WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.000 The question that I want to talk about tonight is why does God let us suffer? 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:18.000 ! I'm aware tonight that there are people in this room that this is a deeply personal question 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:29.000 ! This is not a teenager in their school classroom throwing out objections. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:35.000 And for some tonight that is a daily question that you live with. 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:41.000 And I think we have to be very very careful in how we answer this question. 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:47.000 And because after all I have said tonight you might still be left asking the question why? 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:49.000 In fact I expect some of you will. 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:54.000 And the answer that we come back to again and again in so much of the study of the Bible is this. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:56.000 God is God. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:58.000 God is God. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:00.000 God is God. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:04.000 And that is an easy thing to accept at times. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.000 And we are going to sing a hymn before we come to the table. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.000 Which is a great hymn written by a man that struggled terribly with depression and mental health. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.000 And it says God moves in a mysterious way. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:17.000 His wonders to perform. 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:18.000 Let me read you verse 6. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:22.000 The blind unbelief is true to err and scam his working brain. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:24.000 There are times when we don't know. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:30.000 God is his home interpreter and he will make it plain. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:37.000 And so with that having said that I want to say that when it comes to the question of suffering. 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:39.000 It is a question every single one of us faces. 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:42.000 All you have got to do is live long enough. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:46.000 And if you have lived a life so far that has been free from suffering. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:50.000 I can assure you all you have to do is live a little bit longer. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:53.000 And you will face this question. 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:59.000 In fact the best statistics of what life is like for so many in our world. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:02.000 Tell us something this question is so very very relevant. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:06.000 I was reading this week about the earthquake in Haiti. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:09.000 That came so suddenly a number of years ago. 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:12.000 The death toll was over 300,000 people. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:18.000 But there is also the grim reality of normal life. 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:22.000 Three billion people live on less than one dollar a day. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:26.000 In the time it takes me to give this talk. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:28.000 Which I think will be about half an hour. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:33.000 150 people from around the world will die from AIDS related diseases. 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:37.000 75 people will die from drinking dirty water. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:41.000 And a further 300 people will die from starvation. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.000 The stats are overwhelming. 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:46.000 And suffering is an enormous problem. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:48.000 But it is not just a global problem. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:50.000 It is in our streets. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:52.000 It is in our homes. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:55.000 And as many of you know it is in our hearts. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:59.000 I went to see a couple who had waited 11 years for a child. 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:01.000 They are expecting their first child. 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:05.000 And were told that the child has severe spina bifida. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:07.000 And may not live more than a few hours. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:09.000 That is painful. 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:11.000 But not exceptional. 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:12.000 Is it? 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:17.000 And so today and tonight there will be broken bodies and broken hearts here. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:20.000 And you will know that. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:24.000 There are times in your life and in my life. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.000 When you realise life is too good to be true. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:30.000 You know those moments. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:33.000 You want to take those moments and you want to bottle them. 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:36.000 And you think if life is like this forever. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:37.000 I want it. 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:43.000 But before long we are again asking why, why, why. 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:45.000 Why does God let us suffer? 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:50.000 Where was God on September 11th dot dot dot. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.000 Where was God during that Haiti earthquake? 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:54.000 Where was God during the tsunami? 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:57.000 More personally, where was God when I needed him most? 00:03:57.000 --> 00:03:59.000 Was he not watching my pain? 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.000 Was God too weak to stop what I went through? 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:06.000 Was God too callous to care? 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:11.000 And so for many of our friends, human suffering is the decisive argument, isn't it? 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:16.000 It is the decisive argument that they launch against even considering the claims of Jesus Christ. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:20.000 There is a Dutch novelist called Henry Moolitz. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:25.000 And he wrote, anyone who believes in God after Auschwitz should be executed. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:35.000 Now in the face of that challenge, and it is a massive challenge, I think it should be a great relief to you and I that the Bible tackles the question of suffering head on. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:40.000 It tells us of Jesus crying when a friend of his died. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:44.000 It tells us of people murdered without cause. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:48.000 It tells us of people suffering from terminal disease. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:51.000 The Bible is a very honest book. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:55.000 And it records the suffering of honest, ordinary people. 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:59.000 And they ask, why do bad things happen to relatively good people? 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:03.000 And why is it that the wicked seem to get away with murder? 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:07.000 And of course they are complicated questions, aren't they? 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:09.000 They are very complicated questions. 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:12.000 And I don't expect to nail it in 25 minutes. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:18.000 Now let me just say, if I start, those questions need to be faced by everybody. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:24.000 Every belief system in the world needs to face the question of suffering, not just Christianity. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:31.000 So I don't know what you would say if I asked you, could you give me your explanation of suffering? 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:34.000 What would you say? 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:35.000 What would you say? 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:44.000 A Buddhist would say that pain is an illusion of the mind experienced by those who have yet to free themselves from their desires. 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:47.000 Let me say that again. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:57.000 Pain is an illusion of the mind that is experienced by those who have yet to free themselves from their desires. 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:12.000 So if you cry a funeral, I think it's fair to Buddhism to say it's because we've yet to free ourselves from a desire for love and relationship with the departed. 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:16.000 But that's not the way it works, is it, in life? 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:19.000 Pain is not an illusion. 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:26.000 And even if it is an illusion, the illusion of pain is pretty painful, isn't it? 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:35.000 At the graveside, I have never once thought, if only I'd love this person a little bit less. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:37.000 I've never thought that. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:40.000 If only I'd love them a little bit less, I'd be okay. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:44.000 I've only ever thought at the graveside in the crematorium, death is grim. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:47.000 So let's go to Islam. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:52.000 Allah is the direct cause of human suffering. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:58.000 So that if a plane falls from the sky, you can say, Allah will be so. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:03.000 In atheism, you and I are just bags of DNA. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:05.000 We're just here. 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:06.000 We're here. 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:14.000 And because we're here, and when I'm suffering, by definition, I'm not allowed to ask why, because there's no one to ask the question to. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:24.000 So Richard Dawkins can write, in a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt and others are going to get lucky. 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:28.000 And we won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:29.000 Nor any justice. 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:36.000 So let me say, that is the only position of consistent atheism. 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:38.000 I think you've got to give Dawkins credit there. 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:43.000 Suffering is not a problem for atheism, it's just a fact. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:53.000 And so one of atheism's great unreported tragedies is that it's got very few words of comfort. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:56.000 The lady whose child has died in childbirth. 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:01.000 There can be lots of sympathy from atheism, but no hope. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:05.000 By contrast, God understands. 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:11.000 And God, in the person of his son, shares our pain. 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:23.000 And over time, when that lady who has lost her child is ready to listen, God has actually got a great deal for say to her. 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:27.000 I want to make four really simple observations. 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:29.000 And it may be that this hope raises lots of questions. 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:31.000 I'm really happy to talk to you afterwards. 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:32.000 Email me, write to me. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:35.000 Write to one of the elders, talk to one of the elders. 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:36.000 There'll be lots of questions. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:39.000 Number one, I want to say to you, God explains the origin of suffering. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:43.000 God explains the origin of suffering. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:48.000 So when you go right back to the start of the Bible, back to Genesis 1 and 2, 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:51.000 Life is the good life. 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:56.000 Life is better than good in Genesis 1 and 2. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:00.000 In fact, when God created the world, life was perfect. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:03.000 No one lost their friends. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:07.000 No one walked out on their wife or children. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:09.000 It's a perfect world. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:12.000 It is life as it was meant to be. 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:16.000 And right in the middle of it is God. 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:20.000 And the people know God. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:22.000 And God knows them. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:24.000 And they have a relationship with God. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:26.000 And they follow his word and his command. 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:32.000 And as long as they walk in his ways, the world remains perfect. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:39.000 And so when we see pictures, like we see on TV of great suffering, 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:42.000 When we hear of suffering, 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.000 When we stand at the crematorium, 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:49.000 When we hear of a young person capped down in life, 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:51.000 We feel deep inside of us, 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:54.000 That is not the way the world should be. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:55.000 Isn't it? 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:58.000 You might be an atheist here tonight, but that's how you feel. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:09:59.000 It's not right. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.000 This is not how it should be. 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:06.000 And God says to you tonight, that is a right reaction. 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:09.000 It is right when you go to a funeral, 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:13.000 I think not to celebrate the life of the person who's departed. 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:15.000 I think it's right to go to a funeral and feel angry. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:20.000 Because God has made a perfect world. 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:23.000 And suffering is not normal. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:27.000 Suffering is a deeply alien intruder in our world. 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:29.000 And so the question is, where did the mess come from? 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:30.000 Where did it come from? 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:33.000 What went wrong with the world? 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.000 And the answer that the Bible gives you is we did. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:40.000 And so the start of the Bible is Genesis 1 and 2, 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:41.000 The world is perfect. 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:47.000 And Genesis 4 is a story of jealousy and murder. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:52.000 And in between Genesis 2 and Genesis 4 comes Genesis 3, 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:54.000 Which is where everything goes wrong. 00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:57.000 It's one page of the Bible. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:00.000 And yet it changes the world forever. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:06.000 What happens in Genesis 3, it's so brief, 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:10.000 Is that mankind, human beings, decide to go alone from God. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:14.000 Up until then they have trusted God. 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:19.000 We've done as he said, we've walked in his ways. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.000 And the world stayed perfect and we were happy. 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:26.000 But in Genesis 3 we said to God, we want to make the rules. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:32.000 And so in the name of freedom, we push God out of the picture. 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:37.000 And we've left ourselves center stage where we love to be. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:41.000 It's an act of personal rebellion. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:43.000 Against our making it didn't work. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:47.000 And so instead of freedom, we thought we were getting freedom. 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:50.000 What we brought into the world is carnage and slavery. 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:54.000 Submission to God has been replaced by selfishness. 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:58.000 And so protection has been replaced by pain. 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:03.000 So when we turn our backs on God, it's like a goldfish. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:06.000 The goldfish lives in the bowl, doesn't he? 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:08.000 In the water. 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:11.000 But he wants to enjoy the wide open spaces of the living room. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:17.000 He says to himself, I'm so constrained and constricted in this bowl. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:20.000 If only I can get out onto the carpet. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:21.000 That's where the fun really is. 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:24.000 The freedom sounds great, doesn't it? 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:27.000 But it ends in death for the goldfish. 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:33.000 The origin of human suffering is human rebellion against God. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:38.000 And as we look at the world, we see that very obviously to be true. 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:45.000 So a huge proportion of our world's suffering is caused directly by human sinfulness. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:50.000 So God tells us to be generous, but we choose to be greedy. 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:57.000 Even though there's enough food in the world for everyone, 800 million people today will be hungry. 00:12:57.000 --> 00:13:01.000 God tells us to be loving, but we choose to be violent. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:03.000 And so wars happen. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:06.000 People get mugged and attacked. 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:11.000 And we feel unsafe sometimes, so we walk the streets at night. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:16.000 The origin of human suffering is human rebellion against God. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:18.000 Some fight with guns and bullets. 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:20.000 Often we fight with words. 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:23.000 But the crime is the same. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:29.000 The majority of human suffering we cause. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:33.000 Well you've got to ask, haven't you? 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:35.000 And you are asking, what about the rest of it? 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:37.000 What about things like tsunamis? 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:39.000 What about earthquakes? 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:41.000 What about cancer? 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.000 What about child deaths? 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:46.000 Where does that come from? 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:50.000 And God explains that as well. 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:54.000 So let's say you're walking past the shop and there's a smashed window. 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:57.000 Somebody's picked up a brick. 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:00.000 And they put it through the window. 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:04.000 And the glass has splintered out from that, isn't it? 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:06.000 Those huge shop windows and the evening border. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:10.000 The glass has completely splintered out from that little stone that went through the window. 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:13.000 It splintered in every direction. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:19.000 And God says our rebellion, our sin is equally far reaching. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:25.000 And his judgement is far reaching for the whole of humanity in the world. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:32.000 So the Bible teaches that the whole world is warped. 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:34.000 And fractured. 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:36.000 Or frustrated. 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:46.000 The whole world has been knocked off centre in some way by that original act of human rebellion against God. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:51.000 So that in a general way, do you hear me? 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:58.000 In a general way, we can say that sin has brought disease and disaster, even death, into the world. 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:06.000 Which means, doesn't it, if God was here tonight and he was asking us the question rather than the other way round. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:13.000 I think the first would be, when we talk about suffering, do you admit that you are part of the problem? 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:15.000 Do you admit that? 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:19.000 That you are part of the problem of the things that you say. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:21.000 And the things that you do. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:24.000 The good things that you fail to do. 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:31.000 Are you willing to take that first, maybe really small step tonight of admitting, I'm part of the problem? 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:32.000 I'm part of the problem. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:42.000 It must be a great irony for God that so many people ask God, why don't you stop the suffering while we deliberately cause some? 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:48.000 There are things that you and I could do to eliminate some of the suffering of the world. 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:57.000 And the fact that we don't means that I think we need a little bit of humility before we start firing accusations against God. 00:15:57.000 --> 00:16:02.000 So first of all, God explains the origins of suffering. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:05.000 Secondly, God explains the reason for suffering. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:10.000 God explains the reason for suffering. 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:17.000 It's important to say that because suffering, tonight, you have to realise is not something beyond God's control. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:21.000 It's not like Star Trek or Star Wars. 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:23.000 I can never tell the difference really. 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:28.000 It's not like there's a big force in the world between good and bad. 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:32.000 There's a big force of good in the world fighting an evil force in the world. 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:37.000 Some days when they're fighting against each other, some days evil just wins. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:39.000 And so bad stuff happens. 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.000 It's not like God falls asleep on the job and bad things happen when he's not looking. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:49.000 We have to say, the Bible teaches God allows suffering in his world. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:53.000 God is in complete control over everything in it. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:55.000 Over you and over me. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:58.000 And the Bible tells us why. 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:00.000 There are three things. 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:04.000 First of all, the law of cause and effect. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:07.000 The law of cause and effect. 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:08.000 The law of cause and effect. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:13.000 You, as a human being, are morally responsible. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:16.000 You are morally responsible. 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:19.000 Our actions have consequences. 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:29.000 So if I get drunk tomorrow morning and I drive through a primary school playground at playtime, then I'm going to cause some suffering. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:32.000 And that is grim. 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:39.000 But the alternative is even more desperate. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:41.000 Think about it. 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:42.000 Think about it. 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:48.000 We'd soon be living in a world that would be utterly devoid of any significance at all. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:56.000 So if you were going to slap me, because you don't know what I've been saying, or you're offended by something, 00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:01.000 God would have to reach down from heaven and block your hands so you didn't cause me pain. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:08.000 Or if you were about to say something that was hurtful, you would have to reach down and zip up your lips again, 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:11.000 so that you didn't hurt me. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:17.000 And God couldn't let you fall in love, because every relationship carries with it the risk of getting hurt. 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:25.000 You could never take a risk in life, or in business, or in sport even, because failure hurts, doesn't it? 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:33.000 And so pretty soon you would be a robot living in a cosmetically sealed environment with no personal freedom at all, 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:36.000 no potential for human interaction of any kind. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:42.000 So can you see that suffering is a vital part of cause and effect, 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:46.000 which protects and it preserves human dignity? 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:49.000 There's more to it than that. 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:53.000 God never enjoys our pain. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:59.000 God never enjoys our pain, but he does actively allow us to suffer. 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:08.000 Many people think, don't they, that God is nothing but a kind of nice, favourite, gentle uncle. 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:13.000 But God is not just loving, he is perfectly just. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:20.000 And when we reject God, when we hurt each other, God's anger burns against us. 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:29.000 I want to say that it's not so much a kind of fly off the handle rage. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:32.000 That's like so much of our human anger. 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:35.000 It is his control and just punishment. 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:36.000 That's the second thing. 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:41.000 It's his control and just punishment of the evil within us. 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:42.000 That's what the Bible calls judgment. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:50.000 The Bible teaches that most of God's judgment will come at the end of time. 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:54.000 But it does come in part in this life. 00:19:54.000 --> 00:20:02.000 As God lets you and I experience the consequences of rebellion against him. 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.000 Now I want to stress to you that that doesn't work out in some disproportionate way. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:13.000 So if I crack a harsh joke, I end up stubbing my toe. 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:15.000 That's not how it works, alright? 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:19.000 That if you see someone who is painfully suffering in the world, 00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:21.000 that you're meant to wag your finger at them and say, 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:23.000 well you must have been a really naughty boy. 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:25.000 You can't, that's not how it works. 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:29.000 There are some religions out there that work like that. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:31.000 Karma. 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:37.000 You have that kind of idea that you do something in a past life which results in pain in this life. 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:39.000 But that's nothing to do with Christianity. 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:49.000 Collectively, God does give the human race over to a world that is spoilt and fallen and suffering. 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:53.000 Because collectively, we have rejected him. 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:58.000 And in that sense, he brings suffering on us. 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:03.000 And you may never have thought of this, but our rejection of God is so serious 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:06.000 that we deserve to suffer for it. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:18.000 It's actually only God's extraordinary patience which prevents us from suffering more than we do. 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:22.000 So why does God let us suffer? 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:23.000 It's partly cause and effect. 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:25.000 It's partly to punish us, but it's partly to wake us up. 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:30.000 C.S. Lewis uses this great line. 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:31.000 He says, 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:33.000 God whispers to us in our pleasure. 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:36.000 He speaks to us in our difficulty. 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:39.000 And he shouts to us in our pain. 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.000 Suffering is God's megaphone to rouse the deaf world. 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:47.000 God whispers to us in our pleasure. 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:50.000 He speaks to us in our difficulties. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:51.000 And he shouts to us in our pain. 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:54.000 And suffering is God's megaphone to rouse the deaf world. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:57.000 Luke's Gospel. 00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:58.000 We read it from Luke 13. 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:03.000 It speaks of an incident where a tower has collapsed and killed a load of people. 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:10.000 And the first thing Jesus says is that those victims were no more guilty than anyone else. 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:14.000 The victims of tragedy, they were no more guilty than anyone else. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:21.000 But if you look at the next two verses, he says twice, he wants you to learn from the deaths of those who've gone. 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:24.000 And he says, unless you repent, you too also will perish. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:30.000 He's not saying, unless you repent, a tower is going to fall on you. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:31.000 He's not saying that. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:37.000 But he is saying to you and I, we will meet God as our judge. 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:44.000 And that tower should be a reminder with them and us that God is angry with us. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:50.000 And that there is a fate that is worse than death, which is coming soon. 00:22:53.000 --> 00:23:02.000 And what we need more than anything else is to be reconciled and to be brought back into friendship with God before it's too late. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:07.000 So God lets us suffer in one sense to wake us up. 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:11.000 And so we can give examples of that, couldn't we? 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:17.000 Of people, lots of people who have suffered terribly, who wouldn't change their pain for all the world. 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:23.000 Johnny Erickson has probably written the best little book, kind of autobiography on suffering. 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:27.000 She became a paraplegic in a diving accident at 17. 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:32.000 But she says it was that that woke her up to her need for Jesus. 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:36.000 She says incredibly gladly she would go through it all again. 00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:38.000 So grateful to God. 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:42.000 For all she has in Jesus. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:47.000 One of the reasons God lets us suffer is to wake us up. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:51.000 To what is important, not only in this life, of course it does that. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:53.000 But to what is important in the next. 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:54.000 And the next. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:24:00.000 So again if Jesus was here tonight, he would look each of us in the eye, knowing everything that you've suffered. 00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:02.000 More so than I do. 00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:05.000 And knowing everything you will suffer. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:10.000 And eventually full of love he would ask you, 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:13.000 Have you learned the lesson of your suffering? 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:17.000 Has it humbled you? 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:20.000 And has it brought you to your senses? 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:23.000 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:25.000 God explains the origin of suffering. 00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:26.000 God gives the reason for suffering. 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:29.000 Thirdly, God promises an end to suffering. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:34.000 People often ask, why doesn't God do something? 00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:36.000 Why doesn't God put an end to it? 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:38.000 And the Bible says he will. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:42.000 The first two chapters of the Bible are about a perfect world. 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:45.000 And the last two chapters are about a perfect world. 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:49.000 Let's just go there. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:51.000 Revelation 21. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:53.000 It's on page 1041. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:57.000 Revelation 21. 00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:00.000 It's on page 1041. 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:03.000 So the first two chapters are a perfect world. 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:05.000 The last two chapters are a perfect world. 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:08.000 And this is what it says. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:10.000 Revelation 21 in verse 3. 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:15.000 There's a loud voice from the throne saying, 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:18.000 Behold, stop, shut up and listen. 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:22.000 Behold the dwelling place of God is with man. 00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:24.000 He's going to live with man again. 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:27.000 And he will dwell with them. 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:30.000 And they will be his people. 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:33.000 And God himself will be with them as their God. 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:36.000 He says it three times just in case you didn't get it. 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:38.799 The dwelling place of God is with man. 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:40.000 He will dwell with them. 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:42.000 God himself will be with them. 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:44.000 And what will he do with those four? 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:46.000 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:48.000 And death shall be no more. 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:51.000 Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:53.000 For the former things have passed away. 00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:59.000 Most days on the news, the world does not look good. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.000 But God says one day it will look very good. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:10.000 And suffering and tears and crying and death will be no more. 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:12.000 And we will be restored to life with God. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:22.000 So when someone cannot stop crying because they've been broken into by the pain that they've suffered. 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:28.000 It helps you to know that evil will not have the last word. 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:31.000 It will not have the last word. 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:37.000 So one of the loudest clamors in our society is for justice. 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:40.000 And God says it will be done. 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:45.000 There will be a perfect world again and every wrong will be righted. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:49.000 And so you ask, well why won't he do it now? 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:52.000 Why won't he stop the suffering? 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:53.000 Well let's think about that. 00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:59.000 If Jesus were to weed out every evil from the world, well who would he start with? 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.000 I think he'd probably start with terrorists. 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:08.000 And murderers. 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:10.000 And rapists. 00:27:11.000 --> 00:27:12.000 And pedophiles. 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:15.000 And would likely be better if we got rid of that group of people. 00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:16.000 Well yes it would. 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:21.000 And then he would get rid of people who attack others. 00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:24.000 Who hold up banks. 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:25.000 Pickpockets. 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:27.000 Con artists. 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:31.000 And then I guess he would get rid of people who's adultery. 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:33.000 Destroys families. 00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:36.000 He could go on. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:38.000 Anyone who's stolen anything. 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:42.000 Anyone who's ever told a lie. 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:46.000 And the numbers would be shrinking pretty rapidly wouldn't they? 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:47.000 For people. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:50.000 But it still wouldn't be a perfect place to live. 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:54.000 So who would be the next person to go? 00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:56.000 The greedy. 00:27:58.000 --> 00:27:59.000 The selfish. 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:02.000 You. 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:04.000 Me. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.000 I would have gone by then. 00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:12.000 But I'm not so sure that you would be long after me would you? 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:15.000 You see it is true isn't it? 00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:18.000 That we get caught in the crossfire of suffering. 00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:22.000 But we actually fire a lot of bullets ourselves. 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:26.000 We are the ones who might have the world. 00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:29.000 So when we ask. 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:31.000 Ask God. 00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:32.000 Get rid of all the evil in the world. 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:36.000 We're actually asking for him to get rid of us. 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:40.000 So can you see tonight. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:43.000 That it is very very loving of God. 00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:45.000 To delay the day. 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:46.000 When he's going to do that. 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:49.000 Because it gives. 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:52.000 You an opportunity to be in heaven with him. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:56.000 And that is because. 00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:58.000 Well this final brief thing. 00:28:59.000 --> 00:29:00.000 That is why the cross. 00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:03.000 Of the Lord Jesus Christ is so important. 00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:06.000 Because on the cross. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:08.000 The son of God. 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:09.000 Suffered. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:13.000 The question is. 00:29:13.000 --> 00:29:15.000 How can an imperfect rebel like me. 00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:17.000 Get a place in God's perfect world. 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:21.000 And the answer was nailed to a tree. 00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:22.000 Outside Jerusalem. 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:24.000 A couple of thousand years ago. 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:28.000 So little as I deserve it. 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:29.000 God loves me. 00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:34.000 God in the person of his son. 00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:36.000 Took on flesh. 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:38.000 And gave up his. 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:40.000 His immunity to pain. 00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:44.000 And he came to earth as Jesus. 00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:46.000 People question his birth. 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:48.000 Lots of people thought he was mad. 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:50.000 He was abandoned by his friends. 00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:53.000 He was wrongly convicted. 00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:56.000 He was sentenced to death. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:57.000 His back was lacerated. 00:29:57.000 --> 00:30:00.000 And thorns pierced his skull. 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:03.000 Nails were driven through his wrists. 00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:05.000 And he died a slow and agonizing death. 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:10.000 And that is important tonight. 00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:12.000 That is important because even at the moment. 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:14.000 Of my deepest pain. 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:18.000 There is a point of contact. 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:19.000 Between me and God. 00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:20.000 My God. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.000 Because the God man. 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:26.000 Jesus Christ. 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:29.000 On the cross knows my pain. 00:30:31.000 --> 00:30:32.000 The God man. 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:33.000 He has been there. 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:36.000 He has been a victim. 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:41.000 At the right hand of God in heaven tonight. 00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:42.000 The right. 00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:43.000 Is not. 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:45.000 Some out of touch God. 00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:47.000 Who sits in a house beyond the stars. 00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:49.000 Detached from all pain. 00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:52.000 Jesus the son of God. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:53.000 Bled and died. 00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:54.000 He has been there. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:56.000 He has suffered in his humanity. 00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:00.000 But the Christian can say more than that. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.000 Not only has he bled and died. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:06.000 He bled and died for me. 00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:10.000 Son of God loved me. 00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:13.000 And gave himself for me. 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:16.000 Me a rebel against him. 00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:20.000 The only thing that I deserve from God. 00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:21.000 00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:22.000 Is a death. 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:27.000 I deserve to be separated from God. 00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:28.000 Forever on the cross. 00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:32.000 To be forsaken by God. 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:36.000 But Jesus Christ cried out. 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:37.000 My God. 00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:38.000 My God. 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:39.000 Why have you forsaken me? 00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:40.000 And he bled. 00:31:41.000 --> 00:31:43.000 And the Bible's explanation of that death. 00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:45.000 Is the death that he died. 00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:46.000 He was dying. 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:50.000 That you and I deserved. 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:52.000 He died for me. 00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:55.000 And so as my substitute. 00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:56.000 He swapped places with me. 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:00.000 And so I can look at the cross tonight. 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:02.000 And I can see that the cross means. 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:03.000 That the price has been paid. 00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:08.000 And it means I don't need to face eternal death. 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:10.000 I can have eternal life. 00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:14.000 And I can know the God who made me starting now. 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:16.000 And lasting forever. 00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:17.000 And lasting forever. 00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:17.000 00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:21.000 Now let me say this. 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:23.000 Having the hope of heaven. 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:27.000 Does not stop me from crying. 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:29.000 When people I love die. 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:33.000 Having the hope of heaven. 00:32:33.000 --> 00:32:34.000 Does not stop me crying. 00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:36.000 When people I love die. 00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:39.000 But it does keep me going. 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:41.000 It does keep me going. 00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:45.000 The great kindness of God. 00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:47.000 To a world that has turned its back on him. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:49.000 Is that God tonight. 00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:51.000 Extends the offer of the hope of heaven. 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:53.000 To anyone. 00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:54.000 And to everyone. 00:32:56.000 --> 00:32:57.000 To come to Jesus. 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:01.000 And so God's final question for you tonight. 00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:02.000 Is will you do not? 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:03.000 Will you do not? 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:05.000 Will you come back to Jesus? 00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:06.000 Will you come back to Jesus? 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:08.000 Let's pray. 00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:10.000 Thank you.