Radio Streams
SA Radio
24/7 Radio Stream
VCY America
24/7 Radio Stream

CODE #

My Favorite Things
Home
NewsroomALL
Events | Notices | Blogs
Newest Audio | Video | Clips
Broadcasters
Church Finder
Live Webcasts
Sermons by Bible
Sermons by Category
Sermons by Topic
Sermons by Speaker
Sermons by Language
Sermons by Date
Staff Picks
CommentsALL -2 sec
Top Sermons
Online Bible
Hymnal
Daily Reading
Our Services
Broadcaster Dashboard
Members Only - Legacy

Pastor Andrew Webb | Fayetteville, North Carolina
Contact Info | Edit
•  Email  |  Web
www.providencepca.com
PHONE
910-630-1215
ADDRESS
Providence ARP Church
Meeting at:
400 Eastwood Ave
Fayetteville, NC 28301-3320
MAILING
Providence ARP Church
223 Early St.
Fayetteville, NC 28311
Podcast + Codes
SERMONS EMBED | Info
Mobile Apps | Info
•  ROKU TV
•  Apple TV
•  Chromecast
Enjoy sermons from this broadcaster
on a variety of mobile devices.
MyChurch: providencepca | Set
MyChurch Code#: 94062
Our Blog
Older
Newer
Blog
Post+
Search
  
Filter By

How Old is the Earth?
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2006
Posted by: Providence ARP Church | more..
15,840+ views | 570+ clicks
I was recently asked by a skeptical inquirer who knows I am a creationist how old I thought the world was. I had to admit that I didn't know for certain, as I have yet to find a place in the Bible that tells me exactly how many years ago the earth was created. Ussher and Lightfoot whom I admire greatly, did attempt to work out an exact age based on chronologies, but unfortunately there are probably a few gaps in those.

I do know however, that scripture tells us that just as man was created with the appearance of age (we are not told Adam was created as an Embryo, he was created a full-grown man), so too, the universe was created with the appearance of age. The trees and plants were grown, the dirt and stones were already there, as were the rivers, streams, mountains and valleys. The stars were already visible in the night sky, and we believe that it takes in some cases many millennia for their light to reach us and become visible, and yet we are told they were always visible from earth after their creation. Therefore, if I do believe in creation, and I do, then I know for certain that physical phenomena simply cannot guide me to an exact age for the earth any more than an observation of Adam immediately after his creation would have led me to conclude "he's a few minutes old."

Frankly, I also don't worry that Socrates might not actually have existed simply because we have no direct evidence that he did and in terms of the certainty of Scripture I didn't wait with baited breath to find out if there was really a King David, and then breathe a sigh of relief when archeological evidence for his existence was discovered. Most people don't live lives operating under a hermeneutic of suspicion, constantly demanding "proof" that they will accept for everything - even people who demand "evidence" in order to believe the Gospel. Neither have I ever met an individual genuinely converted by physical evidence to a Christian worldview - the only thing that accomplishes that is not persuasion but rather a change of heart accomplished by the Holy Spirit (Ezek. 36:26).

At this point in life, regarding "evidences," my conviction mirrors that of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and yes, I know that this is the kind of thing people sneer at especially when they don't recognize the existence of similar opposing (and sadly less coherent or beneficial) faith commitments in themselves:

Surgeon wrote - "At one time I might have needed evidence to make me believe in the Lord Jesus, but now I know Him so well by proving Him that I would need a very great deal of evidence to make me doubt Him. It is now more natural for me to trust than to disbelieve. This is the new nature triumphing. It was not so at the first. The novelty of faith is, in the beginning, a source of weakness, but act after act of trusting turns faith into a habit. Experience brings to faith strong confirmation.

I am not perplexed with doubt, because the truth which I believe has worked a miracle in me. By its means, I have received and still retain a new life, to which I was once a stranger. This is confirmation of the strongest sort.

I am like the good man and his wife who had kept a lighthouse for years. A visitor, who came to see the lighthouse, looking out from the window over the waste of waters, asked the good woman, Are you not afraid at night, when the storm is out, and the big waves dash right over the lantern? Do you not fear that the lighthouse, and all that is in it, will be carried away? I am sure I would be afraid to trust myself in a slender tower in the midst of the great billows. The woman remarked that the idea never occurred to her now. She had lived there so long that she felt as safe on the lone rock as she did when on the mainland.

As for her husband, when asked if he did not feel anxious when the wind blew a hurricane, he answered, Yes, I feel anxious to keep the lamps well trimmed, and the light burning, lest any vessel should be wrecked. As to anxiety about the safety of the lighthouse or his own personal security in it, he had out-lived all that.

Even so it is with the full-grown believer. He can humbly say:

I know whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which Ive committed
Unto Him against that day.

From henceforth let no man trouble me with doubts and questions. I bear in my soul the proofs of the Spirits truth and power, and I will have none of your artful reasonings. The Gospel to me is truth. I am content to perish if it is not true. I risk my souls eternal fate upon the truth of the Gospel, and I know that there is no risk in it. My one concern is to keep the lights burning, that I may thereby benefit others. Only let the Lord give me oil enough to feed my lamp, so that I may cast a ray across the dark and treacherous sea of life, and I am well content.

Now, troubled seeker, if it is so that your minister and many others in whom you confide have found perfect peace and rest in the Gospel, why should you not? Is the Spirit of the Lord straitened?...Do not [His] words do good to them that walk uprightly?& (Micah 2:7). Will you not also try their saving virtue?"

Category:  Pastoral Letter

post new | clone this | rss feed | blog top »
Text feature this blog entry
Our Blog
Older
Newer
Top


Ken Wimer
The Gift of Grace

Radio Broadcast
Teaching
Shreveport Grace Church
Play! | RSS


Build-A-Vault

Hourly: Most Misunderstood Verses
Dr. Greg Mazak
Bob Jones University
Staff Picks..

Sponsor:
New Book by John MacArthur

"The Triumph of the Ris­ing: The Bel­iev­er's Vict­ory Over Death"
https://www.amazon.com/triu..

Sponsor:
John MacArthur's "The War on Children"

New book about prov­id­ing refuge for your children in a host­ile world
https://www.amazon.com/war-..

SPONSOR | 2,000+

SPONSOR | 1,700+


SA UPDATES NEWSLETTER Sign up for a weekly dose of personal thoughts along with interesting content updates. Sign Up
FOLLOW US


Gospel of John
Cities | Local | Personal

MOBILE
iPhone + iPad
ChurchOne App
Watch
Android
ChurchOne App
Fire Tablet
Wear
Chromecast TV
Apple TV
Android TV
ROKU TV
Amazon Fire TV
Amazon Echo
Kindle Reader


HELP
Knowledgebase
Broadcasters
Listeners
Q&A
Uploading Sermons
Uploading Videos
Webcasting
TECH TALKS

NEWS
Weekly Newsletter
Unsubscribe
Staff Picks | RSS
SA Newsroom
SERVICES
Dashboard | Info
Cross Publish
Audio | Video | Stats
Sermon Player | Video
Church Finder | Info
Mobile & Apps
Webcast | Multicast
Solo Sites
Internationalization
Podcasting
Listen Line
Events | Notices
Transcription
Business Cards
QR Codes
Online Donations
24x7 Radio Stream
INTEGRATION
Embed Codes
Twitter
Facebook
Logos | e-Sword | BLB
API v2.0

BATCH
Upload via RSS
Upload via FTP
Upload via Dropbox

SUPPORT
Advertising | Local Ads
Support Us
Stories
ABOUT US
The largest and most trusted library of audio sermons from conservative churches and ministries worldwide.

Our Services | Articles of Faith
Broadcast With Us
Earn SA COINS!
Privacy Policy

THE VAULT VLOG
Build-A-Vault New!
Copyright © 2024 SermonAudio.
rc="https://legacy.sermonaudio.com/includes/sapopup.js?21"> src="https://legacy.sermonaudio.com/includes/sapopup.js?21">