God says the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. According to George Barna survey, 85% of Americans identify themselves as Christians. 8% of them classify themselves as evangelicals. 33% classify themselves as born-again. 44% are self-described Christians but are neither evangelical nor born-again. Pertaining to our chapter this evening, 8% of adults nationwide maintain self-identity as atheists or agnostic. Seven percent of the United States population identify with faiths other than Christianity. Now let's take a look at that eight percent that claim to be atheist or agnostic. This covers a segment in the United States of about 10 to 15 million adults. Demographically, they are the group least likely to be married. That's interesting. Most are likely to be male, most atheists likely to be male, and a majority of these people are 35 years of age and younger. Besides being the group that is least concerned about the moral condition of our nation, they're also the group most likely to be affiliated with the Democratic Party, interestingly enough. Most likely, they are defining themselves as mostly liberal on current issues and least likely to donate any money to a religious center or non-profit organization. Among those who did donate to non-profits, they gave away the least amount of money, less than 10% as much as the average evangelical donated during the year. Three-quarters of self-proclaimed atheists and agnostics say that moral truth is relative. Relative to the person and circumstances. Only 10% believe in absolute moral truth. Their views on morality are in extreme contrast to those of the two born-again segments. For instance, 7 out of 10 believe abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances. Six out of ten approve of clergy performing gay marriages. Nine out of ten approve of cohabitation. More than three out of four embrace pornography as normal moral behavior, and two-thirds deem drunkenness and homosexuality as morally acceptable acts. The Word of God says, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Perhaps a Hebrew rendering of verse 1 would be a little bit clearer. The fool has said in his heart, no God! The there is is supplied by the translators. You can almost pick up on the hostility when you read it that way. The fool has said in his heart, no God. wants to do away with God. We're going to be looking, just in a few moments, very briefly, at this psalm, three aspects regarding the profile of the atheist. In verses 1-4, we're going to look at the creed of the atheist. In verses 5-7, we're going to be looking at the character of the atheist. Let's go and look at the Scriptures here. And let's look at the creed of the atheist. The fool hath said in his heart there is no God. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand. and seek God. So the Creed of the Atheist is found in verses 1 and 2. Now in verses 3 and 4, we're going to look at the character of the Atheist. And this is reminiscent, is it not, of Romans chapter 3 and verses 10 through 12. You can almost read it identically. It says they are all gone aside. That's the character of the Atheist. They're all gone aside. They are all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good, no not one. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread?" You see, they hate God's people. Largely they're hated by the atheists because in reality they are reacting against the God that you represent. And they call not upon the Lord. As a matter of fact, they want to remove every remembrance of the Lord in our society. All of us remember Madeline Mary O'Hare and her campaigns against God and seeking to remove the very thought and knowledge of God upon our coins and upon the Pledge of Allegiance. And there are others that are seeking to continue in her paths." Well, we can see here that their character is one which is abominable. But I want you to notice their condemnation now. The condemnation of the atheist. Notice, "...there were they in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous." There is a present condemnation in verses 5 and 6. They don't remain calm in their unbelief. They don't find inner peace in saying there is no God. On the contrary, they're in inner turmoil, trying to deny God. They themselves are not calm in their unbelief. There's a present judgment, a present condemnation upon the atheist. There they were in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous. ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge." Now notice there's a future condemnation as well in verse 7, because they don't have any part in the kingdom of God. It says, "...O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion, when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. But the unrighteous and the atheists will have no part in that future kingdom of our Lord. Now, some of you, when you heard I was going to preach on Psalm 14, said, well, this is going to be an easy one. I'm not going to come under much conviction because I know I'm not an atheist. So therefore, Pastor John, preach away. I could just kind of get comfortable. But you know, There is the professing atheist. We just read about it. But I want to look at for a few moments what I would call, perhaps I'm coining a new word, I'm going to be talking about the practical atheist. And if I may be allowed liberty to make this application, there are many Christians, claiming to be Christians, who by all intents and purposes are practical atheists because they really live and conform their lives as if there were no accountability to God. It may be a little bit of a surprise switch to our study of Psalm chapter 14, but I want us to really look at our lives as Christians and ask ourselves, do I really live as if I believe that God was alive? we might realize that we've slipped a little bit in our walk with the Lord. I've made up here seven signs of a practical atheist. And like they say to the preacher and to the congregation, if the shoe fits, let's wear it. and ask ourselves, is it I, Lord, and am I a practical atheist who may have all of his doctrinal cookies all straight, but somehow where the rubber meets the road, I'm living and ordering my own life? Sign number one of the practical atheist, you are content to have a form of godliness, but you keep God at a sufficient distance so as not to cramp your lifestyle. Like the writer of Ecclesiastes, the man under the sun, be not righteous over much. Have a form of godliness, the external morphe, the manifestation outwardly of all of the earmarks of a Christian. But when it really comes to it, don't become overzealous in your commitment. Don't let Christ get in the way of your lifestyle and that which you would like to do. That's sign number one of a practical atheist. Number two, you don't possess the fear of the Lord with regard to considering the outcome of your decisions. You make decisions without praying about it, without thought, and I'm using the word you generically to everyone that may be listening to my voice and double time towards myself. But a practical atheist does not possess the fear of the Lord with regard to considering the outcome of their decisions. For instance, lying or slanting the truth, it really doesn't bother you if it's in your favor to do so. If it'll get you out of a tight spot or out of a difficult board meeting, go ahead and lie! Cant the truth a little bit to the 45 degree. After all, it'll get you out of a tight spot. Practical atheism. We're looking today at many scandals across our nation. One man who even stood up in his church and said, I'm totally innocent. Then he claims the fifth. Now that's between him and God. I'm sure there's a great deal that I don't know about in that situation. But the point that I'm saying is that there are many believers today that with their lips say they're following the Lord but in practice they deny him dishonesty there are many that say dishonesty is permissible as long as no one will find out in other words the wrong in being dishonest is being found out so therefore their fear of God is less than their fear of man. Because they fear getting caught and they don't realize that God already knows what's going on. The sin, they say, is in getting caught. It's in being seen. It's in being discovered. But they fail to realize that God knows all. The third earmark of practical atheism You don't see God's face in your day-to-day decision-making. Not really. Not in your home. Not at work. You might give some sacred public platitudes, but when it comes down to it, you're going to do what you want to do. And you have already decided long ago. At work, well, there's a dualism that's developed. Well, you know, compartmentalized my life and church is just a Sunday thing or a Wednesday thing and it really doesn't enter into the real cruel trenches of employer-employee relationships. Earmark number four of a practical atheist. You start the challenges of your day without being in the Word or without seeking His face in prayer. charging out into the world. What you're basically saying is, God, I don't need you. I can just start my day in the energy of the flesh. I don't need the whole armor of God. Practical atheism. Sign number five, you have two lives, your public life and your private life. Sign number six, in reality, Your home is no different than the home of any non-believer. There are many professing Christians today, and you know what? Their homes are no different. If you were to sit there as a fly on the wall, there would be absolutely no difference between your home and any other non-believer's home. The argumentation, the yelling, the screaming, the diatribes, how you talk, what you watch on TV, the use of the internet, lack of family devotions and prayer, pictures and posters that may be on your wall venerating worldly people and things, and if someone were to come to your home, they would not even perhaps know it was Christian by looking around. I'll never forget the time as a young college student I was visiting in the home of the Chairman of the Board of Deacons, and we were invited to go downstairs and play pool. And I saw a Coca-Cola sign on the wall, which did not bother me at all, until I read it and looked a little closer and saw that it said, things go better with cocaine. Now that's a concern to me. And then he was wondering why he had some rebellious teenagers. in his home that were giving him fits. And I'll never forget that evening, the father said, I want you to try to witness to my son tonight. Well, I tried to witness to him. He didn't want to have anything to do with it. And we went snowmobiling that night, almost wiped out on a tree, I remember, upstate New York. But when it was time to go to bed, we all fell into the sack, and I was sleeping in the same room as this young boy that I was supposed to witness to and he had thoroughly turned me off. Didn't want to have a thing to hear about what I was saying. In the middle of the night he startled me to the point where I literally shot up in bed and looked around thinking that we were about to get invaded. This young boy was yelling in the top of his lungs. God, I don't want you. Get out. Get out. God, I don't want you. He was yelling that in his sleep. How sad. A young boy like that was growing up in the home of what I would call a practical atheist. Oh, he had all of the pomp and the ceremony and the externalities. He was the chairman of the deacon board of a Baptist church that had a fantastic doctrinal statement and all of this. But you know what? He was a practical atheist and sad to say it was affecting the dearest things that he had in his life. The seventh sign of a practical atheist deals with your relationship with the church. You know, there are many people that claim to know Christ as Savior, but you know their attendance is not faithful nor regular. Giving is sporadic and oftentimes meager. You don't have a burden for the souls of men. The reality of lost mankind and the fact that they're going to hell daily does not move you one bit to witness for the Lord. You see, these are all in a very practical way. Signs that we are in a practical way living as if there were no God. But you know the Word of God says that we ought to live our lives so that we'll have boldness in the day of His coming. May God challenge us not only to be theists in the theological sense, but to be theists in the day-to-day practicing the presence of the Lord in our lives. Let's bow together. Father in Heaven, we're mindful I'm mindful, Lord, in my own life. How many times I've gone off half-cocked and going about even things that may be good and righteous in and of themselves. But Lord, going out in a flurry of activity, failing, Father, to really seek Your instruction and Your face. And all of us are so prone towards this. Heavenly Father, we pause in the middle of a very hectic and tiring week. Lord, I see it in the countenance of those before me. Lord, and that's not meant derogatorily. Lord, we're all busy. And Lord, sensing the pressing cares of this world upon us, great responsibilities that many here are shouldering. Your Word has already told us that unless we're abiding in the vine, we need to realize that without You, we can do nothing. Forgive us, Lord, for the practical ways in which we live our lives as if You were not in us and with us and for us. And truly, Father, we ask Your forgiveness of sins and confess that self-will that's present in our lives. Lord, we could yell at the atheists and preach against them in Psalm 14, and we know that they have their judgment. But Lord, may we who know You and are Your children, may we not live as practical orphans, as those that don't know better. So guide us, Lord, and bless us as we share requests and needs that are before us, keeping in mind the greatest of these needs that we've shared from the Word of God. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.