In this sermon, Pastor Chuck Smith discusses the illogical nature of denying the existence of God and the consequences of teaching false beliefs. He uses the analogy of teaching a child that 2 plus 2 equals 5, explaining that if this false premise is ingrained in the child's mind, they will be unable to understand or do math correctly. Pastor Chuck emphasizes the importance of understanding the true meaning of Christmas and the impact of Jesus Christ on the world. He also looks forward to the glorious future promised in the Bible, where righteousness will cover the earth and the words of the book will be heard by all.

Welcome to The Word for Today. The Word for Today is a continuous study of the Bible, taught by Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California. Pastor Chuck is currently teaching from the Old Testament, and if you're following along in your Bible, we'll be continuing today in Isaiah chapter 29, beginning with verse 12, as we continue with an in-depth message entitled, The Woe to Jerusalem. 1. One thing is needful, O my Father, One thing is needful, O my God, That I sit at your feet and pour out my love. This thing is needful, O my God. And now with today's study, here's Pastor Chuck. 2. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips they do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. It isn't a genuine fear of God. They're taught, well, you should fear God, so they fold their hands and close their eyes when they pray. But it isn't a true reverence of God from their hearts. And so, he speaks of these people, and these are the people who are in the temple worshipping. They draw near with their lips. Now, this is where we are in danger. We're in the house of God, worshipping God, and through our singing we were drawing near with our lips, but where is our heart? That's the important issue. They were drawing near with their lips, but their heart was far from him. Therefore, because of this, God said, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among the people, a work that will cause them to wonder. For the wisdom of the wise men shall perish, and the understanding of the prudent shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us, and who knoweth us? In the 73rd Psalm, Asaph the psalmist speaks of those who turned against God and blasphemed God. And he said, They say, How doth God know? Is there wisdom in the Most High? And this is what Isaiah is quoting them as saying here. They think that they are hiding from God. They think that they are getting by with their evil. They think that God really doesn't see, or God really doesn't know. They do not realize, as Paul said, in Him we live and we move and we have our being. I cannot escape the presence of God. In a couple of weeks we'll be in chapter 33. And we'll be looking at that passage of Scripture in chapter 33 of Isaiah, where he talks about when God destroyed the Assyrians, as He promised to do. When He destroyed the Assyrian army, He said, Fear gripped the hearts of the sinners in Zion. They were terrified, for they saw what the power of God could do to the enemies of God. And they said, Who amongst us can dwell in the midst of this devouring fire? They saw God like a devouring fire. They saw it destroy and devour the Assyrian army. And they said, Whoa, man, who amongst us can dwell in the midst of this, this kind of holiness and purity, this devouring fire of God? They came to the realization that God as a fire is everywhere. You can't escape Him. It wasn't who of us can run from this devouring fire. You can't run from it. You are in the fire. The question is, what is it doing to you? And so this awareness of the presence of God, I need to have it, that consciousness of God's presence. These people thought that they were doing things that God didn't see, God didn't know. They are saying, Who can see us and who knows? But surely, He said, your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay, for shall the work say of him that made it, he made me not? Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, he hath no understanding? God's going to turn things upside down. And so the logic of man is turned upside down. Like a piece of clay on a potter's wheel, the pot that has been formed by the potter. As it sits there in its finished state, can they say, well, I just evolved. He didn't make me. I just exist. That's inert. And we laugh. We know that the pot doesn't form itself, even though it is of inert material, is not alive, is not complex. But we can see in the creation, the fact of a creator. That's logical. Our minds can buy that logic and that reason. How can you have a building without builders? How can you have a watch without a watchmaker? But what has happened is that through the years from early childhood, our children are being taught in a logical premise that you can have creation without a creator. That's illogical. That there is no real design behind the human body. It is all the result of accidental circumstances over billions of years, matter acting upon matter. There is no real design to your eye. It's just a marvelous, marvelous series of accidents by which you can see. No real design. Now that's illogical. But it is as if when your child is first playing with blocks and you're teaching him to count with blocks and to add with blocks. And you start teaching your child two plus two equals five. I've got two here. I've got two here. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, five. Two plus two equals five. But you see, if you continue to teach that to him all the time, two plus two equals five. And when he starts to school and from kindergarten on through school, he is taught two plus two equals five. It's an illogical premise, but he will come to believe that two plus two equals five, but he will be destroyed from ever able to do math or understand math. You've destroyed the base for mathematics. And so he'll believe a fallacy because he's been taught the fallacy, but he'll never be able to logically do math problems. Now in the same token, you teach a child that he is the product of accidents that you can have. And the basic foundation is you can have a design without a designer. There's no understanding with the creator. There's no, there's no real mind intelligence behind life. That all of these life forms do not manifest intelligence, but they are all the product of accidents. Now, if you continue to teach the child that and in his science classes, he's taught that these things all came about as they matter worked on matter and the mutations took place and so forth. And it's evolved into this complex form that appears to have a design, but there is no understanding with the creator. He didn't really make you, you just exist by this series of accidents. The child will come to believe that he is the product of an accident, but he will never be able to logically deal with the issues of life because his whole basis for logic is gone. The basis for logic is there is a designer behind every design. And so they believe that fallacy and thus they're destroyed from ever being able to logically. And that's why so many illogical things are being done today. You say, how in the world can they do that? What's the matter with them? Where is their brain? Well, their whole capacity to think logically and rationally has been destroyed because of the logical base being destroyed. And so Isaiah is speaking about that here. The piece of clay saying, he didn't make me. The thing that is framed says of him that framed it, he doesn't have any understanding. It's illogical. And man has turned to that kind of illogic and calls it science. It's bunkum. Now the prophet, as he so often does, at this point goes out into the future and he goes out into that glorious new age that is coming. Now people talk about the new age today, but this isn't it. And I'm rather glad this isn't it because I had hoped for a lot better. And the Bible promises me a lot better. The glorious day of the Lord when he shall reign and righteousness shall cover the earth as the waters to cover the seas. And so is it not yet a very little while in God's timing, days as a thousand years, thousand years as a day. That's what Peter tells us and he tells us to wait for the coming of the Lord, have patience. A very little while and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field. The fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest. And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book. The deaf ears will be open. The eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness and the meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord. And the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. When Jesus was ministering and John the Baptist who had been the forerunner had said to his disciples, there's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And Herod put John in prison and Jesus wasn't doing what John expected him to do. He wasn't coming and knocking Herod off the throne and getting rid of the Roman appointed powers. And John was getting impatient there in prison so he sent some of his disciples to say, hey are you the one we're looking for or shall we start looking for someone else? Let's get the show on the road. And so in the same hour there were many who came to Jesus. Deaf he touched and they were able to hear. Blind they were able to see. The lame they were able to walk. And after about an hour or so Jesus said to John's disciples, go back and tell John what you saw. The deaf are hearing. The blind are seeing. The lame are walking. And unto the poor the gospel is being preached. He was referring to this day of the Lord prophesied in Isaiah. Now that was only a foreshadowing. When Jesus Christ comes to establish His reign and His kingdom upon the earth it will be wholesale throughout the earth as the earth is restored to as God's original intent. There will be no physical infirmities, no sicknesses, no suffering, no pain, no debilitating diseases, no blindness. Now the terrible one is the Antichrist, verse 20. For the terrible one is brought to naught, nothing. And the scorner, the false prophet is consumed. And all that watch for iniquity are cut off. It's going to be a righteous reign. He shall reign in righteousness, and in judgment, and in justice. And the iniquity will be cut off. That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turns aside the just for a thing of nothing. Therefore thus saith the Lord who redeemed Abraham concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. Now they also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine." So that day when people will turn to God, will understand, and they'll see the work of God on the earth. Now in chapter 30, he deals with the rebellion of the people to the word of God. The Assyrians have now conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. The Assyrians are now on their way to attack Jerusalem. They have already taken many of the fenced cities of Judah. And this military juggernaut is on its way to Jerusalem. And the prophet Isaiah is telling Hezekiah, just trust in the Lord, and the Lord will deliver you from the Assyrians. Put your faith and your trust in God. He will deliver you. And he is telling the leaders of the people, trust in God. But they're not satisfied with that. They feel that they must get help from Egypt. And so they are sending emissaries down to Egypt with donkeys and camels that are loaded down with rewards, treasury of Judah, to pay for the Egyptians to send a military force to help them defend themselves against the Assyrians. In their sending to Egypt for help, and in their relying upon Egypt for help, they are denying their faith in God's ability to help them. And their going to Egypt is in direct disobedience to the command of God. And thus God looks upon it as rebellion against Him. And thus He begins declaring, Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel. You've gotten together in your councils, the cabinet meetings, and you've decided that this is diplomacy, and this is the wisest strategy to defend ourselves against the Assyrians. But the counsel is not of God. In fact, it is against God. And you seek to cover with a covering, but not of My Spirit. You're seeking to cover the bases with the Egyptians and with this alliance with Egypt. But you're not really seeking My help and the help of My Spirit. You're actually adding sin upon sin. Those that go down into Egypt and they have not sought My advice. They seek to strengthen themselves with the strength of Pharaoh, and they trust in the shadow of Egypt. And Egypt's help will only be as a shadow. There will be no substance to the help that Egypt can get. Therefore, because of this, shall the strength of the Pharaoh be your shame. The Pharaoh's gonna let you down. Egypt won't help you. In reality, Egypt, the forces of Egypt were destroyed by the Assyrians. And the trust in the shadow of Egypt will only lead to your confusion. For his princes were at Zon. And his ambassadors came to Hainz. Zon was in the area of the delta, the Nile delta. And Hainz was about a hundred miles upriver from the present-day Cairo. And here's where they met with the ambassadors. Those ambassadors from Israel met with the ambassadors of Egypt. And they were all ashamed of the people that could not profit them, nor be a help nor a profit, but a shame and a reproach. The burden of the beast of the south into the land of trouble and anguish. In other words, you pass through the Negev desert, the land of trouble and anguish, where there are lions and vipers and fiery flying serpents. And you carried away the riches upon the shoulders of the young donkeys and the treasures upon the camels to a people that shall not profit them. You're wasting your money. Using your money to gain the help of the arm of flesh is a waste of your money. Trust in God. Put your confidence in God. For he said, the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose. There won't be any help from Egypt. Therefore, have I cried concerning this. Face to face, Lord, let me know. Face to face, Lord, let me see you. Pastor Chuck Smith will return with a few closing comments. But first, I'd like to remind you that today's message is available in its unedited form on cassette or CD. Simply write or call and ask for ordering details on tape or CD number C-3255. Again, that's tape or CD number C-3255. Well, Christmas time is soon approaching, and it's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season, buying presents, decorating, cooking. The list grows longer every day. Without realizing it, we can easily forget the true meaning of why we celebrate our Lord's birth. For this reason, the word for today would like to present a booklet by Pastor Chuck Smith entitled, How Can a Man Be Born Again? And also an audio CD entitled, Why? by Pastor Chuck that would be the perfect compliment for Christmas cards and gifts this year. Both resources share the gospel of Jesus Christ and explain the true meaning of Christmas and why a man born 2,000 years ago can still affect the world today. And best of all, they contain a message leading people to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. And remember, the word for today would like to assist you this Christmas in spreading the gospel of Jesus to your family, friends, and co-workers. Please call our customer service department to help you in finding that perfect gift that will reflect the true meaning of Christmas. And if you call right now and mention this radio ad, the word for today will give you a 20% discount on any resource carried by the word for today. So call the word for today at 1-800-272-WORD or write to us at P.O. Box 8000, Costa Mesa, California, 92628. Once again, that number to call is 1-800-272-9673. And for those of you that would like to visit our website, you can do so at www.twft.com. Or if you would like to email us, you can do so at info at twft.com. Well, coming up next time on the word for today, Pastor Chuck will be continuing his fascinating study through the book of Isaiah. That's coming up next time on the word for today. And now with a few closing comments, here's Pastor Chuck. And now may the Lord be with you and bless you and cause you to be enriched in your knowledge and your understanding of Him. As you walk in fellowship with Him this week, may your heart be in tune with His. And may your eyes be opened by the Spirit of God. That those things that concern God will become a concern to you. And may you really commit the issues of your life to Him. And may you have that quietness that comes from confidence in God that He is going to work and take care of those things that concern you. May you just cast all your cares upon Him because He does care for you and He is concerned about you. So may it be a blessed week, growing in your knowledge of Him, experiencing His love and His closeness. Lord, let me love you face to face.