“PROVE the existence of a Supreme Being,” was the bold demand of a man who, with a large number of people, had been listening to some of us preaching the Gospel in the open air.
He made a demand which, in one sense, no man could gratify, because he really craved the performance of a miracle. There is a certain condition on which God is pleased to make Himself known to the human soul, and that condition cannot be produced by human power.
Yet, only think that anyone should ask for a proof of His existence when to the most ordinary mind these proofs abound on every hand. Has the education of this twentieth century done nothing to help us in the knowledge of a Creator? Has the preaching of the day failed to convince people of the verity of its testimony?
Has the good news in the Gospel produced so little effect? Ah, this may alas be true. The Gospel accomplishes a mighty result by the power of God. It saves all who believe, and leads such to the happy knowledge of God as Saviour, but it does not undertake to dispel all the infidelity of the world, nor pledge itself to save universally. When our Lord was on earth He said to the unbelievers around Him that they would not come unto Him that they might have life. They would not; their will was at work; and the will of man, whether Jew or Gentile, is, by nature, in direct opposition to God, and to the knowledge of God.
But, supposing that it had been in our power to prove to this man the existence of a Supreme Being, what would he have gained? Would that have saved him? Not necessarily. We read “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble” (James 2:1919Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (James 2:19)). They doubt not the existence of God, yet they tremble.
Hence, something more than this is necessary for salvation. When the prophet Elijah gave a signal proof of God’s power, and thereby scattered the worshippers of Baal, the effect of his proof was sadly momentary. More than an external demonstration was necessary for an internal and permanent result. The will must be subdued and the heart converted.
“Prove the existence of a Supreme Being!” As well endeavor to prove that of light to a blind man! It cannot be done!
Let him, if possible, obtain the inestimable blessing of eyesight, and then light, in its exquisite varieties of prismatic color, will be his study and marvel. He can, now that his piteous blindness is gone, appreciate that which light does for us all. He can then take up his microscope and analyse the perfections of the wing of the insect and of the flower of the field. He can make his telescope sweep through space and fix itself on the distant star, and trace its faultless movements in unfailing relation to every other heavenly body; he can discern in all these things a power, a design, a mind so grand and infinite that he must own a Creator and Upholder. He must admit a Supreme Being if not, something must be wrong—his will, or his pride, or his sinful hatred of God—not his intelligence.
Now, it is an easy thing to ask for information of this kind, and to say, “Prove the existence of God,” but the question is, do people really desire that knowledge? Conscience tells them that to know God means the abandonment of sin and of the world, the breaking off of many a fond association, the severing of links that bind to earth. God and sin can never go together, and, alas, we love sin and hate God, and refuse the knowledge of His ways. That is just the reason why the foolish infidel heart of man would ask for a proof of His being. It fervently hopes that there is no God, no hereafter, no judgment bar, and no hell; it would be only too glad to get the faintest assurance of this. Said a dying man, “Thirty thousand pounds to any one who can prove to my satisfaction that there is no hell!” A fortune for anyone who had seen eternity front the other side, and could disprove with absolute certainty the awful foreboding of the dying man. None claimed those thousands, and the sinner died, leaving his wealth to others, to face that God whose saving grace he should have sought and found in days of youth and strength.
Well, but how do any of us know God, and how can we preach Him to others with the same confidence as though we had been privileged to see Him? Mark— “They shall all know me, from the least to the greatest,” is part of the new covenant.
The least, feeblest, youngest believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as the most advanced, has the knowledge of the Lord, not merely of His existence, but of Himself. He can call God his “Father,” can say, “Abba, Father.” He has received the spirit of sonship, and is a child of God. Blessed relationship! We become God’s children by receiving Christ. When the soul bows to God in repentance and the just acknowledgment of sin, it also turns to the Saviour, and is brought into relation with God. It knows Him. God can be known, may be known, should be known He is fully revealed in His Son.
Notice, most particularly, that the day is fast approaching when “the Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed from heaven... taking vengeance on them who know not God.” How solemn!
Reader, do you know God? If not, why not?
God is! Not to know Him means speedy and unending vengeance. And therefore, in this day of grace, this year of mercy, let me entreat you to give up at once all questions as to God’s existence, and the rather own your guilt and folly as a sinful child of Adam, and in the faith of His existence, nay, of His love for such as you and I, turn to Him who gave His Son to the death in order that we should live in the enjoyment of a well-known Saviour-God in time and eternity. “He that cometh to God must believe that he is” (Heb. 11:66But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)).
J. W. B.