1 00:00:06,490 --> 00:00:11,620 Well, we, we thank you that you're a God of, of ultimate 2 00:00:11,630 --> 00:00:14,420 help. You're a God who is our blessed 3 00:00:14,430 --> 00:00:17,050 hope. Louie, just wanted to express 4 00:00:17,060 --> 00:00:20,560 our gratitude for your presence with us this morning. 5 00:00:20,610 --> 00:00:23,330 Thank you that you're here in a very real sense. 6 00:00:23,390 --> 00:00:26,620 We thank you for your faithfulness to us in the past. 7 00:00:26,770 --> 00:00:30,930 We thank you for all the huge blessings that you give us all 8 00:00:30,940 --> 00:00:32,640 the time. And it's easy for us to take 9 00:00:32,650 --> 00:00:35,040 those things for granted. But this morning we really want 10 00:00:35,050 --> 00:00:39,010 to thank you for those things. I think you for especially for 11 00:00:39,020 --> 00:00:42,960 your gift of salvation. Lord, want to pray this morning 12 00:00:42,970 --> 00:00:45,780 for the older members of our congregation. 13 00:00:45,850 --> 00:00:48,430 Lord, thank you for, yeah, their faithfulness. 14 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:51,050 We thank you for their wisdom. We just pray that we would all 15 00:00:51,060 --> 00:00:53,830 kind of tap into that, into the godly wisdom that they have and 16 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,380 the, the wisdom that comes through experiencing life as, as 17 00:00:57,390 --> 00:01:00,130 they look at it through a, through your perspective. 18 00:01:00,140 --> 00:01:02,630 And Lord, thank you for them. We know there are many 19 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:04,390 struggling with health issues right now. 20 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:08,670 We just pray for them. Pray for reassurance from you 21 00:01:08,740 --> 00:01:10,640 that you were there and that you do care. 22 00:01:10,650 --> 00:01:14,310 And we thank you for that. We thank you for a chance to 23 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:18,410 give our offering and we present that to you this morning as as 24 00:01:18,420 --> 00:01:20,310 an act of worship. Thank you for that. 25 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:22,000 LOL. We pray for our Sunday school. 26 00:01:22,330 --> 00:01:23,920 Lovely. Thank you for all the work that 27 00:01:23,930 --> 00:01:26,640 goes in every week that the teachers and the putting the, 28 00:01:26,650 --> 00:01:29,570 the lessons together and the, the curriculum and trying to 29 00:01:29,580 --> 00:01:32,380 figure out the best way to convey your truths to the kids. 30 00:01:32,390 --> 00:01:35,140 And we just pray that all of that comes together this morning 31 00:01:35,150 --> 00:01:36,940 to, to move them closer towards you. 32 00:01:36,950 --> 00:01:40,940 Lord, thank you for worshipping Malayalam this morning and being 33 00:01:40,950 --> 00:01:44,440 able to just hear how you work in, in through culture and 34 00:01:44,450 --> 00:01:47,860 language and all of that. Your truths are, are supreme 35 00:01:47,930 --> 00:01:51,720 and, and, and just the same everywhere because you are a 36 00:01:51,730 --> 00:01:53,520 trustworthy God. We thank you for these things. 37 00:01:53,530 --> 00:01:56,520 Thank you in Jesus name, Amen. I will hand over to Billy who's 38 00:01:56,530 --> 00:01:58,320 going to introduce our speaker this morning. 39 00:01:59,670 --> 00:02:03,890 Thank you, Dan Morning Church. I'd love to invite up Mike up 40 00:02:03,900 --> 00:02:05,070 now. Mike Johnston. 41 00:02:05,300 --> 00:02:09,610 Mike is one of the pastors at the Orchard Church in Tipoki and 42 00:02:09,620 --> 00:02:12,370 a a great friend of mine. Back in my days when I was 43 00:02:12,380 --> 00:02:15,510 working at Word of Life, each term I'd go over and have lunch 44 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:17,730 with Mike. He doesn't even use a pulpit. 45 00:02:17,740 --> 00:02:19,730 We use a pulpit here. Sorry. 46 00:02:20,190 --> 00:02:23,450 No, no, no, no, You're right. Yeah, we, we would, we would 47 00:02:23,460 --> 00:02:25,250 catch up once or two and talk about ministry. 48 00:02:25,260 --> 00:02:27,810 And even since I've I've gone full climate here at Hook 49 00:02:27,820 --> 00:02:31,330 anyway, he's been a real good encouragement to me in ministry. 50 00:02:31,340 --> 00:02:34,580 And earlier this year we were on the phone and I said to Mike, it 51 00:02:34,590 --> 00:02:36,950 would be a great idea if we do a preacher swap. 52 00:02:37,220 --> 00:02:38,860 We'll get bless each other's churches. 53 00:02:38,870 --> 00:02:41,030 We'll get Mike over here, I'll go over to the orchard, preach 54 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:42,870 there. So we booked him in here and 55 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,190 he's thrown about 6 states at me to preach at the order and I've 56 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,950 turned them down. So I think we won this trade. 57 00:02:49,010 --> 00:02:53,150 But we're looking forward to to hearing you speak this morning. 58 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:55,190 So I'll just pray for Mike and then I'll hand it over. 59 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:57,630 Yeah. Father God, we just thank you 60 00:02:57,640 --> 00:02:59,590 for your goodness. We thank you for your word and 61 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:01,840 we thank you for Mike. We just pray that you would 62 00:03:01,850 --> 00:03:04,390 speak through him right now as he opens the word and she is to 63 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,430 us and help us to just be receptive and open and ready to 64 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:10,770 hear your word, for you to speak to us through your word and 65 00:03:10,780 --> 00:03:12,630 through Mike. We thank you for this time. 66 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:14,720 And in Jesus name, Amen. Amen. 67 00:03:16,420 --> 00:03:18,610 Thanks, Billy. It's nice to hear him say that 68 00:03:18,620 --> 00:03:21,710 we are good friends because every time he comes over to 69 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:23,730 Pookie, he just expects me to buy him lunch. 70 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:27,150 And I thought that was about it. So that's really nice. 71 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:29,630 Thank you. And we admire Belly. 72 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,270 There's something I really admire about the guy is that he 73 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:35,770 has looked exactly the same since he was 12. 74 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:42,310 Like, does this here even grow? I've never seen a change length. 75 00:03:42,380 --> 00:03:44,440 It's incredible. It's a real gift. 76 00:03:44,580 --> 00:03:47,430 Good score. Hey, good morning. 77 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:49,310 It's it's great to be here with you. 78 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,150 It's a real privilege to to come over here. 79 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:56,510 I've heard a lot of great things about Hukanui Bible Church and 80 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:58,890 all the people that have come over to the orchard from here 81 00:03:58,940 --> 00:04:00,940 speak very highly of it. Just kidding. 82 00:04:00,950 --> 00:04:04,310 There's only a couple of words of lifers, but yeah, it's it's 83 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,390 great to be here with you. There's been high praise for 84 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,090 this place. Some have said it's like the 85 00:04:10,100 --> 00:04:13,830 Orchard of Hamilton, which is I just made that up. 86 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:14,500 Now. That's not true. 87 00:04:14,510 --> 00:04:17,470 No one's ever said that, but it is great to be here. 88 00:04:17,540 --> 00:04:20,329 I'm looking forward to to sharing with you from, from 89 00:04:20,339 --> 00:04:24,390 God's Word this morning, this morning as we get into God's 90 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:27,060 word and we certainly will be spending time in here, but we're 91 00:04:27,070 --> 00:04:29,330 not gonna be in one particular text. 92 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,330 Now, my understanding is you guys have have done an 93 00:04:32,340 --> 00:04:34,590 apologetic series here in the past. 94 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:38,420 We did one at the Orchard a couple of years ago and we 95 00:04:38,430 --> 00:04:43,070 titled our series. I was just wondering, and we 96 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:47,090 tried to address over a period of weeks some of those big hard 97 00:04:47,100 --> 00:04:50,880 questions that we have probably wrestled with and still wrestled 98 00:04:50,890 --> 00:04:53,720 with in our lives. And if we're not wrestling with 99 00:04:53,730 --> 00:04:55,450 them, certainly people around us are. 100 00:04:55,460 --> 00:04:58,470 And so we want to be equipped to be able to deal well with them 101 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:02,580 ourselves and with others. And so some of the questions we 102 00:05:02,590 --> 00:05:05,370 covered were tough, but the one that I'm going to be talking 103 00:05:05,380 --> 00:05:10,280 about is I spoke to Doctor Graham Blakey, who has many 104 00:05:10,290 --> 00:05:12,460 years of experience. He's one of the elders at our 105 00:05:12,470 --> 00:05:16,940 church, and he studied a lot of apologetics. 106 00:05:16,950 --> 00:05:19,220 And he said this is the toughest 1. 107 00:05:19,470 --> 00:05:22,340 And so very graciously, he let me do it at our church. 108 00:05:22,390 --> 00:05:24,440 But it is the question of suffering. 109 00:05:25,450 --> 00:05:27,970 How can a good God allow so much suffering? 110 00:05:28,730 --> 00:05:30,730 We're just dealing with the light issues this morning, you 111 00:05:30,740 --> 00:05:33,850 know, Keep it easy. But it's something that we're, 112 00:05:33,860 --> 00:05:36,680 we're constantly aware of. We're always dealing with you. 113 00:05:36,690 --> 00:05:40,360 You don't need an illustration to engage people with this 114 00:05:40,610 --> 00:05:43,160 suffering is happening all the time all around us. 115 00:05:43,170 --> 00:05:47,700 You look overseas, there's unrest, there's war, Russia, 116 00:05:47,710 --> 00:05:52,040 Ukraine, you know, in the Middle East as a consequences, there's 117 00:05:52,050 --> 00:05:55,970 poverty, there's there's fighting, there's unrest, 118 00:05:55,980 --> 00:05:59,530 there's civil war going on all throughout Africa. 119 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:02,450 Pain and suffering is all around. 120 00:06:02,460 --> 00:06:05,150 And then we don't need to look over there, just look at our own 121 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:07,850 lives. Suffering comes in lots of 122 00:06:07,860 --> 00:06:10,670 different shapes and forms, you know, and different degrees. 123 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:15,310 I'm certainly very grateful that I have had a a wonderful life 124 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,850 that has been, you know, sheltered from a lot of pain and 125 00:06:18,860 --> 00:06:20,340 suffering that I see in other people. 126 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,650 But it's all relative and we all have to deal with it in some 127 00:06:24,660 --> 00:06:26,330 way. So. 128 00:06:26,340 --> 00:06:27,630 So how do we answer this question? 129 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,710 We believe that that God is good and we see so much pain around 130 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,050 us. Now you might have a good answer 131 00:06:33,060 --> 00:06:34,720 for this. You might be able to deal well 132 00:06:34,730 --> 00:06:36,890 with suffering in your life, which is awesome. 133 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:39,380 I hope this can be an encouragement to you, but there 134 00:06:39,390 --> 00:06:42,580 are gonna be people in your life around you that are struggling 135 00:06:42,590 --> 00:06:46,390 with this, so hopefully it can encourage and equip and edify 136 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,770 you as we go through this. If not, it'll equip you to deal 137 00:06:49,780 --> 00:06:54,000 well with others suffering. So maybe a little academic to 138 00:06:54,010 --> 00:06:57,000 start with and, and we'll look at that, maybe a little 139 00:06:57,010 --> 00:07:02,340 intellectual, but it is coming from an apologetic sort of 140 00:07:02,430 --> 00:07:06,850 perspective. This guy here, Galileo, Galileo, 141 00:07:06,860 --> 00:07:08,690 this old dude, he said these words. 142 00:07:09,140 --> 00:07:12,390 I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has 143 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:16,630 endowed us with since reason and intellect has intended us to 144 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:20,630 forgo their use. And that's a a nice, polite, old 145 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:22,490 school way of saying use your brain. 146 00:07:23,970 --> 00:07:27,220 God created us with this incredible ability to be able to 147 00:07:27,230 --> 00:07:31,970 think and to reason and to understand and all there to say 148 00:07:31,980 --> 00:07:34,860 that we will be approaching this intellectually. 149 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:38,990 There will be an academic side to it where we will seek to 150 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,950 understand how it is that there can be a good God and so much 151 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:44,290 suffering. What does some logic? 152 00:07:44,300 --> 00:07:46,990 What are some arguments that we can come up with for that? 153 00:07:47,740 --> 00:07:51,630 But there's also the other side. And I think Stephen Fry, famous 154 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:55,170 atheist, and you can hear it as he sees these words. 155 00:07:55,660 --> 00:07:58,600 How dare you create a world in which there is such misery. 156 00:07:58,740 --> 00:08:00,490 It's not our fault, it's not right. 157 00:08:00,500 --> 00:08:03,810 It's utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a 158 00:08:03,820 --> 00:08:07,090 capricious, mean minded, stupid God who creates a world which 159 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:10,800 with so which is so full of injustice and pain? 160 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:15,690 Now there's a lot wrong with that statement for those of us 161 00:08:16,060 --> 00:08:19,110 who know who God is and what is like, and we could pick that 162 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:21,390 apart. But what comes through so 163 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:23,890 strongly in those words as the emotion? 164 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:26,250 There's this real pain, this herd there. 165 00:08:26,260 --> 00:08:28,360 He looks around, He sees this suffering. 166 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:31,490 He sees this evil and this wickedness and this pain. 167 00:08:32,299 --> 00:08:37,150 And unfortunately, he, the critics there to God, he's not 168 00:08:37,159 --> 00:08:39,610 willing to take any responsibility for that himself. 169 00:08:40,780 --> 00:08:43,650 But there's this emotional side to the issue as well. 170 00:08:44,420 --> 00:08:46,600 And so when you're dealing with someone or perhaps when you're 171 00:08:46,610 --> 00:08:49,490 going through things and you're emotional and, and it's hard 172 00:08:49,500 --> 00:08:53,470 because you're just so upset at this thing, how could this 173 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:55,870 happen? You want to be able to deal with 174 00:08:55,880 --> 00:09:00,720 it from that perspective too, and some people are fortunate 175 00:09:00,730 --> 00:09:03,720 enough to be able to just have their cold, hard logic, no 176 00:09:03,730 --> 00:09:05,500 emotions. My wife's like that. 177 00:09:06,550 --> 00:09:10,740 I'm very emotional, so yeah, she gets sick of me crying all the 178 00:09:10,750 --> 00:09:13,870 time. But we have to be able to deal 179 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:17,420 with this issue from an emotional standpoint too, So 180 00:09:17,430 --> 00:09:19,800 we're going to do that. But the argument I think can be 181 00:09:19,810 --> 00:09:23,070 put this way and has been by another old guy, Epicurus. 182 00:09:23,990 --> 00:09:28,020 He said is God willing to prevent evil but not able? 183 00:09:28,170 --> 00:09:31,740 Then is he impotent? Is he able but not willing? 184 00:09:31,930 --> 00:09:35,760 Then is he malevolent? Is he both able and willing? 185 00:09:35,870 --> 00:09:39,400 Whence then is evil? So Old English? 186 00:09:39,410 --> 00:09:42,720 But what he's saying is if God is all loving and now all 187 00:09:42,730 --> 00:09:45,720 powerful, there wouldn't be sin, but there is sin. 188 00:09:45,810 --> 00:09:49,540 So God can't be one of those. And we're going to look at it 189 00:09:49,550 --> 00:09:51,790 this way and we'll come back to this a couple of times this 190 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:56,470 morning, but God cannot be both all loving and all powerful. 191 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:58,620 And suffering continued to exist. 192 00:09:59,310 --> 00:10:02,560 Suffering does exist. Therefore, an all loving, all 193 00:10:02,570 --> 00:10:06,560 powerful God does not exist. That's the logic, that's the 194 00:10:06,570 --> 00:10:09,540 reasoning that maybe not in those words, but the people that 195 00:10:09,550 --> 00:10:12,450 we're dealing with out in the community that desperately need 196 00:10:12,460 --> 00:10:16,200 God, this is what they think. I can't reconcile an all loving 197 00:10:16,210 --> 00:10:19,420 God with the pain and suffering in my life and what I see around 198 00:10:19,430 --> 00:10:24,610 me. So maybe there is something that 199 00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:28,530 that you're struggling with right now, maybe there is 200 00:10:28,540 --> 00:10:31,170 suffering that has recently happened that you can bring to 201 00:10:31,180 --> 00:10:34,820 mind. We want to be able to approach 202 00:10:34,830 --> 00:10:37,400 suffering not just in the now, but in the future with 203 00:10:37,410 --> 00:10:40,380 confidence. And I I love the saying that our 204 00:10:40,390 --> 00:10:43,380 pastor Nelly used once this idea, this image. 205 00:10:44,030 --> 00:10:46,040 He claims it was his idea. I'm sure he got it from 206 00:10:46,050 --> 00:10:50,640 somewhere else, but it's this idea of remembering in the dark 207 00:10:50,710 --> 00:10:52,350 what you know to be true in the light. 208 00:10:53,630 --> 00:10:55,460 And so you go into your room and you look around. 209 00:10:55,470 --> 00:10:57,590 You see your beards there. There's the wardrobe, There's 210 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:01,100 the chest of drawers, your Miley Cyrus poster, and, you know, 211 00:11:01,110 --> 00:11:04,810 clothes strewn across the floor. But then you flick off the light 212 00:11:04,820 --> 00:11:06,750 and it's like you freak out and you Where am I? 213 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:08,190 What's going on with your dinosaurs? 214 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:10,430 Is there a monster under the beard as the floor lava? 215 00:11:11,260 --> 00:11:14,710 You know, it's it seems silly to say it like that, but you want 216 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:17,510 to inform your minds. We want to grow in our knowledge 217 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:21,360 and our understanding and have a firm grasp of who God is. 218 00:11:22,060 --> 00:11:25,210 Cause in those hard times when all is dark, we want to be able 219 00:11:25,220 --> 00:11:28,850 to remember what He looks like. We want to remember who He is 220 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:31,810 and what He's done for us. And so when the good times 221 00:11:31,820 --> 00:11:34,090 inform your mind, educate yourselves. 222 00:11:34,100 --> 00:11:37,550 Build their foundation, their solid rock, so the wind 223 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:40,620 suffering comes. We can remember that God is 224 00:11:40,630 --> 00:11:43,090 good. OK, fist up. 225 00:11:43,140 --> 00:11:47,850 I'm gonna answer this question with a an idea with a hypothesis 226 00:11:47,860 --> 00:11:51,590 that I firmly believe to be true, and then I've got 4 lines 227 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:53,330 of evidence to prove it to you this morning. 228 00:11:54,390 --> 00:11:56,570 I believe that God hates suffering. 229 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:01,140 I believe he hates it. I'm going to show you four ways 230 00:12:01,210 --> 00:12:03,840 from scripture why I believe this to be true. 231 00:12:05,500 --> 00:12:10,540 Physically, God hates suffering. He is not the author of it. 232 00:12:10,950 --> 00:12:14,890 If we turn and you might not have to we jumping around a bit 233 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:24,170 but it says in Proverbs chapter 6 verse 16 to 19 and this is I 234 00:12:24,180 --> 00:12:26,860 think shows how much God hates suffering. 235 00:12:27,510 --> 00:12:31,950 He says there are 6 things the Lord hates, seven that are 236 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:35,390 detestable to Him. Haughty eyes are lying tongue, 237 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:39,210 hands that shed innocent blood are heart that devises wicked 238 00:12:39,220 --> 00:12:43,670 schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness 239 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:47,470 who pours out lies, and a person who stirs up conflict in the 240 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:51,260 community. We see there that God hates 241 00:12:51,380 --> 00:12:54,140 suffering. He hates evil and wickedness and 242 00:12:54,150 --> 00:12:56,220 pain. If you remember back to the 243 00:12:56,230 --> 00:12:58,750 flood story, He did that because of the wickedness that was on 244 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:00,930 the earth. He flooded the earth because He 245 00:13:00,940 --> 00:13:04,600 saw all the pain, all the violence that was being done by 246 00:13:04,610 --> 00:13:08,780 His crown jewel of creation to each other and he hated that and 247 00:13:08,790 --> 00:13:11,280 He wanted to destroy it. He regretted that He had made 248 00:13:11,290 --> 00:13:14,280 man because they had rebelled and turned from Him. 249 00:13:14,350 --> 00:13:16,790 They had rejected His goodness and gone their own way. 250 00:13:17,930 --> 00:13:22,490 I think we see very strongly that God hates suffering and we 251 00:13:22,500 --> 00:13:29,010 see in the creation story that he what he created is very good. 252 00:13:30,340 --> 00:13:33,570 That's the refrain we read right throughout the creation creation 253 00:13:33,580 --> 00:13:35,810 story. After everyday he says it was 254 00:13:35,820 --> 00:13:38,780 good, it was good, He gets to the end, it was very good. 255 00:13:39,680 --> 00:13:42,210 We've got to understand where we're going through trial and 256 00:13:42,220 --> 00:13:44,590 hardship and we have those those questions. 257 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:48,070 God is good. He is the author of only good. 258 00:13:48,140 --> 00:13:51,590 It is his nature, his essence. He cannot do anything other than 259 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:53,840 good. We see that in the creation 260 00:13:53,850 --> 00:13:58,680 story, God is a a God of love and generosity. 261 00:13:58,690 --> 00:14:02,460 He is forever existed, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and perfect 262 00:14:02,470 --> 00:14:08,360 joy and unity and community, and He created human beings capable 263 00:14:08,370 --> 00:14:10,450 of enjoying that. He wanted to share His goodness 264 00:14:10,460 --> 00:14:15,150 with others and So what he created was very good for us to 265 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,380 enjoy his generosity as we see in creation. 266 00:14:19,020 --> 00:14:22,070 That's him showing off. That's him saying I am good, 267 00:14:22,260 --> 00:14:28,920 enjoy this, enjoy me. And that means that what we 268 00:14:28,930 --> 00:14:34,620 distorted became very bad. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, he wrote 269 00:14:34,630 --> 00:14:38,740 the book Gulag Archipelago, and I think he words it really well. 270 00:14:39,110 --> 00:14:42,480 He says that the line between good and evil doesn't run 271 00:14:42,490 --> 00:14:45,940 between countries or states or political parties, but it runs 272 00:14:45,950 --> 00:14:50,070 through the centre of every human heart and we have to take 273 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:53,650 responsibility. God created all things good and 274 00:14:53,660 --> 00:14:55,470 we have distorted it. I think that's a great 275 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:57,430 definition of sin. Yeah, it's, it's missing the 276 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:00,270 mark, but it's taking the good and it's twisting it. 277 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,730 It's distorting it. Sin is a manipulation of the 278 00:15:03,740 --> 00:15:07,650 good because sin isn't. It's not a an essence, it's not 279 00:15:07,660 --> 00:15:09,820 a power, it's not a thing, it's not tangible. 280 00:15:10,870 --> 00:15:13,960 God is good. He created good and we twist 281 00:15:13,970 --> 00:15:18,490 that A a helpful image for this, I think, is a tree. 282 00:15:18,500 --> 00:15:22,690 You picture a big, beautiful, coldy tree, strong roots, big 283 00:15:22,700 --> 00:15:24,310 triangle, lots of branches and leaves. 284 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:26,540 It's a beautiful tree. That's like God's goodness. 285 00:15:27,620 --> 00:15:31,410 When that tree starts to distort and and manipulate and rot, 286 00:15:31,780 --> 00:15:34,650 that's like sin. You take sin out of the tree, 287 00:15:34,660 --> 00:15:37,550 you've got a good tree. You take the tree away, you've 288 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:40,470 got nothing. Sin doesn't exist in and of 289 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:42,790 itself. It's a distortion of God's 290 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:44,470 goodness. Similar with the car. 291 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,140 You've got a hot pink R7. That's a cool car. 292 00:15:48,150 --> 00:15:50,680 I don't know, cars. It's, it's Immaculate. 293 00:15:50,690 --> 00:15:53,060 That's God's goodness, that's his generosity, that's his love. 294 00:15:53,070 --> 00:15:56,480 That's all the things of God. And then the rust starts to 295 00:15:56,490 --> 00:15:59,280 appear. That's us distorting it again. 296 00:15:59,290 --> 00:16:01,800 You take the rust out, perfect car, take the car away. 297 00:16:01,810 --> 00:16:05,620 There's nothing. So send us a a distortion of 298 00:16:05,630 --> 00:16:07,820 God's good and we are responsible for that. 299 00:16:09,060 --> 00:16:11,330 We can't look back to the garden and go, no, no, that was just 300 00:16:11,340 --> 00:16:13,230 Adam and Eve. If it was me, I wouldn't have 301 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:16,910 done that. We all have that sin nature. 302 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:19,880 We all have that bent towards going our own way. 303 00:16:20,630 --> 00:16:22,920 Pride. We all suffer from it. 304 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:26,030 So what God created was very good. 305 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:28,960 What we distorted unfortunately became very bad. 306 00:16:28,970 --> 00:16:31,570 We see that in the fall in Genesis 3. 307 00:16:31,860 --> 00:16:34,850 So as the argument goes, when it comes to God being all powerful, 308 00:16:34,860 --> 00:16:38,350 we could say if he's all powerful, he could arrange a 309 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:41,770 world in which free creatures would always choose the good 310 00:16:41,780 --> 00:16:45,390 option. But what we see in there is a 311 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,150 bit of a contradiction. You can't be free to only choose 312 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:51,490 one thing. Imagine taking the the kids out 313 00:16:51,500 --> 00:16:55,140 there into a room and saying you guys have free will to choose 314 00:16:55,150 --> 00:16:57,060 whatever you want. You can eat anything in this 315 00:16:57,070 --> 00:16:58,950 room. Anything. 316 00:16:59,060 --> 00:17:02,290 You have the choice. You've got broccoli, cucumber, 317 00:17:02,340 --> 00:17:05,420 you've got parsnip, and you've got Brussels sprouts. 318 00:17:05,430 --> 00:17:07,349 You can eat anything that choices yours. 319 00:17:08,369 --> 00:17:13,280 That's not free will. God had to create free will in 320 00:17:13,290 --> 00:17:14,990 order for us to be able to choose. 321 00:17:15,829 --> 00:17:21,690 He didn't want us to be robots. God has created free 322 00:17:21,700 --> 00:17:25,200 individuals, not human robots, who always carry out His plans 323 00:17:25,210 --> 00:17:28,680 and purposes. We are free to choose. 324 00:17:29,490 --> 00:17:32,910 For there to be genuine love, there has to be free will. 325 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,810 Now, Speaking of what God's plans and purposes are, I have 326 00:17:37,820 --> 00:17:40,420 found this hugely helpful. What is God's will? 327 00:17:41,990 --> 00:17:45,050 I put it to you that there are three aspects to God's will. 328 00:17:45,060 --> 00:17:47,440 And this isn't to say that the Father has one will, the Son 329 00:17:47,450 --> 00:17:50,670 another, Holy Spirit another, and he's not schizophrenic, He 330 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:54,400 doesn't change his mind. I think God has a very clear 331 00:17:54,410 --> 00:17:58,100 will and he has communicated that to us and there's three 332 00:17:58,110 --> 00:18:01,940 aspects to it. Firstly, this is prescriptive 333 00:18:01,950 --> 00:18:05,180 will. This is what God makes happen. 334 00:18:05,940 --> 00:18:09,670 This is something like the created order, the laws that 335 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:13,330 govern nature, that is happening as God prescribed, that is as 336 00:18:13,340 --> 00:18:15,590 prescriptive will. That can't be changed. 337 00:18:15,980 --> 00:18:19,430 I think it's really neat when you think of miracles, that is 338 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:23,240 super natural. God didn't do something outside 339 00:18:23,250 --> 00:18:24,760 of what he already said in motion. 340 00:18:24,770 --> 00:18:28,830 It's just an injection. It's not a change and the 341 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:32,330 created order, as an example, salvation and the availability 342 00:18:32,340 --> 00:18:36,090 of it through Jesus Christ that he made that happen. 343 00:18:36,450 --> 00:18:38,400 That is something that God prescribed. 344 00:18:38,410 --> 00:18:42,480 It's as prescriptive will that all people can come to faith in 345 00:18:42,490 --> 00:18:45,510 Jesus Christ. God's grace is sufficient for 346 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,980 all people. Salvation is available to all 347 00:18:49,050 --> 00:18:51,980 that's prescribed. Christ's return. 348 00:18:52,350 --> 00:18:54,270 There's gonna be a rapture of the Saints. 349 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:56,800 There's gonna be a seven-year period of tribulation. 350 00:18:56,950 --> 00:19:00,440 Then there's gonna be 1000 year millennial reign of Jesus Christ 351 00:19:00,450 --> 00:19:02,980 here on earth. That is going to happen. 352 00:19:03,070 --> 00:19:07,940 That is his prescriptive will and amongst that, if God wants 353 00:19:07,950 --> 00:19:10,700 something to happen, He can. He will. 354 00:19:10,710 --> 00:19:12,480 You read through the Old Testament he has. 355 00:19:12,550 --> 00:19:15,490 He makes his will happen. That is prescriptive. 356 00:19:16,620 --> 00:19:18,830 The second part is his preceptive will. 357 00:19:19,830 --> 00:19:21,480 This is what God wants to happen. 358 00:19:21,490 --> 00:19:24,090 This is why we have this. You read through the Old 359 00:19:24,100 --> 00:19:26,430 Testament. There are countless laws for the 360 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:28,500 Israelites to follow. That's what He wants them to do. 361 00:19:28,510 --> 00:19:32,120 That is His will for them. If the Israelites were to follow 362 00:19:32,130 --> 00:19:35,120 God's will and obey His commands, they would have been 363 00:19:35,130 --> 00:19:38,850 prosperous. They would have represented God 364 00:19:38,860 --> 00:19:41,030 well to the world. They would have invited the 365 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:42,980 other nations into right relationship with Him. 366 00:19:43,910 --> 00:19:46,080 That's what he wanted, these precips. 367 00:19:46,750 --> 00:19:48,990 When we read through the new Tisman, it's the same for us. 368 00:19:49,710 --> 00:19:53,750 God's precept of will is that all would come to a knowledge of 369 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:57,150 the truth. It's this is God's will, even 370 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:00,730 your sanctification. So God has made it clear what he 371 00:20:00,740 --> 00:20:02,840 wants for us to do, but he doesn't force us. 372 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:07,170 He has put these precepts in His word for us to obey. 373 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,950 This is what He wants to happen. And finally, there is his 374 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:15,960 permissive will, what God allows to happen, and that includes 375 00:20:15,970 --> 00:20:19,590 sin, that includes suffering, that includes the pain that we 376 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:23,770 have to endure, but it also includes all the good, the good 377 00:20:23,780 --> 00:20:26,300 that people who are in your believers enjoy. 378 00:20:26,350 --> 00:20:28,180 Love first. John 4. 379 00:20:28,190 --> 00:20:32,070 We see that God is love. When you look around people who 380 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:36,600 aren't believers, they get to enjoy relationship and community 381 00:20:36,610 --> 00:20:40,850 and God's generosity and nature. They get to enjoy so much of 382 00:20:40,860 --> 00:20:44,150 God's goodness, but they're ignoring the source, and God 383 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:47,130 allows that to happen. It rains on the just and the 384 00:20:47,140 --> 00:20:52,620 unjust, so I think it's really helpful to understand what God's 385 00:20:52,630 --> 00:20:56,170 will is. God hates suffering. 386 00:20:56,240 --> 00:21:00,000 That's not what he wanted, but he does allow it and we'll have 387 00:21:00,010 --> 00:21:04,660 a look at it possibly. Why So God hates suffering. 388 00:21:04,730 --> 00:21:07,470 He is not the author of it. And I talked about how there's 389 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:10,000 an intellectual part and a in an emotional part. 390 00:21:10,010 --> 00:21:13,440 And this little Choo Choo train I find so helpful. 391 00:21:13,450 --> 00:21:17,040 And I probably use it too much, but hopefully it's the first for 392 00:21:17,090 --> 00:21:20,340 some of you. And that is this, this train 393 00:21:20,390 --> 00:21:24,670 fact, faith, feelings. We want to know what those facts 394 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:26,910 are. That's the idea of of knowing 395 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:29,060 the truth about God. So when the dark times come, we 396 00:21:29,070 --> 00:21:32,080 can remember it. Know the facts of who God is, 397 00:21:32,130 --> 00:21:36,570 what His will is for your life. Know the truth of His His love 398 00:21:36,580 --> 00:21:40,070 for you, His generosity, His humility, His goodness. 399 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:42,620 That's the facts. Lead that drive the train. 400 00:21:43,250 --> 00:21:44,870 And then we put our faith in there. 401 00:21:45,660 --> 00:21:49,370 Just like we understand how how the universe works and, and we 402 00:21:49,380 --> 00:21:51,910 live there by faith. It's it's not a far off distant 403 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:55,510 hope, but it's, it's a real tangible trust. 404 00:21:55,580 --> 00:21:58,530 That's what faith is. And then let the feelings follow 405 00:21:58,540 --> 00:22:02,010 that. I like the image of feelings 406 00:22:02,260 --> 00:22:05,430 being like an elephant. Elephant Berg powerful. 407 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:07,810 You can sometimes have big powerful emotions. 408 00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:11,500 Elephants can do so much good. They're big and strong, so they 409 00:22:11,510 --> 00:22:13,760 can lift things. They can help with construction. 410 00:22:13,770 --> 00:22:15,060 They're they're incredible animals. 411 00:22:15,900 --> 00:22:19,950 But an elephant when lit run wild, can reek havoc too. 412 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:23,270 It can run through the jungle smashing things up. 413 00:22:23,540 --> 00:22:26,390 And so I like to think of emotions as an elephant. 414 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:29,890 And our logical brain is sort of like the little Mowgli looking 415 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:32,190 Indian boy, you know, riding the elephant. 416 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:38,230 And the idea is that sometimes, you know, we need to try and get 417 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:40,570 control of those emotions so that they don't run off 418 00:22:40,580 --> 00:22:43,900 somewhere and cause harm to ourself or others, but rather 419 00:22:43,910 --> 00:22:47,300 direct it to be useful. Emotions are good. 420 00:22:47,310 --> 00:22:52,160 Emotions are great, but they need to respond to the truth of 421 00:22:52,170 --> 00:22:55,650 who God is. So he is not the author of 422 00:22:55,660 --> 00:22:57,650 suffering. Let's remember that. 423 00:22:57,700 --> 00:23:02,670 Secondly, He has a purpose for it and that's just this. 424 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:06,090 Blows my mind that in this pain and suffering that he hates, he 425 00:23:06,100 --> 00:23:08,330 has made a way for it to be beneficial for us. 426 00:23:09,500 --> 00:23:11,340 See us. Lewis puts it this way. 427 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:14,260 Pain insists upon being attended to. 428 00:23:14,660 --> 00:23:17,630 God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our 429 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:20,050 conscience, but shouts in our pain. 430 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:23,080 It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world. 431 00:23:24,290 --> 00:23:27,780 That's really interesting when you think of Stephen Fry's quote 432 00:23:28,470 --> 00:23:31,420 and he's making these accusations about evil and 433 00:23:31,430 --> 00:23:34,110 wickedness and it's not right. He's spot on. 434 00:23:35,150 --> 00:23:38,330 But The thing is, when he sees the the evil and the wickedness, 435 00:23:38,340 --> 00:23:41,380 he's, he's got to admit there must be an objective good. 436 00:23:42,350 --> 00:23:44,780 If this isn't right, if we look around in the world and we can 437 00:23:44,790 --> 00:23:47,240 agree this isn't the way it's meant to be, we can see the good 438 00:23:47,250 --> 00:23:50,260 and we can enjoy the good. And we want that good without 439 00:23:50,270 --> 00:23:53,530 all the bad. We have to acknowledge there is 440 00:23:53,540 --> 00:23:57,760 an ultimate good if there is all this evil and suffering, and I 441 00:23:57,770 --> 00:24:01,500 think that's such a good apologetic in and of itself. 442 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:06,300 This pain is not right and there is a good God who doesn't want 443 00:24:06,310 --> 00:24:10,160 to, so we're gonna look at a few verses. 444 00:24:10,570 --> 00:24:14,720 He has a purpose for it because it can increase faith. 445 00:24:15,540 --> 00:24:22,100 In Romans chapter 5, verses 3 and 4, it says not only so, but 446 00:24:22,110 --> 00:24:25,660 we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering 447 00:24:25,670 --> 00:24:28,800 produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and 448 00:24:28,810 --> 00:24:33,220 character hope verse 5. And hope does not put us to 449 00:24:33,230 --> 00:24:36,020 shame because God's love has been poured out into our hearts 450 00:24:36,030 --> 00:24:39,390 through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 451 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,220 We can glory in our sufferings because it produces perseverance 452 00:24:43,230 --> 00:24:45,210 and character. These sufferings, if dealt well 453 00:24:45,220 --> 00:24:49,150 with, produce growth. We can grow to be more like 454 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:51,390 Christ. God is most pleased in His Son 455 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:54,860 and so the more like Him we are, the more pleased He is with us. 456 00:24:55,380 --> 00:24:58,730 That sanctification we want to become like Jesus our Saviour. 457 00:24:59,660 --> 00:25:03,590 James 1-2 to four talks about considering suffering as pure 458 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:07,740 joy because it produces perseverance and fish. 459 00:25:07,750 --> 00:25:12,200 Peter, rejoice as you suffer a little while, cause your faith 460 00:25:12,210 --> 00:25:16,550 is like gold. He has a purpose for it. 461 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:20,130 It can increase faith. It can also inflate comfort. 462 00:25:21,190 --> 00:25:24,320 We see that God and 1st Corinthians 2 as the Father of 463 00:25:24,330 --> 00:25:27,640 compassion and comfort, and He comforts us so that we may 464 00:25:27,650 --> 00:25:30,560 comfort others. What a privilege to be able to 465 00:25:30,570 --> 00:25:35,300 be equipped to comfort others who go through struggles because 466 00:25:35,310 --> 00:25:40,690 we have been comforted by the ultimate comforter, Romans 818 467 00:25:40,700 --> 00:25:44,220 and 28. We are to think of these 468 00:25:44,230 --> 00:25:46,860 sufferings as nothing in comparison to the glory that we 469 00:25:46,870 --> 00:25:49,380 will have. And then verse 28 where it talks 470 00:25:49,390 --> 00:25:52,500 about all things working together for the good of those 471 00:25:52,510 --> 00:25:54,980 who love God. So even in suffering you can 472 00:25:54,990 --> 00:25:57,990 grow. You can grow in your faith. 473 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,670 You can grow in your dependence on Jesus Christ, not on 474 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:03,030 yourself. You won't be able to get through 475 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:05,450 yourself. It's about your faith in Jesus 476 00:26:05,460 --> 00:26:08,920 Christ. And finally, it can induce 477 00:26:08,930 --> 00:26:12,540 dependence. Psalm 99 says the Lord is a 478 00:26:12,550 --> 00:26:16,360 refuge to the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. 479 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:23,580 John 1633 says in this world you will have trouble that fear not, 480 00:26:23,590 --> 00:26:26,840 I have overcome the world. We can depend on the one who has 481 00:26:26,850 --> 00:26:30,420 overcome that can induce dependence. 482 00:26:31,450 --> 00:26:34,320 So we looked at God being all powerful, but if he is all 483 00:26:34,330 --> 00:26:38,840 loving, that says if God is all loving, he would prefer a world 484 00:26:38,850 --> 00:26:43,730 in which evil does not exist. But that is a presumption that 485 00:26:43,740 --> 00:26:45,510 that's that's what he would prefer. 486 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:49,570 If there wasn't suffering, how was it that we would grow? 487 00:26:49,780 --> 00:26:53,110 How was it that we would rely on Him and look to Him and put our 488 00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:57,320 faith in Him? Suffering actually presents a 489 00:26:57,330 --> 00:27:02,120 unique opportunity to grow in faithfulness to God, who was 490 00:27:02,130 --> 00:27:03,620 faithful to us all the way through it. 491 00:27:03,630 --> 00:27:05,490 He never leaves us through those struggles. 492 00:27:08,470 --> 00:27:13,180 This man, Job, Job says this at the end of his book, after God 493 00:27:13,190 --> 00:27:17,110 has taken him on a tour of the universe and said, look at this. 494 00:27:17,120 --> 00:27:19,570 Look at what I've done. Where were you when I created 495 00:27:19,580 --> 00:27:21,360 the heavens? Where were you when I pulled 496 00:27:21,370 --> 00:27:23,390 Leviathan out of the sea? I'm pretty sure there's a 497 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:25,340 description of a dragon at the end of Job. 498 00:27:25,430 --> 00:27:29,140 And after he's done that, Job responds to God and says, I know 499 00:27:29,150 --> 00:27:32,380 that you can do all things. No purpose of yours can be 500 00:27:32,390 --> 00:27:34,800 thwarted. You asked who is this that 501 00:27:34,810 --> 00:27:37,070 obscures my plans without knowledge? 502 00:27:37,770 --> 00:27:40,760 Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too 503 00:27:40,770 --> 00:27:46,360 wonderful for me to know why there is suffering in the world 504 00:27:46,490 --> 00:27:49,040 is beyond our understanding. And maybe I should have started 505 00:27:49,050 --> 00:27:50,150 with that. It would have been a much 506 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,290 shorter message. God knows we can trust God. 507 00:27:53,300 --> 00:27:55,040 He knows. That's the point He's making God 508 00:27:55,050 --> 00:27:57,460 as far bigger. He's all knowing. 509 00:27:57,550 --> 00:27:59,760 He understands the purpose of suffering. 510 00:28:00,090 --> 00:28:03,100 But sometimes us and our three annoying friends that talk to us 511 00:28:03,110 --> 00:28:05,830 for days on end, we don't quite get it. 512 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,930 So we need to know that God is a God that can be trusted. 513 00:28:10,810 --> 00:28:13,120 He knows how it works, so trust Him. 514 00:28:15,190 --> 00:28:18,930 The Third Point I want to make about why I think God hates 515 00:28:18,940 --> 00:28:21,730 suffering, and this is incredible and we've remembered 516 00:28:21,740 --> 00:28:25,260 this at the table this morning. He has stepped into it. 517 00:28:26,510 --> 00:28:28,090 Now we need to have a right view of God. 518 00:28:28,100 --> 00:28:33,170 This is the all powerful, eternal creator God. 519 00:28:33,180 --> 00:28:35,530 He's outside of time, space and matter. 520 00:28:35,540 --> 00:28:37,990 He doesn't need anything in and of himself. 521 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:41,740 He is perfection. He created this universe to show 522 00:28:41,750 --> 00:28:46,870 off His goodness to us, and then He has decided to step into it. 523 00:28:48,250 --> 00:28:51,620 The second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, took on a 524 00:28:51,630 --> 00:28:55,870 human nature, became a man, and stepped into suffering. 525 00:28:56,970 --> 00:29:01,830 I mean that is so powerful he entered into it despite himself. 526 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:04,080 This famous verses from Philippians 2. 527 00:29:04,910 --> 00:29:08,580 Even though he is God, he didn't see that as something to be 528 00:29:08,590 --> 00:29:11,090 grasped. But he did what needed to be 529 00:29:11,100 --> 00:29:15,080 done. He stepped down into humanity to 530 00:29:15,090 --> 00:29:19,240 deal with the problem of suffering, and he did that for 531 00:29:19,250 --> 00:29:22,640 our sake. That Susan and 2nd Corinthians, 532 00:29:22,650 --> 00:29:25,700 that he who knew no sin became sin for us. 533 00:29:26,900 --> 00:29:30,130 That is just incredible. Knowing who He is and knowing 534 00:29:30,220 --> 00:29:33,350 who we are, our sin, our rebellion, we are the cause of 535 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:35,260 all the suffering. He did that for us. 536 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:40,110 He endured the cross for us. He lived the perfect life that 537 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:43,010 we couldn't. He didn't cause any pain, 538 00:29:43,020 --> 00:29:44,700 violence, suffering for anyone else. 539 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:48,730 He did it to solve the problem of suffering in us. 540 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:54,290 And John 316 he, he died for whoever believes. 541 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:58,090 He did it for our sake, for human beings. 542 00:29:59,910 --> 00:30:03,030 Christ died for our sins, as you see in First Corinthians 15. 543 00:30:03,890 --> 00:30:07,960 He enjoyed it for our sake and finally He enjoyed victory over 544 00:30:07,970 --> 00:30:09,230 it. And this is the best part. 545 00:30:09,470 --> 00:30:11,760 When you're going through suffering and you're struggling 546 00:30:11,770 --> 00:30:14,880 and you want to shake your fist in God and go, where are you? 547 00:30:15,090 --> 00:30:17,680 What are you doing about this? Why am I struggling with this 548 00:30:17,690 --> 00:30:20,140 sin? You're shaking your fist at the 549 00:30:20,150 --> 00:30:22,460 solution. He is the one who has victory 550 00:30:22,470 --> 00:30:25,230 over sin and pain and suffering and death. 551 00:30:26,670 --> 00:30:28,800 So don't run away from him. Run to him. 552 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:33,870 He enjoyed victory over it. The penalty for our sin was paid 553 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:36,940 for on the cross. The power of our skin is being 554 00:30:36,950 --> 00:30:39,200 beaten daily with the help of the Holy Spirit, and the very 555 00:30:39,210 --> 00:30:40,900 presence of sin will be done away with. 556 00:30:40,910 --> 00:30:44,740 All thanks to God's generosity through His Son Jesus Christ and 557 00:30:44,750 --> 00:30:47,550 His humility. He enjoyed victory over it, 558 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,190 Something that we can't do. We can complain about suffering, 559 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,930 we can deal with it as best we can, but it will continue until 560 00:30:53,940 --> 00:30:58,940 He puts an end to it. Finally, Paul of Tarsus. 561 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:00,480 That's a little apologetics trick. 562 00:31:00,490 --> 00:31:02,980 You know, he's the author of most of the New Testament, but 563 00:31:02,990 --> 00:31:06,500 if you people don't think the Bible is authoritative, you make 564 00:31:06,510 --> 00:31:08,220 it sound like it's a quote from somewhere else. 565 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:13,370 And this very wise guy Paul of Tarsus said very rarely will 566 00:31:13,380 --> 00:31:16,370 anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good 567 00:31:16,380 --> 00:31:18,910 person, someone might possibly dare to die. 568 00:31:19,550 --> 00:31:23,120 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this While we 569 00:31:23,130 --> 00:31:25,790 were still sinners, Christ died for us. 570 00:31:26,530 --> 00:31:29,690 That's from Romans 5, 7:00 to 8:00. 571 00:31:31,330 --> 00:31:36,200 Just phenomenal what God did for us in order to deal with 572 00:31:36,210 --> 00:31:39,280 suffering. And so that leads to the climax. 573 00:31:39,710 --> 00:31:43,200 He will put an end to it. Like I said, we can't put an end 574 00:31:43,210 --> 00:31:45,530 to it. We can only deal well with it 575 00:31:45,590 --> 00:31:49,160 until He returns. He will come back for us. 576 00:31:49,270 --> 00:31:53,070 John 14 three. He's his sister was disciples. 577 00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:57,270 I'm going to prepare a place for you, and I will come back so 578 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:02,570 that you can be where I am. And 1st Thessalonians 417, it 579 00:32:02,580 --> 00:32:05,130 says that the dead in Christ will rise first at the rapture, 580 00:32:05,140 --> 00:32:07,850 then those who are alive will meet Him in the clouds, and 581 00:32:07,860 --> 00:32:11,750 forever we will be with Him. God has not discerned us. 582 00:32:11,820 --> 00:32:14,900 For Roth as a season First Thessalonians 5, He's coming 583 00:32:14,910 --> 00:32:17,510 back for us. That is a sure hope. 584 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:20,150 Those are promises and God's word that you can hold on to no 585 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:23,290 matter how dark things are. He is coming back for us to put 586 00:32:23,300 --> 00:32:26,790 an end to suffering. As he does this, he will put an 587 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:29,600 end to the pain and the tears. He's going to stop it. 588 00:32:30,260 --> 00:32:33,290 Incredible promises and revelation 21 and 22. 589 00:32:33,660 --> 00:32:36,390 He will wipe away every tear. There will be no more curse, no 590 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:40,100 more death, no more pain. Jesus says in Revelation 22 591 00:32:40,110 --> 00:32:45,060 three that there will no longer be any curse and he will make 592 00:32:45,070 --> 00:32:48,950 all things new. He says I'm coming back and I 593 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,230 will make all things new. It is Jesus Christ our Saviour 594 00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:55,850 who is gonna return and put an end to suffering and and so 595 00:32:55,920 --> 00:33:00,400 holdfast to him. I believe God hates suffering. 596 00:33:00,790 --> 00:33:03,770 I believe there are four very compelling lines of evidence 597 00:33:04,110 --> 00:33:09,490 that that is in fact true. And so I think the big idea of 598 00:33:09,500 --> 00:33:13,400 this issue where, you know, how can a good God allow so much 599 00:33:13,410 --> 00:33:15,830 suffering? Well, when you're facing 600 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:19,120 suffering, I would suggest that you focus on the solution. 601 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:23,270 Suffering is inevitable. We will deal with suffering, but 602 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:27,150 when you're in that, in that struggle, whether it's loss of a 603 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:29,660 loved one, whether it's the loss of Job, whether it's dealing 604 00:33:29,670 --> 00:33:34,300 with illness or unfaithfulness, wayward kids, there's, there's 605 00:33:34,310 --> 00:33:37,890 so many shapes and forms that suffering can take, but don't 606 00:33:37,900 --> 00:33:42,170 run from God, run to him. Look to the solution which is 607 00:33:42,180 --> 00:33:48,780 Jesus Christ all very intellectual, but this is a a 608 00:33:48,790 --> 00:33:52,860 very real topic for me because about 11 years ago now my 609 00:33:52,870 --> 00:33:55,860 parents went over to Kenya on a mission strip. 610 00:33:55,910 --> 00:33:58,680 They went with BIFM college. It was a short term trip to a 611 00:33:58,690 --> 00:34:01,500 village and an organisation called out quest. 612 00:34:01,510 --> 00:34:06,540 And while they were over there the van full of people it rolled 613 00:34:06,610 --> 00:34:09,120 and four people died in the crash. 614 00:34:09,190 --> 00:34:13,760 A student from BCAA local guy and both my parents and it was a 615 00:34:13,770 --> 00:34:16,360 shock when I heard the news devastated. 616 00:34:16,370 --> 00:34:20,030 You know, you just cried for a week solid and then 617 00:34:20,300 --> 00:34:25,110 intermittently from then on. And family weddings, kids, 618 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:26,870 births, you know, new grandchildren. 619 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:32,909 You reminded again of how much it sucks and the the pain and 620 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:34,929 the suffering that you feel through that time. 621 00:34:34,940 --> 00:34:39,580 It's it's real and you can't just push it aside, but I'm just 622 00:34:39,590 --> 00:34:42,850 so grateful that I have a God who can help me through that and 623 00:34:42,860 --> 00:34:46,250 did help me through that. He was the source of comfort in 624 00:34:46,260 --> 00:34:48,170 that time. There were times where I was 625 00:34:48,179 --> 00:34:50,040 tempted to go, how could you allow this? 626 00:34:50,550 --> 00:34:53,350 Why did this happen? Are you good? 627 00:34:54,260 --> 00:34:58,370 And then I remember 100% he absolutely is good. 628 00:34:58,380 --> 00:35:00,750 He hates suffering. He hated that my parents had to 629 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:03,910 die that way because death is a consequence of sin. 630 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:07,960 That's our problem and he solved that problem and I think we can 631 00:35:07,970 --> 00:35:09,720 help ourselves by changing the language. 632 00:35:09,730 --> 00:35:13,500 Let's I know there's some truth to it, but let's not say God 633 00:35:13,510 --> 00:35:15,290 called them home or it was their time. 634 00:35:16,100 --> 00:35:19,330 God wants to live with us forever. 635 00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:21,230 No death. He hates death. 636 00:35:21,890 --> 00:35:24,720 It's not his plan for us to die. It's not you've got a ticking 637 00:35:24,730 --> 00:35:27,780 time bomb, your time's up now. No, he hates that. 638 00:35:28,310 --> 00:35:30,300 That's a consequence of sin. He doesn't want that. 639 00:35:30,310 --> 00:35:34,130 That's why he signed Jesus. And so I want to encourage you, 640 00:35:34,140 --> 00:35:36,390 whatever it is that you're going through, whatever suffering you 641 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:40,650 struggle with, run to God, run to Him. 642 00:35:40,700 --> 00:35:44,070 He is the comforter. Focus on the solution rather 643 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:47,430 than the suffering. Let me close by finishing in 644 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:51,110 prayer. Awesome. 645 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:58,280 God, you are incredible US so far above and beyond our 646 00:35:58,290 --> 00:36:00,560 comprehension. What we do understand, the view 647 00:36:00,570 --> 00:36:05,450 is, is only a small bit, but man, you are good, you are holy, 648 00:36:05,460 --> 00:36:07,370 you are set apart, you are perfect. 649 00:36:07,380 --> 00:36:10,670 And we know that we have sinned, we have turned away and and 650 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:13,060 rejected your goodness and we continue to do that. 651 00:36:14,240 --> 00:36:17,140 But we are so grateful that you pursued us, that you sent your 652 00:36:17,150 --> 00:36:22,060 Son Jesus Christ to die in our place and then conquering death. 653 00:36:22,070 --> 00:36:26,640 We know we can look forward to a day where pain and hurt and 654 00:36:26,650 --> 00:36:29,050 suffering will be gone, will be dealt with. 655 00:36:30,330 --> 00:36:33,180 We thank you that through the struggle we can hold fuss to you 656 00:36:33,190 --> 00:36:38,340 as a God of all comfort. Lord, help us to hold fast to 657 00:36:38,350 --> 00:36:41,020 you. Help us by your Spirit to to 658 00:36:41,030 --> 00:36:42,800 remember this and the hard times. 659 00:36:42,810 --> 00:36:46,370 Help us by Your word to fill our minds with Your goodness. 660 00:36:47,570 --> 00:36:52,020 Help us with each other, with the Church, to encourage each 661 00:36:52,030 --> 00:36:55,280 other, support each other, to build each other up. 662 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,250 Thank you for giving us so much to help us in this in this 663 00:36:59,260 --> 00:37:01,180 journey of dealing with suffering. 664 00:37:02,010 --> 00:37:04,230 We thank you for this morning and the opportunity to worship 665 00:37:04,240 --> 00:37:06,880 you together. You are so worthy of all our 666 00:37:06,890 --> 00:37:09,300 praise. And so we thank you and your 667 00:37:09,310 --> 00:37:10,820 Son. And now save his name, Jesus 668 00:37:10,830 --> 00:37:12,460 Christ, Amen.