https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Why-Doesnt-God-Prove-Himself.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Isaiah 43:8-13<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. “If God is real, why doesn’t He just give concrete evidence?”<\/p>\n
A. It is a question that preachers frequently run into.<\/p>\n B. If I don’t personally see the evidence, then I don’t think adequate proof exists –\nJohn 20:25\n
II. God has given evidence<\/p>\n
A. The Creation speaks of God’s nature – Romans 1:20<\/p>\n
1. A designed house indicates a builder – Hebrews 3:4<\/p>\n
B. God told in advance what would happen – Isaiah 46:10-11<\/p>\n
C. The miracles done testify of God <\/p>\n
1. Rahab’s testimony – Joshua 2:8-11<\/p>\n
2. Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony – Daniel 3:28-29<\/p>\n D. The Scriptures, written hundreds and sometimes thousands of years earlier, spoke\nof Jesus – John 5:39-40\n
III. Even when direct evidence was given, not everyone believed<\/p>\n
A. When God spoke and people thought it was thunder – John 12:27-29<\/p>\n
B. If you come down from the cross, then we would believe – Matthew 27:41-42<\/p>\n
1. Yet Jesus taught like no one else – John 7:46<\/p>\n
2. But what about all the miracles Jesus did? – John 5:36<\/p>\n
3. Yet his own did not accept him – John 1:9-14<\/p>\n C. Consider this fact: God came directly into the world that He made and was still\nrejected.\n D. “In 2012, renowned atheist Richard Dawkins was questioned about his unbelief in\nGod. Specifically, he was asked, “What proof, by the way, would change your\nmind?” He quickly responded by saying, “That is a very difficult and interesting\nquestion because, I mean, I used to think that if somehow, you know, great, big,\ngiant 900-foot-high Jesus with a voice like Paul Robeson suddenly strode in and\nsaid, ‘I exist and here I am,’ but even that, I actually sometimes wonder if that\nwould….”1 Though Dr. Dawkins was interrupted, he clearly left the impression\nthat even if God appeared to him, taking the form of a “giant 900-foot-high Jesus”\nwith a mighty voice, even that encounter would probably not convince him.” [Eric\nLyons, “Why Doesn’t God Just Appear to Us and Prove that He Exists?”,\nApologetics Press, August 2016]\n E. Even if some admitted that God exists, it doesn’t follow that they would all be\nobedient. Consider the angels\n
1. They are created beings – Colossians 1:16<\/p>\n
2. They are present with God – Job 1:6<\/p>\n
3. Yet some chose to rebel – II Peter 2:4<\/p>\n
4. Even the demons believe God exists – James 2:19<\/p>\n
IV. God expects people to trust the evidence given<\/p>\n
A. Have you been a victim of identity theft?<\/p>\n
1. What did you have to do to prove you were you?<\/p>\n 2. And even then, can you say you were able to prove it so completely that\nthere could be no argument that you were real?\n
3. At some point, people must accept the evidence<\/p>\n
B. God expects people to seek Him – Matthew 7:7-8<\/p>\n
C. What if someone rises from the dead? – Luke 16:27-31<\/p>\n 1. If people refuse to believe the recorded facts, they won’t be convinced by\nadditional proofs\n D. If Jesus came today, working miracles and teaching the truth. Videos recorded of\nhim spread across the Internet. Would people believe or would they claim that it\nwas fake?\n
E. At the core is a rebellion and unwillingness to submit to God<\/p>\n
V. Without faith, we can’t please God – Hebrews 11:6<\/p>\n
A. Faith is necessary because it involves a willingness to trust and obey<\/p>\n
B. Faith separates the humble from the arrogant<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Isaiah 43:8-13 I. “If God is real, why doesn’t He just give concrete evidence?” A. It is a question that preachers frequently run into. B. If I don’t personally see the evidence, then I don’t think adequate proof exists – John 20:25 II. God has given evidence A. The Creation speaks of God’s nature…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[139,709,49,90,877],"class_list":["post-61326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-belief","tag-evidence","tag-faith","tag-god","tag-proof"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31868,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-i-say-you-cant-prove-god-is-real\/","url_meta":{"origin":61326,"position":0},"title":"What if I say you can’t prove God is real?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If religion (Catholicism) is the absolute truth, then how come when questions are asked about it no one can ever answer with facts, only faith and belief? Basically, if I say \"you can't prove God is real\", you can only prove it with faith and belief, no facts. Why\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43779,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gods-proof-of-his-existence\/","url_meta":{"origin":61326,"position":1},"title":"God’s Proof of His Existence","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Exodus 3:1-6 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Perhaps you have heard statements to the effect that the Bible doesn\u2019t try to prove that God exists. It simply assumes the existence of God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At the beginning of the Bible we read \u201cIn the beginning God created the heavens\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34952,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-you-review-this-debate-on-whether-god-exists\/","url_meta":{"origin":61326,"position":2},"title":"Could you review this debate on whether God exists?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you look at this is a video of a debate asking if the God of the Bible exists? Now it's lengthy, but I imagine you will skim through the main points. My question is if you could address some of the statements that were made because I feel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25220,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/present-your-case\/","url_meta":{"origin":61326,"position":3},"title":"Present Your Case","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Thessalonians 5:21-22 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Apostle Paul challenges Christians everywhere to prove all things - I Thessalonians 5:21-22 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jude 3 tells us to contend earnestly for the faith \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I Peter 3:15 tells us to be ready to give an answer to every question \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Greek\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19072,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-prove-he-existed-before-but-not-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":61326,"position":4},"title":"Why did God prove He existed before but not now?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My son has come to me asking questions about the church. He is a member of the church but has fallen away. His asking questions is a crack in the door I don't want to miss out on. He's asking why did God allow proof that He existed then,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84887,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/has-the-lord-given-enough-evidence\/","url_meta":{"origin":61326,"position":5},"title":"Has the Lord Given Enough Evidence?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The heavens declaring His glory (Psalms 8; 19; Romans 1:20), leaving us \"without excuse,\" along with our eyes, brains, hearing, being \"wonderfully made\" (Psalms 139:13-14), the seasons, rain, and food give testimony (Acts 14:17), and the prophetic word is made more sure in amazing predictions and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61326\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}