Participants: Charissa Fong
Series Code: FGW
Program Code: FGW000015
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00:27 Good evening everyone.
00:28 Welcome. Ah, I should have waited for you to say 00:31 good evening. Welcome to the Encounter Series. 00:33 Our subject tonight: Where Is Jesus When It Hurts? 00:37 And I invite you to bow your heads with me as we open 00:39 with a word of prayer. 00:41 Father in heaven, as we take a look at what Your Word 00:44 has to say tonight concerning a question which all of us 00:48 would love to know the answer to 00:50 pray, Lord, that You'll send Your Holy Spirit 00:52 to speak to our hearts. 00:53 In Jesus' name. Amen. 00:56 Lee Strobel, a former atheist turned Christian journalist, 01:01 he writes of an encounter he had with a man by the name 01:05 of Charles Templeton. And you can see him there 01:08 on your screen. Charles Templeton met 01:10 Billy Graham in 1945. 01:13 Together they struck up a quick friendship 01:16 and went many places together, 01:18 often roommates on preaching tours. 01:21 Charles Templeton was a very successful evangelist. 01:24 He built a church, and very quickly the membership of that 01:28 church grew to over 1200 people. 01:31 But like many people in our world today 01:34 doubts began gnawing at Templeton's faith 01:37 until soon - decimated by doubts - Templeton 01:41 left the ministry and he moved with his family to Canada 01:45 where he became a commentator and novelist. 01:49 It was there that Lee Strobel, our atheist-turned-Christian 01:53 journalist, he tracked Templeton down for an interview. 01:56 And when he found Templeton he was an aged man 02:00 suffering from Alzheimer's disease, a death sentence 02:04 above his head. And Strobel looked Templeton in the eye 02:08 in his home there in Canada and he asked him this question. 02:12 He said: "Was there one thing in particular 02:15 that caused you to lose your faith in God... 02:18 to stop believing in God? " 02:20 And Templeton nodded. He said: "Yes. " He said: 02:23 "There was this picture in LIFE Magazine. 02:26 It was a picture of a woman in northern Africa 02:29 and she was holding the little body of her dead baby 02:33 and she was looking up to the sky with the most forlorn 02:37 expression and she was weeping. 02:39 Her child could have lived, " he said, 02:42 if she only had rain. " And he said: "When I saw that 02:46 picture I thought to myself and I knew in my heart 02:49 that there couldn't be a God. " 02:51 And then he shifted in his chair and became more animated 02:55 and he said: "I don't run the rain; you don't run the rain. 02:58 HE runs the rain. And so if God was really who He claimed to be 03:03 well then surely you'd think He could turn it on 03:05 for a woman like her. " 03:07 Strobel sort of expected this response from Templeton 03:11 and so he asked another question. He said: "Well, 03:13 do you believe that Jesus ever lived? " 03:17 And Templeton nodded: "Oh, yes, I believe He lived. " 03:20 "Well do you believe Jesus was God? " 03:21 "Oh no... no, He's not God. " 03:24 He said: "Well what is your estimate of Jesus Christ? " 03:27 Templeton's body language relaxed. 03:30 It was as though he was about to talk about a loved friend 03:34 and he said these words. He said: "He was the 03:36 greatest human being who ever lived. 03:39 He was a moral genius. 03:41 His ethical sense was unique. 03:43 He was intrinsically the wisest man I have ever encountered 03:47 in my life. His commitment was total and led to His own death. 03:53 What could one say about Him except that this was a form of 03:57 greatness. " Strobel was shocked. 04:00 He hadn't expected this kind of response from a man 04:03 who gave up on faith altogether. 04:06 And he said: "Well you sound like you really care 04:08 about Jesus. " And Templeton said: "Well yes I do. 04:12 I know this might sound strange to you, " he said, 04:15 "but I... I... I adore Him. 04:19 I think He's just the most important human being 04:22 who has ever existed. " And then he paused 04:25 and added these words: "And if I might put it this way" 04:29 his voice beginning to break, 04:31 "I miss Him. " 04:34 And with that, Templeton began to weep. 04:38 You can read the rest of this incredible interview 04:41 that transpires between Strobel and Templeton 04:44 in Strobel's book called A Case For Faith. 04:47 Friends, Templeton's dilemma is one which all of us 04:50 must face. We have to deal with it because, let's face it, 04:54 in our world today everywhere we look 04:56 every single day of our existence 04:59 there is evidence all around us of a hurting planet. 05:03 Heartbreak and human suffering are our daily diet. 05:07 Everyone has encountered pain and suffering. 05:10 Everywhere we look we can see stories of people 05:13 whose lives have been wrecked by pain and suffering. 05:18 Often when I go on the Internet to check my e-mail 05:21 I'll check the headlines for the day. 05:23 And I think... I've always through that I've seen the worst 05:26 headline I could possibly read. 05:28 But then I'll hop on and I'll read this headline that 05:30 just seems to drip of hurt and reek of pain... 05:35 so much so that it seems to outdo all the others. 05:39 And so the question arises: "Well where is Jesus 05:42 in all of this hurt? " 05:43 "Where is Jesus in pain and suffering? " 05:45 "Who is responsible for all the tragedies that we see 05:49 around us? " And "If God is good, 05:52 then what on earth went wrong? " 05:54 Well friends, when Jesus came to this earth many years ago 05:58 He put His finger on the guilty party. 06:01 You see, He once told the story about a sower 06:04 who went out and he sowed good seed in a field. 06:08 But when the plants began to grow 06:11 there were noxious weeds among them. 06:13 And so the Bible tells us in Matthew chapter 13 verse 27 06:28 I was sitting in my garden just the other day 06:31 asking exactly the same question. 06:33 And notice the response of Jesus when He interprets 06:37 this parable. 06:59 Wow! Who is this enemy that we find here 07:02 mentioned in the book of Matthew 07:04 and where on earth did he come from? 07:06 Well friends, the answer is absolutely shocking. 07:10 It's about enough to knock your socks off! 07:12 And my sister when she listens to me and she hears me say that 07:16 she says: "Charissa, if you want to make it more impactful 07:19 you could say 'it's about enough to knock your 07:21 wet socks off. ' " So ladies and gentlemen, 07:24 tonight this is about enough to knock your wet socks off. 07:27 Come with me to the book of Revelation. 07:30 Revelation chapter 12 verses 7 to 9. 07:33 You can look it up in your Bible or you can read it 07:35 on the screen. Revelation chapter 12 verses 7 thru to 9. 07:41 And the Bible says: 08:12 Friends, did you catch that? 08:15 The Bible tells us that there was war in heaven. 08:19 Now I mean, sure, we have plenty of wars on planet earth. 08:23 The earth is filled with peace monuments that are erected 08:26 after every war, but who would have thought 08:29 that there could have been war in heaven? 08:32 War in paradise? 08:34 The two words are binary opposites. 08:37 I recognize - I really do - that human nature 08:40 is such that when there are earthquakes and wars 08:43 in other countries and calamities far away 08:46 they seem less catastrophic than the first scratch 08:50 on your new car. But friends, let's not miss this. 08:53 The Bible tells us there was war in heaven. 08:57 Let's continue reading on verses 3 and 4 of the same 09:00 chapter. Notice what it says: 09:21 Evidently this enemy of God who appears here in heaven 09:26 he is so effective in his rebellion against God 09:30 that he is able to convince 1/3 of the angels in heaven 09:34 to follow him in his rebellion. 09:37 But where did this devil - this Satan - come from? 09:42 Nothing comes from nothing... nothing ever could... 09:46 So did God create a devil? 09:50 No. The Bible tells us here in Ezekiel chapter 28 09:55 verses 12 to 14. The Bible describes this same being 10:00 and relates it to the king of Tyre. 10:03 The Bible says: 10:26 He has a pretty good description there, don't you think? 10:29 Now I don't know about you, but names absolutely fascinate me. 10:34 When I was growing up, I used to very much enjoy 10:38 reading the baby names book that my mum had in her library. 10:41 And I used to enjoy reading it because I could see what 10:44 my friends names meant and I could tell them 10:47 "Ah, your name means storm" or whatever. 10:50 And then I could also see what names were legal. 10:53 So it was really interesting to explore the names 10:56 in the baby names book. 10:58 And one day I approached my parents and I said to them: 11:01 "You know how you called me Charissa? " 11:04 Well are there any other names that you considered 11:06 when you were trying to name me? And they said: "Oh yes. 11:10 There were many names. " My mum said: 11:12 "We thought of calling you Emily or Katherine 11:15 or Sarah. Yes, we thought of those names for girls. " 11:18 And my dad said: "Yes, if you were a boy we were going to 11:21 call you David" - because his name is David - 11:24 "or Conan or Tyrell or... " get this... 11:28 "Tell - T-E-L-L. " 11:32 Why would he choose names like that? 11:34 Because apparently they were the hero in some cowboy book 11:38 he was reading. 11:39 Can you imagine that? If my name was Tell he'd say: 11:42 "Can you tell Tell to tell them about the telster bill? " 11:45 So I praise God I'm not a Tell. 11:47 But friends, the Bible is about to tell us 11:51 that the name of this fallen angel was Lucifer. 11:55 We'll see that in just a moment. 11:56 But that name... it means Lightbearer. 12:00 And I think that's fascinating because often 12:03 when we think of the enemy - the devil or Satan - 12:06 we picture him as having, you know, red leotards 12:10 with two horns and smoke coming out of his ears... 12:13 green eyes and a pitchfork and a tail. 12:17 But according to the Bible Lucifer was a perfectly-created 12:21 angel. He was absolutely beautiful. 12:24 And in the text that we just read the Bible calls him 12:28 the cherub who covers. 12:30 In other words, he was one of the two angels who stood 12:34 right next to the very throne of God in heaven. 12:38 But he wasn't content to be next to God. 12:41 Lucifer wanted to be God. 12:45 And this is what God said of Lucifer. He said: 12:56 And again in Ezekiel 28 verse 17: 13:08 Friend, this beautiful, exalted angel 13:12 became self-centered. 13:15 Satan started to have I trouble. And I'm not talking about 13:20 eye trouble... the eyes that you see with. 13:22 No, Satan had a problem with himself. 13:25 I is the middle letter in sin; 13:29 it is the middle letter in pride; 13:31 it is the middle letter in Lucifer; 13:33 it is our most common pronoun; 13:36 and it is also our most common problem. 13:39 He coveted all the honor and glory that was due God 13:43 for himself and he was power hungry. 13:47 He was a little bit like this man here. 13:52 One day Frederick the Great decided that he wanted to 13:55 declare war on a neighboring country. 13:57 And so he instructed his secretary: "Take down notes 14:01 and write a proclamation to tell them - my kingdom - 14:03 that we're going to war. " 14:05 And so the secretary began to dictate out loud. 14:08 "Whereas in the providence of God... " and Frederick 14:11 snapped his fingers and said: "Stop right there. " 14:13 He said: "Just stop lying. Tell them quite simply 14:17 that Frederick wants more land. " 14:19 There was no hiding his motives there. 14:22 Frederick was selfish and so was Satan. 14:25 And Satan... he had the boldness to challenge the Creator 14:30 of the universe... in fact, his very own Creator... 14:33 for the rulership of His universe. 14:37 Isaiah 14 verses 12-14: 15:00 A big head is hard to keep under your hat. 15:04 And friends, as these arrogant words spilled forth from 15:07 Lucifer's lips, the perfect harmony of heaven 15:11 was disrupted and shattered into a million selfish pieces. 15:16 And it wasn't long before Lucifer's spirit of discontent 15:20 began to spread slowly to the other angels. 15:24 And in my mind's eye I can see it all happening. 15:27 I imagine Lucifer walking down the streets of gold 15:30 one day. And as he does he sees a group of angels 15:34 sitting by the side of a lake... of a river there in heaven. 15:38 And so he goes over to them and he starts to talk to them. 15:41 This is what he says: 15:43 "Hey, God is a dictator. " 15:46 And the angels' faces change. They've never heard this before. 15:50 And he continues... he said: 15:52 "He cares nothing about us. 15:55 He's only concerned about Himself. 15:57 He's only interested in His own power. 16:00 Come on. Let's join forces. Let's go and face Him 16:03 and stop Him from being this way. " 16:06 Now lies were foreign to the angels in heaven. 16:10 They had never heard a lie before in their lives. 16:13 And so as they hear these lies they start - some of them - 16:17 start to believe them. And like a rotten piece of fruit 16:21 in a box, rebellion spreads to the other angels 16:25 there in heaven. 16:26 And perhaps at this point you are wondering: 16:28 "Well couldn't God destroy Satan and stop him right then? 16:33 I mean surely God knew that there was rebellion 16:36 brewing there in heaven. " 16:38 And I believe He knew that as well. 16:40 But friend, had God wiped him out in a blinding flash 16:44 all the other angels would not have worshiped God because 16:48 they truly loved Him. They would have worshiped God 16:51 because they were afraid that He might do the same to them 16:54 if they didn't worship Him. 16:56 Suppose I break it down a little bit more 16:59 and make it a little bit more understandable. 17:01 How many of you have children here tonight? 17:04 Can you raise your hands? Oh good, quite a few of you. 17:07 Now, how would you like it if your child 17:12 was like a robot so they did everything that you asked them 17:14 to do whenever you wanted them to do it? 17:16 Yes I expected there would be a few parents who would want that. 17:19 Well suppose you could program them to wake up and say 17:23 "Good morning, mom. Yes I will eat my breakfast. " 17:26 "Dad I will mow the lawn. " 17:27 "Yes dad, I will put out the rubbish... " 17:29 and they actually did it. 17:30 You wouldn't have a child... you would have a robot. 17:34 And I expect you actually want children not robots, correct? 17:38 You're not sure. 17:40 OK. Well, I hope you want children. And friends, 17:44 God... He wanted children as well. 17:47 God created humanity with the ability to be Mother Teresas 17:52 or Joseph Stalins. To be Adolph Hitlers 17:54 or Winston Churchills. 17:56 How did He do that? He gave to the human race 17:59 the freedom of choice. 18:02 And friends, freedom has a quality of what we call 18:05 irrevocability. In other words, if you give 18:09 someone the freedom of choice 18:10 and they take that freedom and do something you don't want them 18:14 to do... you cannot take it back 18:16 and make it work the way you want it to 18:19 because that's not freedom. 18:21 That's being a control freak. 18:23 And friends, God isn't a control freak. 18:25 God is love. Can you say "Amen? " Amen. 18:28 And friends, He is only happy when you and I are in a love 18:31 relationship with Him. 18:33 A minister... he asked a group of children one day... 18:36 He said: "Why do you love God? " 18:38 And there were many responses that came back 18:41 but the one he loved the most was this: 18:43 one little boy said: "I think it runs in my family. " 18:46 Wouldn't it be wonderful if the love of God could run 18:49 in the family. But friends, true love 18:51 demands a choice. It must allow you to say "yes" 18:55 and the right to say "no. " 18:58 And friends, Satan - when he challenged God's rules there 19:01 in heaven - basically he was challenging God's laws. 19:05 He made these laws to protect His creatures 19:07 and to ensure their perfect peace and happiness. 19:11 But Satan... he tried to thwart that. 19:13 It was a bit like... He was a little bit like 19:15 an admiral on a U.S. Navy battleship. 19:20 And this battleship was heading on a course one night 19:24 and they looked out and the admiral said: "I want you 19:28 to make your course this way. " And so they started 19:31 to direct the ship in this certain direction. 19:33 And as they were going in this certain direction 19:35 the navigation officer... he looked out through his 19:38 binoculars and he saw a light in the distance. 19:42 And so he sent word back to the admiral 19:45 and he said: "Look, we're going to have to... 19:46 There's a course... there's a ship in our course ahead of us. 19:49 We might need to tell them to move. " 19:51 And so they send word to the radio center 19:54 and the radio center sent a message to this on-coming ship. 19:58 And they said: "You need to change your course 20:01 10 degrees to the south. " 20:03 And the word came back: "You change your course 20:06 10 degrees to the south. " 20:08 They had two unsuccessful exchanges until finally 20:12 the admiral, he was so annoyed and upset, he made his way down 20:16 to the radio control room himself. 20:18 He picked up the microphone and he bellowed into the microphone 20:22 "Do you know that you are talking to an admiral 20:25 in the United States Navy? " 20:27 And then after a brief moment of silence 20:31 the even-tempered response came: "Sir, do you know that you 20:35 are talking to the lighthouse? " 20:38 Yeah, it's a good story, isn't it? 20:41 In the same way, God's laws were there to protect us. 20:46 Like that light of the lighthouse, it was there 20:48 to protect the ship. God's laws are like traffic lights 20:52 and signs. They're there to make your life and my life 20:55 so much more wonderful and easier. 20:57 But friends, this most honored angel in heaven 21:00 he thought that he could run God's universe 21:04 better than God Himself. 21:06 And so God... well, the devil... he made a devil out of himself. 21:11 And friends, God is a God of love. 21:13 And He allowed Satan to demonstrate to the universe 21:17 how he would run that universe if he was in control. 21:21 I don't personally understand why the devil wanted to run 21:25 the universe when God was already so loving and so good, 21:29 but he did... and that's what the Bible tells us. 21:32 History tells us of a statue that was erected 21:36 in honor of the victims of the Grecian games back there 21:40 in Greece. And one of the losers of the Olympic games there 21:44 they were so jealous of this person who had a statue 21:48 erected in their honor that one night they snuck out. 21:52 They made their way to the statue and they began to attempt 21:55 to push it over because they were so jealous. 21:58 But the statue was so heavy it didn't move very easily 22:02 at first. And so they threw their weight onto the statue 22:06 and it suddenly began to topple. 22:08 He was very happy with that and he kept pushing 22:11 and eventually the statue fell... 22:13 but it toppled on him and it crushed him. 22:16 And in exactly the same way the devil went out to try and 22:20 overthrow God's kingdom... overthrow His rule. 22:23 But it backfired and Satan lost. 22:26 And I'll tell you why in just a moment. 22:28 Friends, Satan's war was not a war on drugs. 22:31 Wasn't a war on terrorism... it was a war on people. 22:35 And when that war began in heaven it shifted territory 22:39 and it moved down to planet earth. 22:42 Because Jesus and the Godhead they had just finished creating 22:46 this planet. It was beautiful. Spectacular. 22:49 A wonderful showplace of creative brilliance 22:52 just fresh from God's hand. 22:54 And evidently when Satan saw our planet 22:57 he thought to himself: "Um-hmm. This will make a wonderful 23:01 place for me to establish my headquarters. 23:04 And so he planned to seize this newborn world. 23:08 And although Adam and Eve were created perfect 23:12 and they were living in a perfect environment 23:14 God gave to them that freedom of choice 23:18 which meant that they could also sin and choose 23:21 to turn their backs against God. 23:23 And of course God warned them 23:25 back there in the Garden of Eden. 23:27 Genesis 2 verses 16 and 17: 23:44 Now that must have seemed like a very reasonable request. 23:48 After all, they had fruit trees and wonderful things 23:52 all around them. And if God said "just don't touch that one" 23:55 well they would have thought to themselves: "Yes, 23:57 we can handle that. " 23:58 And often when we are in a place where we feel secure 24:02 and we feel very comfortable we are also very vulnerable. 24:06 And that is exactly what happened to Eve 24:09 because you see Satan came down into that garden. 24:12 And when she least expected it 24:15 he appeared in the form of a serpent 24:18 and he began to speak to her. 24:20 And as she was walking and she hears this voice 24:24 coming from this tree that God said: "Don't touch" 24:27 she was greatly... she had a lot of curiosity. 24:31 And so she walked over to that tree 24:33 and she sees this talking serpent. 24:36 And this is what the serpent says: 24:45 And Eve replied very quickly: 25:09 And as Eve listened to the serpent 25:12 she must have known that this didn't ring true 25:15 with what God had told her and Adam. 25:18 And so perhaps as she was considering this in her mind 25:22 her facial expression started to look slightly concerned. 25:25 And so the serpent quickly adds another lie 25:29 into his argument, and he said: 25:43 The devil was suggesting to Eve that God was unfair. 25:47 He was holding back something that they would really like. 25:52 And remember too? He had wanted to be like God in heaven. 25:55 Now he presents the same idea to Eve and she falls for it. 26:01 In an impetuous moment Eve sold out. 26:05 The Bible says in Genesis 3 and verse 6: 26:20 Ah, in that one small act 26:23 the ramifications we are still continuing to experience today. 26:27 I like it... it's very similar to this adage right here 26:31 about the horseshoe nail. The adage goes like this: 26:34 For the want of a nail the shoe was lost. 26:37 For the want of the shoe the horse was lost. 26:40 For the want of the horse the rider was lost. 26:42 For the want of the rider the battle was lost. 26:44 For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost. 26:47 And all for the want of a horseshoe nail. 26:50 Little things... little things can have huge consequences. 26:55 And friends, the source of evil is not God's power... 27:00 it is mankind's freedom. 27:03 Eve then gave that fruit to Adam and then Adam and Eve 27:06 when they both ate of it 27:08 they had failed in their test of loyalty to God. 27:11 And it wasn't long before they started to realize 27:15 that their planet had changed, it had been hijacked. 27:20 They started to see things they'd never seen before. 27:22 Thorns on rose bushes 27:25 and leaves falling off the tree and dying 27:28 and flowers dying. They had never seen this before. 27:32 And so Adam and Eve... they started to feel guilty. 27:36 And that evening when God came 27:38 to walk in the cool of the garden in the evening 27:42 like He always did 27:43 He called out for Adam and Eve. 27:45 "Adam... Adam, where are you? " 27:47 And usually they came running. They loved this time of the day. 27:51 They loved to talk with God. 27:54 But not on this day... they went and hid. 27:56 And God went looking for them in the garden until finally 27:59 He heard and voice. And Adam said... he said: 28:10 Adam had never been afraid of God before in his life. 28:14 But friends, that's what sin does. 28:16 It separates us from God. It makes you feel afraid of God. 28:21 In verse 11 God said: 28:27 And he said: 28:34 Very quick to pass the blame, hey? 28:36 And a few hours before Adam... he loved Eve so much 28:40 he would have been willing to die with her. 28:42 But sin had wrecked their perfect relationship. 28:46 Sin wrecks relationships. 28:49 And so Eve... she was not really any better, was she? 28:52 When God asked Eve she said: 28:57 In other words, she was blaming God for making the serpent 29:01 who deceived her. And so, of course, God had asked 29:04 Adam and then he had blamed Eve. And so God asked Eve 29:08 and she had blamed the serpent. 29:09 When God got to the serpent, he didn't have a leg to stand on. 29:13 The cost of obedience is nil compared to the cost of 29:18 disobedience. It costs very greatly 29:21 when we disobey God. And that very day 29:25 when they sinned they were doomed to die. 29:29 And so to keep Adam and Eve from eating of the Tree of Life 29:33 which may have meant that they lived on and on and on 29:35 and sin would never be stopped God evicted them from 29:38 the Garden of Eden. But the Bible says: 29:48 During World War I, in his intense studies of the 29:53 strategies and movements of Adolph Hitler 29:55 Winston Churchill, the British prime minister, 29:58 he operated on one primary assumption: 30:02 that any foreign policy statement given by Hitler 30:06 was the exact opposite of the truth. 30:10 And friend, I wish Adam and Eve had worked that same thing out 30:14 about Satan back there in the Garden of Eden. 30:17 Could have saved us a whole lot of trouble. 30:19 But friends, they discovered too late that Satan is: 30:26 And friends, it is easy to blame God for the world... 30:29 for the heartbreak and devastation that we see 30:32 around us. But friends, Satan is really the one 30:35 who is responsible for all the havoc. 30:38 He is the one who brought trouble to this planet 30:41 causing sin and suffering ever since. 30:44 And Jesus, when He came down to this planet, 30:46 He made sure He unmasked this truth. 30:50 One Sabbath the Bible tells us He went and He was preaching 30:53 in the synagogue. And when He was in that synagogue 30:56 he encountered a suffering woman who had been suffering 31:00 with a crippling deformity. 31:03 And Jesus was greatly touched by her condition 31:06 and He felt very much for her, so He healed her. 31:10 And then the Bible says that Jesus says concerning this woman 31:14 in Luke 13 verse 16... He said: 31:31 Friends, Jesus said that Satan had bound this woman 31:35 for 18 years. Satan was the guilty one. 31:38 He was the sinister force behind all the pain and suffering 31:42 she was experiencing. 31:45 Though perhaps nowhere in the Bible do we see his strategy 31:49 and his sinister scheming more clearly 31:52 than we do in the book of Job. 31:57 Job was one of the most richest men who ever lived. 32:01 That's probably bad English. He was the wealthiest man 32:04 who ever lived back then in the very beginning. 32:07 And the Bible tells us that one day 32:08 God had a meeting in heaven where He called all the sons 32:12 of God to come. And would you believe it? 32:16 But Satan gatecrashed that meeting and this is what 32:19 happened here. Notice what the Bible says in Job 1:7. 32:29 In other words, "Who on earth invited you and what gives you 32:33 the right to be here? " 32:35 And so Satan answered the Lord. He said: "I come... " 32:44 Satan here claims to have taken the dominion of planet earth. 32:49 That dominion God had given to Adam 32:52 but now Satan said: "It's mine. " 32:54 At any rate, he has a challenge for God. 32:56 And so God... He hears him say this. 32:58 And this is what God says in Job 1 verses 8, 9, and 11. 33:04 He says: 33:31 What a challenge to give to God! 33:37 Satan claimed that the only reason why Job was loyal 33:40 to Him was because God was giving him so many good gifts, 33:45 good things. And so God said to him: 33:57 And he was very eager to get his hands on Job's possessions. 34:02 And the Bible tells us these things happened 34:04 in quick succession. 34:05 First, the Sabeans stole all his cattle 34:09 and murdered all his servants and shepherds. 34:12 Then second, lighting struck his sheep and killed his sheep 34:16 and shepherds. Third, the Chaldeans came 34:19 and they plundered Job's camels. 34:22 And fourth and perhaps the most heartbreaking of all 34:26 all of Job's sons... all of his children... 34:29 they were there in the eldest son's house having a party. 34:33 And while they were having that party 34:35 a tornado comes out of nowhere and wipes them all out. 34:39 Poor Job! Poor Job! 34:42 He thought that the Lord had taken everything away from him. 34:46 He didn't realize that Satan was the one responsible. 34:50 And yet did Job change his loyalty to God in the midst 34:54 of this? Incredibly the Bible tells us 34:58 Job 1 and verse 21: 35:08 He couldn't understand why all these tragedies had happened 35:12 but he trusted in God's goodness. 35:14 And Satan was mad! It didn't work. 35:18 So he came back to God and he said: 35:41 And so the test was on. Would Job remain faithful 35:47 to God in the midst of all of this? 35:50 The Bible tells us that: 36:02 I have never had a boil before in my life, 36:05 but if you have had a boil you will know exactly 36:08 how Job would have felt. Can you imagine 36:10 being covered with these sores from your head to your toes? 36:15 And not only that, but your wife starts leaving you as well. 36:18 Everything was going wrong for poor Job 36:21 because he chose to remain faithful to God. 36:24 But friend, I think he's absolutely amazing. 36:27 Notice what the Bible says. 36:29 In the midst of all of Job's pain and suffering 36:32 the Bible says: 36:44 Who hurt Job? Satan. 36:47 Who played Job? It was Satan. 36:51 Who was the one who killed his servants 36:53 and all of his livestock? Satan. 36:55 Who was the one responsible for the deaths of his children? 36:59 Satan. Satan was the one behind all the pain and suffering 37:03 that he endured. And friend, the Lord may allow difficulties 37:07 to come into your life and mine to test us. 37:10 To test our loyalty and love to Him. 37:13 But it is Satan who is the guilty party responsible for 37:18 all the pain and suffering on planet earth. 37:21 And you and I are caught in the middle of this bewildering 37:26 cosmic conflict between Christ and Satan. 37:30 We are not spectators to this great battle. 37:34 No. We are involved whether we want to be or not. 37:38 The Bible tells us in Revelation chapter 12 and verse 12: 37:57 For this very reason the Bible writes in I Peter 5:8 38:13 That arch enemy of God continues to be present today. 38:18 But friends, when you and I think that Satan does his work 38:22 let's never forget that God has sent Jesus to save us. 38:27 Amen? Amen. And He has conquered Satan. 38:30 Satan worked to try and destroy Jesus. 38:32 When He was a baby he worked through king Herod 38:35 to try and wipe Him out. 38:36 When Jesus was in the wilderness he appeared to Jesus 38:40 and he tempted Him to give up everything 38:43 and to give up his true loyalty to God. 38:45 But Jesus... He was faithful and He remained true 38:48 and He did not give in to the temptations of the devil. 38:52 And then Satan... right to the very end 38:55 he worked through a crowd and he tried to get them 38:58 and he motivated them to crucify the King of the universe. 39:03 And so they nailed Him to a cross, 39:06 but he did not destroy Jesus. 39:08 When Jesus was on that cross, the victory and Satan's defeat 39:13 were sealed forever. 39:15 Because, friends, although there was a cross 39:17 there was a resurrection. Amen? Amen. 39:20 Jesus rose from the dead, and by His death He earned the right 39:25 to destroy evil and suffering forever and for good. 39:31 Yeah, i's exciting news. Paul wrote in Hebrews: 39:50 And friends, he demonstrated... Satan demonstrated how he 39:54 would run the universe. 39:55 Today we continue to see how he intends to run this planet: 39:59 through disasters, through crime, through violence, 40:02 through pain and suffering that he inflicts all around us. 40:06 But friends, these are not acts of God 40:09 as many people think they are... they are acts of the devil, 40:13 the arch enemy of Jesus Christ. 40:16 But in the midst of pain and suffering 40:19 no matter how much we may know the big picture and the big 40:21 story, like Templeton you and I may cry out: 40:26 "Where is God in my hurt? Where is God in my suffering? " 40:30 I like to think of it as the story told of Irene and Jerry 40:35 who had been married for 25 years. 40:37 And on their 25th anniversary 40:40 Irene woke up and she expected Jerry to do something special. 40:44 She expected him to say something nice; 40:47 to do something nice. But he didn't seem to notice. 40:51 There were no flowers, no card, no breakfast in bed. 40:55 Nothing! And she was greatly depressed thinking he had 40:58 forgotten all about her. 41:00 And so she hopped in her car and she began to drive out 41:04 of the garage. And as she was backing out the garage 41:07 she got the garage door control, she hit the button, 41:10 and down came the garage door. 41:12 And there on the door were these big red words: 41:16 Happy 25th, Irene. 41:19 He hadn't forgotten. 41:20 And friends, in the same way, when you and I think 41:23 that God's forgotten us, there are signs all around us 41:26 to remind us He hasn't. 41:28 He still remembers... He still cares. 41:30 Satan exists... yes he does. But God is there. 41:34 He is a very present help in time of trouble. 41:37 He is there for you in the midst of pain and suffering. 41:41 When your heart is breaking God is there. 41:44 The Bible tells us that His name is Immanuel. 41:47 That's translated God with us 41:51 and I think that's beautiful because He understands. 41:55 Everything that you go through He understands. 41:58 And so friends the good news tonight is not that this planet 42:01 has been hijacked. The good news is that Jesus 42:04 is coming back to take us from this hijacked planet 42:07 to a better place. Amen? He's coming soon. 42:10 And this is why in Ezekiel He says concerning that devil 42:14 and Satan... He says: 42:25 Friends, one day soon God will beat pain and suffering forever 42:30 because Jesus will come back. 42:32 And He's not coming back as a baby born in Bethlehem. 42:35 He's not coming back to walk on the streets of Palestine. 42:39 He will come back as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. 42:43 And He will take us to live with Him in His home. 42:47 And friends, tonight God wants to know will you choose 42:51 to accept Jesus as the Lord of your life? 42:53 Will you take His side in the midst of the fiercest 42:57 controversy in all of human history? 42:59 There are only two sides: God's side or Satan's side. 43:04 And the whole world is being polarized into these two camps. 43:10 That is the question tonight: 43:12 will we choose to follow Jesus and to take His side 43:15 and be loyal to Him in spite of what may come our way? 43:21 In longing to leave her poor Brazilian neighborhood 43:25 Christina wanted to see the world. 43:29 But as she looked around herself, in her home there 43:32 all she could see was, you know, poverty 43:37 and lack of things that she wanted. 43:39 And so one night, Christina... she slipped out of the house, 43:43 unbeknownst to her mom, and she caught a bus 43:47 and she set her way to Rio de Janeiro... 43:50 to the big city. Well, when her mom woke up the next day 43:54 and discovered Christina was gone 43:56 she was greatly upset. But she wasted no time. 44:00 She knew that Christina had no means of earning a livelihood. 44:05 She was only young, and she knew what that might mean 44:09 and that when you're in the city and you need to have money 44:11 and food you will be pushed to do things that you may 44:14 never have thought of doing before. 44:17 And so her mother, Maria... she caught a bus 44:20 and she set course for the big city as well to find Christina. 44:25 And when she got there she went to a pharmacy. 44:28 She went into the pharmacy and she sat in a photo booth 44:31 and she used all the money that she had on her 44:34 to buy pictures of herself. She took pictures of herself, 44:38 as many as she could afford, 44:40 and then she went looking for her daughter in the big city. 44:43 And because of what she expected Christina might do 44:47 she went to all the places where Christina might have been 44:51 able to find work. 44:52 She went to the hotels. 44:54 To the pubs, to the bars, to the brothels, 44:56 to the prostitute places... everywhere she could think of 45:00 that Christina might be. 45:02 And when she went to these places 45:05 she'd take a picture of herself and she'd tape it to a 45:08 bathroom window or she'd put it on a phone booth 45:12 or she'd leave it in the lobby. And on the back of each picture 45:15 she wrote a little note to her daughter. 45:18 Well finally her money and her time and her photos... 45:23 they had run out and she had to go back home. 45:26 And so very upset she boarded a bus to go back to her home 45:30 in her little village. 45:31 Well, a few weeks later a young Christina 45:35 descended the steps of a hotel there in Rio de Janeiro. 45:39 Her young face was tired; 45:41 her vitality was gone. 45:44 Her youthfulness was replaced by a sense of pain and hurt. 45:49 But as she came down the steps there in that hotel 45:52 she looked up in the lobby and there on a mirror 45:56 in the lobby she saw a familiar face. 45:59 It was the face of her mother. 46:01 Her throat began to tighten 46:05 and she felt tears coming to her eyes. 46:08 And slowly she moved to that picture and she picked it off 46:12 the mirror and she looked at it. 46:13 And then she turned it over, and there on the back of 46:17 that photo was this beautiful message: 46:19 "Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, 46:23 it doesn't matter... just come home. 46:26 Come back and I'll take you in. " 46:28 And friends, God says that to you and I tonight. 46:32 Whatever you have suffered, whatever your hurt m may be, 46:36 Jesus says to you and I tonight "Come back; come to Me. " 46:40 The Bible says in Matthew chapter 11 verse 28: 46:49 And again He says: 46:55 And then not only that. He doesn't just say "Come to me" 46:59 He says "I'll take you to a better place. " 47:13 He promises a land where there is no more pain. 47:15 And friend, tonight, Jesus wants to know your decision. 47:20 Will you come to Jesus tonight? 47:22 Will you come to Him and take His side? 47:25 Will you choose to remain loyal to Jesus Christ 47:27 no matter what may come? 47:29 If that is your desire tonight, would you raise your hand 47:32 with me? Say: "Lord, I choose to be loyal to you tonight. " 47:35 God bless you. I'll just close with prayer. 47:37 Father in heaven, We thank you, Lord, that 47:40 You are there for us in the midst of pain and suffering. 47:44 And tonight as we have seen that there is an enemy 47:47 who works to destroy us, to destroy this planet, 47:51 we pray, Lord, that You will help us to be faithful to Jesus. 47:54 Faithful till You come. 47:57 We look forward to that better land which You have promised 48:00 and we ask you, Lord, to look after us now. 48:02 And help us to trust You in everything that happens 48:05 to us in our lives. In Jesus' name, Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17