. Second Corinthians chapter 11, verse three, but I'm afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. To Christ, for if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached or you receive a different spirit, which you have not received or a different gospel, you bear this beautifully. And so Paul writes to them and warns to them of another Jesus and specifically to Mormons. How does Paul speak of this in terms of directly tying in this other Jesus, this other gospel? In Galatians 1, he says what? If an angel of light should preach this to you, let him be accursed. And how does Joseph Smith claim to have received this gospel of the other Jesus? An angel of light. Did you know Satan disguises himself as an angel of light? Would be a very simple question for a cultist. Second Corinthians 11, 13, for such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. Thank Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. Deceitful, disguising himself as an apostle of Christ. Paul goes on to say, no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds. And finally, I'll conclude with this. If you have your outline, the religionist, what is a religionist? Don't try to look that up in your dictionary, by the way, because it's not a real word, at least according to my computer. I get the little red squiggly line over about 75 percent of the words I use. Because they're not real words, or if they are real words, I've misspelled them. But that doesn't mean I'm a fool. It just means I can't spell. What is a religionist? When I speak of a religionist, I'm talking about false religions, no matter what they are. Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, it doesn't matter what they are, the majority of them have Something in common, they teach some form of works righteousness. And so simple questions to ask them, do you believe that we are sinners? And most of them do, and some way, shape, form or fashion, they believe in sin. Secondly, how do you believe we're justified? And you know what the answer is. The majority of the time, some type of works Righteousness works justification. Well, how much good then do we have to do to be justified? And you know what? They can't answer that, can they? I mean, they might say, well, if in the end, our good outweighs our bad. Does that make any rational sense at all? If we are, in fact, sinners? I mean, you admit we're a sinner. How are we justified by our good deeds? How many good deeds do we have to do? Ten years worth, 20 years worth. I mean, if I live like a scoundrel for 50 years, what if I've only got 10 years left and I'm going to die? How am I going to be justified if it's my words? That's not only bad theology, it's bad logic, it doesn't make sense, it's not rational. And so at the end of the day, the only thing that does make sense. Is the gospel of the grace of God. That we are, in fact, sinners and that God, by His grace, makes provision for sinners through Jesus Christ. God became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory and He lived a life of sinless perfection that is credited to the account of sinners by grace alone, through faith alone. And then God not only credits to their account this perfect righteousness, which he himself provides, but he also changes that center to where they now no longer. Embrace foolishness. But by God's grace, they embrace wisdom, and so when I speak of Christianity, it's not only that it's the only belief system that is right, it's the only one. That makes sense. Let's pray.