Evidently someone believed that the way to handle the question about God was to simply deny His existence, and that would result in total freedom. "No Gods, No Masters." A song written to accompany this slogan blared out the angry line, "Your god is your chains - reject your god - reject your system - do you really want your freedom?"

Obviously, this slogan means to say that if God existed at all, His sole purpose would be to make life miserable by imposing rules and restrictions. The solution? Deny His existence - "No Gods, No Masters."

Right away I remembered a Bible verse that says, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" (Psalms 14:1) Of course I also remembered that Jesus told us not to call anyone a "fool" so I wanted to be sure I understood what the Psalmist was saying.

What I soon learned was that the word "fool" in the Hebrew - "nabal" - is from a primitive root which literally means, "to wilt, to fall away, to fail." So the "fool" is simply someone who has fallen away from the knowledge of God. As Paul would later write to the Romans, they once knew God, but gave it up - the Psalmist is saying that that is a foolish thing to do.

Have you noticed how easy it is for a child to believe in God?

I know that many people don't care about hearing other people's "grand-children stories," but here's an example of what we're talking about.

A few months ago, our son-in-law took a new job over on Long Island, and moved his family into a rented home. The plan was to begin looking for a permanent home that would be in a good location - a pleasant and safe neighborhood within a reasonable distance from work and church.

Real estate prices are extremely high, but through diligent search, they were able to find a house in a good location that was affordable. However, it would require significant renovations including the addition of a second floor, a project our son-in-law was capable of doing, but which would take several months to accomplish. In order to cut some of their rental costs and provide for more family together time during this construction period, our daughter came up with the idea of renting a mobile home, and having it placed on the property of the new house.

Realizing that her children had already become settled into their rented home, and uprooting them to a temporary, confined space for a period of several months might be difficult, she decided to talk this over to see what would be their reaction. Our daughter was taken back by their quick response - they were immediately excited about this idea, even when they were told that many of their toys would have to be packed up and kept in storage for several months. Actually, they were a little too eager, so our daughter had to back off a bit and say that this plan was not yet certain, and that they would have to pray and ask God for wisdom, because God is much wiser than we are and we need to pray for His guidance. Immediately, 5 year old Bethany jumped up and ran out of the room. Heading toward the living room, she called out over her shoulder, "I'm going to do it right now; I'm going to pray." Three minutes later, she was back in the kitchen, a bright smile on her face, loudly proclaiming, "I prayed and asked God - and He said 'Yes!'"

How easy it is for a child to know God. What has gone wrong that so many people have lost that "child-like" faith? When it comes to believing in God, is adulthood the time of life when we advance from childhood into foolishness?

But then we might ask, why is it foolish to not believe in God?

Well, for one thing, it is foolish to think that the denial of something means that it therefore does not exist. No doubt you've heard the question, "If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" Of course it does! Are we so egocentric that we think that nothing can exist outside our own personal awareness? For instance, right now sounds are all around us, being carried through this room on radio waves. Here, let me turn on this radio receiver, and you will hear them. Now, just because I turn the switch off, does that mean the sounds are no longer there? Of course not!

To say, "God doesn't exist simply because I don't believe it" is as foolish as saying, "I don't believe in the existence of electricity; therefore if I touch the bare wire, it can do me no harm." One of my favorite electrician jokes is the one about the electrician who asks his helper to climb up the ladder and grab onto one of the wires hanging from the ceiling. "Do you feel anything?" the electrician asked. When the helper said, "No," the electrician shot back, "Good, don't touch the other one or you will drop dead." A number of years ago a friend of mine finished his evening dinner at a road-side restaurant, and headed across the street to where he had parked his car. Gordon Mercer, a very bright and successful lawyer, did not believe there were any cars on that road. He didn't see any, and he didn't hear any. But just believing there were no cars did not keep him from being mowed down by a fast moving automobile. Fortunately, even though he suffered from multiple fractures which hospitalized him for many months, Gordon survived.

If it's foolish to not believe in God, then it is wise to believe in Him. Let me give you two quick reasons.

When we look at the world around us, at the beauty and intricacies of flowers, trees, birds and bees - it is truly sensible to believe that Someone had to have been behind the creation of all these things. The second quick answer is a bit more personal, God is there, and He hears and answers prayer.

When I was a young boy of about 8 years old, I was stricken with rheumatic fever. Actually, I didn't understand much about it, and even got the name of the disease wrong. When people asked me what I had, I would answer, "Romantic Fever"! (I hope my wife will testify that I still have it!) The only good thing about this illness was that I got to sleep in the bottom bunk in the tiny House Trailer that was our home. The problem was, as paralysis increased, my right leg kept falling out of bed and I had no power to get it back in.

Finally, the seriousness of my condition required me to be admitted to the hospital, but before my father picked me up and carried me to the car, he asked the Pastor and a couple other men from the church to come and pray for me. They anointed me, laid hands on me, and prayed that I would be healed. I believe it was on a Friday, and by the next day I was up walking around, and on Monday, to the amazement of my teacher, I was back in school. At a follow-up doctor's visit, it was confirmed that, much to the surprise of the doctor, there had been no damage done to my heart. How well I remember the words of my mother as she explained to the Doctor, "We believe God healed Neil."

Surely you can understand why it is so hard for me to accept the denial of God's existence. I really don't understand why anyone would want to write, "No Gods, No Masters."

However, there's another slogan you may or may not have heard. This one is an adaptation of a slogan seen, not on a bathroom wall, but on the bumper of a car:

In 1988, my first trip to India was arranged by a long-time friend by the name of Jacob who was the son of an Indian Pentecostal pastor. Pastor Chacko was a missionary, leaving his homeland in South India to plant a church in the northern city of New Delhi. One day as he was preaching on the side of the street, a young man by the name of D C Kaushal stopped to listen.

DC had been brought up in a rather wealthy, but rigid Hindu family. One day, as a child, DC was sitting doing school work in a room next to the main entry-way while a sculptor was putting finishing touches on a stone statue - it was a replica of a monkey, the family's household god. As DC was listening to the clanging sounds of hammer on chisel, the thought ran through his head, "How can that be a real god? How can a god that is made of stone possibly be able to answer our prayers?"

Now, 15 years later, as he stood by the side of the road listening to the preaching of Pastor Chacko, he heard him say, "If you don't have any peace in your heart, then I want to invite you to come visit me at my house, and I will tell you how you can find the peace you seek." DC accepted the invitation, and there in the Pastor's simple dwelling, accepted the Lord Jesus Christ and immediately felt the peace that had been promised. Unfortunately, his father became very angry, threw DC out of his home and cut him off from his inheritance. At one point, his brothers found him and beat him almost to death. Now over 70 years old, DC is still serving the Lord, and he still has that "peace of God that passes all understanding."

One of the sure ways to confirm the existence of God is to pray to Him, ask for His forgiveness, and then realize an inner peace found nowhere else in this world.

Let me tell you Mike's story.

A few years ago, following a church service, a friend and I sat down together in a donut shop to talk over a cup of coffee. I hadn't been with Mike for several years, and I wanted to get an update concerning his work and walk with the Lord. As we talked, Mike shared this amazing story.

One morning, the week before Thanksgiving, Mike dropped his daughter off at the Christian School not far from their home. Because all of the other parents doing this taxi chore were mothers, Mike hadn't had much of a chance to interact with them, except for one mother with whom he would often chat briefly in the hallway. On this particular morning, as Mike and Michelle exchanged pleasantries, another mother happened to come by and Michelle asked how her father was doing. "Not too well," was Sue's short response. Not wanting to be left completely out, Mike asked if her father was ill. "Yes," Sue sadly answered, "actually, he's terminally ill, and not handling it very well. He's miserable, and makes everyone around him miserable too. He's angry, bitter and impossible to get along with. And what's worse, he's not a Christian, and won't have anything to do with God. I'm really worried about him."

As Sue spoke, Mike felt a slight drawing to this situation, so he said, "I don't know that I can find the time, but if I do - and please understand, I'm not making any promises here - but if I do find the time, would it be alright if I visit your father?" "Well, sure, but I don't think he'll want to talk to you - he's very grumpy, complains all the time, and gets especially angry when anyone tries to talk with him about God. But you're welcome to try if you want to." Mike wrote down Sue's father's name and made a note concerning the location of the hospital.

The conversation with Sue was almost forgotten, until early Saturday morning. Mike had trouble sleeping, and he was keenly aware that he should make an effort to go see Sue's father. The problem was, the day was all planned out. It was going to be a family day, the last full day they would have together to make all the necessary preparations for the Thanksgiving meal they were planning for the following Thursday. As Mike crawled out of bed, he could not shake the feeling that he should go to the hospital. Finally, he gave in to it and called his wife and four little girls into the living room. He told them he was very sorry, but there was a man dying in the hospital that he had to visit, and he asked them to join him in prayer. Then he went back into his room, put on a shirt, tie and suit, and drove to the hospital.

The closer he came to the hospital, the more fearful he became. What could he say to this man? Would the man become angry and yell at him, force him to leave the room, causing a big scene? These fears escalated as Mike approached the room. Suddenly a wave of relief washed over him when he peered in the room and saw that the man was sleeping. He went into the room, called the man's name softly, but he didn't wake up. Gladly, Mike walked back out into the hall. "At least I've tried," he justified to himself. But he couldn't walk away. He turned and went back into the room, touched the man lightly on his arm, and spoke his name. When the man opened his eyes and looked at Mike, he hesitatingly introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Dr. Ferris. I'm not a medical doctor; I'm a psychologist and a friend of your daughter Sue. The other day when I was dropping off my daughter at school, Sue told me about your illness and I asked her if it would be alright for me to come see you."

Mike paused to take a breath and check to see what kind of reaction he might be getting from the man in the bed. To his surprise, there wasn't the negative reaction he expected, so Mike continued. "Actually, I came to talk with you about God. Would it be all right if I did that?" Mike braced himself, fearing the eruption that was sure to come. But when Sue's father nodded slowly, Mike began to talk. This was no planned speech, the words just seemed to flow - he talked about Jesus, what He came to do, how He died and rose again, and thus made a way for us to have forgiveness and peace with God. As he talked he could see very little reaction, except for the small tear that was starting to form in the lower eyelid of the man lying before him. Then Mike asked the question, "Would you like to accept Jesus and the forgiveness he offers? We could pray for that right now if you want." To his utter amazement, the man softly said yes, and a moment later Mike led him in a child-like prayer for salvation, forgiveness and peace.

As the prayer came to an end, Sue's father began to shake. Mike's first thought was that he must be having some kind of a convulsion. He said, "Do you want me to call the Nurse?" Certainly he needed medical treatment - Mike became quite frightened. But Sue's father shook his head, even though his body was now shaking violently. "No, don't call the Nurse," he said. "What's happening to me isn't a medical problem at all. It's just that my whole body is being filled with peace!" And then, nearly shouting, he continued, "I have peace, for the first time in my life, I have peace."

By now Mike was crying his own tears, and as the man in the bed settled down, they talked a bit more. Mike promised to return, and up until the time that Sue's father died three weeks later, Mike was at his side almost every day, reading from the Bible, praying and singing hymns - up until the time He moved up to the home prepared for him in heaven.

Now if I were ask you, what do you think is the reason people may not have this kind of peace, you would probably come up with a list of possibilities. An illness that seems to have no explanation and you worry it may be cancer. A breakdown or break-up of a relationship. Conflict or extreme stress at work. An assignment to do something that requires you to get up in front of a group of people. Loneliness, confusion, anger, frustration, grief, and a host of other things can keep you from having this peace. But for most people, the biggest threat to inner peace is not knowing what will happen when they face the reality of death.

Now I realize that there are some people who would argue with this, because they think that death is the point when rest and peace finally come. Their image of death is a calm, sleep-like figure laid out in a box covered with colorful flowers, and engraved on the tomb-stone is RIP - Rest In Peace. But what if that really isn't the real person? What if that's just the body, or the shell? And what if the real person, the soul of the person is wandering in some dry wasteland, doomed to wander in restless pursuit until the final judgment day when they will meet their living end in the lake of fire? Maybe, just maybe, there is a God to fear and a hell to shun. Wouldn't you like to know for sure? Wouldn't you like to know that peace that Sue's father had when he simply prayed for forgiveness and received the assurance of eternal life?

It may not be culturally acceptable to talk about it, but even as denying God doesn't make Him non-existent, neither does denying death make it non-existent. We cannot escape death, but we can, as the Bible says, escape the sting of death. (I Corinthians 15:55-57)

Oh yes, the graffiti artist had it right - "No Gods, no Masters," but it's also right to say, "No God, No Peace."

Without God there is no RIP - but with God there is peace of mind in this life, and eternal peace forever in the presence of God and His holy angels.

For a moment, go back with me to Psalm 14, and notice that the paragraph that begins with "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God'" ends with this comment, "There they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous." (v. 5)

There is only one way to flee from the terror of our day, the terror of death and destruction, and that is to join the "company of the righteous."

Charles Spurgeon once said, "We entertain [truth] not as a guest but as the master of the house." This certainly is true concerning the all important truth about God; let's welcome him "not as a guest but as the master of the house."

Instead of "No God, no Master," let's make it "Yes God, Yes Master" and thereby find peace for our souls. Today, would you like to join the "company of the righteous"? You can by simple faith in Jesus and His sacrificial death and glorious resurrection.

1. What is the relationship between the slogan "No Gods, No Masters" and anarchy?

2. Is it possible to believe in God and still have freedom?

3. If the Hebrew word for "fool" literally means, "to wilt, to fall away, to fail," how does this apply to our belief in God? 4. Why does adulthood often result in the diminishing of faith in God?

5. What are some examples of the foolishness of denying something simply because it lies outside of our personal powers of observation?

6. Why do we say that it is a wise thing to believe in God?

7. One of the great benefits of believing in God is that it brings peace. What kind of peace?

8. How can one receive the peace that replaces the fear of death?

9. We often see the letters "R. I. P." on tombstones, suggesting that the grave is where men "Rest In Peace". Is that always true? Do all who die "Rest In Peace"?

10. Psalm 14 indicates there is a relationship between belief in God and terrorism. What is that relationship?

11. How does one join the "company of the righteous"? Do we have to become righteous to join?

12. Why is it important for us to settle the question now as to where we will spend eternity?