Participants: David Shin
Series Code: 11POFCM
Program Code: 11POFCM000011
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00:48 Welcome again!
00:49 You heard the welcome in the opening but I'd like to 00:52 welcome you personally. Thank you for joining us 00:54 for this live presentation 00:57 of a message that will stir 00:59 your heart and bring you closer 01:01 to God's throne of grace. 01:02 During this hour we have Pastor David Shin 01:05 in a message entitled Where Is God When It Hurts? 01:09 This is perhaps a question that the majority of us have asked 01:12 during our lifetime when we've gone through 01:15 a difficult situation and we are wondering: "where is God? " 01:19 "Why isn't He doing something? " 01:22 And really God is working behind the scenes 01:25 in ways that we cannot imagine. 01:28 And He loves His children 01:30 and He wants the best for them. 01:33 So be encouraged. 01:34 And you're going to be encouraged as you hear 01:37 this powerful message from God's Word 01:39 through His servant Pastor David Shin. 01:41 We are going to be blessed also by music... 01:44 and we're going to pray in a moment and then we'll have 01:47 the music by Pastor C.A. Murray. 01:49 He will be with us singing a beautiful song 01:52 He Lifts Me. And I really am blessed when I hear 01:56 Pastor Murray sing. He sings from the heart 02:00 and has a beautiful voice. Amen? Amen. 02:04 I would like to ask you at this moment to please 02:07 stand for prayer. Thank you. 02:13 Let us go to the throne of grace. 02:17 Our loving Heavenly Father, 02:20 we thank you, Lord, for bringing your children here 02:23 to hear Your words. And we thank you, Lord for all the 02:28 people that are joining us through radio, 02:31 television, and the Internet... and even on telephones. 02:37 We praise Your name, Father, 02:39 that You have blessed us with these instruments to preach 02:42 the everlasting gospel. 02:45 And we pray that during this hour everyone that tunes in 02:48 and everyone that is here will be blessed. 02:52 We pray for Your Holy Spirit to take every word, every note, 02:58 and make it effective to bless Your children. 03:02 We ask You, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. 03:07 I would like to invite Pastor C.A. Murray... 03:09 thank you for taking your seats... 03:10 to come forward and he will sing He Lifts Me. 03:15 Listen to the words. Listen to God's message 03:17 through Pastor C.A. Murray and then the next voice you 03:20 will hear will be the voice of Pastor David Shin. 03:23 God bless you. 03:36 He lifts my burden 03:40 whenever I'm down. 03:45 He gives me joy 03:50 when I'm wearing a frown. 03:54 He is my hope 03:58 in the midst of despair. 04:03 And He... He is my comfort 04:08 for He's always there. 04:18 So I sing 04:22 not because I feel like singing. 04:27 And I praise Him 04:31 though the end I may not see. 04:38 For whenever 04:40 I lift the name of Jesus 04:45 Jesus reaches down 04:50 and He lifts me. 05:01 He gives the music 05:05 that makes my heart glad. 05:10 He whispers peace 05:15 whenever I'm sad. 05:19 He is the sunshine 05:24 that brightens my day 05:28 and He... He is the lighthouse 05:33 to show me the way. 05:39 So I sing 05:42 not because I feel like singing. 05:48 And I praise Him 05:52 though the end I may not see. 05:58 For whenever 06:01 I lift the name of Jesus 06:05 Jesus reaches down 06:10 and He lifts me. 06:16 So I sing 06:19 not because I feel like singing. 06:25 And I praise Him 06:29 though the end I may not see. 06:35 For whenever 06:38 I lift the name of Jesus 06:43 Jesus reaches down 06:47 turns me around 06:50 and He plants my feet on higher ground... 06:56 He reaches down 07:01 and He 07:05 lifts me. 07:32 Amen. Thank you, C.A. 07:35 Jesus reaches down and lifts us and we can sing 07:39 even when we don't feel like singing. Amen? 07:44 Let's bow our heads together as we pray. 07:47 Our Father in Heaven, we thank you 07:52 that even in the midst of trials and suffering 07:57 this side of heaven, 08:01 that You are the peace in the midst of our storms. 08:06 That you do not promise us a life in which 08:10 there will be no trials... no tribulations, 08:14 but that our lives can be anchored in the Rock 08:17 of Jesus Christ. 08:20 And Father, this morning as we enter into this very 08:24 difficult topic: Where Is God When It Hurts? 08:30 Where is God in the midst of suffering 08:33 and unthinkable anguish? we pray that You would lead us 08:37 through Your Holy Spirit as we open Your Word, 08:40 as You speak to each one of us. 08:42 We ask these things in Jesus' name, Amen. 08:48 Our seminar this morning is entitled 08:50 Where Is God When It Hurts? 08:54 And I'd like to invite you as we begin our study 08:58 to go in your Bibles to a book that is many times 09:02 difficult to find: Habakkuk chapter 1 and verse 13. 09:07 When's the last time you heard a sermon from the book of 09:09 Habakkuk? 09:12 Habakkuk chapter 1 and verse 13. 09:15 He's a minor prophet. 09:17 Found in the Old Testament... Habakkuk chapter 1 and verse 13. 09:22 I'll be reading from the New King James version. 09:24 You can follow along whichever version that you're 09:26 reading there. Habakkuk chapter 1 and verse 13. 09:30 And I believe that this verse 09:33 frames our study here today. 09:37 Habakkuk is a prophet of God and he's asking the Lord 09:41 a question that has perhaps crossed the minds 09:44 of you in this auditorium here or perhaps those of you that are 09:49 tuning in via satellite. Habakkuk chapter 1 verse 13 09:53 and I want you to notice the question that Habakkuk is asking 09:56 in this verse. He says: "You are of purer eyes 10:00 than to behold evil; 10:02 and cannot look on wickedness. 10:06 Why do You look on those who deal treacherously 10:11 and hold Your tongue when the wicked devours a person 10:17 more righteous than he? " 10:20 Are you seeing the argument that Habakkuk is making here? 10:24 He's making the argument that: "God... You hate evil! 10:28 Evil is antithetical to Your character and to Your nature. 10:32 Furthermore, You have the power, the capability 10:35 to intervene in the lives of humans. 10:38 Why is it that You stand in heaven 10:42 and hold Your tongue while the wicked devours the righteous... 10:48 more righteous than he? " 10:51 You can frame it in this way: 10:53 "God... why aren't You doing anything? 10:57 Why aren't You doing anything when the righteous 11:02 are suffering? " And this is a question that is asked 11:05 by believers and non-believers alike. 11:08 I want to read this quotation from William Lane Craig. 11:11 He's an apologist. He says: "Undoubtedly 11:15 the greatest intellectual obstacle to belief in God... " 11:20 Notice, the undoubtedly... according to him, 11:22 "the greatest intellectual obstacle to belief in God 11:26 for both the Christian and the non-Christian 11:29 is the so-called problem of evil. 11:33 That is to say: it seems unbelievable 11:37 that if an all powerful and loving God exists 11:43 He would permit so much pain and suffering in the world. " 11:49 And I want to tell you, I have met individuals that say 11:54 this life of suffering is incompatible 11:59 with the existence of a loving and all powerful God. 12:03 They look at the Holocaust. 12:05 They look at the genocide in Rwanda. 12:08 They look at suffering in their individual lives - 12:11 the loss of a loved one - and they say: "I cannot 12:14 believe in God because if God is loving and God is all powerful, 12:19 He would not have permitted this to happen in my life. " 12:27 I had the opportunity to go to the Holocaust Museum 12:31 in Washington, D.C. 12:33 Some of you may have had the opportunity to go there 12:38 at one point. It's a different experience 12:41 than any museum I've ever been to. 12:44 In most museums there's quite a bit of chatter. 12:48 There's quite a bit of conversation going on. 12:53 But in this particular museum they start you out 12:56 in an elevator beginning with a video. 12:59 You go to the third floor and you work your way down 13:03 from the top floor. And when the elevator opens 13:07 and you step out and you start beholding the things 13:11 that happened during the Holocaust 13:12 there's absolute silence. 13:17 Everyone is shocked. 13:19 No one says a thing because of the many times graphic 13:23 imagery that we had to behold. 13:27 I remember a room I went into. 13:30 It was full of shoes. 13:33 Smelled of leather and I... my heart sunk when I looked 13:39 and it was a shoe about that size. 13:42 Size of a baby. 13:45 I went into another room and they had a picture of hair 13:48 that they would shave off of the Jews. 13:50 They would tell them that you need to be sanitary. 13:53 You need to be clean. All this propaganda 13:56 as they were herding them like cattle into these shower areas. 14:01 And everyone thought they were going to take a shower. 14:03 They shaved their hair for lice. 14:06 They went into the shower chamber, and from the top I saw 14:10 the graphic there where the SS guards would then put 14:15 canisters of gas into the room and the people would perish 14:19 and then be stacked like crates awaiting the inferno 14:25 of the furnace. 14:27 At the end they had testimonies of individuals that had survived 14:31 the Holocaust, and I'll never forget a young lady 14:37 that was on the edge of tears 14:42 recounting the Holocaust. 14:44 And she said that at one moment a SS truck 14:49 came across the grounds of the... of the camp there 14:53 and out the back fell a child. 14:57 The child was still alive, and then the SS guard took 15:00 the child, did an unspeakable act, and then threw the child 15:05 back into the car. 15:08 And she said at that moment she stopped believing in God. 15:14 Stopped believing in God. 15:16 I went to another exhibit where Dr. Mengele 15:20 who took the Hippocratic oath which is to save life 15:23 systematically did medical experiments on children. 15:29 He would do lobotomies. 15:31 I saw individuals that were placed in ice-cold water 15:35 just to see how long they would live. 15:37 Then they would take another child and place them in 15:40 hot water and take his vitals. And it was like a scientific 15:42 experiment. These gentlemen were standing there 15:46 with their clipboards. 15:48 And how can we deal with the travesty of the genocide 15:54 of the Holocaust and believe in God? 15:59 This is a fair question! 16:00 This is a question that many people have asked, and 16:03 I want to read a former Supreme Court Justice of Israel... 16:08 Wrote the former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Haim Cohn: 16:14 "I would say in the name of the Holocaust that the Holocaust 16:20 is final, conclusive proof 16:24 that there can be no God. 16:28 If there were a God, He would not be a just and merciful God 16:33 but a cruel and unjust God, 16:36 a God of inequity. 16:39 Not a God who does not slumber and sleep 16:42 who watches over His people 16:44 over all to tribute to God cruelty, injustice, 16:48 and inequity. We - if I may say so - 16:52 should do Him the favor of denying His existence. " 16:59 Here is a gentleman that says the Holocaust is final, 17:03 conclusive proof that God cannot exist. 17:07 Not the God that we know. Not a God that is loving and 17:10 all powerful... because if He did exist, He would have stopped 17:14 the genocide of the Holocaust. 17:19 Dostoevsky crafted from another angle. 17:24 And he says: "If all must suffer to pay for the eternal harmony, 17:29 what have the children to do with it? Tell me, please: 17:32 what about the children? 17:35 What am I to do about them? " 17:37 He's asking the question. Many times we as adults... 17:42 we make decisions and we suffer the consequences of those 17:47 decisions. But he says: "What about the children? " 17:50 What in the scope of this meta-narrative of the Great 17:54 Controversy is the suffering of innocent children 17:58 before the age of accountability? 17:59 And Dostoevsky is saying he doesn't have the answer 18:02 to this question. 18:04 Why must children suffer for the mistakes of other individuals? 18:09 Why doesn't God at least step in and stop the suffering 18:13 of the innocent child? 18:15 What purpose does it serve when infants are tortured? 18:23 We don't have the time to go into all the dynamics of 18:29 this and I don't claim to have all the answers, 18:31 but I'd like to approach a three-prong argument 18:35 that to me has given me some "faith hooks" 18:39 on which to hang my belief in God. 18:44 They've been of help to me. 18:45 And the 3-prong approach... the first one is, 18:49 because it is a philosophical answer, I'd like to 18:52 delve a little bit into the philosophy that it is reasonable 18:57 to believe in the existence of a loving God... 19:00 even in the midst of suffering. 19:02 I'd like to go most importantly to the Biblical argument. 19:05 What does the Bible have to say about this? 19:07 And then last I'd like to go into the emotional argument. 19:11 Because if we just have the philosophy - even if we have 19:15 the theology - we need to be able to comfort someone 19:19 that is experiencing loss. 19:21 And I believe that the Bible has the answer to that as well. 19:26 As we delve into the philosophical argument 19:29 for the compatibility of the existence of God and evil 19:34 I'm reminded of the rabbi Harold Kushner. 19:38 He wrote a book in the 80's called "Why Bad Things 19:43 Happen to Good People. " 19:45 This book actually came out of his own life story. 19:49 He had a son. 19:51 He loved his son like all fathers do. 19:54 At an early age his son was diagnosed with a rare 19:58 genetic disease called progeria. 20:02 Progeria is rather acute in that 20:05 a child never grows beyond three feet tall, 20:10 has no hair on his head or body, 20:13 and dies of old age in early adolescence. 20:18 Which happened, by the way. 20:20 Perhaps you've seen these children that look like 20:23 90 years old... about this tall... completely bald. 20:29 And Harold Kushner, as a believer in God, 20:33 when he was laying his son in the grave... 20:36 This is not natural... 20:39 children are supposed to bury their parents. 20:41 It's a nightmare for parents to have to bury their children. 20:45 And as Harold Kushner was laying his son in his grave 20:47 his whole view of God came crashing down around him 20:52 because he thought in his mind: "if God is all loving and all 20:55 powerful He would have intervened. 20:57 He would not have let my son die of progeria. " 21:01 And this was his reasoning: if God is love 21:04 and God is all powerful, 21:07 He would not have allowed my son to die of progeria. " 21:13 "My son died of progeria. Therefore, God must be 21:17 loving or all powerful... but not both. " 21:20 You see what his reasoning is? 21:22 He is saying that if God is loving and all powerful 21:24 He would have intervened. 21:26 And so Harold Kushner said that God exists 21:29 but because my son died this means that either God is 21:33 loving or God is all powerful... but He cannot be both. 21:38 Are you following his reasoning here this morning? 21:41 That these two components: omnipotence and all loving 21:46 are incompatible when faced with the evidence 21:49 of the suffering that we're seeing here on earth. 21:52 And this was a paradox; this was a contradistinction. 21:56 This was a conundrum to Harold Kushner. 21:59 David Hume put it this way: 22:02 "Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? 22:05 Then He is impotent. 22:07 If God is able but not willing, then He's malevolent. 22:12 Is He both able and willing? 22:14 Then whence standest evil? " 22:17 Another author summarizes: 22:19 "If God is perfectly benevolent and also omnipotent 22:22 or almighty, why is there evil in this world? 22:26 Why does God permit it? " 22:30 And so you can see that it's very logical... 22:32 it's very rational from this standpoint of view 22:35 faced with the evidence of the things that we see here on earth 22:38 that the existence of God - 22:41 the existence of these two attributes of His character: 22:44 all loving and all powerful - 22:47 seem to be incompatible for the Christian. 22:51 Yet we know from a Biblical standpoint of view 22:54 that the Bible is very clear that God is all powerful. 23:00 Amen? Amen. That there is nothing too hard for Him to do. 23:04 The book of Jeremiah is very clear on that. 23:06 God spoke things into existence from nothing. 23:11 God can do anything. "For with God nothing is impossible. " 23:15 Yet at the same time we see that the Bible says that God is 23:19 the very definition of love. 23:23 God IS love. 23:26 Love IS God. 23:29 And yet these two components seem to be at odds. 23:36 I'd like to propose that when we think about these two attributes 23:42 perhaps we have not understood omnipotence 23:47 to the fullest degree. 23:49 First of all, when we talk about omnipotence 23:54 I'd like to propose here this morning that there are certain 23:57 things that God cannot do. 24:04 Now before you say that I'm a heretic 24:12 I'd like to read this from Hebrews chapter 6 verse 18. 24:17 The Bible says: "That by two immutable things in which 24:21 it is impossible for God to lie. " 24:24 Amen. There's one thing that God cannot do. 24:26 It's antithetical to His character and to His nature. 24:28 It's impossible for God to lie. 24:30 So you see that even in the nature of omnipotence 24:33 there are certain inherent limitations because of the 24:36 character and the nature of God. Yes? 24:40 There are certain other things that are inherent 24:42 because if God were able to do these things 24:45 it would lessen God's power. 24:47 "We do not" one person says "lessen God's power 24:50 when we say that He cannot die or be deceived. 24:55 This kind of inability which removed would make God less 24:59 powerful than He is. God is rightly called omnipotent 25:04 even though He is unable to die or be deceived. 25:07 It is precisely because He is omnipotent that for Him 25:10 some things are impossible. " 25:14 God cannot die; God cannot lie; God cannot be deceived. 25:17 Well you say: "What about the cross, David? 25:19 Didn't God die there? " 25:21 It's interesting when you notice the language of Jesus. 25:24 He says: "I lay My life down and I raise it up again. " 25:28 Incidentally Ellen White says that at the cross 25:30 divinity never died. Amen! 25:32 I don't understand it but I believe it. 25:34 God cannot die; God cannot lie; God cannot be deceived. 25:40 In addition to this, we have some other fundamental questions 25:43 regarding the nature of love. 25:45 Some philosophers have asked the question 25:49 which I don't really care about but I just pose it here: 25:51 Can God make a triangle with four sides? 25:57 Because if you make a triangle with four sides 26:00 it's no longer a triangle. 26:02 They ask the question: "Can you make a circle 26:04 with a square edge? " 26:06 Once a circle has a square edge it's no longer a circle, 26:09 isn't that right? 26:11 Now I could care less about this. Or they say: 26:13 "Can God make a mountain so big that He Himself 26:15 cannot move it? " 26:16 Now this is philosophical pablum, but here's the question 26:20 that is very poignant for the Christian: 26:22 Can God make a love that is forced? 26:26 Can God make a love that is coerced? 26:29 Because in the very definition of love 26:32 once love is forced it is no longer love. 26:38 That's the way that love works. 26:40 That's what makes love so beautiful. 26:43 Inherent within the very nature of love 26:45 is freedom of choice - Amen! - volition, free will. 26:51 Once you have love you have the possibility 26:54 that that person will not choose to love you back. 26:57 So inherent with these two components - 27:00 omnipotence and love - omnipotence has some inherent 27:05 limitations... and then you have love. 27:07 And then you see that there's even more limitations because 27:10 of free will and volition and the freedom of choice. 27:15 I heard this one illustration... 27:19 actually, Dr. Zacharias who is a Christian apologist 27:22 was at a university and he opened up the floor. 27:28 And university students from a secular standpoint of view 27:31 would stand up and start asking Dr. Zacharias some questions. 27:34 And one gentlemen stood up and said: "Dr. Zacharias, 27:39 how can you believe in God when there's so much evil 27:42 in this world? " Dr. Zacharias said: "Sir, 27:46 can you stand there while I ask you some questions? " 27:50 The gentleman said: "Yes. " 27:52 He said: "You've asked me a question 'how can I believe 27:54 in God when there's so much evil in this world? ' 27:56 If there's evil, there must be good. Isn't that right? " 28:01 Amen. The man said: "Yes, you're right. " 28:03 "If there's good and evil, there must be a transcendent 28:07 moral law that determines what is good and evil. 28:10 Isn't that right? " 28:12 And the man said: "Yes, you're right. " 28:14 "So follow his reasoning: if there's good 28:16 there must be evil. If there's good and evil, 28:18 there must be a transcendent moral absolute law 28:20 that judges between what is good and evil. 28:23 If there's a law, there must be a Lawgiver. 28:26 Isn't that right? " Amen! 28:28 And the man said: "What them am I asking? " 28:34 And he took a seat. 28:37 You see, when you ask the question 28:40 "How can you believe in God when there's so much evil 28:43 in this world? " inherent within the question 28:46 unbeknownst to the person who is asking the question 28:50 is the assumption that there is a Lawgiver. 28:55 Now some people have gone so far as to say 28:58 because of the rationale of this argument 29:01 that evil does not exist. 29:05 But I would say that inherent within each one of us 29:09 there's certain things that we see that cries out 29:13 in our moral fiber and tell us "this is wrong. " 29:20 "This is evil... this is not right. " 29:29 There's a question that is asked in regards to the 29:33 existence of evil. One person put it this way: 29:37 "If God does not exist, 29:39 then objective moral law values do not exist. 29:43 If evil exists, therefore 29:46 objective moral values exist... 29:49 therefore God exists. " 29:50 Einstein put it this way: 29:53 "In physics there's no such thing as a cold. 29:56 Cold is the absence of heat. 30:00 There is no such thing as darkness... 30:02 darkness is the absence of light. 30:05 And in a moral sense, there is no such thing as evil 30:09 apart from the existence of God. " 30:13 So you can see that it's very rational 30:17 that the possibility of evil can exist 30:20 even in the face of an omnipotent and loving God. 30:25 Now the philosophical argument obviously doesn't have all the 30:28 answers. And most importantly, I'd like to go to the Bible. 30:32 What does the Bible say in regards to this? 30:35 And we can't talk about this topic without going to the 30:38 book of Job. I'd like to invite you to go to 30:42 the book of Job. Job is a fascinating book. 30:48 Interestingly enough, it is patterned in a way 30:52 that the first two chapters of the book of Job 30:55 has the calamity, and then the rest of the book of Job 31:01 is battling with the answers to this calamity. 31:05 Job has a travesty happening in his life... 31:08 a multitude of unfortunate events. 31:11 And then his three friends - if you can call them that - 31:15 come to him and start posing some questions. 31:22 I'd like to invite you to go to Job chapter 1 and verse 6. 31:31 "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present 31:34 themselves before the Lord 31:36 and Satan came among them. 31:40 And the Lord said to Satan: 'from where do you come? ' 31:44 So Satan answered the Lord and said: 31:46 'from going to and fro on the earth... 31:49 from walking back and forth on it. ' 31:52 And the Lord said to Satan: 'have you considered 31:54 my servant Job? There is none like him on the earth. 31:58 A blameless and upright man. A man who fears God 32:01 and shuns evil. ' 32:03 So Satan answered the Lord and said: 32:06 'does Job fear God for nothing? 32:09 Have You not made a hedge around him? 32:12 Around his household and around all that he has on every side? 32:17 You have blessed the work of his hands 32:19 and his possessions and have increased the land. 32:21 But now stretch out Your hand 32:24 and touch all that he has and he will surely 32:27 curse You to Your face. ' 32:30 And the Lord said to Satan: 'behold, all that he has 32:34 is in your power. Only do not lay hand on his person. ' 32:39 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. " 32:42 For the first time, I believe, in the Old Testament 32:47 suddenly you see the curtains are placed back 32:51 and you're able to see this conversation between 32:54 God and Satan and they are considering His servant Job. 33:01 This doesn't help us in understanding much 33:04 because you see in the next verses what happens to Job. 33:07 In verse 13: "Now there was a certain day when his sons 33:11 and daughters are eating and drinking wine 33:13 in their oldest brother's house. 33:15 And a messenger came to Job and said: 33:18 'The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them 33:23 when the Sabeans raided them and took them away. 33:25 Indeed they have killed the servants with the edge 33:27 of the sword and I alone have escaped to tell you. ' " 33:35 The next verse... verse 15: 33:37 "When the Sabeans raided them and took them away 33:40 indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of 33:42 the sword and I alone have escaped to tell you. " 33:48 Verse 16: "While he was yet speaking... " 33:52 you'll see this phrase come up over and over again... 33:56 "another also came and said: 'the fire of God fell from 33:59 heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants 34:01 and consumed them and I alone have escaped to tell you. ' " 34:05 Verse 17: "And while he was yet speaking 34:09 another came and said: 'the Chaldeans formed 3 bands, 34:12 raided the camels and took them away 34:14 and yes, killed the servants with the edge of the sword 34:17 and I alone have escaped to tell you. ' " 34:21 You can read these verses in just a few seconds 34:23 and I want you to notice the way that this is happening. 34:25 Job is sitting there having a great day. 34:28 Wonderful time. It's a beautiful day outside. 34:31 The sun is shining and suddenly a servant comes 34:35 and in the midst of the travesty that he is reporting 34:38 another servant comes and reports another one. 34:41 And in the midst of that travesty another one comes 34:44 and reports the next travesty. 34:47 This is stunning to say the least. 34:50 And then in verse 18 the most devastating thing happens. 34:55 "And while he was still speaking another also came and said: 35:01 'your sons and daughters' - 35:04 can't imagine what that feels like for a parent - 35:08 'all of your sons and daughters 35:11 were eating and drinking wine in the oldest brother's house 35:15 and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness 35:18 and struck the four corners of the house 35:20 and it fell on the young people and they are dead 35:25 and I alone have escaped to tell you. ' 35:30 Then Job rose, tore his robe, shaved his head, 35:34 fell to the ground and worshiped and he said: 35:37 'naked I came from my mother's womb 35:41 and naked I shall return. 35:44 The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. 35:48 Blessed be the name of the Lord. ' 35:52 In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. " 36:01 Perhaps you've experienced something like this 36:03 in your life. 36:06 Perhaps not on the magnitude of Job but there has been 36:10 suffering in your life that you have just not been able 36:13 to understand. 36:15 And the question that arises is "Why? " 36:19 "Why, God, is this happening to me? " 36:25 There is no rationale or reason for this 36:27 and what is Job supposed to think? 36:30 He's lived a righteous life and many times the sentiment 36:33 that people have is that if you are a Christian, 36:36 if you believe in Jesus, 36:39 things like this will not happen to you. 36:42 But here in the book of Job in the narrative you see 36:45 that here is a righteous man, a blameless man, 36:47 and yet the most awful unimaginable things 36:52 happened to Job. 36:55 Let's go down to chapter 2 and verse 7: 37:01 For the sake of time you can read through 1 through 6. 37:04 They have another conversation in heaven. 37:06 Satan says "You haven't let me touch him. 37:09 That's why he hasn't cursed You. " 37:13 And God said: "you can do what you will but spare his life. " 37:18 In verse 7: "So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord 37:21 and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot 37:25 to the crown of his head. 37:28 And he took for himself a pot shard 37:31 for which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of 37:34 ashes. " He had lost everything near and dear to him. 37:38 Economic ruin; financial ruin. 37:42 He lost his children. 37:44 He lost his entire family save his wife 37:47 which doesn't turn out to be the greatest blessing 37:49 as you can see in the next verse. 37:52 In verse 9: "Then his wife said to him: 37:55 'do you still hold fast to your integrity? 37:58 Curse God and die. ' " 38:03 Wraps this up in a temptation. 38:05 "But he said to her: 'you speak as one of the foolish 38:07 women speak. Shall we indeed accept good from God 38:10 and shall we not accept adversity? ' 38:13 So in all this Job did not sin with his lips. " Amen. 38:18 Just so that we can understand what Job went through 38:20 this is a modernization of the book of Job 38:24 from a poet named Archibald MacLeish. 38:27 He says: "Job and his wife were comfortably settled 38:30 in their suburban home settling down to a meal. 38:34 Job said: 'God is on my side. He is very good to me. ' 38:41 Job's wife chirps in: 'Yes, God doesn't give us all this 38:44 for nothing. A good home, good food, 38:48 father, mother, brothers, sisters. 38:51 We have our part to play. 38:53 If we do our part, He does His; He always has. ' 38:58 But then two drunk soldiers stumbled into the house 39:02 with the news that Job and Sarah's three sons 39:07 had been killed. 39:09 Next a son and daughter are smeared across the road 39:13 by a drunk driver in a head-on collision. 39:16 A second daughter is murdered and dumped in a near lumberyard. 39:20 Finally an earthquake destroys all their financial assets 39:24 leaving them in economic ruin. 39:27 Her finely woven theology is crushed like a spider web 39:32 under a boot. Sarah hisses: 'God is our enemy. ' 39:38 Job loses everything: family, possessions. 39:42 His wife says: 'Curse God and die. ' " 39:45 And then three friends come and take up the majority of 39:50 the rest of the book of Job. 39:52 And it's really beautiful poetry. 39:54 Many people have commented how the book of Job is one 39:56 of the beautiful - most beautiful - examples of 40:00 Hebrew poetry. Job speaks; his friend speaks. 40:03 Job speaks; another friend speaks. 40:05 And the basic thesis of their argument is this: 40:08 "Job, the reason why you're suffering is because you have 40:10 some sin in your life. " 40:13 This was a common Jewish sentiment that if you were 40:16 sinless or a righteous man that God would bless you. 40:20 If you were sinful, you would be cursed. 40:22 And Job is proclaiming his innocence and they go 40:24 back and forth, back and forth. And so that is the essential 40:28 synopsis of the middle of the book of Job. 40:31 You have the travesty... the calamity... 40:34 and then the rest of the book of Job is Job and the 3 friends 40:38 going back and forth trying to figure out 40:40 why this has happened to them. 40:45 "Why God? We just don't understand this. 40:47 Why the devastation and the loss? Job was a good man... 40:53 a godly man. " And they are trying to figure out 40:57 the answers. 40:59 Finally God speaks. 41:04 I'd like to invite you to go to Job chapter 38. 41:10 Job chapter 38. After the dialogue between Job and his 41:16 friends going back and forth, back and forth: 41:19 "Why, God? Why? Why is this happening? 41:21 I just don't understand this. " 41:23 And this seems to consume our lives in many ways. 41:25 We have something happen in our lives and we're trying to 41:29 figure out the questions... the answers to why this has 41:33 happened to make sense of the suffering. 41:36 And then in Job chapter 38 verse 1 41:39 God clears His throat 41:44 and says: "Let Me speak. " 41:49 Job chapter 38 verse 1: 41:52 "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind 42:00 and said: 'Who is this 42:05 who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? ' " 42:12 He says: "Let Me put things in their proper context. " 42:18 Verse 3: 42:22 "Now prepare yourself like a man 42:25 and I will question you and you will answer Me. " 42:31 You see, in the narrative of Job Job is asking all the questions. 42:34 "Why? Why? Why? Why? " 42:36 And God clears His throat from heaven and speaks 42:38 from the thunder and says to Job: 42:42 "I want to as you some questions. Prepare yourself. " 42:48 And the God proceeds to ask sixty-four 42:53 consecutive questions in rapid-fire succession. 43:00 Now I don't have the time to read all of them 43:02 but I just want to read a few of them. Verse 4: 43:05 "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? " 43:10 How are you going to answer that? 43:13 "Tell me if you have understanding... 43:16 who determined its measurements? 43:19 Surely you will know. 43:21 Or who stretched the line upon it? 43:25 Tell: what were its foundations fastened or who laid 43:29 its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together 43:32 and all the sons of God shouted for joy 43:35 or who shut in the sea with doors 43:38 when it burst forth from the womb and issued 43:41 from the womb. When I made the clouds its garment 43:45 and thick darkness its swaddling band? " 43:50 Sixty-four questions consecutively asked 43:54 to which Job says: "I don't know. " 44:03 And when you read Job's answer and his rationale 44:08 he comes to the conclusion 44:12 that there are many things in life 44:14 that he does not understand 44:18 yet he accepts. 44:24 I don't even understand how my cell phone works. 44:26 Do you? Speak into this plastic thing. 44:31 I know that some places overseas they think it's voodoo. 44:35 Understand? You just can't understand it. 44:38 How in the world can you talk into this little device 44:41 and I can talk to my sister who lives in Africa. 44:46 But because I do not understand it doesn't mean 44:49 I do not use it. 44:53 I don't even understand how my car works. 44:58 But we don't use the line of reasoning: 45:00 I don't understand my car; therefore I'm not 45:01 going to drive! 45:04 I don't understand how I can get in a metal object 45:08 with wings and fly. 45:12 And there's so many things. I don't understand how 45:14 the milky way galaxy is 100,000 light years across. 45:20 Amen. 100,000 light years. 45:23 Going the speed of light it would take you 100,000 years 45:27 to get from one end to the other! 45:29 There's 100 billion galaxies in the universe 45:33 and they're still counting! 45:37 There's billions of stars in our galaxy alone. 45:41 You just have to look up and realize 45:44 that we understand very little. 45:50 And God asks all these questions. 45:54 And the basic response by God is this: 45:57 "There's a lot of things in life that you don't understand 46:00 yet you accept. " And He says: 46:03 "For the things that you do not understand... trust Me. " 46:08 Amen. "Trust Me. " 46:11 That's God's response in the book of Job. 46:13 "Trust Me. With what I have revealed about My character, 46:18 My nature, My love, I have given abundant evidence 46:23 as to My character... the character of God. 46:28 Trust Me with the things that you do not understand. " 46:34 Amen. 46:38 When you go to Job chapter 42 and verse 12 46:49 I like the way that it ends. 46:57 "Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job 47:01 more than his beginning 47:06 for he had 14,000 sheep, 47:09 6,000 camels, 47:11 1,000 yoke of oxen, 47:15 1,000 female donkeys. He also had 7 sons and 3 daughters. " 47:21 "The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more 47:25 than his beginning. " 47:28 Which tells us from an eternal standpoint of view 47:32 it may not be in this life 47:34 but I believe when we get to heaven 47:38 and we look back on this life 47:42 and we look at Jesus 47:45 that one day we will have the answers. 47:49 God says "trust Me until we get there. " Amen? 47:52 Amen. We're not there yet, but in this life 47:54 we're going to have questions that we simply cannot understand 47:57 and Jesus is saying: "Trust Me until that moment 47:59 and I promise, I promise, that when you get to heaven 48:04 and when you look back on this life 48:06 I will have the answers. " 48:09 Amen. "I will have the answers. " 48:11 I want to read a quotation here 48:13 that talks about this eternal perspective. 48:17 "The God of the universe invites us to view life and death 48:20 from His eternal vantage point. 48:24 If we do, we will really see how it can revolutionize 48:29 our lives, our daily anxieties, emotional hurts, 48:34 tragedies, our responses and responsibilities to others, 48:39 possessions, wealth, and even physical pain and death. 48:44 All of this and much more can be informed and influenced 48:49 by the truths of heaven. 48:52 The repeated witness of the New Testament is that 48:55 believers should view all problems indeed 48:59 from the perspective of their entire existence. 49:05 From what we call the "top down" perspective. 49:09 God and His kingdom first followed by various aspects 49:14 of our earthly life. " 49:17 When we take the eternal perspective... and I can't help 49:20 but think of that phrase "heaven is cheap enough. " 49:26 Amen. When we get to heaven we try to think of all the 49:29 problems, all the things, all the suffering, 49:31 I believe that they will not be able to come to mind 49:34 and we will say: "heaven is cheap enough. " 49:37 Hallelujah. Hosanna to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. 49:41 Amen. And God is saying: "Hang on! " 49:44 "Hold on... even though there are some questions in this life 49:47 that you just cannot comprehend, you just cannot understand. " 49:50 I can't explain the Holocaust; I can't explain Rwanda. 49:54 But God is saying: "Someday when you get to heaven 49:59 things will make greater sense. " 50:00 And even as we look back on our lives 50:03 those things that have devastated us 50:06 we will be able to see the good. 50:09 Romans 8:28: "All things work together 50:11 for good to those who love God; 50:14 to them that are called according to His purpose. " 50:19 We come to the emotional argument: how do you comfort 50:21 someone who is experiencing loss? 50:25 There's one person who said: "In the final analysis 50:31 one experiences only one's self. " 50:35 Politicians say "I feel your pain. " 50:39 But in reality, physiologically that isn't possible. 50:44 You only feel your own pain. 50:49 We can empathize, we can sympathize... but 50:51 physiologically - emotionally speaking - there's no way that 50:54 you can bind yourself neurologically to the other 50:59 individual and transfer the pain from that person 51:02 to yourself. And that's a blessing because 51:05 one person can only experience the suffering for one man. 51:11 I think of my sister. 51:15 She was born prematurely. 51:18 And my mother tells this account even 20 years later. 51:23 And from mother's perspective I think one of the most 51:27 difficult things that you can experience is seeing your 51:29 children suffer. And she said how 51:34 in the experience of the premature birth - she was 51:36 born I think 3 or 4 months ahead of time, 51:39 just a tiny baby - 51:41 and an intern was trying to get an IV in her arm. 51:45 An intern... And her veins were very small 51:50 and my mom said that the intern 51:53 tried and missed. Pulled it out. Tried and missed. 52:00 Pulled it out again and tried and missed. And my sister 52:03 is just screaming. 52:05 And my mom said with tears in her eyes 52:08 "I just wished 52:12 I could pass the chasm, 52:18 fuse the nerves, 52:20 and transfer the pain from your sister to myself. 52:27 I wanted to take her pain as a mother, but I could not. " 52:33 And it broke her heart that she could not traverse 52:37 that chasm to transfer the pain from my sister to herself. 52:42 And this is a law of nature. 52:45 But I want to tell you that there was one time 52:50 in human history when the pandemic personalization 52:56 of pain was non-existent. Amen. 53:00 When Jesus hung on the cross He experienced 53:06 all the shame, all the suffering, all the guilt 53:09 of the entire human race that ever existed 53:13 and will exist. 53:16 Jesus feels your pain. Amen. 53:24 He tasted death for every man. Hebrews 2:9. 53:28 He died for the sins of the whole world 53:30 and Isaiah 53:6 says: 53:32 "On Him was laid the iniquity of us all. " 53:40 So you can go to a brother or sister that is suffering 53:43 and say: "I don't understand why this is happening to you 53:47 but I want to tell you Jesus understands. " 53:52 Amen. Amen? Amen. 53:55 Jesus feels your pain. 53:57 He knows exactly what you're going through. 54:00 And one day Jesus says He will make all things new. 54:05 Hang in there. Jesus will never leave you or forsake you. 54:10 He is the eternal Comforter that can carry you through this. 54:17 He feels your pain. 54:19 God is not detached. 54:23 He's not a God who sat in heaven 54:29 while we groveled here on earth in our suffering. 54:34 God came down from heaven. Amen? 54:36 Amen. Got His hands dirty. 54:41 Experienced what we experienced. 54:44 And now as a High Priest in heaven, we can know 54:48 that Jesus understands. Amen. 54:52 This doesn't answer all of our questions. 54:57 This doesn't make things all the easier. 55:04 But the Bible is telling us 55:06 that as the Christian we have hope. 55:12 Amen. We have hope. 55:17 We have seen today that from a philosophical standpoint of 55:22 view it is rational and reasonable to believe 55:26 in the existence of God even in the midst of suffering. 55:31 We've seen from a Biblical standpoint of view 55:35 that God is telling us in the book of Job 55:38 "Trust Me. " 55:41 "Trust Me with the things that you just can't comprehend... 55:45 that you just can't understand. " 55:47 And He promises that one day we will recognize 55:52 God's hand... even in the travesties of life. 55:59 And finally we understand that Jesus 56:05 is a High Priest in heaven that understands. 56:09 He feels our pain. 56:12 He knows what we're going through. 56:18 I want to read the words from this hymn: 56:27 Jesus is all the world to me: 56:32 my life, my joy, my all. 56:38 He is my strength from day to day... 56:41 without Him I would fall. 56:46 When I am sad, to Him I go. 56:51 No other one can cheer me so. 56:54 When I am sad 56:58 He makes me glad. 57:00 He's my friend. 57:03 Amen. It's my prayer today 57:06 that whatever you're going through 57:11 that Jesus will be your friend. Amen? Amen. 57:15 That Jesus will hold you in His everlasting arms. 57:20 May God bless us and keep us to that end. |
Revised 2014-12-17