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Amen. So now and again, okay, false religions need to be preached on, and when it comes to false religions, I believe there are sort of levels of absurdity, okay, which should dictate whether they need to be preached on at all. For example, have anyone heard of the religion Jediism? Yes, I think this is a real thing, okay, it comes from the Star Wars movies and enough people on, I think it might have been a census, put down a Jedi as a religion, and it actually got to the point where there was a Temple of the Jedi Order registered in Texas in 2005, and in 2013 Jediism was actually the seventh largest religion in the UK, with an incredible 175,000 followers, right? Regardless, okay, I'm unlikely to do a standalone sermon on Jediism any time soon, right, so for any of you Star Wars fans out there, or maybe Star Wars haters, it's not coming, okay, it's not going to come, because it's so ridiculous, do I really need to do a sermon on that? There's a religion out there, I don't know if anyone heard of the religion called Universe People? No, some might if they, I know we've got a couple from the Czech Republic, apparently that's where it's from, it sprung up in the 1990s, it was founded by someone called Ivo Bender, sounds like a wind-up, doesn't it? Who also goes by his extraterrestrial name Astar, okay, and according to Bender he had made contact, he had made contact with multiple alien civilisations in the entire religion, is inspired by alien life. The Universe People movement is mostly about spreading good vibes and swearing off modern technology, but they're also heavily steeped in conspiracy theories. In the early 2000s a group encouraged people to prepare for potential attacks by lizard people from outer space. I don't know how they prepared, I'd be interested to know. There's even a religion called the Prince Philip movement, anyone ever heard of that? There is a religion called the Prince Philip movement, okay, the Prince Philip movement is a religious sect practiced by the Caston people who live in small villages on the southern island of Tanna in Vanuatu. It's essentially a cult that sprung up after Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited the country of Vanuatu in 1974. Since their visit the people there have viewed Prince Philip as a divine spirit, worshipping shrines decorated with framed portraits of him. Okay, this is real stuff apparently, right? But, okay that's pretty bad, that's pretty bizarre isn't it? And like I said I'm not really going to have to preach a sermon on those, I don't think anyone here is kind of worried, wondered, pressured, I don't think it's going to do much good, but there's a religion that I do want to talk about today that I think is even more absurd than Jediism. It's more bizarre than the Universe People, okay, it's even crazier than worshipping Prince Philip, it is, he is, right? Jeremiah 2.27 says of people, saying to a stock, thou art my Father, and to a stone thou hast brought me forth. And the title of my sermon this morning is the embarrassment that is atheism, the embarrassment that is atheism. I'd like to pray before we get going. Father, thank you for your word, thank you Lord, well for the truth, thank you that the truth is so clear, Lord, thank you that the Word of God is ultimately all we need really to know the truth, Lord, and Lord, help me to just preach this sermon that I've been thinking about now, just in a clear and accurate and bold way, Lord, and full of your spirit, Lord, and in the right way, Lord, in the right way, and in the way that maybe the religion deserves, but also in the way that is edifying for your people listening to this message, in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Okay, yeah, it is absurd, okay, the embarrassment that is atheism, it's so bizarre, it's so crazy that it is an embarrassment, okay, what a ridiculous religion, really, okay, which contrary to what many people would have you believe, it isn't actually a large religion at all in this nation, so people would like you to believe if you were, you know, if you spent your day sat at home and staring at the TV or, you know, similar, you're going to probably think this is a huge religion, doesn't everyone believe this, right? But when you look for statistics, what I notice is that the no religion numbers are constantly pushed as if they're the same thing. So, for example, you start searching for numbers of atheists in the UK and then you'll see all these stats about people that say they have no religion. They're not the same thing, okay, they're not. Atheism, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is a fact of not believing in any god or gods or the belief that no god or gods exist. Now, the 2021 census of England and Wales found that in answer to the voluntary question of religion, but by the way, 94% did answer, although 37% of people identified as no religion, that was 22.2 million of the 56 million respondents, only 13,059 people in England and 792 people in Wales identified as atheist. That's around 0.025%. A lot smaller than you'd think, right? 0.025% of people in England and Wales identify themselves as actual atheists. Now, around 10,000 claimed humanism, and if anyone's wondering, that's a denial of any power or moral value superior to that of humanity, the rejection of religion in favour of a belief in the advancement of humanity by its own efforts. And then there were 32,000, as opposed to 14,000 atheists pretty much, 32,000 agnostics, which is a belief that it is not possible to say definitely whether or not there is a god. So lump them all together, let's be kind, let's lump them all together, okay? And it's around 56,000, which out of the 56 million respondents, it's not the hardest bit of maths, it's one in a thousand claiming one of those three religions. So one in a thousand people claims to be either a humanist, an agnostic, or an atheist, which I would say, I think that kind of lines up with my experiences when out soul winning, okay? Because here's the thing is that although you might say, well, actually, I knock on doors and, you know, maybe, I don't think it's every time I get to about a thousand knocks that I find someone that claims to be an atheist, but you know what? Most of those atheists, their kids aren't at this point yet, you know, if you actually talk to them, they wouldn't be. And, you know, regardless, I think it's about that claim one of those three religions, depending. So if you're in the traditionally British areas, you're going to find it's a bit more, right? If you're in areas where maybe they're a little bit more diverse, you're going to find it's less than that, I believe, okay? So why preaching it then? If it's one in 1000, one in 1000, yeah, if it's that, that small amount, okay, that claims to be one of those three religions and atheism much smaller, maybe, maybe even, you know, a lot less than that, maybe one in 2000, even less, maybe one in 3000, why preaching it? Because atheism and its associated teaching teachings are so pushed and promoted that they're probably a big factor in those 22.2 million that are on the fence in the no religion category. So atheism being pushed is a big part of the fact that there's a lot of people that are kind of, well, I don't really know, okay, who incidentally were much younger on average than the religious, okay, so the younger make a big part, they're much more likely to be young, the average age is much younger for those 22.2 million that claim that they just don't believe, they don't have a religion, they're no non-religious, okay? So on one hand, okay, those people are being taught everywhere that this nonsense is some sort of scientific truce, but there's still something stopping them, isn't there? There's something stopping them saying, yeah, but I am actually an atheist, but I am even an agnostic, but I am even a humanist, they're just a sort of no religion, sort of sitting on the fence types. And we get those a lot, don't you? You get people that go, well, I don't know, I don't really believe in much. But if there is a God, and you know, deep down, they know there is a God, but so they're not willing to go take that big step over into, right, I'm an atheist, and I'm going to, I'm going to classify myself as someone that believes there's no such thing. Because really something deep down, or maybe something all around, is preventing them saying similar to what the apostate Jews were in Jeremiah 2 here, where Jeremiah, he's preached against what was now becoming a God rejecting nation at this point in time, it was on the brink of God's coming judgement via the Babylonians. Jeremiah chapter 2, it said here in verse 26, where you are, Jeremiah 2 26 said, as a thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed, they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, saying to a stock thou art my father, and to a stone, thou has brought me forth, for they have turned their back unto me and not their face. But in the time of their trouble, they will say, Arise and save us. But where thy gods that thou has made thee, let them arise if they can save thee in the time thy trouble, for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. So in verse 26, okay, God through Jeremiah said that they were ashamed, and we might say they were an embarrassment, maybe we could say, why were they an embarrassment? Well, verse 27 says, saying to a stock, thou art my father, and to a stone, thou has brought me forth. So a stock is a tree stump, it's a bit of wood. They're calling some sort of tree their father, they're saying that they were brought forth or given birth to by a stone. Okay, that's what these, that's what it's saying here. And isn't that basically what the atheist believes today? Pretty much, that's what they really believe. Okay, the most common belief seems to be the Big Bang Theory, that seems to be across the board, that's what they cling to currently, which, which simplified is that nothing exploded into something with the chaos of an explosion somehow creating the order seen around us. That's basically what they believe, don't they? Nothing exploded into something, and what should have been the chaos of that explosion somehow developed all this order that we see around us. And then that's followed by what they call the General Theory of Evolution, or known as the GTE, which states that the universe is created by the Big Bang, and that life spontaneously formed from a chemical soup, billions of years ago, the GTE, General Theory of Evolution, also states that life evolved into all the plants and animals on Earth today. Hence, verse 27, saying to a stock, thou art my father, and to a stone, thou has brought me forth. Which is embarrassing. It is embarrassing. It really is. It masquerades under the title of science, yet it is what the Bible calls science falsely so called. So keep a finger here and turn to 1 Timothy 6, we're just going to see that quickly. Now, you might be sitting there going, right, time for the science debate. Okay, that's what we need to do. We need a good old-fashioned science debate. Let's hear the scientific evidence against it. Yeah, we need a Christian scientist to show us the truth, don't we? That's what we need. We need someone to fight them, you know, at their own game and show them the scientific truths that prove that what they're saying is a load of nonsense. I don't believe we do. Okay, in 1 Timothy 6.20, Paul said this, 1 Timothy 6 and verse 20, Paul said, oh, Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called. He said to avoid profane, which are things that are irreverent, maybe, non-sacred, secular, and he said vain, vain, profane and vain babblings. Vain is empty, worthless babblings, right? That just, they're empty, there's nothing, there's no substance to them, which go hand in hand, it seems, with oppositions of science falsely so called. Okay, so it's oppositions claiming to be scientific, but it's not really science. It's not scientific. So they will profanely babble about their false science hoping, I believe, that you give some credibility by getting drawn into all of that nonsense. I mean, you're kind of giving credibility by being, oh, am I going to have a debate with the Jedi worshipper and try and prove to him what he believes is a load of nonsense? Am I going to get into a debate with the clown that believes, you know, in Prince Philip being some sort of immortal spirit or something? You're not going to do it, because it's nonsense, it's like, what on earth, why would I even bother? And really the numbers are probably pretty similar as well, when it comes to people that really, truly, deep down believe this stuff. Now, it's pretty simple, okay? Nothing exploding into something billions of years ago is a belief system, it's not science. It's pretty simple, isn't it? Nothing exploding, adding billions of years, does it suddenly make it scientific? That happening billions of years ago is not science. Creatures turning into new creatures. Macroevolution, trying to palm it off as evolution, because, oh look, we see adaptation of the species, so there you go. No, no, no, macroevolution, which is what they believe, which is species turning into new species, is a belief system with no real evidence. There is no evidence. It's a belief system, there's no science to prove that. Where is the macroevolving going on today? Anyone seen anything? A few of you here might feel like you're turning into, I don't know, half dead people by the end of this sermon, but no one's really evolving into a new creature, are they? Okay, nothing's evolving from one creature into a new creature. There is no evidence. Where is it, why is it not going on around us if this is what's been going on for billions of years? It just happens to have stopped when humans can observe this. I mean, it's ridiculous. It's embarrassing. It really is. And I'm not saying that lightly, I'm not saying that because that kind of just discredits it, disqualifies it. It is an embarrassing belief. It really is. Turn to Psalm 14. And it's not just a belief system, it's a ridiculous, ironically unscientific religion, an embarrassing religion that works on the pride of those that want to believe that they're somehow superior intellectually to everyone else. That's what it generally works on. It works on those that just want to be able to claim they're so clever that they're not going to believe in a god like people have throughout history believed in the creator. Yeah, they might have made him into their own type of god but no, they're too clever for that. Because that's the sort of, that's pretty much what you get from atheists, isn't it? Yeah, they're just so clever, they're so intelligent. That's how they act, don't they? Well, they're too smart to believe that someone actually created the creation. That's basically what they believe. They're so smart to believe that there was a creator that created the creation. Well, Psalm 14.1, it's the psalm of David, says it like this. The fool has said in his heart there is no god. They are corrupt. They've done abominable works. There is none that doeth good. So someone who really believes in their heart. Okay, so this isn't someone that just uses it as an excuse. This is someone that really believes in their heart, who's really convinced themselves that there's no god is a special kind of fool. They're a special kind of fool. He goes on to call them works of iniquity, okay, which is a name we see synonymous with being a child of Belial with being a reprobate, basically. Okay, the kind of fool, this kind of fool seems to have a reprobate mind to get to the point of denying the existence of god in their heart. Not, I'm just going to kind of deny him, you know, and take the atheist kind of, I like the atheist label because I can just pretend god doesn't exist. No, someone who believes that in their heart is a reprobate. To get to the point of just somehow convincing yourself there is no such thing as a god, of really believing that deep down, that's a bad sort of, that's a fool and that type of fool is someone that goes on to say is a worker of iniquity. Now, obviously that is ultimate shame, okay. Being a reprobate, someone who's been given over to a reprobate mind is full on shame. But even pretending to believe that, so you can justify rejecting god is embarrassing, isn't it? Pretending to believe that, maybe not believing it deep down in your heart, maybe not getting to that point, but just kind of claiming it, taking it as a label so you can justify rejecting god whilst trying to sound intelligent is embarrassing. It really is embarrassing. Okay, the joke being that these people are so stupid to believe that they sound intelligent. That's the joke of it all. Add in a load of kind of media propaganda, add in a load of seemingly intelligent people telling you that's the intelligent anger. These people actually think they sound clever. When they walk, we get it sometimes, I was talking about the high street earlier, because you get all the quips and people walk past going, I believe in science, as you try to give an invite to a church. I didn't ask you what you believe in. What are you talking about? You get these people on the door, we've had some funny ones over the years, you know. We were talking about the other day where they'll be like, I'm a scientist. Really? I had one funny one we laughed about the other day. I said, oh okay, yeah, you're a scientist but you've got some Bunsen burners out the back of you. What are you doing? Some experiments in there. His wife started cackling at him, you know. I had another one, I was like, oh what science are you into? Computer science. Oh okay, remember that, Clifford. So, oh okay, that sort of scientist. Because it's like, basically what they're saying is, I'm more intelligent than you because I believe there's no creator that created this creation. It's embarrassing, it really is. Okay, go back to Jeremiah 2, because we're going to look at this small passage in Jeremiah which I think raises a few applicable points about similar beliefs today. I don't know exactly if that's what they were believing there, but they seem to believe some pretty crazy stuff at this point in time. Jeremiah 2 and verse 26, Jeremiah 2 26 says this, as the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed they, their kings, their princes and their priests and their prophets, saying to a stock thou art my father and to a stone thou has brought me forth. So the title is the embarrassment that's atheism and point number one, it's embarrassing how easily those in authority believe it. It's embarrassing how easily those in authority believe it. So he said in verse 26 that their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets are all ashamed, calling inanimate objects their parents. But isn't that the state of things in our nation? Our schools teach this stuff as fact, don't they? I mean, how have we got to the point where across the board in schools, this is fact being taught to school children, from young to old, this is across the board in our nation, even though it's such a small percent that believe that there is no God, but they're teaching this big bang, this everything coming out of nothing as it's a scientific fact. Our state broadcaster spouts this nonsense like it's proven. Not just our state broadcaster, they're pretty much broadcast across the board. But again, isn't it bizarre that we've got such a small percentage of people that claim to believe this in a census, yet it seems that the people who have the positions of power that seem to be able to produce all the education for people, all the things that everyone's watching, are all trying to push this as if it's just a scientific fact. Many museums promote this rubbish without any, any even sniff of an alternative view. It's not like, well, some believe this, it's just like, this is fact, this was billions, this is millions, this is... Many university students of the sciences, it seems, have to fall in line to progress. And it's hard to progress through courses, especially when you get to like sort of higher level stuff, if they're not agreeing to this and claiming that they believe this stuff. You say, but don't many of our leaders claim religious beliefs? Because it's, it seems, don't they? They claim to be religious, our king claimed, he had some sort of religious ceremony, didn't he, where he claimed to be some sort of nominal Christian. There are some of our ministers claim to be religious. But it's a funny thing that this atheism is, it seems to be adopted by the religious too. That's a bizarre thing about it. In fact, even the leaders of religion adopt this nonsense, okay. It said in verse 26 there, it said, as a thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed, they, their kings, their princes and their priests and their prophets. These are religious leaders trying to compromise nowadays with terms such as theistic evolution. But if theistic evolution were whatever they claim is true, that therefore means the Bible is wrong. That means the Bible is lying to us. It's false, which said clear as day that the world was made in six literal days. You can't have both. You just can't do it, but that's what they want to do. They want to go, well, we'll just merge it in. We'll just bring it in. Trying to add in gap theories, if you've ever heard of the gap theory, where they go, well, what there was, there was a gap in between these days, which added in millions and billions and whatever, maybe it would be trillions next of years. Because if you up it more and more, it makes the Bible seem even more false, right? Claims that maybe God made the big bang. You might have heard that one. Well, maybe God made the world through a big bang, but that's not what Genesis 1 says. That's not how it happened. Anything but call out this false science for what it is. Anything but. Just compromise, compromise, just we'll not call it out for what it is. Why? Why? Well, turn to Isaiah chapter 9, Isaiah 9, because they passed it off as the intellectual stance and so many of those pride-filled work salvationists are suckers for it. That's what it comes down to. A lot of it is that they've passed it off as, well, this is the only intellectual stance you can have and therefore people that want to sound intellectual, seem intellectual, the work salvationists, they're up for it. They're happy as long as they can just still claim their works and still look intelligent, as are those prideful leaders of various areas of our society. So all those different leaders in different areas, all these full of pride people are just happy to just go with both. Well, I'm a Christian, but I believe in science. And when they say believe in science, I mean I believe in this science falsely so-called, which claims that everything came out of nothing and creatures turn into new creatures. We've just never seen any actual evidence of that. Well, in Isaiah 9, God through Isaiah shows us though the knock-on effect of the leaders teaching lies. It says this in verse 13, Isaiah 9, 13. For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts. Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush in one day. The ancient and honourable hears the head and the prophet that teacheth lies hears the tail. Okay, remember it said it cut them off. For the leaders of this people cause them to err and they that are led of them are destroyed. And that's what's happening around this nation today. Even the so-called religious leaders at the least compromising, but ultimately pushing and promoting these lies because that's what they're doing. So the more credibility they give it, and these are people looked up to look, we might look at the priest in a dress, we might look at these false prophets and laugh at them and just say what a clown, what an idiot. But there are kids growing up in those churches, kids growing up in those religions that look up to them as they're some sort of authority figure and these guys are kind of trying to merge it all together. So now they're giving credibility to what is just a complete joke. It's an embarrassment. It's ridiculous. Go back to Jeremiah chapter 2. He just said for the leads of this people cause them to err and they that are led of them are destroyed. And ultimately it's destruction at the end of that. Jeremiah 2 verse 26 says, as a thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed, they their kings and prince and their priests and their prophets, saying to a stock thou art my father, to a stone thou has brought me forth, for they have turned their back unto me and not their face. So the title is the embarrassment that's atheism and it's embarrassing number one, how easily those in authority believe it. And number two, it's embarrassing how it's just a clear rejection of God. It's embarrassing how it really is just an obvious, a clear rejection of God. God said in verse 27 that they have turned their back on him and not their face. Okay. And that's what this is. Okay. Atheism ultimately and people that want to kind of cling to it or take some version of it. It's one of many different ways to try to reject God. Yet it's embarrassing how obvious that is, I believe. Okay. Don't turn to Job 12. Job 12, where we've just seen it said for they have turned their back unto me and not their face. So they're not seeking him. They're not looking for him. They're turning their back. They're turning away from him. And in Job 12, we're going to see where Job makes it clear that the creation tells us of the creator. Job 12 and verse seven, Job 12, seven says, but ask now the beasts and that's the animals and they shall teach thee and the fowls of the air, the birds in the air that is and they shall tell thee or speak to the earth and it shall teach thee and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee who knoweth not in all these at the hand of the Lord has wrought this in whose hand is the soul of every living thing and the breath of all mankind does not the ear try words and the mouth taste his meat. So he said, who doesn't know in verse nine, who doesn't know that God has made all of this? How embarrassing to claim that he didn't really. How embarrassing to claim that God didn't make all of this. He said who knoweth not. It's basically saying like who on earth thinks, who on earth not only thinks, who on earth doesn't know that the hand of the Lord has wrought or worked all of this, done all of this. The sheer multitudes of different creatures, the amazing coloured birds, the skills, the abilities, all just these bizarre things that somehow you're looking at going how on earth, like why on earth does that creature do that or why does it look like that? Some of the ways some of these creatures, it's almost like you're looking at God's sense of humour in some of it, aren't you? You might look at each other sometimes and wonder that as well, right? You're looking at me going God's got a good sense of humour, right? But the beauty around the world, think about some of the beauty. Some are just the natural beauty around. Sometimes it takes your breath away, doesn't it? Oh, it just evolved like that. Sure. The amazing different fish. And there's some amazing creatures in the sea that, you know, the deeper you go it seems, the more things that have never even been discovered yet. Who really thinks that all of that came from a common ancestor? I mean, what on earth? Really, when you strip it down to that, it is ridiculous. When you take out all the mumbo-jumbo or all the scientific jargon which try to make it sound intelligent, tries to make it sound like to even go against it you'd have to, oh you've got to be really intellectual to dare to have that. It's ridiculous. It's embarrassing. Who really believes that we could be spinning around the sun, the perfect distance, the perfect environment? Who really believes that life could exist without him? Really? It's ridiculous. And he said here, he said, in whose hand is the soul of every living thing and the breath of all mankind? Doth not the ear try words and the mouth taste as meat? Even speech. Languages. There's a fact that there are all these just completely different languages. Oh yeah, we're all involved. How do you explain languages like that then? The amazing different tastes for our enjoyment, let alone the taste of his inspired words. Let's not forget those. His inspired words, the words of God. Romans 10 and 17 says, so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It's all evidence of the Creator. The word of God is evidence of the Creator. Denying that is just a rejection of him. In fact, it's funny, Jack here, he had a little discussion with AI like chat GT, isn't it? Chat? Yeah, okay, so he thought he'd try and like have a little debate with his kind of AI chatbot about whether or not you could prove basically the existence of God. And he got to the point where having just put up some pretty simple logical arguments, that his chatbot ended up agreeing that not only is there clear evidence of God, but it's clearly the God of the Bible and the King James Bible is a preserved inspired word of God. That's where he got to by the end, didn't you? Yeah, if anyone wants to see that chat, he put it on a green chair. It's quite funny, right? But even AI made by a load of probably atheists, okay, even agrees and says, no, it's clear evidence. The word of God is evidence of God alone, let alone just the creation itself. Turn to Romans 1. But there's a risk, okay, there's a risk. When you're rejecting clear evidence like that, when you're changing the truth of God into a lie, there's a risk that comes with that. Romans 1, Romans chapter one, and we're going to look at verse 18. Romans 1 18 says this, Romans 1 18 says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power in Godhead, so that they are without excuse. So hear that, no excuses to deny the Creator. Even the fact that it's the God of the Bible, there are no excuses. Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. You go, look, this is harsh, Pastor Tabernus, today you're saying it's an embarrassment. The Bible says they're fools. People are fools. It's embarrassing. Verse 23, and change the truth of the uncorruptible God into an image made like a corruptible man, unto birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things, wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, who dishonoured their own bodies between themselves. You change the truth of God into a lie, and worship to serve the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. And they worship and serve ultimately human beings more than the Creator. And I've lost count of the number of atheist religious leaders that reprobate deviance, like all the other false religious leaders out there. When it comes to atheist false prophets, which are a lot out there in the world, aren't they? Things like the vast majority either have been proven to be deviants or probably will be in the future. He said in verse 26, for this cause, God gave them up unto vile affections, for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lusts one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. That's sodomites. And even as they did not like to retain God and their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. I had a look, just a quick look, of just those that had recently been convicted of abuse against women. David Silverman, president of American Atheists. Michael Shermer, editor of Skeptic Magazine. Cosmologist Lawrence Krauss. Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist. He's known for basically saying that mild paedophilia is okay. I mean, what on earth? How's this guy even still got any sort of following credibility? How are any of these people still doing, saying, even talking of him in a reasonable light, when the guy basically is trying to justify paedophilia? One of their big atheist names. The list goes on. But we shouldn't be surprised, really, because it's another religion just finding a way to reject the Lord and Saviour. When you get to that point of being a false teacher of a religion, rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ, well, the chances are you've been given over to a reprobate mind. Go back to Jeremiah 2. Verse 26 said, in Jeremiah 2, verse 26 said, as the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed they, their kings, their princes and their priests and their prophets, saying to a stock thou art my father and to a stone thou has brought me forth. For they have turned their back unto me and not their face. But in the time of their trouble, they will say, arise and save us. From Titus the Embarrassment, the Safetyism, it's embarrassing how easily those in authority believe it, how it's just a clear rejection of God. And number three, it's embarrassing how they still acknowledge God. It's embarrassing how they still acknowledge God. So they're calling the stock and stone here their ancestors. They're turning their backs on God. But then in bad times, they're calling on God to save them. He said, but in the time of their trouble, they will say, arise and save us. Turn to Proverbs 1, Proverbs chapter one. And if you speak to atheists, they will say things like, well, if there is a God, he didn't help me when I needed him. And they say stuff like that. You speak to him, they go, oh, no, I'm an atheist. I don't believe in God. And you go, okay, well, you know, we were just trying to show people or whatever, you know, the conversation goes on and then soon after it'll be, well, he didn't do this or that for me. He didn't help me now. Why did this happen in my life? Well, I've had things and it's like, you do believe in God. You do accept there's a God. He didn't do what you wanted him to do. And you're angry with him. He didn't give me what I wanted, so I'm going to deny his existence. And they probably already did deny his existence when he didn't give them what they wanted. They never sought him. They just wanted to click their fingers. They wanted to rub that lamp and for the genie to grant them their wishes. Having probably rejected him their whole lifetime. In Proverbs 1, God speaking as true wisdom says, this is verse 24, Proverbs 1 24 says, because I have called and you refused, I've stretched out my hand and no man regarded, but you have set at naught all my counsel with none of my reproof. I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh, there's desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind. When distress and anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call on me upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me, for that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. It's a choice, basically. And that's the big truth of it, okay? Really, they hate knowledge and the source of it. Have you ever noticed that with atheists? They hate him. They hate God. And do you know who they hate? It's not Allah. It's not the God of all these different religions. It's not the higher power, higher, it's not, it's not whatever Krishna or whatever any of the other weird Hindu gods. It's none of those. No, it's not Hanuman. Is he the elephant one? I think he is. No, no, no, they don't hate him. I mean, come on. There's a God to hate. He might as well hate the elephant God. He looks ridiculous. But no, they don't hate him. No, no, no. It's the God of the Bible they hate. They despise him, don't they? They hate the knowledge of God. They hate God. They're haters of God. Have you noticed how so many of these famous atheists just, they cannot contain that, they cannot hide it, their hatred for God? On one hand, they don't believe them. On one hand, they think it's so ridiculous, so beneath them, that there can even be a God. You know, but I can't believe he's a, you know, and then there's Q, you know, what a, you know, misogynistic listener, you know, and everything else. It's so, it's so ridiculous, isn't it? It's embarrassing. Again, it's embarrassing. I don't believe in God, but I hate this so-called fictional God. Why do you hate him? He's just a fictional God. What's he done to you? He said in verse 30, they would, none of my counsel, they despised all my reproofs. Do you know, that's what they really hate. That's where it started. They hate his reproof. They hate the reproof of God. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But who so harkeneth unto me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from fear of evil. And just to add, okay, they will still though, they claim to be atheists, they claim to not, to not believe in any existence of a God or gods. Yeah. But they still run away, running around using the Lord's name in vain. You still hear atheists saying the, you know, the one that seems to be everywhere, the Oh my God. They still often use Jesus Christ as a swear word. And do you know what they'll still be doing as well in about a week and a half's time, a couple of weeks ago. They'll be celebrating Christmas. They'll be celebrating Christmas, won't they? They'll probably be humming along to some of the Christmas carols if there's such thing anymore. Oh, there is such thing. We, we, we went to the shops the other day and they had all these kids in a, they had these kids from a school and they were about to do carols and they had on all their hats and stuff. And I was with my younger kids. I said, Oh, do you want to hear these kids sing these? They're going to do some caroling, I think. Okay, here we go. Ready? Ready? They did like one verse of jingle bells. Okay. Maybe, okay. That was just to warm them up. Okay. Ready for the carol. Last Christmas. Honestly, they're about six or seven years old and they're singing some basically fornication song by some whore. Well everyone's and people started breaking out into laughter, didn't they? But I think they would probably figure how cute. Anyway, point being, they'll still be celebrating Christmas. Even if they're singing last Christmas, I gave you my heart. They're still acknowledging Christmas. You know what? They'll probably even celebrate in a few months time as well. Easter. Probably will. They'll still be celebrating Easter. They're still celebrating Christmas. Oh, I'm not leaving any of it. So angry at him. So angry at the thought of it. It's embarrassing. Go back to Jeremiah chapter 2. Jeremiah 2, 26. It said this. As the thief is ashamed when he is found. Okay, so like a thief, it's like they're exposed, basically. They're exposed for being basically a nasty thief, you know. It's embarrassing. So is the house of Israel ashamed. They, their kings, their princes and their priests and their prophets, saying to a stock, thou art my father. And to a stone, thou has brought me forth. I mean, how ridiculous. For they have turned their back unto me and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they will say, arise and save us. But where are thy gods that thou has made thee? Let them arise if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble. For according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. So the title is embarrassment, this atheism. It's embarrassing, number one, how easy those in authority believe it. Number two, how it's just a clear rejection of God. Number three, how they still acknowledge God. And number four, how they really worship multiple gods. How they really worship multiple gods. So he said to let their own gods save them. The multitudes of gods that they've made. And atheists make gods of so-called scientists and intellectuals. That's their gods of this world, okay. Who seem to write a new holy book every several years as well. So, I mean, in a way you could say they've mimicked false Christianity and that they just keep coming out with a new version. They keep coming out with a new Bible for themselves, but it changes probably even more so than the NIVs. It changes more than the message. It changes more than the so-called contemporary translations, okay. From Stephen Hawking to Richard Dawkins to Christopher Hitchens, the numbers change, the theories change, the science gets quietly debunked and swept under the rug, but it doesn't stop the worship. It doesn't stop the worship. So it doesn't matter that the books of old said something completely different to the books of now. It doesn't matter that whoever they put up on the pedestal, whichever god of atheism said something several decades ago has been completely debunked. They've just got a new god to worship. Doesn't bother them. Let's bring out a new one. Let's keep worshipping a new god. They've got multiple gods hanging off the words of people they've never met, quoting the latest science god as fact, or worse, parroting the summaries of views of those gods that they've never investigated themselves. It's like, let's just parrot some sort of summary I read somewhere of something I've never really looked into and then go, I believe in science. All the while proudly stating that they're a scientist, they believe in science, which often doesn't go further than a fictional TV show. That's about as far as their science usually goes, often. Not all the time. But like God said to Judith through Jeremiah, but where are thy gods that thou has made thee? Let them arise if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble. For according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. And let me tell you where those past gods of atheism are and those current gods are headed. To the fiery pit of hell. That's where they are. That's where they're headed, where they will burn for eternity and they will never arise to save their foolish proselytes. They're never coming out to save their proselytes all over the world that are worshipping these gods of old that are currently burning in the depths of hell. That's the truth of it, isn't it? That's where their gods are. That's where the gods of atheism are. Hawking's apparent intellect won't be helping him find a sneaky way out of hell along with any of his proselytes. It's not happening. He's not going to find a way out of there. Dawkins' smug, perverse views on child abuse won't prevent you in this life being harmed or your family harmed by weirdos. He's not helping you. He's not saving you. Neil deGrasse Tyson won't keep you safe at night. Especially not if you're in one of the museums he's in. They're not going to help you. They're not going to save you. It's true though, isn't it? And they can worship them, okay, but they're false gods. They're idols. And soon they will all be burning in hell with the rest of the false science gods. Turn to Hebrews 13. While you're turning around I'm going to read 1 Chronicles 16 26. 1 Chronicles 16 26 says, For all the gods of the people are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. So the gods of the people, they're idols. They put these things up, these people up in their life. And it's embarrassing really how many gods of atheism there are and how much they just drop and change as the years go by. It's not even consistent. Everything changes. I remember preaching on this a few years back now and I just went through the changes over the years and the atheist beliefs. I mean it's like it's not even from start to finish in terms of what was recorded through history. Much before that it's just a different religion. The religion just keeps changing and changing and changing and changing, but they still worship these people as gods. But guess who doesn't change? Our God doesn't change, okay. The God of the Bible doesn't change. We're still worshiping the same God. We're still worshiping those same preserved words in terms of we're still following what he says through his preserved words, worshiping him through his word. Hebrews 13.8 says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. He's the same. It's the same Jesus Christ. And they chop and change. They mix it up. They mix and mash it up. They change this. They take a bit of that. They'll go with this for a little while and then they'll go, okay, we've given up on that. We'll keep those series for a bit. We'll take this one. It's just an ever-changing joke. It's an embarrassment but our God doesn't change. The word of God doesn't change. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. And the reality is it is a joke religion, okay. The joke being though, and I just want to make this clear, a big joke for me is how many people are pulled into debating this lunacy. I think that's a joke. I really do. And I know that you might know people or you might like, you might enjoy some of that stuff. Sometimes it, I don't know, maybe it can be a bit feel-good but really it's a nonsense because it's an embarrassment. The whole thing's embarrassing. Why are you going to debate this stuff? And why are you going to lower yourself to that level of, right, well, we've got an atheist now. I'm going to do like a podcast debate with them or get on stage and debate however many atheists and show them how. It's like, do you really need that? Do God's people really need that? You go, oh well, people get saved through that. They get saved through the Gospel. That's what I believe. Now, I understand. I do appreciate that maybe people here maybe looked into that stuff for a while. Maybe they felt, well, it was when I really realized, well, I saw this debate or, you know, I saw that the evidence for atheism being a load of nonsense, that was before I then heard the Gospel. Yeah, okay, I can get that, yeah, you know, maybe that was part of your journey. But the reality of it is, is that maybe even just a sermon like this, I'm not saying I'm great, just saying like a normal biblical sermon, just kind of debunking it, I think that should be enough. Did you really, do you really need to kind of study all the science and the false science and the truth? Did anyone really need that to put their faith in Christ? I didn't. I mean, maybe someone did. Look, I was interested in that stuff. I looked at some of that stuff. But ultimately, it was a bit, I think it's a bit of a no-brainer once you just take your head out of the whole atheist nonsense and thinking that somehow it's some intellectual viewpoint. And I don't, I just, does God call us to debates? Does God call us to, or did he say avoid that? Did he say, he said avoid profane of ababblings, didn't he? Avoid oppositions of science forces, so-called. He didn't say go headfirst into them and then debate them and disprove them with your, you know, and spend years studying their science to show how it's wrong. I mean, what a waste of your time. Think how many souls you could have got saved. Think like some of the money people spend on this stuff and think that there's so many, we were talking about this the other day, there's receptive places all over this world still, they're just desperate for soul winners, desperate for people to go out there, not for you to spend however many hundreds of thousands of pounds, you know, studying and learning and putting all this time and effort into getting like two atheists saved or something, you know, who weren't really atheists but they were kind of on the fence. Maybe they would have got saved anyway. Maybe someone would have just preached in the gospel where you could have gone somewhere and preached in the gospel. I just, I don't know man, I think it's foolishness. I really do. All that stuff, all that like, I'm going to like smash an atheist on camera and everyone's going to tell me how intelligent I have a call because I just showed an idiot they're an idiot. It's like, really? Can you have gone and done something worthwhile? I don't want to be like the holier than, oh, you need to just preach the gospel. Yeah, there's other parts of the ministry, I understand that, right? There's angles and things that maybe people are suited to but I think ultimately it comes down to preaching the gospel really though, doesn't it? And I just think a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of money, a lot of wasted effort is spent arguing, debating with complete nonsense. Embarrassing nonsense, which is what it really is. And this is the kind of trick, is they pull you into it, they pull people in who are like, right, now it's time to disprove them, you know, and I'm going to show them through the science and everything else. And now suddenly you're having a science debate with people that are using full science. And then suddenly, and you know what, look, debates, the person who's right doesn't always win a debate. What people do is they'll use words, use terms, use things that you don't know about to then disqualify your viewpoint, even though your viewpoint is just coming from a logical place which is, we've got a creation as a creator. I mean, it's kind of like sealed, sign sealed, done. But instead let's pull you in and it's, oh, well, they don't understand, you know, the dating process. And now, you know, now that we've got, you know, we've got a few other long terms of words, that person doesn't understand how, you know, that now I've disqualified him in a debate. And then some people get confused by this stuff because you know what, for as many videos as you might find going Christian smashes atheist, you know, there's just as many where atheist smashes Christian. Did you know that? Where atheist makes Christian look silly. Atheist makes Christian look wrong. But it ain't wrong. It's just they've been pulled into having a debate and pulled into something that they were told to avoid. Profane and vain babblings in oppositions of science forces, so called. A waste of time. Jeremiah too said this, as the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed. They, their kings, their princes and their priests and their prophets, saying to a stock, they want my father to a stone has brought me forth, for they have turned their back onto me and not their face. But in the time of their trouble, they will say, Arise and save us. But where are thy gods that thou has made thee? Let them arise if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. The title was embarrassment. That's atheism. It's embarrassing how easy those in authority believe it. It's embarrassing how it's just a clear rejection of God. It's embarrassing how they still acknowledge God. It's embarrassing how they really worship multiple gods. Don't let these people phaser embarrass you. Don't let them shake your faith. Don't let them pull you into hours of wasted time trying to disprove all of this nonsense. OK, it's a waste of your time. Put time into things that are worthwhile. On that, we're going to finish in a word of prayer. Father, thank you, Lord, for the word of God. Thank you that we have our faith resting in the word of God, Lord. Thank you that, you know, we can just have full trust in it, that we know when we hear it, we know when we read it, that it is a word of God, Lord, and we can trust every single word of it. And let alone the fact that we just have the creation just proving, showing us that there's a creator, just looking at each other, just looking at those things around us proves a creator, Lord. And, you know, everything pales in comparison to the way you showed us, showed the world who you are through the inspired, preserved words of God, Lord. We thank you for this Bible. We thank you that we can have our faith in everything you show us from your word, Lord. Please help us to just not get, you know, distracted, drawn away by this sort of thing. It's so pushed and promoted in this nation, but even with all of that still just normal regular people around this nation seem to still not be willing to accept this sort of atheistic worldview. We pray that you just help us to just keep preaching the Gospel, find those people before sadly, you know, many of them will end up maybe getting to that point of that hardened heart, that rejected mind, Lord. We pray that you just lead us to people this afternoon, help us get many people saved and to return for the evening service. In Jesus' name I pray all of this. Amen.