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"Twentieth century man and woman regard sermons as trivial, tiresome and commonplace. Yet, the fact can be demonstrated that they are the most mysterious, wonder-working and potent things that can touch the heart and life of humanity. God has implanted strange and wonderful power in the tiny atom; when the atom is “cracked” and the latent energy is released, a whole city may be blown up. But God has implanted infinitely greater power in these simple things known as sermons. Empires have risen and fallen, as sermons have been preached, releasing Divine power a billion times greater than atomic energy."
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THE STORY OF A SERMON By DR. BEN M. BOGARD and DR. DAN GILBERT
Second Edition 1950; Printed by Seminary Press Little Rock, Arkansas
PREFACE
This story of a sermon is concerning a sermon preached by *Ben M. Bogard,
while he was pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, Little Rock,
Arkansas. Dan Gilbert relates in his own words what came to him when he
heard it. But there is a record back of the event related by Dr. Gilbert that is
very interesting which I am now relating. Ben M. Bogard, Pastor Emeritus,
Antioch Missionary Baptist Church
and President Emeritus of the
Missionary Baptist Seminary, of Little Rock, Arkansas
INTRODUCTION: ORIGIN OF THE SERMON
When I was a young preacher and pastor of the Baptist Church in Searcy,
Arkansas, a good deacon, J. J. Crow, came to me one day and said:
“I am an old man and you are a young preacher. If you will not be offended,
I would like to offer a suggestion about your preaching.”
I assured him that I would be glad to hear his suggestion and then he said:
“You preach too much doctrine. Every time you preach you pour in the
doctrine. I like it and many of the older brethren like it, but it offends some who
hear it. I hesitate to bring anyone to hear you preach, if he is not of our
denomination. I brought Judge Cypert to hear you a few Sundays ago and you
poured it in on him until I feel sure he will never come to hear you again. Why
don't you stop that sort of preaching and preach something else?”
I said, “Brother Crow, there are two reasons why I preach so much
doctrine. One is we cannot expect people to accept our doctrine unless it is
preached. If we do not preach what we believe, how can we expect those who do
not believe what we do to accept our teaching? Again, my habit is to select a
passage of Scripture as my text and carefully study that passage to find what it
means. All the passages I have selected have doctrine in them.”
“That is exactly what is the trouble,” he said. “Why do you not select some
of the passages that have no doctrine in them and preach from them? The Bible
is full of other things and why use the doctrinal passages all the time?”
I said, “Please tell me a passage, I could use as you say.”
He said: “That is dead easy, try John 3:16, which tells of God's love.”
That was a fine suggestion. I had never preached from John 3:16 and
strange to say, I had never heard a sermon from that text. I had heard preachers
quote it, but I had never heard a sermon from it, never using it as a text myself.
I went to my room and gave John 3:16 a careful study to learn just what was in
the passage. My findings were original so far as I was concerned for I had no
help from any source, and I have never used commentaries in preparing my
sermons, for I think commentaries have made many a Dr. Dry-as-dust preacher
but never a live wire one. In much prayer and diligent study, I made my sermon
and preached it on the next Sunday. Instead of there being no doctrine in that
great text, I found all the doctrines there, either expressly stated or implied.
When Brother Crow heard the sermon (bless his memory--he has long gone to be
with the Lord) he was astonished beyond bounds and came hastily to the pulpit
as soon as I had finished preaching and said, “Young man, preach what you
please from this time on out, for I think you must be right about all the passages
in the Bible being full of doctrine.” I thanked him heartily for his suggestion and
I have been preaching from John 3:16 ever since.
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
This wonderful text and the sermon I preached from it were the turning point in
my ministerial life. I have been a different preacher since then and the Lord has
blessed that sermon more than any other, as much as all the other sermons put
together, since I began to preach it.
VISIBLE RESULTS FROM PREACHING JOHN 3:16
I have preached this sermon all over the United States and I have seen
results that were astonishing; only a few times have I used it when nobody made
a public profession of faith, and no telling what the results were even when no
one made public their acceptance of Christ at the time the sermon was preached,
for at the time I preached it in Little Rock with the Atheist, Dan Gilbert,
present, nobody publicly accepted my invitation that night, but it caught Dan
Gilbert and haunted him night and day until he fully surrendered to the Lord, as
he tells you in his own words which you will read following this introduction. I
preached it in Cloverdale, Oregon, while attending the meeting of the Middle
Oregon Association and a young man, named John Blalock, was gloriously saved.
He is a successful preacher and has been, for years, missionary in China. Over
and over again men and women have come to me and said: “I was saved under
your preaching of John 3:16,” as they named the place where they heard the
sermon. This has been a joy to me.
John 3:16 for Ten Days at a Time
I have held several protracted meetings in which I used no other text. All of
these meetings have been successful. In all of them souls were saved and we had
what is commonly called a good revival. I shall mention two of these times in
particular. One was at Prattsville, Ark, where the windows of heaven were
opened and God poured out His blessings, thirty-five souls being saved, and
Pastor J.W. Kelly baptized them in Saline River. The other was at Hodges,
Alabama, where such a revival as they had never seen before was enjoyed and
forty-three souls were saved. I baptized them with my own hands in the
beautiful lake nearby. In at least four other places I used John 3:16 for the entire
protracted meetings and in each one precious souls were saved.
The Most Outstanding Conversion But the most outstanding conversion, under the preaching of John 3:16,
was the wonderful conversion of Dan Gilbert as related by him in this book. The
story as told by him follows, and following his account, is the sermon itself as
preached that memorable night he heard it, only slightly enlarged so as to get in
all the arguments I ever use to refute the doctrines of infidels and atheists. The
arguments that convinced Dan Gilbert are all in the printed sermon and a few
more thrown in for the benefit of the reader.
Put this Book into the Hands of Sinners
This book should be widely scattered over the world, If you have a skeptical
friend, if you know of a young man or woman who has been to some school where
the teachers misled the students, and his mind is poisoned with modernism,
evolutionism, or any form of unbelief, you should not fail to put this book into his
hands. Dr. Gilbert says that the arguments which convinced him should
convince other young people who are like he was when he heard the sermon.
With a prayer that many may be saved from the modernistic skepticism
caused by false teachers, this book is sent forth. May the reading of the sermon,
and the story of Dan Gilbert, be as effective as the preaching of it has been.
Yours, UNDER THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, and with praise to God; “Who
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,” and I am Very Sincerely,
Ben M. Bogard
Dan Gilbert’s Own Story Concerning His Wonderful
Conversion from Atheism to Christ
This is really not the “story of Dan Gilbert.” It is, rather, the story of a
sermon--and what it did to Dan Gilbert. For, if Dan Gilbert had not heard that
sermon, and if the Lord had not used it to do what He did to Dan Gilbert, there
would be nothing about his life that any Christian reader would care to know
about.
Strangely, we tend to think of sermons as quite ordinary things. Often as
not, church congregations will enjoy the music, but expect to be bored when the
preaching begins; and, often as not, they go home with the dull consciousness
that all their expectations were abundantly realized! Preachers know this; and
that is why they frequently try to “spice” up their sermons with jokes about their
dryness, dullness, and long windedness. A recent survey of “pulpit humor” (so-
called) revealed that preachers jokes about their own dryness had surpassed
even the stale old variety about “the trials of married life” as the type of alleged
“funniness” most frequently inflicted by the pulpit upon the pew.
By sad experience, many preachers have learned to regard their sermons
as just about the most trivial things that enter into the busy lives of the laity.
Woe unto the preacher who dares to assume that what he has to declare is to be
compared with importance to the noon-day Sunday meal! There is no fury known
to Christian womanhood like that instantly aroused by the unthinking pastor
who doesn't act upon the knowledge that the unpardonable sin is to make his
people “late” in getting out of church on the Lord's Day morning.
Twentieth century man and woman regard sermons as trivial, tiresome
and commonplace. Yet, the fact can be demonstrated that they are the most
mysterious, wonder-working and potent things that can touch the heart and life
of humanity. God has implanted strange and wonderful power in the tiny atom;
when the atom is “cracked” and the latent energy is released, a whole city may
be blown up. But God has implanted infinitely greater power in these simple
things known as sermons. Empires have risen and fallen, as sermons have been
preached, releasing Divine power a billion times greater than atomic energy.
“Make these Christians stop their preaching or they will wreck my empire,”
cried Diocletian, the most blood-thirsty of all the Roman persecutors of the early
church. Diocletian's “gestapo” murdered the Christians by the millions; but they
went on telling the story of Jesus and His love, and all the “iron legions” of the
Roman system could not keep the Empire from toppling into dust.
Twentieth century man “marvels” at the “wonder-working” sulpha drugs. A
doctor pumps some of this mysterious substance into a person's veins and germs
are quickly killed. What is so remarkable about that: that one substance in the
blood stream should overcome another substance in the blood stream?
But doctors know nothing about the most poisonous of all diseases in the
life of man: hatred, greed, malice. There is no drug that can “get at” sin hidden in
the heart of man. Only a sermon can do that! God uses sermons to drive
hatred and greed out of the hearts of men and bring them to Christ. How
incomparably marvelous and wonderful! A sermon is just words. Yet a
combination of words, spoken by a human tongue, is so freighted with
wonder-working power by the Holy Spirit, that a man hears those words and
becomes a changed, new creature. The drunkard becomes sober. The murderer
becomes kind. The liar becomes truthful. The sinner becomes a saint!
Faith comes by hearing. God uses little things, simple things--like sermons-
-to accomplish those life-transformations which are beyond the comprehension or understanding of the greatest scientists who ever lived.
This is the story of a sermon: the greatest sermon I ever heard; the sermon
that God used to do for me what nothing else on earth could do for this lost
sinner.
I was born in California. In my junior year in high school, I was led into
atheism by an infidel-evolutionary instructor. This man taught atheism in the
name of science. Evolution was true; the Bible was false. There was no creation
and is no Creator.
I was fourteen years of age at the time. Cunningly, he led me--and many
other students--to turn our backs upon the Bible. At fourteen, I had never had an
experience of salvation. But I had grown up in Sunday school. Like many
churches, ours did not “stress” the New Birth. The preacher “believed” in it, he
said, but felt it came about “gradually”. We were taught to read the Bible, pray,
do good, and “gradually” we would be “regenerated.” So long as we read the Bible
and lived right, God would take care of us and get us all to heaven.
Slowly, this teacher broke down my boyhood belief in God. Finally, he had
me convinced--that evolution is true, the Bible is false; there is no Creator and
there was no creation. The darkest hour in my young life was the night that I
decided to go to sleep without saying my prayers--taught to me in the cradle.
I really didn't want to give up praying, but I felt I must. I must be “honest”
as the teacher said, if science proved there was no God, one would be a hypocrite
or a fool to keep on praying to Him who did not exist. The only honest thing, the
only “manly” thing, the only “scientific” thing was to stop praying.
Many times I had gone to bed feeling so sleepy, that I couldn't stay awake
long enough to say my prayers. But somehow I had always managed it--although
sometimes it had been hard. Now, I no longer felt obligated to stay awake and
pray. But strangely, I couldn't go to sleep. I got up and looked out the window.
The stars seemed to frown upon me. The sky was blue, but it looked black. There
was a blackness in my soul. Like the man with a jaundiced liver who sees
everything in yellow tones, the outside world was black--black as my heart and
soul within.
Once committed to godlessness, I threw--or the devil threw--my whole
being into the “crusade against God.” A group of us, converted to godless
evolution, by the teacher, formed a high school Atheist society.
I wrote to Charles Smith, president of the[This link is to a Must Read article “Human-
Ape Hybridization: A Failed Attempt to Prove Darwinism” by Jerry Bergman, Ph.D. -ESN] American
Association for the Advancement of Atheism, Incorporated, in New York City.
Moscow, Russia, is the world headquarters of the anti-God combine. The No. 1
infidel of the English speaking world was Charles Smith, scholarly, brilliant,
vigorous, born in the United States, but committed to Moscow in the bold
program to destroy the church of the living God on a world-wide scale.
I told Mr. Smith that we wished to affiliate with the 4-A as the American
Association for the Advancement of Atheism was called. Mr. Smith wrote back
that his organization had thousands of school teachers engaged in bringing
students into infidelity; that they had many student branch organizations over
the nation, and that we “would be welcome to join the ranks of the militant
godless.”
He added, however, that we would have to adopt an official name; then the
4-A in New York City would issue us a charter with our name upon it.
What should we call our high school atheist group? We had to have a name.
Finally, we hit upon one. We would call ourselves the 4-H--after the parent body,
known as the 4-A.
When we wrote him, giving the name we had chosen, he commented, “That
is the finest name of any young people's group in our whole organization. You
are to be congratulated as a genius: that name makes your group the roughest,
toughest, most militant, most aggressively radical godless youth club in the
entire nation.”
The 4-H stood for: THE HEDONIC HOST OF HELL-BENT HEATHENS.
(The word “hedonic” simply means “pagan.” Hedonism was the
Greek equivalent of paganism.)
Mr. Smith quickly promoted our group to “top-billing” in the atheist
publications. Within six months, the Hedonic Host of Hell-Bent Heathens was
the most widely publicized and highly-touted of all youth branches of the
American Association for the Advancement of Atheism.
As president of the 4-H, I was instrumental in forming high school atheist
clubs in more than a dozen California cities. I wrote articles which Mr. Smith
had published in the New York atheist-Communist press.
I graduated from high school at the age of 15. Mr. Smith advised me that
their Executive Secretary was going to South America to live, and a vacancy.
Had been created. The position of Executive Secretary was No. 2 in the
organization. If I took this position, I would be next to him. I would be his “junior
associate.”
He realized I was very young, he said, but he thought I could handle the
job. I had proved my ability: as a writer of articles published in the New York
radical press, and as an organizer of the California high school branches of the
anti-God combine.
There is a modern tendency to sissify and babify young people in their
teens. Yet, it should not be forgotten that some of the greatest soldiers during
the war were teen agers. Some of the greatest poems in the English language
were written by teen-agers, such as Keats. Some of the greatest sermons ever
preached, and some of the greatest songs ever sung, were by teen agers.
We should not underestimate what a teen-ager can do for God, or for the devil.
After all, it had been a teen-ager who had thought up that prize-winning
name for the atheist club, Hedonic Host of Hell-Bent Heathens.
And it was a teen-ager by the name of Dan Gilbert who was chosen by the
English--speaking world's most notorious infidel, Charles Smith, to be his “junior
associate” in directing the anti-God combine in America.
I accepted the assignment with great enthusiasm. Mr. Smith told me to
come to New York City. But, at the last minute, he changed his instructions. He
wired, “meet me in Little Rock, Arkansas.”
I did as I was instructed. Mr. Smith explained that he had come down to
Arkansas to “rescue the state from the anti-evolutionary fanatics.” At that time,
the people were getting ready to vote on a proposed law to ban the teaching of
evolution in tax-supported schools and colleges. Mr. Smith regarded himself as a
greater infidel than Clarence Darrow.
Darrow had engaged William Jennings Bryan in battle at the Scopes trial
in Tennessee some years before. Now, Mr. Smith felt it was his duty to combat
Christianity in Arkansas.
I arrived in Little Rock two days before Atheist Smith arrived. (He
delighted in being known as Atheist Smith. An agnostic is one who doubts God;
an Atheist is one who denies Him. Mr. Smith prided himself on being an Atheist.
“Agnostics are cowards and fools,” he argued. “When a child finds out there is no
Santa Claus, he does not say he doubts Santa's existence. He says, I know there
is no Santa Claus. Well, I know there is no God--for the same reason that even
the dumbest Christian knows that there is no Santa Claus, no spooks, no ghosts,
no fairies, and no goblins. “There is,” said Mr. Smith, “as much evidence for the
existence of God as there is for the existence of ghosts--no more and no less.”)
Mr. Smith had directed me to go to the Lafayette Hotel. But it was
overcrowded. I then went to the Marion. When Mr. Smith arrived, we sent out
invitations and had an “all-Arkansas convention of atheists.”
He then said we needed a downtown headquarters. Walking around the
business section we found a vacant store building on one of the main streets. It
had what Mr. Smith wanted: an eye-catching plate glass display window. Mr.
Smith rented the store room, and placed his anti-God tracts and leaflets in the
display window. Few customers for the free literature came in. Probably not
many people noticed the literature in the window as they went by.
Mr. Smith said, “We must do something to drum up trade, to stir up the
fanatics. We want to put tons of this literature into distribution. Let's see if we
can get the people to come after it.”
A twinkle shown in Mr. Smith's clear blue eyes. He was a strange
character, with fine, corn-silk hair, he looked like he might be a prosperous
business man or lawyer, especially when he put on his glasses: the kind that
perch high up on the nose with no “visible means of support.” Charles Smith was
the very opposite of the “unwashed,” alien type of soap box agitator. Born in
Oklahoma, Mr. Smith was brought up by a godly mother who sent him to
seminary to train for the ministry. An earnest, conscientious lad, Charles Smith
was “shocked” when professors in the seminary told him the Bible was not to be
believed. These professors were “modernists.” They laughed at the story of Jonah
and the whale.
Outraged, Charles Smith stormed out of the seminary, never to return,
saying, “Religion is a fraud. If one cannot believe the Bible, then he cannot
believe anything. I will be an honest infidel, rather than a religious hypocrite.”
Instead of studying religion, Mr. Smith went to studying colleges and
universities.
Instead of becoming a preacher of the Gospel, Mr. Smith became “the
greatest infidel since Bob Ingersoll.”
The Scripture declares that there are degrees of punishment in hell. Christ
warned that it would go easier with Sodom and Gomorrah than with some of the
godless to whom He spoke. What shall we say of the modernistic professor,
entrusted with making a preacher of Mother Smith's boy-- who made, instead,
an atheist of him? What shall we say of these “liberals” who broke down his
boyhood faith in the Bible as the Word of God? Could any “honest infidel” be as
responsible as those dishonest theologians who, in the name of religion, break
down faith in the Bible!
But to return to our story. To stir the people of Little Rock up, to get them
to come in and take free literature, Mr. Smith purchased some paint. I held the
box upon which he stood, while he painted on the plate glass window this sign:
EVOLUTION IS TRUE
THE BIBLE IS FALSE
GOD'S A GHOST
Blazoned in large letters, such a sign could not go unnoticed. Mild
commotion was caused on the sidewalk in front of “atheist headquarters” on the
Saturday afternoon that the sign was painted on the plate glass.
Sunday we remained closed.
Sunday night, Mr. Smith said, “Let's go see how the fanatics behave as
they worship their non-existent ghost of a God.”
I said, “You mean, we are going to see these holy rollers in action?”
“No,” said Mr. Smith. “They just put on a show that appeals to the
ignorant. The intellectual leader of the fundamental forces in Arkansas is Ben
M. Bogard. Bogard has brains--something you don't find in the average
Christian. Bogard will carry this state for the anti-evolutionists. He may sweep
the South and whole nation for fundamentalism, if the rest of the bigots will get
behind him. Bogard is smarter than Jennings Bryan ever was, and he's almost
as good a talker.” The twinkle came back in Smith's eyes.” You know, Danny,
there is keen competition among the fundamentalists as to who is to wear W. J.
Bryan's mantle. If the fundamentalists ever get united behind Bogard, they will
control the country. Our hope is that they will divide and feud among
themselves. They have a lot of leaders, but none who are willing to play second-
fiddle.”
“If this Bogard is the best man they have, why don't they get behind him?”
I asked, knowing little of the behind-the-scenes rivalries, that Smith seemed to
be so familiar with.
“Well,” he chuckled, “Christians are not very smart--or they wouldn't be
Christians. You see, there are quite a number of them that have some ability.
But Bogard is the only one with all of what it takes for effective leadership. He
has as good an intellect as Mark Mathews, as much eloquence as J. Frank
Norris, as much scholarship as W. B. Riley. These others are strong in some
lines, but not well-rounded.”
Mr. Smith said we would go to the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church and
hear Dr. Ben M. Bogard, just for the fun of it. “Bogard has a pretty good head,
but he only uses part of it. Any Christian is a half-wit--or at most a three-quarter
wit.”
“In other words,” I said, “if a man's a fundamentalist, he's still a fool--no
matter how smart he is.”
Charley Smith roared, “Yeah, Danny, you have it figured out about right.”
When we arrived at the Antioch Baptist Church, every seat was taken.
Some were already standing. Mr. Smith, always polite and soft--spoken when he
wasn't blaspheming, spoke to the head usher, “Tell Dr. Bogard that Charles
Smith is here. Ask him if he objects to our coming in.”
The usher took the message up to Dr. Bogard who came back and
personally escorted us up front. He whispered to two people sitting on the front
row. They got up and started to leave.
Mr. Smith remonstrated, “O don't make them leave just to make room for
us. We're enemies--they're friends.”
Dr. Bogard simply said, “You are our guests. I am glad you have come.”
He motioned for us to sit down in the two front seats that had been
vacated.
During prayer, Mr. Smith held his head high and whispered to me,
“Talking to God is sillier than talking to yourself. All these people belong in an
institute for the feebleminded.”
When Dr. Bogard began to preach, I forgot that Atheist Smith was beside
me. I lost consciousness of the crowd in the auditorium. Dr. Bogard was
preaching on John 3:16. “For God so loved the world--”
But I lost consciousness that there even was a world.
GOD LOVED ME.
Christ died for me.
Dr. Bogard, whom I had never seen before, was preaching to ME. His
words struck like fiery darts into my mind, and heart, and soul.
It was as though I were all alone--in the middle of eternity. Christ died for
me. Dr. Bogard was giving this “good news”--this GOSPEL--to me.
What was happening to my philosophical framework of “militant atheism ;”
all the “scientific” arguments against the existence of God?
Dr. Bogard was dealing with them, one by one. He was smashing them. He
was battering them down with merciless logic.
This sermon he was preaching was not just a call to repentance. It was a
scholarly presentation of the Truth of God.
Once in the middle of it--only once--I remembered my “boss” beside me. I
glanced at Atheist Smith. His eyes were not twinkling; they were aflame with
rage. His lip was curled in a sneer. He was trying not to be mad, but he was
mad. I knew what he would say when we left; he would wisecrack and laugh, in
a forced sort of way. But he wasn't laughing now. Deep down in his heart, the
truth was striking home--and it hurt.
When the sermon was over, Mr. Smith turned to me and barked, “Let's
get out of here--fast.”
Outside, I said, “What's the matter--why the rush?”
“Oh, I can only stand so much of this fanaticism,” grumbled Atheist Smith.
Back in the hotel, Smith had regained his composure. The twinkle was
back in his eyes, “See what I told you, Danny? Bogard knows how to dish it out.
He is an artist. He makes religion intoxicating, seductive. If he gets you under
his spell, you might even join him.”
“But he didn't whoop and holler,” I commented. “He didn't rant and storm,
He didn't weep and moan. He just presented his message the way you would
expect the Truth to be presented.”
“That's because he's smart,” Smith explained. “Didn't I tell you so?”
“Sure you did,” I replied. “But you also said he was a fool.”
“Of course he is,” snapped Smith. “He's a fundamentalist, isn't he? Only a
fool can believe the Bible from cover to cover.” A little later, Smith said, “I don't
think we will go to any more church services.”
“Are you afraid something might happen?” I asked.
Smith started to say something, then apparently changed his mind. He bit
his lip and said quietly, “No, it's just a waste of time.”
Late Sunday night, Atheist Smith got a wire from New York. He did not
tell me its contents. After reading it, he asked if I would go immediately to New
York. I agreed.
He gave me instructions as to personal and confidential work I was to do
for him there.
The next morning at 8, I left for New York City.
Mr. Smith opened up the Atheist headquarters in downtown Little Rock.
At 10, a mob formed in front of the atheist display room. The plate-glass
window with the blasphemous sign was smashed. Mr. Smith's “tons” of free
literature were torn up. Twenty minutes later, Mr. Smith was being led down
the street with a rope around his neck.
Reinforcements from the police station rescued Atheist Smith from the mob
and put him in jail for safe keeping, under an anti-blasphemy statute.
I arrived in New York City and was ushered into the heart of the atheist
combine. I was deeply involved in more than one way. I was pushed, cajoled,
lured and maneuvered by Satan and all his minions: deeper and deeper into
godless radicalism.
The radicals boast that no one ever leaves their ranks-- except feet first in
a casket.
But wherever I went and whatever I was obliged to do--the sermon
delivered by Ben M. Bogard was with me in my heart. It seemed to echo and re-
echo there. It would not be silent. I could not forget it. It seemed to be growing
there--like a flower or a tree. As time went on, it seemed to be blossoming.
I am not telling the rest of the steps involved in my conversion.
Later, God intervened decisively in my life. Christ drew me unto Himself.
I gave my heart to Christ in Tucson, Arizona, while on my knees in the
home of the leader of the Bible Club at the University.
But it all began that night that I heard the greatest sermon ever preached--
to me. That sermon was the first pull of Heaven to draw me out of the atheist
camp. That sermon planted seeds of Scriptural truth in my heart that never
died--but that finally brought me to Christ.
If the sermon could do that for the founder and president of the Hedonic
Host of Hell-Bent Heathens, why cannot it be the means of leading multitudes of
unbelieving students out of evolutionary darkness into the light of Christ?
I hope and pray that you, Christian reader, will circulate the printed copy
of this sermon by the tens of thousands.
A copy should be put into the hands of everyone of our 9,000,000 high
school and 2,000,000 college students. ---Dan Gilbert
THAT THERE IS A GOD
My text is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.”
This is the most comprehensive passage in the Bible. It contains all of the
great doctrines of the Bible. To fully discuss what is taught in the text would
require writing a large book. It is my purpose to bring out some of the great
doctrines that stand out on the face of the passage.
That THERE IS A GOD is clearly seen. The text says: “God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten Son” to die for the world. We do not need
the Bible to prove that God exists. All nature proclaims it. The Psalmist said:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his
handywork.” It is amazing how an intelligent man can study the stars and not
see proof of the Creator of the stars. If you had never seen a watch and were
shown one of these little time keepers, and saw how the watch measures time,
would you get the idea that the watch came into existence by chance? You would,
as an intelligent man, decide that some one designed it. You might as well think
a watch came by chance as to think that the heavenly bodies came into being by
chance; that they move with certainty and perfect accuracy through space by
chance. Did you know that our clocks and watches are set every day by the
movement of the stars? Observations are taken every day and the EXACT TIME
is found by the position of the stars, then the correct time is wired to all parts of
the world every day. This correct time is taken from God's clock which never
varies a second in a thousand years. The movement of the heavenly bodies is so
accurate that the exact time for an eclipse of the Sun or Moon can be told a
thousand years in advance.
There is a marvelous thing concerning the movement of the heavenly
bodies. EVERYTHING MOVES FROM LEFT TO RIGHT. The earth turns on its
axis from left to right, causing our day and night. The earth whirls around the
Sun, every three hundred and sixty-five days from left to right, and astronomers
have discovered that the TIME used in this journey of the earth around the Sun
is exactly three hundred and sixty-five days, five hours, forty-eight minutes and
forty-eight and SEVEN-TENTHS SECONDS--it makes the journey from left to
right to a SPLIT SECOND, and NEVER MISSES even so much as a split second.
But we do not need to study the stars. Just go into your garden and see the
bean vines that twine around the pole, from LEFT TO RIGHT, every one without
exception. That holds true with every twining thing; all of them twine around
the trees from LEFT TO RIGHT. The whirlwind that goes across your field,
moves from left to right. The terrible cyclone that destroys lives and property
whirls from LEFT TO RIGHT without an exception. If the universe came into
existence BY CHANCE why has not something been found that went the other
way? This universal REGULARITY and this EXACT movement, even to a split
second, shows that it is absurd to think of all this coming by chance. There must
be a Great Designer, a CREATOR with INTELLIGENCE to bring it all into
being.
Fulfilled Prophecy Fulfilled Prophecy Proves there is a God. That the Bible is God's Word is
proved by the fact that it is filled with predictions that have been literally
fulfilled. We may guess concerning the future but our guesses will more than
likely fail to come to pass. If you were to predict what would come to pass next
year, you would be almost certain to miss it. But the Bible has foretold the entire
future of the world and we see these predictions coming to pass before our eyes.
The downfall of Babylon was foretold in Isaiah 13:17-22. It was a most
unlikely prediction because Babylon was the greatest kingdom on earth and
it was least likely to fall. But the prophet of God boldly foretold its downfall.
This prophecy was written B. C. 712 and about two hundred years later the
terrible fall came.
The scattering of the Jewish nation was foretold in Duet. 28:64. That was a
most unlikely prediction. But the- Jews are scattered all over the earth right
before our eyes. Nobody will dispute this.
The rise and fall of the Roman empire was foretold in Dan. 2:27-44, and the
historian Gibbon, who was a skeptic and bated Christianity, wrote the history of
the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. In that way, he unwittingly proved the
fulfilling of this prophecy.
Although scattered all over the earth, the PRESERVATION of the Jewish
Race was predicted in Luke 21:22, where Jesus said, “This generation shall not
pass away until all these things be fulfilled.” The word “generation” is from a
Greek word that means RACE. In other words, Jesus foretold what we all know
to be true--that the· Jewish Race would be preserved. The Jews have not
amalgamated with other races and they are a pure blood people to this day.
Are all these predictions just guesses? if so the prophets were wonderful
guessers. Suppose you try your hand at guessing at the future and you will be
convinced that you can't successfully be a prophet.
Details of the Destruction of Babylon
Some things are impossible to guess. One might guess a major matter even
such as the destruction of a city or country, but to give the details thousands
of years in advance is impossible. If such details are given, it proves that
a SUPERNATURAL MIND foretold the details. In Isaiah 13, we are told of
a detail in the destruction of Babylon which is nothing short of marvelous.
The language of the prophet (Isaiah 13:20-22) is: “It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation;
neither shall the Arabian pitch his tent there, neither shall the shepherds make their fold
there. But the wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful
creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And wild beasts of the
islands shall cry in their desolate houses and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her
time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.”
Imagine, if you please, some man talking like that concerning New York or
Chicago. Imagine the man saying that the houses shall be inhabited by the wild
beasts and dragons occupy their palaces. Remember Babylon was a city
about the size of New York. Several millions of people lived there and Babylon
was a RULER OF THE WORLD at that time. Isaiah, the prophet, certainly
was not believed by the people he spoke to. There was no earthly benefit he
could receive for talking like that, yet he spoke boldly, confidently, and we
have lived to see his prophecy fulfilled to the letter, down to the smallest
details. Babylon was destroyed and is a barren waste to this day,
thousands of years after its destruction. Wild beasts do inhabit the
houses once occupied by the proud Babylonians--not a human being lives
there to this day. Tourists visit the place where the city once stood to see its
waste and ruin, for that is all they see. The blast of God's wrath and the blight
of God's curse rests upon the place. There can be no answer the skeptic can
make, for it could not have been a mere happen so. Such details were impossible
to guess.
“The Arabian shall not pitch his tent there.”
I reserve this detail for a special discussion and to emphasize the
wonderful prophecy. The prophet said: “The Arabian shall not pitch his tent
there.” How could the prophet have known such a detail as that? Is it true that
the Arabian will not pitch his tent there? It is true to this day.
Dr. W. A. Whittle, a world traveler whose body lies buried in a Little Rock
cemetery, wrote a book giving his experience as he traveled in Bible lands. The
book is entitled, “A Baptist Abroad,” and he relates that he had an Arab guide
who knew the language of the country and was familiar with the English
language, a very efficient guide to whom he paid good wages. When they came to
Babylon's waste, Dr. Whittle wanted to spend more time there than he usually
used at a place and he deliberately decided to remain there over night so he
would have plenty of time to make observations. He told his Arab guide to settle
for the night, pitch the tent and have the evening meal, then go to their cots to
sleep until morning when he would complete his observations of the ancient city
of Babylon. The guide refused to pitch his tent there. Dr. Whittle relates that he
told the guide he was PAYING HIM FOR HIS SERVICE and demanded that he
settle for the night. The Arab refused. He then offered him more money, to settle
for the night and still the Arab refused. If Dr. Whittle stayed there for the night,
he would have to stay by himself for the Arab refused positively to stay. Then Dr.
Whittle remembered Isa. 13th chapter where the prophet had for told that “the
Arabian shall not pitch his tent there.”
All the skeptics in the world cannot give a reasonable answer why the
Prophet Isaiah knew several thousand years in advance this marvelous detail.
The Arabs know nothing about the prophecy for they are neither Christian nor
Jew, neither would they care if they did know about it, but they WILL NOT
PITCH THEIR TENT THERE. This one fulfilled prophecy is enough to convince
the worst Atheist that the Bible is an inspired book and written under the
superintendence of a SUPERNATURAL MIND, and if so, what the Bible says is
true, and, if true, then woe be unto the skeptic who rejects it.
The Bible And Science Nowhere does the Bible contradict any known fact of Science. I have
challenged the world to find just one supposed contradiction that I cannot
successfully answer. By this is not meant the guesses of half-baked scientists. By
this is not meant the so-called hypothetical theories of half-baked scientists, but
I mean any known fact of science. This is why the greatest scientists who have
ever lived accepted the Bible as being true, and why many great scientists
accepted Jesus as their Savior.
Scientific Inventions Foretold In The Bible
Remember the Bible was written hundreds of years before any books of
science were, yet there is in the Bible every basic fact of science.
Radio and Telephone Foretold
Within the memory of many old people the telephone was invented.
Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor, died a short time ago, and some very
young people can remember when the first radio was used. But the telephone
and radio were foretold in the Bible THOUSANDS OF YEARS before they came
into being Job 38:35, says: “Canst thou send lightnings that they may go and say
Unto thee, here we are?” It is harnessed lightning that gives us the telephone
and the radio--lightning made to talk! It is now so common that we think
nothing of it. The first message that was sent over the Atlantic Cable was:
“WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT!” Is such a prophecy in the Bible? Most
certainly.
TNT And The Bible
The first TNT successfully made in America was at Heidelberg,
Pennsylvania. Eight thousand pounds were manufactured, only one pound of
impurity was being found in it. That was transported by rail, “right past your
doors,” and was finally landed on Black Tom's Island, Hoboken, awaiting
transportation by ship. There its instability caused by that one-eight thousandth
part of impurity set it off, and the cost of the damage in insured window glass
alone, in New York and Brooklyn was one million dollars. The second lot, with
but one pound of impurity to sixteen thousand pounds of TNT was safely started
from Boston on its way to France. In Halifax harbor, that one-sixteenth
thousandth exploded and destroyed half the city. Then the chemist knew not
where to turn. They had heard that the German chemist had gone to the Swiss
Alps to get snow for his laboratory. Immediately experimentation began,
resulting in the discovery that at four degrees above zero, Centigrade water is
ready to turn to snow, and this “snow” is absolutely pure. It was the one
necessary ingredient for a fully stable product and the problem was solved. Then
questions of transportation were decided by their work with freezing water.
So the terrible explosive, sublimed to the highest degree, was transported to
Europe. First it went to Italy, and immediately, as far as the Austrian line
was concerned, the war was over. Its effect on the German front was equally
marked. Job 38:22-23:
“Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen
the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
against the day of battle and war?
Thirty-eight centuries ago, the Lord uttered t h e s e words, yet it remained
for the present-day chemists to make their scientific application. And it is a
full application, for TNT is of no use for peaceful purposes. Farmers cannot
dynamite with it. It destroys the qualities of the soil. It is useful alone in the
“day of battle and war” as Job said.
The BIBLE FORETOLD THE MOST WONDERFUL INVENTIONS
PRODUCED BY SCIENCE. Not only is the Bible true to the established facts of
science, but the inspired writers foretold the working of science
accurately hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of years, before their
accomplishment. This could not have been if the Bible were the product of
human wisdom. God, who knew all about science, knew all about what
science would invent and discover; hence, the men who wrote the Bible,
being inspired of God, wrote accurately of the wonders of what science would
produce.
(1) The Electric Light Foretold
Psalm 77:18 “The lightning lightened the world.”
Again in Job 37:21 we read: “And men see not the bright light which is in
the clouds.” It won't do to say that men did not see lightning. But there was a
light in the clouds that men had not seen at the time the writer mentioned it.
WE SEE IT NOW and enjoy our electric lights thus foretold.
(2) Airships Were Foretold
Isaiah 60:8, “Who are these that come flying as the clouds and as doves to
their windows?” Thus we see that the prophet saw in prophetic vision the
wonderful air ships. He saw people flying.
(3) The Automobile Was Foretold
Nahum 2:1-2 “The chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of
preparation--the chariots shall rage in the street, they shall jostle each other in
the broadways; they seem like torches, they shall run like lightning.” Such a
thing was never dreamed of in human wisdom at the time the Bible was written
and therefore it follows that they wrote not from their own knowledge but from
knowledge given them by a SUPERNATURAL MIND which we call God.
(4) The Army Tank Was Foretold
Nahum 3:1-3 “The noise of the whip, the rattling of the wheels, and the
prancing of horses, and of the jumping chariots.” Those who have seen the army
tank in operation will note how they jump; apparently over ditches and logs: “jumping chariots.”
(5) The Submarine Was Foretold
Psalm 107:23-30 “They go down to the sea in ships, they do business in
great waters; these see the works of the Lord in the deep--they mount up to
heaven, they go down into the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
They reel to and fro like a drunken man, and are at their wits end.” Just
remember they had no ships at that time that would first be on the surface and
then go down to the depths. Such foresight was supernatural and therefore the
Bible is a supernatural book. It can't be the production of men.
Our Witness Is Evidently Trustworthy The facts related show the Bible to be of Divine origin and that it could not
have been written by man's wisdom for the very reason the scientific facts
revealed in the Bible were unknown at the time they were written. The fore-
knowledge shown in the prophecies concerning the wonderful inventions of
science was entirely beyond human understanding. These prophetic statements
could be multiplied. When we introduce the Bible as a witness in the case
against evolution we are taking the testimony from a witness fully qualified to
speak. The Bible says: “IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS
AND THE EARTH.” Gen. 1:1.
The statement is either true or false. If true, evolution is false. In that
same chapter we are told that God created man in his OWN IMAGE and that is
either true or false. If true then man was not brought into existence by any
process of evolution. It does not say that God created protoplasm and from
protoplasm evolved all things, coming on up to where an anthropoid ape evolved
man. If the Bible had said such as that it would have been true because we have
found the Bible to be a truthful witness. But it does not say that and hence the
guesses of infidels are at best only guesses that contradict the word of God.
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES
Scientists Have Discovered That All Life Reproduce After Its
Kind
We do not sow turnips and reap cabbage. We do not plant corn and reap
watermelons. We do not breed sheep and produce cows. We do not mate monkeys
and produce men. Farmers all understand this and act accordingly. By careful
selection of seed he can improve his corn and cotton but by no method of
selection can he plant cotton and get barley. Farmers also know that seed “runs
out” as they call it. Unless there is careful and continued selection of the best
seed the quality will run down. By grafting and selection and cultivation
the scrub peach can be developed into the fine Elberta. But by no manner of
selection and grafting can a different sort of fruit be produced. Mr. Burbanks,
with all his skill was never able to develop a NEW SPECIES--he only succeeded
in getting a great variety of the same species. When he produced the
PLUMCOT it was flaunted by evolutionists that he had produced a new
species, but nobody knew better than Mr. Burbank that the plum and the
apricot are only different varieties of the VERY SAME SPECIES and he
only succeeded in combining these two varieties of the PLUM, but they were
PLUMS to begin with. He has cultivated the thorns off the cactus but it
remains cactus still. Plant the seed from any of these cultivated fruits and it
will revert back to the original stock. The SEED produces AFTER ITS KIND.
So long as this FACT stands, evolution is impossible. The
TRANSMUTATION OF SPECIES has never been
accomplished, not even in one single instance, and hence there is NO FACT OF
SCIENCE to base the theory of evolution on. We can challenge the world safely
on this point, but there MUST BE AT LEAST ONE CASE of that sort of thing
before the theory of evolution can find the slightest foundation on which to rest.
Doctors Tell Us That the Blood is the Life
There was a time when doctors bled their patients until they would become
so weak they could not turn over in bed. They did it on the theory that the
bad blood should be taken out of them. But doctors, by scientific training,
have learned that the blood is the life and now they seek to keep all the blood
in the body they can. They even practice blood transfusion and pump into the
patient the blood of another in order to give him more blood, because the blood is
the life. It took the doctors hundreds of years to find that out. But the Bible
had that very thing in it fifteen hundred years before the doctors learned it. Lev.
17:11-14 forbids the eating of blood by the Jews because “the blood thereof
is the life thereof.” It took the doctors nearly two thousand years to catch
up with the Bible. The God who made man and animals knew this FACT,
hence he inspired men to write it.
Science Teaches That the Universe was at one Time a Chaotic
Mass of Matter
All existing matter was floating in space and was without form. Strange to
relate, the Bible says “the earth was without form and void.” Hebrew scholars
tell us that this passage literally translated is “the earth became an empty
waste.” Science has found this true. To be “without form” is to be chaotic, just as
science teaches. But the marvelous thing is that the Bible gave this information
thousands of years before science discovered it. If the writer had been guessing
at it, he would never have supposed anything of the kind. But the God who
created the universe knew HOW it was and inspired the writer of Genesis to
write it as he did.
Science Teaches That Matter is Composed of Atoms and These
Atoms are Composed of Electrons and so on to Infinity
No man ever saw an atom, not even with the most powerful microscope.
Atoms are invisible. Thus matter is composed of invisible particles strangely
joined together by an invisible force.
But the Bible declared that very thing at least fifteen hundred years before
science discovered it. Heb. 11:3, “By faith we understand the worlds were framed
by the word of God, and things that are seen were not made of things that DO
APPEAR.”
Matter is composed of atoms. Such a thing could not have been guessed at,
for the very good reason that such an idea is impossible until after it was worked
out by the investigations of science.
Science Teaches That the Earth is Like a Ball Floating Out in
Space and Rests on Nothing
Every school child is taught this simple fact, but it has not always been
known. The fact was unknown to the ancients. They thought the earth was flat
and was resting on a solid foundation. They did not stop to ask what the
FOUNDATION ITSELF rested on. Correct thinking forced the conclusion that
the earth floated in space. Nobody with any intelligence will deny this fact. But
the Bible recorded it before it was discovered by scientists. Job 26:7, “He
stretcheth the north over the empty place and hangeth the earth on nothing.”
How came this correct scientific fact in the Bible before science discovered it? It
was evidently because the writers were guided by a supernatural MIND that we
call God.
Science Teaches That the Earth is Round And not Flat or
Square
The egotistic and insulting newspaper reporter who asked W. J. Bryan if he
believed the earth was flat is a sample of the ignorance of otherwise intelligent
men concerning the Bible. That silly reporter thought that to believe the Bible to
be literally true, would necessitate the belief that the earth is flat, He had no
doubt heard, possibly never read for himself, about the Bible speaking of the
“four corners of the earth” and he drew the conclusion that the Bible teaches that
the earth is flat. He seemed unable to comprehend a figure of speech. A college
professor uses the same sort of language also, and means by it the four quarters
or sections of the earth, which literally exist. But to the scriptures:
Isa. 40:22, “He sitteth upon the circle of the earth.” A circle is necessarily
round. The Bible says the earth is a circle. How came this conception in the Bible
so long before science discovered it? Anything short of DIVINE INSPIRATION
can not account for it.
Science Teaches That the Earth Turns on its Axis Once Every
Twenty-four Hours
So does the Bible, only the Bible taught it first. Job 38:12-14: “Hast thou
commanded the morning since thy days, and caused the DAY-SPRING to
know his place; that it might take hold of the ends of the earth. ... It is turned
as clay to the seal.”
The “DAY-SPRING” is the sun and he knows HIS PLACE and he taketh
hold of the ENDS OF THE EARTH” the north and south poles, and the earth is
“turned as the clay to the seal.” There is no way to account for this correct
scientific fact being in the Bible except on the ground that the Bible is inspired of
God.
Science Teaches That There are Numerous Planets Similar to
the Earth
There is even talk of possibly being able sometime to communicate with
these other planets by means of the radio. Every educated man understands
this.
In 2 Kings 23:5 we read of people who burned incense to the “planets.” How
did the writer know about “planets” before science discovered them?
This wonderful astronomical fact was certainly unknown at the time the
Bible was written and yet, here it is in the Bible In the absence of a
SUPERNATURAL MIND to guide the writer, he could not have written with
such scientific accuracy.
Physical Geography Teaches that Moisture is Caught up by
The Sun and is Formed into Clouds Which Float Back to the
Mountains and Come Down in Rain Again
This accounts for the oceans not running over with all the rivers pouring
into them all the time. The oceans give out in evaporation as much as the rivers
pour in and thus it goes on forever. This remarkable fact, well known to
scientists was in the Bible from the very beginning and we read in Eccl. 1:7 “All
the rivers run into the sea yet the sea is not full: unto the place from whence the
rivers came thither they return again.”
Day and Night End at the North and South Poles
It is a well known fact that day and night are produced by the earth
revolving on its axis ball, at the North and South Poles, it is daylight all the
time necessarily so. Scientific discovery has made this fact known. But the Bible
had this wonderful fact revealed hundreds of years before anybody knew
there were such things as the North and South Poles. Job 26:10: “He hath
compassed the waters with bounds until day and night come to an end.” The
so-called six months night is not dark but twilight. Something like it is between
sundown and dark. There is no way to account for such knowledge except on
the ground that the writer was inspired by the Spirit of God.
Scientists Condemn Evolution
Dr. Etheridge, famous fossilologist of the British museum, one of
the highest authorities in the world, said: “Nine-tenths of the talk of
evolutionists is sheer nonsense, not founded on observation and wholly
unsupported by facts. This museum is full of proofs of the utter falsity of their
views. In all this great
museum, there is not a particle of evidence of the transmutation of species.” Is a
man in that position not a creditable witness?
Prof. Beale, of King's College, London, a distinguished physiologist,
said: “There is no evidence that man has descended from, or is, or was, in
any way specially related to, any other organism in nature, through evolution,
or by any other process. In support of all naturalistic conjectures concerning
man's origin, there is not, at this time, a shadow of scientific evidence.”
Prof. Virchow, of Berlin, a naturalist of world-wide fame, said:
“The attempt to find the transition from the animal to man has ended in total
failure. The middle link has not been found and never will be. Evolution is all
nonsense. It can not be proved by science that man descended from the ape
or from any other animal.”
Prof. Agassiz, one of the greatest scientists of any age, said: “The theory (of
the transmutation of species) is a scientific mistake, untrue in its
facts, unscientific in its methods, and mischievous in its tendency. There is not
a fact known to science, tending to show that a single kind has ever been
transmuted into any other.”
Sir William Dawson, an eminent geologist, of Canada, said: “The record of the
rocks is decidedly against evolutionists, especially in the abrupt appearance of
new forms under specific types, and without apparent
predecessors. Paleontology furnishes no evidence as to the actual
transformation of one species into another. Certainly no such case is
known. Nothing is known about the origin of man except what is told in
Scripture.”
Greatest Minds in the World Believe Bible
The greatest minds in the world have believed in the existence of God.
Gladstone, the greatest English Statesman who has lived in the past two
hundred years believed in God. He wrote a great book entitled: “The
Impregnable Rock Of Holy Scripture.” Blackstone, the greatest legal authority
on what evidence is, said: “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a case made out.”
George Washington, the father of his country, was a Christian, and at first a
member of the Episcopalian Church, then later became a Baptist, being baptized
in the Potomac River by John Gano, a Baptist preacher. Washington died a
member of the First Baptist Church, New York City. Abraham Lincoln was a
Christian and called his cabinet to prayer during the great struggle between the
states. There has not been an Atheist or Infidel who has been elevated to the
Presidency of the United States. I do not offer this as proof that there is a God,
but I introduce it to show that the men with the greatest intelligence have
believed in the existence of God and they worshipped Him as their Creator and
Savior.
It is very disgusting to hear a young lawyer declare his skepticism, when
we remember that the greatest authority on EVIDENCE, Blackstone, said the
evidence was sufficient to prove the resurrection of Christ. It is equally
disgusting to hear a young doctor declare he does not believe in God when the
greatest doctor and scientist in recent years, Howard Kelly, of Johns Hopkins
University, was a devout follower of Jesus Christ. Patrick Henry said of the
Bible, that it “is a book worth all the other books ever printed.” It is contemptible
to hear a freshman in literature argue for skepticism when we recall that
Benjamin Franklin said: “Young man, my advice to you is that you cultivate an
acquaintance with, and a firm belief in the Holy Scriptures.”
As a practical man you should ask yourself what you hope to get out of
Atheism, or any sort of infidelity. Leaving out the Bible, we all know by
observation that it is true, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” What has
skepticism ever accomplished that has benefited mankind? It has produced
criminals, blighted hopes and ruined homes, but never saved a drunkard from
his plight, never made a bad man good and never made anybody happy. What do
you get out of it?
A Christian Has Two Chances To One
A Christian has two chances to your one. If the Atheist is right, what has
he gained by it? He being judge, he will finally die like a beast and go to dust. He
being judge, the Christian will do just that. The Christian and the Atheist will
land in the same graveyard--both will come to the same hopeless grave, but if the
Christian is right, then it follows that the Atheist will land in hell and the
Christian will go to heaven to be in rapturous glory forever. A man is a fool who
refuses to take two chances to one when he can get it. Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool
has said in his heart, there is no God.” But we do not need a Bible to tell us that,
for anybody knows that no one but a fool will refuse to take two chances to one
when he can get it. That is just exactly what the Atheist, Skeptic, Agnostic and
any other sort of infidel is doing--refusing to take two chances to one.
We must all stand before God some day and the most important thing in
the world is to be prepared to meet Him in peace. There is no way to God except
through Jesus Christ. Submit yourself to Jesus Christ and he will save you
forever. Jesus told Nicodemus that God so loved all of us that he gave his Son
that “whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” To
live forever with God is the highest ambition we can possibly have. I am begging
you to accept Jesus as your Savior right now.
The Only Begotten Son Some profess to be unable to believe that God has a Son. They say they
can't see how God and the Son are ONE. Jesus is eternal, existing before the
world began and it was by him that all things were made. God is a trinity, God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost or Spirit--Ghost and
Spirit mean the same thing, with this shade of difference, The word “gheist” is
an old Anglo Saxon word that means guest and when the Holy Spirit is our
GUEST it is correct to call Him Ghost. He is the Holy Guest of all saved
people. It is good to have a distinguished guest in your life and what a
wonderful thing it is to have the Holy Spirit as our Guest.
As the Creator, God is the Father; as the sustainer of all things, God is
the Spirit; as manifest in human form, God is the Son. These three are one.
Skeptics declare they can't see how God can be THREE and yet only ONE.
I think I can even make a skeptic see that this is not so difficult. Go out on a cold
morning and take your ten year old little brother with you. You can show
him, frost, snow, and ice. Ask your little brother what that white substance is
that he sees on the fence, and he will say it is frost, then ask him what is that
hard clear cake that lies before him and he will tell you ice; ask him to tell you
what that white soft substance is lying all over the ground and he will tell you
snow. There are THREE and any child can see the three very distinct
substances. Then get a bucket and put a handful of the frost into the bucket, and
another handful of the snow into the bucket, then take a piece of ice and put
it into the bucket also. Take the bucket into the house where it is warm and in a
few minutes there will he only ONE SUBSTANCE in the bucket, JUST
WATER. Frost, Snow, and ice are separate, distinct, different, so much so
that even a child can see the three, and yet these three are one. Frost,
snow and ice are three different manifestations of water. Why then should it
be difficult to believe God--the ONE GOD--manifests Himself in three ways, one
as the Father, One as the Son, and still in another way as the Spirit? He is the
glorious Trinity.
The only way we can know God is through Jesus, “God manifest in
the flesh.” In Jesus we can see the power of God, we can see the Love of God
as he goes about doing good. In Jesus we can see the mercy of God as He
forgives sin. From Jesus we can learn the will of God as we read the
instructions he gave us in the Bible. As we observe the character of Jesus, we
can learn the perfection of God, because he lived without sin. As Savior, we
can see Him die on the cross, suffering in our stead, for “ON HIM WAS LAID
THE INIQUITY OF US ALL” Isa. 53rd chapter. Trust him and he will save you
from sin and hell.
Some half-baked educated people say they cannot believe the Bible because
they have studied Science and they think they know better than to believe some
things the Bible says. They have studied geography and have learned the
earth is round like a ball and they declare the Bible says the earth is FLAT and
square because it says that the earth has “four corners.” These skeptics have
heard this objection to the Bible but have never troubled themselves to find
the answer. Before giving the answer, let me say that College professors
and University Presidents also speak of the “four corners” of the earth. When
President Wilson
appointed Herbert Hoover Food Administrator during the first World War, the
newspapers reported that Mr. Hoover brought food from the “four corners of the
earth.” Did any of the skeptics tell these learned reporters that they were
ignorant and that they believed the earth is FLAT WITH FOUR CORNERS?
They did not. All intelligent people understand this figurative language to mean
that food was brought from the FOUR QUARTERS of the earth, from Europe,
one quarter, from Asia, another quarter, from Africa, another quarter and from
America, another quarter--food from the four quarters of the earth, figuratively
called “four corners” of the earth. Instead of criticizing the learned reporters for
saying “four corners” of the earth, they saved their criticism, for the Bible which
uses the same figurative language, but did you know that the Bible spoke of the
four corners (quarters) of the earth BEFORE AMERICA WAS DiSCOVERED?
At the time the Bible was written, only THREE QUARTERS (“corners”) were
known to man. But GOD KNEW OF AMERICA and when he inspired the Bible
writer, he had him say FOUR instead of THREE which is only another evidence
that the Bible is inspired, being scientifically correct in everything it says.
But I can relieve my skeptical friend by telling him that instead of the
Bible saying the earth is FLAT, it distinctly says the earth is ROUND. In Isaiah
40:22, we read: “He sitteth on the CIRCLE of the earth.” Thus, we see that the
Bible says the earth is a CIRCLE (ROUND) instead of saying it is flat.
Skeptics tell us that the Bible says the sun rises and sets and they have
studied science and know better for they know the earth turns on its axis and
makes the sun seem to rise and set. Therefore the Bible is wrong, they jubilantly
declare. But do not they know that ALL SCIENCE, ALL COLLEGE
PROFESSORS use exactly the same sort of language? The newspapers report
the time of sunrise and sunset. Do these skeptics criticize the college teachers
and the newspapers for saying the sun rises and sets. They understand the
learned teachers and editors use the language of accommodation, the
language of appearance, and it is understood. Even so with the Bible. They do
not criticize the writers of books and newspapers and charge them with
ignorance, but they save their criticisms for the Bible. This only shows the
natural enmity they have against God from which they need to be converted.
But to satisfy my skeptical friends, let me tell you that the Bible teaches
that the EARTH TURNS ON ITS AXIS instead of being stationery and that the
SUN ACTUALLY CAUSES THE EARTH TO TURN ON ITS AXIS. You will find
this in Job 38:12-14 where it says:
“Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days, and caused the
DAYSPRING (Sun) to know his place, that it might take hold of the ends of the
earth (north and south poles). It is turned as the clay to the seal.”
What a wonderful scientific statement is this idea. Long before any man
knew anything about the earth turning on its axis and long before anybody knew
anything about the SUN CAUSING THE EARTH TO TURN, here it was in the
Bible.
So it is with every criticism of the Bible. All of the objections have been
answered over and over again but the trouble is that these skeptics read the
objections to the Bible and ignorantly decide that there can be no answers and
settle down without ever knowing that, all their objections have been answered.
The Bible is not a book of science but it is a scientific book. It does not
teach science but since science is CLASSIFIED and SYSTEMATIZED, God, who
knows ALL THINGS never contradicts any fact. God knows all the facts and in
the revelation of His will to men found in the Bible, He inspired men to write in
PERFECT HARMONY WITH ALL THE FACTS, and the result is that not a fact
of science is contradicted by the statement found in the Bible. I challenge the
world to name one supposed scientific objection to the Bible that I can not
answer successfully. Some guesses of scientists do not agree with the Bible, but I
am talking about established facts.
Why should people adopt the guesses of half-baked scientists and believe
the easily answered objections to the Bible, thus imperiling their souls and
taking chances on going to hell? Atheism, nor any other form of skepticism, has
never made a man happy in the hour of death. Millions have found peace and
victory by trusting in Jesus. If you are honest, you will really seek God.
The Bible says: “If any man wills to do His will he shall know of the
doctrine.” (John 7:17). Put God to the test and find for yourselves. The Atheist
Nelson, a lawyer, went to his office and decided he would be fair to himself and
put God to the test. He closed the door so as not to be disturbed and prayed an
infidel prayer. He said: “God, if you really exist, I want to know it. If the Bible is
thy book, I want to know it. Have mercy on my soul, if I have a soul. I shall read
the Bible honestly and if it is from God I want to know it.” He proceeded to read
the Bible with this honest heart, and he contacted God and wrote a book giving
his experience. You can meet God if you are honest.
Inspiration of the Bible Abundantly Proved That there is a God is proved by reason, confirmed by science, and
proclaimed by the Bible. Atheism does not offer any hope beyond this life. All
forms of skepticism leave us in doubt about the future. The fact of God's
existence and the Bible being a revelation from God is our only sure hope. The
way to God is through our Lord Jesus Christ-----whosoever believeth in
him should not perish but have everlasting life. The frightened jailer in Acts
16th chapter cried out, “What must I do to be saved?” and the answer came
back promptly from the Apostle: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved.”
What do we mean when we say “believe” on Jesus Christ? It does not mean
to believe ABOUT Christ. It means to, TRUST JESUS CHRIST. Depend on
Jesus Christ. In discussion with a friend on this subject, he said that if all one needed to do to be saved is to believe in Christ, then he had been saved all his life
because he had always believed. I told him he did not believe now, that he had
never believed on Jesus Christ in the sense the word “BELIEVE” is used in the
New Testament. He declared he BELIEVED All THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT
JESUS CHRIST and what more could he believe? I told him there was nothing
more he could believe ABOUT Christ and still he did not BELIEVE ON
CHRIST--he had not trusted Christ to save him. I asked him if he did not believe
all the Bible says about the devil and he said he did. Then I said: “You have just
as much faith in the devil as you have in Christ.” I believe all the Bible says
about the devil but I do not have faith, believe in, the devil. I believe in the
existence of an undependable man, but I do not have faith in him, I do not
believe in him. I would not trust him for anything. I believe in the existence of a
certain wicked woman, but I do not have faith in her. I do not believe in the
existence of my wife any more than I believe in the existence of that wicked
woman, But I have NO FAITH in that wicked woman and do have faith in my
wife--I am not afraid to risk my life in her hands. Until you get to the point you
are DEPENDING ON CHRIST FOR SALVATION, you do not really believe in
him. So long as you depend on what you do for salvation, that long you are
failing to depend on, BELIEVE IN Christ; If you think your living right, your
good behavior, your obedience to the commandments, your being baptized, is
necessary to salvation, just that long you are failing to BELIEVE ON JESUS
CHRIST. When you get to the end of your strength, get to the point that you
despair of ever doing anything to obtain salvation, then you can TRUST THE
LORD to do for you what you cannot do for yourself and he will save you. The
text says: Whosoever believeth on him should not perish. Faith is trusting a
PERSON and that person is Christ who is able to save to the uttermost all who
come unto him.
Salvation Is Free Salvation is free, for WHOSOEVER believeth on him shall not perish.
Whatever we may believe about predestination, foreknowledge, and eternal
decrees, the fact remains that men are FREE to accept salvation or to reject it.
The last chapter in the Bible says: “Whosoever will may come and take of the
water of life freely” If you are finally lost in he'll, you will have no one to blame
but yourself. Salvation is as free as the water you drink but you must accept it
from the bountiful GIVER. God loves you and offers salvation to you.
When you accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you will be perfectly SAFE.
Being saved does not leave you in DANGER. You will not be made perfect in
this life but you will be perfectly safe. When you accept Jesus Christ as your
Saviour, he takes all your sins on himself. He is your substitute. He pays the sin
debt for the entire lifetime. In Rom. 4:7-8, we read that our sins are covered,
covered by the blood of Christ. The Lord imputes his righteousness to us and we
do not stand in our own righteousness--we stand in the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. The blood that covers us never takes a vacation; it is over us all the time,
day and night. When we do wrong, as we all do, we are not destroyed by our
wrong doing, because we have Jesus as our ADVOCATE who ever lives to make
intercession for us. (1 John 2:1; Hebrews 7:25).
Are You Afraid? Some say they would like to be a Christian but are afraid they cannot
HOLD OUT. You do not have to hold out, for Jesus holds you. You do not have
faith in Christ unless you trust him, to begin the work and carry it on to the end.
What if you sin and fall? The Psalmist answers: “The steps of a good man are
ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way and though he fall, he shall
not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholds him with his hand,” Psa. 37:23-24).
We have everlasting life. How long is everlasting? Your dictionary will tell
you it means WITHOUT END. If everlasting life comes to an end, it was not
everlasting to begin with. It is absurd to talk about EVERLASTING coming to
an end. The very fact that we have everlasting life shows it will not be possible to
fall from grace and finally go to hell. We are not saved today and lost tomorrow.
When the Lord saves us, he takes us entirely out of danger. When you accept
Christ as Saviour, you are not taking hold of uncertainty; instead, we have a
hope that is “both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:18-19). A thing that is sure
has no uncertainty about it. If there is only one chance in a million for you to fall
from grace and be finally lost, then your hope is NOT SURE. It does not take a
scholar to see this. Then why not commit yourself to Him right now? If you
accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour, heaven will be your eternal home, eternal
bliss your portion.
When Saved, We Love God
If God so loved us, we should return His love. We love Him, because he first
loved us. If we accept him, we will do our best to please him, for “this is the love
of God that we keep his commandments” (I John 5:3). When we love God, we
seek to live a correct life, for “every man that hath this hope in him purifieth
himself even as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). If some one says that if he thought
Jesus would save him and make him perfectly safe, so that he could not be lost,
he would take his fill of sin--the one who says a thing like that shows he loves sin
and has never been saved. A saved person, one who is made perfectly safe,
LOVES GOD and wants to serve God--not to keep from going to hell, but because
he wants to please God, for the “love of God has been shed abroad in his heart
by the Holy Ghost.” (Rom. 5:5). You do not have to threaten a man with hell to
get him to do what he really wants to do. “Ye must he born again, said Jesus,
and this NEW BIRTH, makes us want to serve the Lord. After accepting
Jesus as your Savior, you will not be trying to keep a set of rules to avoid going to hell, but you will be living by love and love for God makes us want to live right. Do not allow another hour to pass without BELIEVING, trusting Jesus
Christ. Now is the time, today if ye hear his voice, harden not your heart.
Evolution Unscientific and Unreasonable The theory of evolution denies the existence of God. It denies the Bible
account of creation. It denies that man fell from perfection into depravity. If the
theory of evolution be true, the Bible is a tissue of falsehood and is unworthy of
our confidence. If the theory of evolution be true, Jesus Christ was only a man
and in no sense our Saviour. This great text says that God gave His Son through
whom we may be saved and millions have accepted Christ and have been saved,
but all this is denied by the theory of evolution.
Evolutionists declare that all scholars believe in evolution and that all
scientists teach evolution. When they make such claims they are telling a
falsehood. The best scholars and the true scientists do not believe the theory of
evolution and they do not teach it. The bold claim causes some to think favorably
of the false theory. I deny the claim and call for the proof and I can prove that
not only the claim is false but the theory of evolution is false and thoroughly
unscientific.
Science means knowledge. We are glibly told that science teaches the
evolution of man when it teaches nothing of the kind. A mere theory is not true
science until proved. A man does not become a scientist by advocating an
unproved theory, but by making some notable contribution to knowledge. These
self-appointed scientists recklessly declare that the “consensus” of science favors
evolution. We oppose evolution, not because it is science, but because it is not
science. There is no conflict between Christianity and real science, but a fight to
the death with science falsely so-called.
So-Called Scientists Have Nearly Always Been Wrong And the
Bible Has Always Been Right Whenever a difference has appeared between so-called science and the
Bible, time has shown that the Bible has always been right and science, so-
called, has always been wrong. Just because some ignorant religionists
misunderstood the Bible and THOUGHT it taught this and that, did not change
what the Bible really taught. When ALL THE SO-CALLED SCIENTISTS WERE
TEACHING THAT THE EARTH WAS FLAT, many religionists tried to be
scientific, as they thought, and fell into the error of the so-called scientists. Since
the so-called Scientists were teaching that it was the sun that moved and the
earth stood still, and more like that, there were many religionists, ignorant
priests, who fell in with the so-called scientists and actually put to death those
who agreed with the Bible that the earth was round like a ball and that it turned
on its axis, and flew around the sun once a year and other FACTS which we now
know. But it was the false so-called science of the times and not the Bible that
caused the trouble. The Bible kept right on being right no matter who
misunderstood it and no matter how much the so-called scientists differed from
its teachings.
Vast Number of Stars
Hipparchus, 150 B. C., gave the number of stars as 1,022. Ptolemy 125 A.
D. found 1,026 stars. On a clear night, the unaided eye can see 1,160 stars. If we
could survey tile whole sphere, we could see about 3,000 stars. Galileo's telescope
a few centuries ago, startled the world with its revelation of countless hosts of
stars. Lord Rosse's instrument revealed 456,000,000 stars. Herschel compared
the number of stars to the dust. Now, astronomers call the milky way “star
dust.” Over 600 B. C. and 2,200 years before Galileo, Jeremiah said, “The host of
heaven cannot be numbered.” Who taught the prophet astronomy? (1) The host
of heaven cannot be numbered. Jer. 32:22. (2) Man cannot number the stars.
Genesis 15:5.
Lowell's Challenge To Infidelity
Blatant and broadspread as are the preachers of rationalism and infidelity
today, not one of the champions of unbelief has been indiscreet enough to accept
the challenge of James Russell Lowell, which was voiced in the following words.
Lowell's challenge is unsurpassed as a brief defense of Christianity: “When the
microscopic search of skepticism, which has hunted the heavens and sounded the
seas to disprove the existence of a Creator, has turned its attention to human
society and has found a place on this planet ten miles square, where a decent
man can live in decency, comfort and security supporting and educating his
children unspoiled and unpolluted; a place where age is reverenced, womanhood
defended, and human life held in due regard; when skepticism can find such a
place ten miles square on the globe where the gospel of Christ has not gone and
cleared the way and laid the foundations and made decency and security
possible, it will then be in order for the skeptical literati to move thither and
ventilate their views. But so long as these very men are dependent upon the
religion they discard for every privilege they enjoy, they may as well hesitate a
little before they seek to rob the Christian of his hope and humanity of its
Savior.” --Ex.
Do You Want To Live Forever
The desire to live forever is in every normal man. There is no hope of living
on beyond what we call death except in the words of Jesus in John 3:16, which
promises everlasting life to all who will accept Jesus as Savior. John 5:24 says:
“He that heareth my words and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting
life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.”
Everlasting life is a PRESENT POSSESSION for all those who accept
Christ and since that is the only hope, it is foolish to reject it. Atheism holds out
no hope beyond the grave. Evolution has nothing for us beyond this world. The
happiest people on earth are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Life is too short
to fritter it away on the uncertainties of any form of skepticism. Do you not think
it wiser to rest your hope on the Rock of Ages? You may do that very thing right
where you are.
God So Loved the World
The word SO shows the intensity of God's love. How much does God LOVE
ME? That love is so intense that he spared nothing that was possible for even
God to do to save us while leaving us FREE to accept or reject. He did not make
man a machine, without will power. The freedom of man's will is necessary, else
he is not responsible for his actions. Man was created in the image of God which
makes him God-like and that includes the freedom of the will. God does not
FORCE men to be saved, but he does everything possible, consistent with man's
free will, to save him.
How wonderfully important must man be that God is mindful of him! He
could have rejoiced in the rest of his creation--the sun and stars and other
planets. The fact that God loves mankind and sought to save him from ruin, and,
yet, leave him FREEDOM OF CHOICE shows man's importance. What a pity
when he throws away this offer of mercy, spurns God's love and chooses the
association of the devil.
Some may say that if God really loves us he surely will not permit men to
make their beds in hell. The unsaved should remember that outraged love is the
most terrible thing in the world. “Mercy knows its appointed bounds and yields
to justice there.” Nobody goes to hell except those who CHOOSE TO GO THERE-
-who trample God's love under their feet. If you make your bed in hell, you will have no one to blame but yourself.
A few years ago in St. Louis, a lady was sitting near the window. Looking
out, she saw her husband boldly pass the window, arm in arm with a street
woman. She loved her husband and her love was so great that she could not bear
to see it spurned. She reached upon the mantle piece, secured a pistol and
walked out and shot her husband. He fell dead at her feet BECAUSE SHE
LOVED HIM. If she had seen me walking with that street woman she would
have said she did not like to see me do a thing like that, and she would have
rebuked me for it, but she did not love me well enough to kill me. Her love was
outraged by her profligate husband and her fury knew no bounds. If you
1. The union of the Separate and Regular Baptists to become United or Missionary Baptists.
2. The leadership of Elders Matthew Floyd and Reuben Ross in advocating the position that Christ died for all
men, thus avoiding the extremes of those who became hardshell or primitive Baptists, and:
3. The leadership of Eld. James M. Pendleton, followed by men such as J. N. Hall, who was followed by Ben M. Bogard in developing church truths and scriptural plans of associational and mission work.
Taken from: Contending for the Faith An Updated History of the Baptists by Robert Ashcraft ©
Baptist Sunday School Committee, 2006
continue to trample God's love under your feet, His love will turn to fury. God
says “Because I have called and ye have refused--and have set at naught my
counsel--I will laugh at your calamity.” (Proverbs 1:24-25.)
Just One Reasonable Thing To Do If you realize that you are lost, there is just one sensible thing to do.
Surrender your life to God, ask for mercy and he will have mercy and will
abundantly pardon, for Jesus suffered for you and is willing to be your
substitute. What He has suffered is perfectly satisfactory to God. Nothing you
may do will be satisfactory to Him, for there is no other way to God except
through Jesus, who bore our sins on the cross, and suffered the equivalent of
hell-fire for you. If you are lost forever, it will be because you have not believed
(TRUSTED) in Jesus as your substitute.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.”
BOOKS BY BEN M. BOGARD
The Golden Key — The Baptist Way Book
The Bible Proved by Science — Christian Stewardship
Total Hereditary Depravity — Bogard-McPherson Debate
Baptist Churches in all Ages — Fifty-Two Doctrinal Lessons
A Study of the Kingdom Question
The Shayne Moses Project
July 4 , 2 0 1 6
Got ISSUU?
* Ben M. Bogard received his theological education at Bethel College, Russellville, KY which retained the influenceof James M. Pendleton and Reuben Ross, who were Missionary Baptists in belief and practice. Dr. Bogard was very
influential in Missionary Baptist associations and publications during the period of the 1901-1920 division, and the
organization of the Arkansas State Association and the General Association, which in 1924 became the American
Baptist Association. In the Baptist Way-Book, published about 1908, he carefully delineated the “Evils of
Hardshellism” and the “Evils of Conventionism.” This publication was important in clearly establishing the
doctrines and practices of Missionary Baptists, as distinguished from the Southern Baptists and the Primitive
Baptists. Thus, it should be obvious that Missionary Baptist doctrine and practices grew out of three significant
developments within the State of Kentucky: