Hello Friends, I'm Wayne Shepherd inviting you to listen once again to Encounter God's Truth with Bible Scholar Dr. John Whitcomb. We have a unique program for you on this holiday weekend. Dr. Whitcomb is going to give us insights into the second law of thermodynamics. He'll show us why, in the words of the Apostle Paul, the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. Now, even if you're not interested in science, you'll still want to stay tuned as you learn some fascinating things about God's Word today. And we'll be reminded that, indeed, it is true from the beginning to the end. Our speaker is going to take us on a survey of history with regard to the second law. Then he'll make some interesting applications to our spiritual lives. Dr. Whitcomb, please begin by defining for us the second law of thermodynamics. Friends, this is a major question that all Bible-believing Christians must know about. What is the second law of thermodynamics? Heat power. I was a goddess evolutionist at Princeton University in the early 1940s and I was taught and everyone believed, just give everything enough time and by chance everything gets better and better and evolves from nothing to something and here we all are. Nothing could be more ridiculous or erroneous. My dear friend Henry Morris, who was my co-author of the Genesis Flood book, wrote a very popular book called The Bible has the answers. Listen to what he says about this. He says, the first law is a law of energy conservation, which states that nothing is now being created or destroyed. Now listen to this. The second law is a law of energy decay, which states that in all real processes, there's a net loss of energy available for further work. All natural processes, without any exception, whatever, operate within the framework of these two laws. We all know how the second law works. Just leave anything to itself and it gets worse and weaker, corrupted, polluted, and collapses, falls apart. Nothing is evolving anywhere ever in the world. So we say, now Lord, thank you that your word is in harmony with what we see everywhere and experience. As Morris went on to explain, the second law expresses in a formal way the fact that something is intrinsically wrong with the world. Everything gets old, wears out, runs down, finally dies. In all processes, some energy becomes degraded to low-level heat energy and can no longer be used. Every ordered system left to itself tends to become disorganized. Complex structures tend to break up and become simpler. The entropy, that is, the disorder or randomness of the system increases, and this tendency can only be superseded logically and temporarily. if there's an excess supply of ordering energy brought in from outside the system. And I say, Lord, thank you for telling us in the Bible, we're under the bondage of corruption. The whole creation is groaning and traveling in pain, Romans 8, 21. Everything in the universe is decaying and collapsing unless acted upon by outside intelligent energy, especially, of course, from God himself. So the second law teaches, unless God Himself intervenes, the universe is proceeding inexorably toward its ultimate heat death, when all available energy will have been degraded to low-level heat and no more work can be done. Since this state, now listen, has not yet been reached, the universe is not infinitely old and thus must have had a definite beginning. Right, it started by God's creative word and because of the curse which we ourselves brought upon God's perfect world. Everything has been disintegrating, collapsing since then, and we're amazed to see that we're still existing in this universe today. That's Dr. John Whitcomb, who's credited as one of the founders of the modern biblical creationism movement. His message today on Encounter God's Truth is about the second law of thermodynamics. Now, Dr. Whitcomb, was the second law of thermodynamics in operation during the Creation Week before the Fall? Friends, if the second law of thermodynamics is a visible, universal evidence of the curse of God, you might ask, well, what was the world like before the curse? That's a fascinating question, not easily answered, because during that creation week and until Adam and Eve's sin, which could have been like maybe a couple of weeks later, we don't know for sure, here's what Genesis says about the world. It says, God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good. Even angels were perfect, including Satan. There had been no angelic rebellion, no human rebellion, no sin anywhere. What was the world like? Well, there must have been some kind of a second law. Why? Because it was a natural world. It was not heaven. It was not glory. It was a natural world system. Without the second law, of course, as we understand its application today, nobody could have digested food, there couldn't have been any people walking around, animals couldn't exist the way they were designed to live, because there had been no friction, nothing that we know of a natural world. So our opinion is, and this is not clearly stated in scripture as far as I can tell, before the curse, God must have maintained the system, compensating, that's the key word now, compensating for any net loss that the natural application of the second law of thermodynamics would have accomplished. God made up for what was lost. He recompensed. He supplied again, provided again and again, so that the whole system was being renewed, renewed, renewed. It could have gone on like that forever, a natural world. And so we say, now, Lord, we can see something drastic changed at the curse. We can see it today. Evolutionists say, well, The second law may be true of certain parts of the universe, but not the earth, because we get the sunshine. Oh, really? What does that do? Radiant energy from the sun? Rejects? Contradicts? Cancels? Reverses the second law? No way. Just try going out on the beach and let the sun shine on you. What'll it do? Will it improve your skin? No, you can get skin cancer. You see, the evolutionists have actually made the sun into a god. And here's the way it looks. They say in the beginning, billions of years ago, the solar radiation on this planet in the oceans, all of a sudden, out of lifeless chemicals, the sun created a living, self-reproducing organism. And ever since then, the sun has been shining upon us and we've been evolving and improving and developing. And someday when the sun finally burns out, we're all finished. Totally erroneous. The sun can't accomplish anything without a conversion mechanism. It's like dumping gasoline into a car with no engine in it. You have to have a complex conversion mechanism that has to be designed by God or those that have the image of God, namely engineers, human beings. And so we begin to see some complexities here that evolutions have willfully ignored and rejected. So before the fall, before the curse, there was no death. Death came because of sin. By one man, sin entered the world, and death because of sin. So without rebelling against God, Adam and Eve would have lived forever in a natural, normal body, as far as we know. And we can see the infinite difference, therefore, between what was going on during that creation week and a few days later, until Satan fell and Adam and Eve fell. almost infinite difference between that world, dear friends, and the world we live in today. And I say, Lord, someday when we get to heaven, you'll explain to us what that world was really, really like. God is very, very brief on what he tells us about that first system. And I say, Lord, I'm fascinated. I'm very curious to know what it would have been like if we had not sinned against you. And we can ask that question today, friends, what our life would be like if we hadn't sinned against God, if we don't continue to sin against him. God someday will show us what might have happened, could have happened, should have happened by the Holy Spirit of God if we just walked with Him as Adam and Eve should have walked at the beginning of the world. And I say, Lord, help me to understand the awful effects of sin and death upon a world that originally you created and designed to be absolutely perfect and to continue as it was forever. What would it have been like if we had said no to Satan and trusted Him to walk in His light and to do His will in a perfect world. That's a good question, isn't it? What if our first parents had only followed the Lord God instead of falling into Satan's trap? But of course they did not, and their sin brought death into the world, and that's the only kind of world mankind has known since that time. Dr. Whitcomb, specifically, how has the second law of thermodynamics affected the world since the fall and the onset of the curse, and what role will it play in the future? The second law of thermodynamics is a scientific way to describe the effects of the curse that came upon the world when Adam and Eve rebelled against, rejected, denied the Lord. And we've never recovered. In fact, in contradiction to what some people think, namely things are getting better and better, we're getting more and more brilliant, our technology is improving, we have airplanes and we've been to the moon and so forth, that is not evolution at all. Because the actual systems called human bodies and human brains are declining in quality through mutations all over the world, all the time. 2,000 years ago, the Apostle Paul knew that, didn't he? Listen to how he put it in Romans chapter eight. I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with what? The glory that is to be revealed in us. Something better is coming, in contrast to what's happening now. The whole universe, he said, is looking forward to that day that's coming. What is it like? For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, that's the curse, not of its own will, not because of something wrong with the creation system, but because of Him, God, who subjected it. That's the curse in Genesis 3, that the creation itself will also be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. That's the millennium, the kingdom that's coming, that we're going to speak about in just a moment. But as for now, says Paul, listen to this, he's very realistic, very observant. We know, we're not guessing, that the whole creation, the whole creation, groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. What a way to put it. And not only this, but also we ourselves, we born-again Christians, having the first fruits of the Spirit, yes, even we ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting eagerly for the adoption of sons, the redemption of our body. He's not waiting to die, friends, he's waiting to be glorified through the rapture, resurrection event. It is true that as He told the Philippian church to depart and be with Christ, to die is better than to exist with a sin nature now. But the hope, the joyful expectation of Paul and all true Christians is final glorification of the body. And so you see, as Peter made clear in his sermon in Acts chapter three to the whole nation of Israel, re-offering, as it were, the whole kingdom, listen to what he said. He said, Repent and return that your sins may be wiped away in order that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. That's the millennium, the kingdom. And what's that going to be like? That he may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until when? Until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from ancient times. Yes, the Old Testament, friends, is filled with prophecies about the coming kingdom for Israel, of course, primarily, because the Old Testament didn't know about the church. But we share with Israel a hope of redemption someday as a corporate body of believers. And I say, now, Lord, what's going to happen then when the kingdom comes? Is the second law going to be functioning then? Well, friends, the good news is it'll be greatly limited. The bad news is it'll still be there for 1,000 years, a testing time for people, in which people will discover for the first time in historical memory, there'll be a perfect government. Jesus will be the executive branch, the king, the legislative branch, the lawgiver, the judge, Supreme Court, all in one person for 1,000 years. A perfect government, yes, and what else? Perfect education. Evolution will not be taught in public schools. No, no. Only the things of God will be permitted to be taught. A perfect religion, which God himself will confirm by his presence in Jerusalem year after year, a thousand times. I believe Jesus will appear in Jerusalem to be what the focus of love and adoration and worship by people all over the world. Zechariah 14 tells us how that's going to happen. Remember the Feast of Tabernacles. He'll be there. That's what tabernacle means. It means to dwell among God's people. So I say, Lord, what a wonderful kingdom that'll be. A perfect government, perfect education, a perfect environment. There'll be no deadly animals, flesh eaters at all. Isaiah 11 tells us about that. The lion and the lamb will lie down together. A little child should lead them. What an amazing world that'll be. And I say, Lord, It'll be heaven. Oh, not quite. Not quite, friends. Remember, every human who enters the kingdom alive will have a sin nature. And although he'll be a believer, his children will make a choice, and grandchildren will have to make a choice. And you remember what Jesus told us about those choices, don't you? straight as a gate, narrows the way to lead us to life, and what? And few there be that find it. So for a thousand years, people will come, yes, more and more reluctantly, under force, to worship Jesus. It'll be a Judas Iscariot mentality, outward conformity, inward hatred. And you know, Isaiah anticipated this, didn't he? Listen to what he said. Isaiah chapter 26, verse 10. Though the wicked has shown favor in my they will be in the millennium, he does not learn righteousness. He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness. and does not receive the majesty, perceive, he can't see, he can't discern the majesty of the Lord. How sad. Yes, iniquity will dominate the world and people secretly in their own heart will be saying in effect, Satan, thy kingdom return, thy will be done again as it is in hell. And we know how that's gonna end, don't we, friends? At the end of the millennium, Satan will be released for a brief season to give people a choice, tempt them to abandon the Lord and billions as the sand of the sea for multitude will follow Satan, and that will be the end of the world as we know it. The heavens and earth will pass away to create a new heavens, a new earth in which will dwell righteousness forever. So even during the second law of thermodynamics will be functioning, yes, even in the millennium, although under unique control by God through Christ the King, but it'll come to an end only at the end of that thousand-year kingdom. When the eternal state is created, Everything will be perfect in harmony, no damage, no tears, no sorrow, no suffering anymore forever. Thank you God for that hope of the eternal state which will follow the thousand year kingdom of Christ on the earth. We're listening to Encounter God's Truth, a faith-building outreach of Whitcomb Ministries, Inc. Visit our website at WhitcombMinistries.org, and also be sure to stop at Facebook.com slash Whitcomb Ministries. Now, Dr. Whitcomb, I know that you make an interesting application from the second law of thermodynamics, which you call the second law of ecclesiastical thermodynamics. Can you tell us about that? Wayne, this is the second law of ecclesiastical thermodynamics. What is happening to the church, the true church of our Lord Jesus Christ, created, remember, on the day of Pentecost, Acts chapter two? Has it improved? Is it deeper in devotion to the Lord than ever before? Sad to say, not so. How sad the apostle Paul was at the end of his ministry where he poured his life into those churches in Ephesus and taught in the school of Tyrannus for two solid years, the whole counsel of God. And now he's in prison in Rome and wrote his last letter to Timothy and said, all they have Asia, that includes Ephesus now, have forsaken me. How sad. Well, we can't say God hasn't warned us, can we, of what's gonna happen. The church began, remember, absolutely perfect. Every member was born again, filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Look at us today. First Timothy, chapter four, verse one. But the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, explicitly says that in the later times, some will fall away from the faith paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, doctrines that are false, distorted by demonic influence, by means of the hypocrisy of liars, seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, who forbid marriage, advocate abstaining from foods, which God has created to be greatly shared in by those who believe and know the truth. In other words, ceremony legalists will dominate the world. For everything, he said, is created by God as good, and nothing is to be rejected if it's received with gratitude, for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer. But people more and more throughout church history distort the things of God. And in his last letter, Paul warned Timothy about this. He said, realize this, Timothy, 2 Timothy 3, verse 1, that in the last days, that is of the church age, difficult times will come. Really? In what way? In spite of all our technological advances with TV and websites and intergalactic outreach through telescopes? Look at this. Men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious, gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous. Reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of, do they talk about God? Oh, yes, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. And I say, Lord, how awful, how awful. Yes, chapter three, verse 13, but evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. We can almost make this a law, ecclesiastical law, of thermodynamics in terms of the downward trend of everything everywhere. All schools that have been started by Christians, all churches, all mission societies, through passing of time, decrease in quality, compromise, compromise, and finally they disappear, and should disappear. What's the answer? We have to start all over again. Pull out from, away from things that are corrupting, compromising God's word of truth, and start something fresh and new based upon the word of the Lord. And so Jesus, you know, asks the rhetorical question, when the Son of Man returns, shall he find the faith on the earth? That doesn't mean will he find believers, of course, or there couldn't be any rapture, you understand. There'll be millions of believers. But how many of them really believe the whole Bible? The question I have about myself is, do I really know the whole Bible? What I do know, I want to believe. as God reveals it to me by his mercy through the Holy Spirit. But friends, we see compromise everywhere around us. Compromise, compromise. And that, of course, is the second law in action in the spiritual realm, in the moral realm, ethical, families, homes, schools, churches, drifting down, down, down. And I say, Lord, help me to be on the opposite side of this. Help me to pray fervently for people. Help me to reflect your light into people's lives everywhere I go. I've even developed a habit, dear friends, I trust God will help me to be consistent with this. When anybody telephones me to sell me something, I say, just a moment, please. God really got my attention in the Battle of the Bulge in December 44 in Germany. And everywhere I go, I want to tell people about Jesus. He rose from the dead after being crucified for our sins. And he's in glory now. Do you know him as your Savior? Sometimes I just hear somebody hang up the phone, but you see, they heard something about the Gospel, and I find myself almost praying, Lord, help them to think about what I just said from you during the night hours. Bring it to their attention. Bring them to repentance. The faithful, effectual teaching of the Word of God is the only antidote To what? The second law of ecclesiastical thermodynamics. I say, Lord, help me, first of all, to see the problem. Most of us don't even know there's a problem. And God says, please open both eyes, connect with your brain, your heart, your conscience, and look at things as they really, really are. So I say, Lord, help me see things as you see them. And you grieve over your churches. Just like Revelation, the first of the seven churches, Ephesus, You have done wonderful things, you're doing great things, but you have left what? You have left your first love. Repent, therefore, and do the first work, so I'll come quickly and take your candlestick away. You see, he's watching the heart, friends, not whether we attend a church or whether we've been water baptized or whether we sign a statement of faith, but what is our personal relationship to the Lord Jesus? And I want to begin my day each morning by saying, Lord Jesus, you know what my limitations are, my weakness, but you, have all power, and therefore, spiritually speaking, when I am weak, I'm strong, if I trust the Lord. That is the only exception to the second law of thermodynamics in the churches today. A personal renewal of commitment to Jesus, of love for Him, wanting to be used by Him to reach neighbors, family, friends, to the ends of the world. And someday, when we're at the judgment throne of Christ, All these things will be brought to light, won't they? We will stand before Him. We can't lose our salvation at that occasion, but we can lose what? A reward, a crown. 1 Corinthians 3. And I say, Lord, I don't want to be ashamed before Him in His coming. As John says in his epistle, 1 John 2. I want to be ready when Jesus comes. I want to be a contradiction. Can I put it that way? to the second law of ecclesiastical thermodynamics, the downward trend. And I say, Lord, help me to be a light reflector into people's darkness, that they may say, well, I at least met one man who believes the Bible, who is a true Christian, is willing to even suffer if necessary for his faith. Help me to be like that. Help me, Father, to be an example to people, not that something good about me, but by your spirit, through your word, great things will happen because all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for what? For teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. That's the divine program recipe for what? Contradicting the deadly, almost irreversible second law of ecclesiastical thermodynamics in the world today. Wayne, thank you so much for helping me celebrate this Memorial Day. May we remember Jesus, especially, as the one in whom we live and move and have our being. Thank you, brother. God be with you on this special day. Thanks, Dr. Whitcomb, and a blessed holiday to you as well. And we want to wish every one of our listeners a very blessed and meaningful Memorial Day weekend. Please take time to listen to this or any one of our past editions of Encounter God's Truth at sermonaudio.com. Then make sure to join us next week when we begin Volume 1 of a brand new study by Dr. Whitcomb through the gospel of John called, Light in the Deepening Darkness. Until then, I'm Wayne Shepherd. Thank you for listening today.