Focus on God's Word

Why Is There So Much Suffering in the World?

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Danny Milenkov

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Series Code: FGW

Program Code: FGW000025A


00:26 I'd like to welcome you once again
00:28 to The Search for Certainty.
00:30 In this fifth and final presentation together,
00:33 it's good to see you all here today
00:35 as well as those who are joining us
00:37 from wherever you may be around the world.
00:39 Welcome and we pray that God will richly bless you
00:42 as we journey on this very important topic together.
00:47 Today we're gonna be taking a look at
00:49 that all important question that many people have asked,
00:52 that people are asking today,
00:54 why is there so much suffering in the world?
00:57 As church minister,
00:59 I've been asked this question on many occasions
01:02 and it's a very important question
01:04 and it's the question that
01:05 we need to have an answer for it,
01:07 and sadly most people today
01:09 cannot give you a very good answer.
01:12 Certainly not an answer that really satisfies the heart
01:15 and helps us to understand the cosmic battle
01:19 that is going on and raging all around us.
01:22 There is so much suffering in the world,
01:24 I don't need to remind you of that,
01:27 we live in a world that is filled with
01:30 sin and sickness,
01:31 and suffering and sorrow.
01:33 Why so much suffering?
01:35 Where did it come from?
01:37 How did everything go wrong?
01:39 If it did all go wrong at one point in time.
01:41 Today, we want to take a look at that.
01:43 Today, we want to do our best to answer
01:45 some of these titanic questions
01:47 regarding the whole issue
01:49 and question of suffering and sorrow,
01:52 and pain and evil.
01:54 We won't answer every question,
01:55 but I pray by God's grace
01:57 and that ultimately through His word,
02:00 we will answer those questions,
02:02 those questions that are at the very foundation
02:05 to giving us an opportunity to know who God is,
02:10 how to understand God
02:11 and ultimately how to relate to God?
02:13 I want to begin by sharing with you
02:18 the title of a book
02:21 written by a Jewish rabbi Harold Kushner,
02:25 who wrote this book back in 1981.
02:28 Well, it was published in 1981,
02:31 "When Bad Things Happen To Good People".
02:33 So he took the question,
02:35 why did bad things happen to good people,
02:37 and he put it as a statement and he wrote a book.
02:40 In fact this became a bestseller
02:43 on the New York Times bestseller list.
02:46 And you might think that's a little strange
02:47 for a religious book back in 1981 to be a bestseller.
02:52 Now why did Harold Kushner write this book?
02:57 Him and his wife,
02:58 while their little boy Aaron was aged three,
03:03 were told by the doctors, by the pediatricians
03:06 that he had a disease called progeria
03:10 or another term for that is rapid aging.
03:13 They shared with Aaron's parent,
03:16 Harold and his wife that their little boy,
03:20 he would grow old as a little boy,
03:23 he would look like a little old man
03:25 and that shortly into his teenage years,
03:29 his life would come to an end.
03:31 And everything that doctor shared
03:33 with the parents came true,
03:35 to the very letter,
03:37 three days after he turned 14,
03:39 little Aaron passed away of this disease, rapid aging.
03:43 Now that's an extreme case of suffering an injustice.
03:47 But today there is a lot of suffering,
03:50 whether it be in the home, whether it be disease,
03:53 whether it be economic, whatever the case may be,
03:56 sooner or later and usually sooner rather than later,
03:59 we experience suffering.
04:01 That is part and parcel of living on planet earth.
04:05 In our previous presentation,
04:07 as we took a look at the everlasting gospel,
04:09 the good news about God and His love,
04:11 we discovered this old important truth.
04:13 In 1 John 4:8,
04:16 we read these three old important words
04:18 that describe who God is.
04:20 "God is love."
04:23 The Bible describes God as a God of love,
04:28 not a God who loves, but this is who God is,
04:30 this is the very essence of God.
04:32 God is love.
04:34 So the question that begs to be asked
04:37 and answered is if God is so love,
04:41 why is there so much suffering in the world?
04:44 Or as someone once put it, if God is all powerful,
04:49 and we believe He is,
04:50 and the Bible claims that God is all powerful
04:53 and He is all loving, why does a good,
04:56 all good and all powerful God
04:59 allow so much suffering to go on.
05:02 Either, He is no all loving and we discovered the truth
05:05 that He is all loving based on our previous presentation,
05:08 or He is not all powerful.
05:10 Can God be all loving
05:13 and all powerful at the same time?
05:15 And still allow for so much suffering to continue on.
05:19 That's a big question that people ask.
05:22 So today we want to seek to answer that question
05:24 as well as some other questions
05:26 that are associated with that question.
05:28 Where did evil come from?
05:31 Why didn't God just put an end to evil whenever
05:35 or wherever it first raised its ugly head,
05:38 or wherever it first appeared?
05:39 That's a very good question.
05:40 Many people have asked that question.
05:43 Why do bad things have to happen at all?
05:46 Is there a good answer to these all important questions?
05:50 And the most important question of all
05:52 that we want to focus on this afternoon is will sadness,
05:57 suffering and sorrow ever come to an end?
06:00 Will we ever come to the point
06:02 where there will be no more suffering,
06:04 no more pain, no more?
06:08 Today before we open up God's word
06:10 as always we need to do what?
06:12 We need to pray.
06:13 We need to ask for God's Holy Spirit
06:15 to lead and to guide us,
06:16 to give us understanding that we may have a clear
06:21 and an old important powerful answer
06:24 from God's word regarding this old important subject.
06:27 So let's just pause and pray a moment.
06:29 Father in heaven once again we come humbly before You,
06:32 we ask and pray that
06:34 as we seek to answer this all important question
06:38 regarding suffering and sorrow,
06:41 where did it all come from?
06:43 Why, all the whys dear Lord,
06:46 we ask and pray that You will guide
06:47 and bless our time together in Your word.
06:49 So open our hearts and our minds
06:51 as we open Your words,
06:52 we pray in Jesus' name, amen, amen.
06:56 Well, for the answer,
06:57 we need to go to the very beginning of time
07:00 when God created this world.
07:03 Notice what the Bible says in Genesis 1:1 and 4.
07:08 Right at the very beginning of the Bible
07:10 we have these words,
07:12 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
07:15 And God saw the light, that it was" what?
07:18 "Good, and God divided the light from the darkness."
07:21 So at the very beginning of the Bible
07:23 we discover that when God created this world,
07:27 He created things to be good.
07:29 In fact, if you read through
07:31 the first chapter of the Book of Genesis,
07:33 you'll discover that each time
07:35 God finish His creating on a day,
07:38 He says, it was good.
07:40 God looks at everything that
07:41 He has made on that particular day
07:43 and He says it is good.
07:44 Six times that word good appears.
07:47 And then finally, on the sixth day of creation,
07:50 the final day of creation,
07:52 notice what the Bible says in Genesis 1:31,
07:56 "Then God saw everything that He had made,
07:59 and indeed it was" what?
08:00 "Very good.
08:01 So the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
08:03 So the Bible is clear, when God created this world,
08:07 He created a good, good, good and indeed very good.
08:11 After He created His masterpiece of creation
08:15 which was Eve, God said it was very good,
08:18 and I for one, I'm thankful to God
08:21 that He created women, amen.
08:23 How many of you men are happy that God created women?
08:25 Absolutely, I've been blessed for over 20 years
08:28 because God chose to create women,
08:31 and I thank God for that.
08:33 But everything was good, every thing was good.
08:36 God designed for Adam and Eve
08:38 to live in harmony with one another,
08:42 with God Himself their creator
08:44 to live in harmony with their environment.
08:48 They were designed to live
08:49 happy and healthy lives forever.
08:53 They were designed to live in a world
08:56 where there was no suffering,
08:57 where there was no sorrow,
08:59 where there was no pain.
09:00 That was God's original plan for Adam and Eve
09:04 to enjoy this beautiful home called the Garden of Eden
09:08 that God had created for them on this beautiful planet
09:12 where everything was good.
09:14 So the big question is,
09:16 who is responsible for all the bad,
09:19 for all the evil, for all the suffering?
09:22 If God created everything good,
09:24 where on earth did bad come from?
09:27 Well, for the answer,
09:29 we need to go back to the Garden of Eden
09:31 and there in the Genesis 3,
09:35 God gives us an insight as to how everything went bad.
09:41 In Genesis 3:1 we read these words,
09:44 "Now the serpent was more cunning than
09:46 any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
09:49 And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said,
09:53 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"
09:56 ' Here the serpent enters the garden,
09:59 the garden home of Adam and Eve,
10:02 and according to the Book of Revelation
10:04 we discover that, that serpent is none other
10:07 than the devil and Satan.
10:10 The serpent tempted Eve with the thought
10:14 that God was not as loving as she may have believe He was.
10:20 That God was not as kind
10:21 and as good as she thought He was.
10:24 The serpent tempted Eve to think that
10:28 God was withholding some thing from her
10:31 that would bring her more joy, more happiness,
10:35 more peace in her life.
10:37 And that if only she took from this fruit,
10:40 that the serpent was extending to her
10:42 that she would receive something
10:45 that God was keeping away from here.
10:49 You see that's the same temptation
10:52 that the devil has been sharing with the human race ever since.
10:56 That God cannot supply for you
11:00 what is in your best interest completely.
11:04 That there is something more out there
11:08 that you can have that God is not giving to you.
11:11 And sadly, sadly as the story is shared
11:15 there in the Book of Genesis, Eve believed that lie.
11:20 Eve believed the lie
11:21 that God was withholding from her
11:23 and from Adam something that would give them greater joy,
11:27 greater happiness indeed to be just like God,
11:32 is what he tempted Eve with.
11:35 Sadly our first parents
11:37 had to leave the Garden of Eden.
11:39 They had to leave this beautiful place
11:42 where everything was just perfect.
11:45 And they experienced the truth of the words of the serpent
11:52 that God can be trusted
11:55 and the serpent cannot be trusted.
11:58 So who is responsible?
12:00 According to the Book of Genesis
12:02 it's that serpent in the garden.
12:04 According to the Book of Genesis,
12:06 God never designed for evil to come into this world.
12:11 Who is responsible?
12:12 Well, Jesus gives us an answer in the Book of Matthew in 13,
12:18 Jesus shared a parable there, He shared a parable of a sower
12:22 who went out to sow seed.
12:24 And the Bible says that he went to sow a good seed,
12:27 but during the course of the night
12:30 an enemy came along who sowed tares
12:34 or weeds amongst the wheat
12:38 and then Jesus gives,
12:40 He gives an interpretation of who the sower is,
12:44 what the good seed is and who the enemy is.
12:46 Notice these words that we find
12:48 in Matthew 13:37 and 39
12:52 as Jesus here defines who the enemy is,
12:56 what the good seed is and who the enemy is.
12:59 He answered and said to them,
13:01 He is speaking to His disciples,
13:02 "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
13:06 The enemy who sowed them,
13:07 that is the weeds, is the devil,
13:10 the harvest is the end of the age,
13:11 and the reapers are the angels."
13:13 So as far as Jesus was concerned,
13:15 the one who has sowed evil in this world is
13:19 none other then the devil himself.
13:22 Jesus made it clear that He simply sowed good seed,
13:25 and that reminds us of what we've
13:27 just read in the Book of Genesis.
13:29 When God created this world, He said it was good, good,
13:34 good and even very good,
13:36 but then an enemy came into the garden,
13:39 an enemy came into the garden
13:41 that serpent of old called the devil and Satan,
13:45 as the Book of Revelation terms him
13:47 and he sowed evil, he sowed sin,
13:51 he sowed pain and suffering.
13:54 In the Book of Luke 13,
13:56 Jesus here once again takes no responsibility
14:00 for suffering and pain.
14:01 Notice these words that we find in Luke 13:11 and onwards,
14:06 "And behold, there was a woman
14:08 who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years,
14:11 and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.
14:15 But when Jesus saw her,
14:17 He called her to Him and said to her,
14:19 'Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.'
14:22 " Isn't that good news?
14:23 Jesus straightened this woman up
14:26 after being infirmed for 18 years.
14:29 Jesus goes on, "So ought not this woman,
14:34 being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound,
14:38 think of it, for eighteen years,
14:39 be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?'
14:41 " So once again,
14:42 Jesus didn't take any responsibility
14:45 for this woman suffering.
14:47 Instead Jesus placed the responsibility
14:50 for this woman's infirmity
14:52 for the past 18 years upon
14:54 no one other than the Satan himself.
14:58 Jesus is very clear.
15:00 He takes no responsibility for suffering and sorrow,
15:03 that belongs to the enemy.
15:06 In fact, after Jesus had fasted in the wilderness
15:09 for some 40 days,
15:11 He came out of that experience
15:13 and the Bible says He went to his hometown of Nazareth
15:17 where He had been brought up
15:18 and He went to church on one Sabbath morning
15:22 and the person in charge of the worship service
15:26 handed Him the scroll of the Book of Isaiah,
15:30 and Jesus chose this passage to illustrate
15:35 why He came to share His mission statement,
15:38 to share the reason why He came.
15:41 Notice these words prophesied concerning Christ
15:44 by Isaiah hundreds of years before Jesus came
15:48 and Jesus now shares them, and notice these words.
15:51 In Luke 4:18 we read,
15:54 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
15:56 because He has anointed Me
15:57 to preach the gospel to the poor.
15:59 He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
16:01 to proclaim liberty to the captives
16:04 and recovery of sight to the blind,
16:05 to set at liberty those who are oppressed."
16:09 This is what Jesus did.
16:11 Jesus came to set the captives free.
16:14 Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted.
16:17 Jesus came to give recovery of sight to the blind,
16:21 to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
16:23 that is why Jesus came.
16:25 The enemy comes and he wants to blind people.
16:29 The enemy wants to blind people to who God truly is,
16:34 the character of God
16:35 and the things that belong to the devil,
16:39 the devil seeks to place them in the lap of God.
16:44 And that's what sadly
16:46 most people believe today in the world.
16:48 The things that ought to be attributed to the devil
16:50 have been attributed to God.
16:53 Today, we have a term
16:55 that the media and insurance companies use
16:59 when it comes to horrific natural disasters,
17:03 what is it?
17:04 Acts of God.
17:06 Often you'll hear on the news reference to an act of God,
17:11 some horrible disaster,
17:13 natural disaster that has taken
17:15 the lives of thousands of people
17:17 and it's referred to as an act of God.
17:19 Insurance companies often in order to get out of
17:22 paying an insurance claim will have you in fine print,
17:26 we pay for everything except for acts of God.
17:31 But the Bible tells us what the acts of God are.
17:35 Jesus went about healing people.
17:38 Jesus went about feeding thousands of people.
17:41 Jesus went about raising the dead
17:44 and ultimately as we discover in our last program,
17:47 Jesus went to Calvary
17:49 and He paid the price of sin for each and every person.
17:53 That is an act of God.
17:55 The acts of the devil are the complete opposite.
17:59 Instead of insurance companies,
18:00 instead of the media referring to these natural disasters
18:04 as acts of God,
18:05 they ought to be referring to them
18:07 as acts of the devil.
18:09 Notice what Jesus shared in John 10:10.
18:13 Here Jesus summarized His work
18:18 in comparison to the devil's work.
18:20 Notice these words, John 10:10.
18:23 "The thief does not come except to steal,
18:25 and to kill, and to destroy..."
18:26 Who do you think the thief is in this passage?
18:28 It's the devil himself.
18:31 And Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life,
18:35 and that they may have it more abundantly."
18:37 So here we have these two individuals,
18:41 here we have these two powers.
18:43 One seeks to steal, kill and destroy.
18:46 He is a thief.
18:48 Nobody likes a thief, do they?
18:50 We don't like thieves because thieves take from us.
18:52 Thieves are not in the business of giving.
18:55 Thieves are in the business of taking, hoarding,
18:58 keeping for themselves.
19:00 But Jesus is in the business of giving.
19:04 Jesus says, I give my life for the sheep.
19:11 When Jesus cried out on Calvary's cross,
19:14 Father forgive them,
19:15 for they don't know what they're doing,
19:17 He was giving up His life.
19:20 Jesus claimed no responsibility for the work of evil,
19:26 pain and suffering.
19:28 Instead He placed that responsibility
19:32 completely upon the Devil himself,
19:36 the one whose name is evil with a capital D,
19:40 it all belongs to him.
19:43 The Bible is clear, couldn't be any clearer.
19:46 So the question that begs to be asked and answered,
19:50 where did the devil or this thief
19:54 as Jesus put it come from?
19:56 Where did he come from?
19:57 Did God create him that way?
19:59 Did God created devil in order to showcase
20:03 His love in comparison to the devil and his work?
20:09 Where did the devil come from?
20:11 Well, in the Book of Ezekiel, we have this incredible insight
20:15 as God through His servant
20:16 Ezekiel takes us behind the scenes,
20:20 and He give us an understanding of where this being,
20:24 that we today know as the devil and Satan,
20:26 where he came from.
20:28 Ezekiel 28:11,
20:32 "Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
20:35 'Son of man, take up a lamentation
20:38 for the king of Tyre..."
20:39 And the king of Tyre here
20:41 as we'll discover is a symbol of this being,
20:45 the devil and Satan,
20:47 the king of Tyre and say to him,
20:49 "Thus says the Lord God: You were the seal of" what?
20:53 "Perfection, full of wisdom and" what?
20:55 "Perfect in beauty."
20:57 We continue reading,
20:59 "You were in Eden, the garden of God..."
21:00 And for this reason we know that
21:02 we are not speaking of a literal king of Tyre
21:04 and there was a literal king of Tyre,
21:06 we are speaking of another being,
21:07 because the literal king of Tyre
21:09 was never in the Garden of Eden.
21:11 So this is speaking of somebody else.
21:13 God is just using the king of Tyre as a symbol.
21:17 "You were in Eden, the garden of God,
21:19 every precious stone was your covering.
21:21 You were the anointed cherub who covers.
21:24 I established you,
21:25 You were on the holy mountain of God.
21:27 You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones."
21:31 Notice this being,
21:34 the Bible says was a covering cherub,
21:39 he was anointed,
21:41 he was right there at the very throne of God.
21:44 At the very throne of God we have two angels,
21:47 the Bible says.
21:49 Some of you that have watched Indiana Jones
21:51 and Raiders of the Lost Ark,
21:54 you'll be familiar with this box
21:59 which is called the Ark of the Covenant
22:01 and there were two angels that hovered over this golden box
22:06 that contained the Ten Commandments,
22:08 a symbol of God's throne.
22:10 And so this angel that was created perfect by God
22:15 was there right at the very presence of God,
22:19 right there in His very presence.
22:20 The most exalted angel,
22:23 the most beautiful angel that God created of all the angels
22:28 there was not another angel created like this being.
22:33 We continue reading,
22:35 "You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
22:39 till iniquity was found in you."
22:42 Three times, the Bible tells us that this being was perfect.
22:48 Now how perfect is perfect? It's perfect.
22:51 Can you get more perfect than perfect?
22:53 No, this being was created perfect
22:57 from the day he was created
22:59 until iniquity was found in him.
23:01 Now what's another name for that word iniquity?
23:05 It's sin, sin.
23:08 So what was the sin of this covering cherub?
23:12 What was the sin of God's leading
23:14 and most exalted angel?
23:16 Notice what we continue reading in Ezekiel 28:7.
23:20 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty,
23:23 and you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor."
23:28 How did sin come into this universe?
23:31 It was because this being that was created perfect,
23:34 that was created beautiful,
23:35 more magnificent than any other created being,
23:39 more magnificent than any angel,
23:41 pride welled up in this being.
23:45 That is what the Bible says, you were corrupted
23:48 because of your wisdom and the sake of your splendor.
23:52 As I think about that, I ask myself the question.
23:58 What was the ambition of this God's leading angel?
24:03 What was his ambition?
24:04 What was in his heart?
24:06 Well, the Book of Isaiah gives us an insight
24:09 into the very heart of this perfect being
24:12 that God had created
24:13 that was right there in the very presence of God.
24:15 Isaiah 14:12-14, notice these words,
24:20 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer..."
24:23 That was his original name before he became Satan
24:26 and the devil, and the thief,
24:28 and a whole bunch of other names
24:30 the Bible gives for this being,
24:31 his name was Lucifer.
24:33 And that word Lucifer means light bearer.
24:36 One who was in the very presence of God,
24:39 with the most precious work of all,
24:43 to be an ambassador for God to showcase God's glory,
24:47 God's love, God's light to the rest of the angels,
24:51 to the rest of the universe.
24:53 He was God's light bearer,
24:55 right there in the very presence
24:56 of the heavenly light.
24:59 "Son of the morning!
25:00 How you are cut down to the ground,
25:02 you who weakened the nations!
25:04 For you have said in your heart.
25:05 'I will ascend into heaven,
25:07 I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
25:10 I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
25:13 on the farthest sides of the north.
25:15 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
25:18 I will be like" who?
25:19 "I will be like the Most High."
25:22 Notice the word that appears over and over and over again.
25:26 What was that word?
25:27 I, I.
25:31 Lucifer had I trouble.
25:34 Lucifer suffered from pride,
25:36 and pride is the middle letter of I, isn't that?
25:40 I is the middle letter of pride.
25:42 Sin, what's the middle letter of sin?
25:43 I.
25:45 What's the middle letter of Lucifer?
25:46 I.
25:48 He had an I problem.
25:50 That is where all of our problems begin.
25:54 All of our problems begin in the human heart.
25:57 Pride, selfishness,
25:59 that's where all the wars begin.
26:02 The wars don't begin on the battlefield.
26:04 They don't even begin in backrooms
26:07 preparing for the battle.
26:09 The battles, the wars, the violence that...
26:12 You fill in the blanks,
26:14 that all begins in the human heart.
26:16 It begins in the human heart
26:18 and that's where it begun with Lucifer.
26:20 He wanted to be just like the Most High.
26:24 You remember in the wilderness,
26:30 the devil tempted Jesus with three temptations.
26:33 The third and final temptation was
26:35 if You will only bow down and worship me,
26:39 I will give You the kingdoms of this world,
26:42 isn't that right?
26:44 Lucifer has always wanted to be worshipped.
26:48 That's what he wants to be worshipped.
26:50 In fact, he wanted to be God,
26:54 he wanted to take God off His throne.
26:57 Lucifer wanted to have the power of God
27:00 without his character.
27:02 Because God doesn't have a character that takes,
27:06 that grabs, that seeks for oneself.
27:09 God has a character that is described in John 3:16
27:14 where God so loved the world that he, what?
27:16 Gave His only begotten Son.
27:20 He gave His only begotten Son.
27:22 Sadly, the Book of Revelation tells us
27:25 that in the final battle over worship,
27:29 at the end of time Lucifer, the devil,
27:33 he will once again seek worship.
27:36 He didn't received worship from Jesus Christ,
27:38 but one day he will seek worship from the whole world
27:42 at the end of time the Bible says and sadly,
27:44 the sad reality is that
27:46 most people will choose to worship him
27:48 rather than to worship the one
27:50 who gave His life which is Jesus Christ.
27:55 Revelation gives us some more details
27:58 as to this worship war that took place.
28:02 This most gifted of all the angels of heaven,
28:05 notice what we read in the Book of Revelation 12:7.
28:11 "And war broke out in heaven:
28:14 Michael and his angels fought with the dragon,
28:16 and the dragon and his angels fought...
28:18 So the great dragon was cast out,
28:21 that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan..."
28:25 Now before we take a look at this war
28:27 that took place there in heaven,
28:29 the first thing I'd like us to notice is that
28:33 name for Michael is the name for Jesus Christ.
28:38 Michael means one who is like God.
28:42 And so there was this war between Michael and the dragon,
28:47 and the Bible says this was the war, a war.
28:51 What kind of war we don't understand war today,
28:56 outside of a war using military means,
29:00 guns and bombs and planes and so on and so forth,
29:04 that's the way we conduct wars in the herein and now.
29:07 But that's not the kind of war
29:09 that was taking place in heaven.
29:10 That word there war is a very interesting word.
29:14 I looked that up in the dictionary,
29:17 in the original language
29:18 that the New Testament was written which is Greek
29:21 and I compared it with my English dictionary.
29:23 Notice the word for war in the original language
29:27 which is the Greek is the word polemos.
29:30 That's used there in Revelation 12:7
29:33 and we get our English word polemic
29:36 from that word polemos,
29:38 and I looked that up in the dictionary,
29:39 the pocket Macquarie dictionary
29:41 and this is the definition that I received.
29:43 An argument or disputation about some opinion,
29:47 belief or doctrine or teaching.
29:49 So what was this war in heaven over?
29:53 It was a war of words.
29:55 It was a war of ideas.
29:56 In fact it was a war over who
30:00 would run the universe in the best possible way.
30:04 Under whose domain,
30:05 under whose government would universe,
30:09 the rest of the...
30:10 All the angels
30:12 and all the other created beings in the universe,
30:14 under whose government would they be happiest?
30:17 That was the war.
30:18 And the Bible tell us,
30:20 the Book of Revelation tell us in 12,
30:22 that one third of the angels believed
30:26 that they would be better served
30:29 under the dominion and under the government
30:32 and under the leadership of this fallen angel
30:35 than to remain in the presence of their creator.
30:40 One third of the angels, the Bible tell us.
30:44 Our first parents sadly were deceived.
30:48 They were deceived into believing
30:51 that if they only had that which God forbade,
30:56 they would have a greater existence.
30:58 They would have something more than
31:00 what God had already provided for them.
31:04 The enemy is very cunning.
31:06 That's how the Bible
31:07 first describes him in the garden.
31:08 The serpent was more cunning
31:10 than any other beast of the field.
31:14 So why didn't God destroy evil
31:17 before it had a chance to spread?
31:19 Why didn't God destroy the devil
31:23 whilst he was still in heaven,
31:25 before he made his way to planet earth?
31:28 Could God have destroyed him there and then?
31:30 Absolutely.
31:32 The Bible says God is all powerful,
31:33 He can do all things.
31:35 God could have destroyed the devil
31:36 the way I destroy a mosquito.
31:40 How many of you hate mosquitoes?
31:41 Okay. Almost everyone.
31:43 For those who love mosquitoes here
31:45 and those who are watching I'm really sorry,
31:48 but I can't stand mosquitoes.
31:50 If I'm sleeping at night
31:52 and I hear a mosquito, I wake up.
31:55 Immediately I wake up.
31:56 I can sleep with a train going through my bedroom
32:00 but I cannot sleep with one tiny little mosquito
32:03 making its noise.
32:05 And so until that mosquito is squashed
32:08 and no longer lives and exists and breathes,
32:12 I do not have any rest and neither does my wife.
32:15 God could have squashed the devil,
32:18 the way you and I squash a mosquito.
32:21 Now why didn't God do that?
32:22 That's a good question.
32:23 And a lot of people ask that question,
32:25 why not destroy the devil
32:28 before he had an opportunity
32:30 to spread his woe to the human race?
32:34 I mean, why even put a tree in the garden
32:39 where God says don't touch.
32:42 Why even allow the devil into the garden?
32:44 Why not eliminate all possibility
32:48 for Adam and Eve to turn against God?
32:50 That's a good question.
32:52 We'll get to that in a moment.
32:53 But why not destroy the devil immediately?
32:56 Well, I want you to imagine with me this scenario.
33:00 Imagine the greatest scandal that has ever rocked Canberra
33:07 and Australia takes place.
33:09 There in the heart of our nation's capital,
33:14 there Parliament House.
33:16 Imagine with me, now you need to imagine,
33:18 this hasn't actually happened,
33:19 I had someone after one program say to me,
33:21 did that really happened?
33:23 I'm like no, I said imagine, imagine this scenario.
33:26 Imagine the deputy prime minister of Australia
33:30 one day decides to call a press conference at midday
33:34 and he shares that he has evidence
33:38 to incriminate our current prime minister,
33:42 the most responsible person in the land,
33:46 evidence that will send our current prime minister
33:50 to prison for a long, long time.
33:53 He calls a press conference for 12 o'clock midday.
33:57 Can you imagine, you know, the camera crew,
33:59 they just scrambled,
34:01 the world's media is on camera
34:03 waiting for what will be shared at midday
34:06 by the deputy prime minister.
34:08 He comes to the lectern
34:10 and he only has two sentences to share.
34:14 I have evidence
34:17 that will incriminate our prime minister,
34:20 and if this will be proven in a court of law,
34:24 he will spend a long, long time in prison.
34:29 Sentence number one.
34:30 Sentence number two,
34:32 all will be revealed tomorrow same time, same place.
34:37 He walks away, no time for questions,
34:40 he walks away.
34:41 The whole nation is astir, can you imagine?
34:45 The whole nation, the whole world is astir,
34:47 what's happening in Australia?
34:50 Every one's anxiously, anticipating 24 hours,
34:57 midday, and so what happens?
35:00 That night you go to bed and you turn on the news,
35:03 is there any update?
35:04 There is no update, nothing else is being said.
35:06 The deputy hasn't been seen.
35:08 You wake up in the morning,
35:10 you turn on the news to see if there is any update
35:13 and you discover that the deputy prime minister
35:17 on his way home from Parliament House,
35:20 happen to come across a semi trailer
35:23 coming the other way lost his life.
35:28 I guess we will never know,
35:31 we will never know what did he have to share.
35:36 We'll never know.
35:37 Imagine God would have destroyed the devil immediately
35:43 or Lucifer as he was known.
35:45 Imagine God would have destroyed him.
35:47 Imagine the thinking of the heavenly angels,
35:50 this leading angel, I mean this was their leading angel.
35:54 This is the angel that they all looked up to.
35:58 He is no longer.
36:00 Imagine the questions,
36:02 imagine the comments, whatever you do,
36:05 whatever you do don't question God,
36:09 otherwise you are gonna end up like Lucifer.
36:12 Imagine all the questions,
36:15 the angels,
36:17 the heavenly beings would serve God
36:19 out of fear and not out of love.
36:22 But notice what the Bible tells us
36:24 in 1 John 4:18,
36:26 "There is no fear in love,
36:28 but perfect love casts out fear."
36:32 God does not want anyone to serve Him out of fear.
36:36 God only receives obedience that is given in love.
36:42 There is no fear in love.
36:44 The Bible says God is love.
36:47 There is no fear in love,
36:48 but God's perfect love casts out fear.
36:52 You see love is the very foundation
36:54 of God's government,
36:55 the very foundation.
36:58 Let me take you back in time,
36:59 22 years almost when I had the privilege of
37:06 connecting with the most beautiful person
37:09 that God ever created.
37:11 I know some of you men will probably disagree with me
37:13 and that's okay.
37:15 Well, for me my dear wife is the most
37:18 beautiful person in the world.
37:21 Her name is Jazner
37:22 and I'm blessed to have her by my side,
37:24 and that was on January 1, 1995.
37:28 Now you are thinking,
37:29 who gets married on January 1, 1995?
37:33 Well, those of us who have a bad memory.
37:38 I have a bad memory,
37:39 so I figured if I get married on January 1, 1995,
37:43 I won't hopefully forget my wife's anniversary,
37:46 well, forget our anniversary.
37:49 There you go.
37:51 I forget her birthday once and that wasn't a good idea.
37:54 She is, her birthday is December 23, I mean,
37:57 who decides to be born on December 23?
38:00 Two days before Christmas?
38:01 It's a crazy time of the year.
38:03 So I forgot it once and I learnt a lesson,
38:06 there is one way to never ever forget your wife's birthday,
38:11 forget it once.
38:12 Forget it once and you'll never ever forget it.
38:14 That's another story for another day.
38:16 But, you know, what made January 1, 1995 so special?
38:21 It made it so special
38:23 because my two younger sisters
38:26 didn't have to put a gun to my wife
38:30 to say you better say I do or else.
38:35 She voluntarily, willingly said I do.
38:40 She may regret that now, but it's too late.
38:43 I told her, I'm with you until the day
38:46 that we breathe our last
38:47 or certainly until the day that I'll breathe my last.
38:50 I've said to her, I've told her many times,
38:51 you can run but you can't hide from me.
38:54 You can run but you can't hide from me.
38:58 For love to be love,
39:01 it must give you the right to say yes,
39:04 as well as the right to say no.
39:06 Isn't that right?
39:07 For love to be love,
39:08 it must give you the right to say yes,
39:10 as well as the right to say no.
39:13 We have a horrible word that we used for force love,
39:19 a four letter word beginning with R
39:21 and some of you can guess what that word is
39:23 and that's rape, isn't that right?
39:25 False love is rape.
39:28 Genuine love is only genuine love
39:32 if it is freely given.
39:34 Why did God place two trees in the garden,
39:38 the tree of life that they were to enjoy fruit from?
39:42 And the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
39:44 which they were not to touch, well not to eat from?
39:48 It's because if God didn't give Adam and Eve a choice,
39:52 they never would have an opportunity
39:55 to say no to God,
39:56 they never would have an opportunity to truly love God
39:59 because to love someone means that
40:01 there is someone what you will not love.
40:05 There is someone that you'll give your allegiance
40:07 to rather than someone else
40:09 who you won't give your allegiance to.
40:12 Imagine with me,
40:15 the birth of your first precious
40:17 little baby boy or little baby girl is born
40:21 and you are just over the moon.
40:22 I can remember what that was like for me.
40:24 Some 19 years ago, it was just wonderful,
40:28 the best day of my life, the best day of my life.
40:32 Imagine that doctor came to you,
40:35 you are giving birth in this day and age,
40:37 and I said look,
40:39 we've got some bad news and some good news.
40:42 The bad news is
40:44 and we'll give that to you first.
40:45 The bad news is that there is a strong possibility
40:49 that this child will grow up one day to bring a lot of pain
40:53 and suffering and misery into your life.
40:56 Okay, this child will potentially make life
41:00 very, very difficult and challenging for you.
41:03 And you might even get to the point one day
41:04 where you kind of wonder
41:06 why on earth did I give birth to this child?
41:10 That's the bad news, that's the possibility.
41:13 But here's the good news.
41:15 The good news is that we now have the capability
41:18 to take out your child's brain
41:21 and instead to put a special chip in there,
41:24 a computer chip.
41:25 We can take out your child's heart
41:28 and we can put apparatus there
41:30 that will pump blood just as well
41:33 and do what it needs to do for the body,
41:35 just as well, if not better.
41:39 You will never again have to worry
41:42 whether your child will ever disobey you.
41:44 You will never have to worry
41:46 whether your child will do as he's told.
41:48 You'll never ever have to worry about your child
41:51 bringing you grief.
41:52 All we've got to do is just give it a computer chip
41:55 and put in a mechanical heart, so there'll be no thinking,
41:59 there'll be no feeling
42:01 and you'll be happy as Larry for the rest of your life.
42:05 How many of you would say yes?
42:07 That's the kind of child I want,
42:09 I want a perfect child that will always obey me.
42:14 That will do just as I have said,
42:16 as I've programmed it to do.
42:18 So every time I press the button,
42:19 I press button number one, the child says yes,
42:22 I will do the dishes, how long?
42:25 And you punch in 20 minutes
42:26 and the child does that in 20 minutes.
42:28 How many of you would want a robot for a child?
42:31 Nobody, I wouldn't want a robot for a child.
42:35 Why is that?
42:36 Because children are precious
42:38 and that they give you their love freely, isn't that right?
42:42 Do children bring a lot of pain
42:44 and heartache into your lives potentially?
42:47 Absolutely, if you've have teenagers,
42:50 you'll know all about that.
42:51 The challenges of having teenagers.
42:54 But the beauty of our children is that
42:57 they have the freedom to give love,
42:59 they have the freedom to express love
43:02 and in order to love, to genuinely love,
43:06 you must have that freedom to choose.
43:08 So that is why God created all of His heavenly beings
43:12 with the freedom to choose.
43:13 That is why God created Adam and Eve
43:16 with the freedom to choose.
43:19 Two trees in the garden,
43:21 two opportunities to make a decision who to serve,
43:25 that was the first voting booth recorded in scripture.
43:30 We go to elections, don't we?
43:32 We go to elections all the time
43:34 and we vote for this person or that person,
43:36 this party or that party.
43:39 God created a voting booth there in the Garden of Eden,
43:43 and He said to Adam and Eve, if you truly love Me,
43:48 you will not eat from this tree,
43:51 and by not eating from this tree,
43:54 you are showing Me that you truly love Me.
43:57 That's why Jesus comes along and in John 14, 15 He says,
44:01 "If you love Me, keep My commandments."
44:03 The greatest sign of loyalty is obedience.
44:08 Of allegiance is obedience.
44:10 That why when two individuals
44:13 give their vows at the marriage altar,
44:17 they say before God and before all these witnesses,
44:23 I will choose to be faithful to you till what?
44:26 Till death do us apart or till I find the better offer?
44:29 Till death do us apart, that's loyalty.
44:33 Loyalty equals love.
44:35 It equals obedience.
44:38 It equals faithfulness.
44:41 Jesus, He knocks in the door of our hearts.
44:46 We read the scripture in our previous presentation
44:48 from Revelation 3:20 where Jesus says,
44:52 behold I stand at the door and what?
44:54 Knock.
44:55 If any one hears my voice and opens the door,
44:58 I will come into him and dine with him and he with me.
45:03 Jesus is a gentleman.
45:05 Jesus doesn't barge down the door.
45:08 Jesus simply knocks and He says,
45:10 are you willing for me to come in
45:12 and share My life with you?
45:14 If you are, I will come in, if not,
45:18 I will stay on the outside.
45:20 That door only has one handle
45:22 and guess where that handle is located?
45:25 It's on the inside, its' on the inside.
45:28 You and I must be willing
45:30 to allow Jesus Christ into our lives.
45:32 He doesn't come and barge in, and He is not like a thief.
45:35 A thief comes and barges in.
45:37 But Jesus says, I come and I knock.
45:41 I love this statement,
45:42 "God would rather wrestle with our rebellious wills
45:46 than to reign supreme over rocks and trees."
45:50 That's a powerful statement.
45:52 God would rather wrestle with our rebellious,
45:56 with our stubborn,
45:58 with our pride filled wills than
46:01 reign supreme over rocks and trees.
46:04 God could have created the angels as robots.
46:07 God could have created us as robots,
46:10 programmed to do just as He chose,
46:14 but then He wouldn't have beings that He could love,
46:18 He wouldn't have beings that could express love to Him
46:21 because love is the foundation of God's government.
46:25 Love is the greatest power in the universe.
46:30 Has this world,
46:32 has this universe experienced the love of God?
46:36 Have they seen the love of God?
46:38 Has this universe had the opportunity
46:41 to see the character of God
46:43 in comparison with the character of the devil
46:46 and Satan at Calvary?
46:51 The whole world, the whole universe
46:53 had an opportunity to see the two sides,
46:58 head to head their characters for all to see.
47:04 Jesus cried out Father, forgive them,
47:07 for they don't know what they are doing.
47:09 And the devil through his servants cried out crucify Him,
47:13 crucify Him, crucify Him.
47:16 At Calvary, we have a clear demonstration of both sides.
47:21 We have a clear demonstration of the thief
47:24 who only comes to steal and to kill and to destroy.
47:28 And we have a clear demonstration
47:30 of God and His love.
47:33 Or where is God when I'm hurting?
47:35 Where is God when I'm hurting and even hurting right now?
47:39 Notice this beautiful promise in Hebrews 13:5.
47:43 God says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
47:47 He is always there with you.
47:48 I love this promise in Matthew 28:20,
47:52 at the end of Matthew's Gospel,
47:55 he quotes the words of Jesus,
47:57 ''I am with you" how often?
48:00 "Always, even to the end of the age."
48:03 Notice the words of the writer
48:06 of the Book of Hebrews 4:15 and 16,
48:10 "For we do not have a High Priest
48:12 who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses,
48:15 but was in all points tempted as we are,
48:17 yet without sin.
48:19 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace,
48:22 that we may obtain mercy
48:24 and find grace to help in the time of need."
48:27 The good news is that Jesus is with us always.
48:32 He is there to provide His mercies.
48:34 He is there to provide His grace in the time of need,
48:38 so you are never alone.
48:40 When you are going through your trials,
48:42 when you are going through your troubles,
48:44 Jesus is there with you
48:46 just as the Father was there with His Son at Calvary,
48:50 Jesus will be there with you.
48:52 He has promised,
48:54 I will never leave you nor forsake you.
48:56 Whilst heaven and earth remain,
48:58 I will be with you always until the end of the age.
49:03 That's a wonderful promise that God has given to us.
49:08 The Book of Revelation does not end
49:13 with us here on this earth
49:16 and sin and suffering,
49:18 and sorrow and evil,
49:20 and injustice carrying on indefinitely.
49:24 Notice how the Book of Revelation ends.
49:27 Right at the end a couple of chapters
49:30 from the very end we have these words.
49:31 In Revelation 20:9 and 10,
49:34 "Fire came down from God
49:36 out of heaven and devoured them.
49:38 The devil, who deceived them,
49:40 was cast into the lake of" what?
49:43 "Into the lake of fire."
49:45 The Bible tells us that the devil
49:47 and his angels and sadly,
49:49 sadly very, very sadly those that have chosen
49:53 to believe in his lies,
49:55 those that have chosen to be part of his government
49:58 will sadly be lost in the lake of fire.
50:02 Do you know that lake of fire was not designed for you
50:05 or for me or for anybody else living on planet earth.
50:09 Jesus in Matthew 25:41,
50:12 He said the devil and his angels
50:17 are reserved for that lake of fire.
50:20 That lake of fire is for the devil and his angels.
50:25 So why doesn't God just save everyone?
50:27 Why doesn't He just save everyone?
50:31 The truth is,
50:35 if God decided to save people against their will,
50:40 they would find themselves
50:41 living in eternal misery
50:46 there in the heavenly courts above.
50:48 That would be just like putting me in front of the TV
50:51 and making me,
50:53 forcing me to watch days of our lives all day, everyday.
50:57 What would do that for my soul?
50:59 That would destroy my soul.
51:01 That would be liking putting me in front of the TV
51:03 and making me watch violent movies, immoral movies.
51:09 That would be torture to my soul.
51:11 So those that have chosen the character of Satan,
51:15 rather than the character of Jesus Christ
51:18 to be in the presence of Jesus Christ
51:21 would be torture for them.
51:22 So God does the most merciful thing
51:25 that He can do and He simply blots them out of existence.
51:30 They have chosen not to associate themselves
51:33 with the life support of the universe.
51:36 God who is the life support of the universe,
51:40 and sadly they will be lost.
51:43 It's not God's choice,
51:45 for God is not willing that any should perish the Bible says,
51:49 but that all should come to repentance,
51:52 for God so loved the world
51:53 that He gave His only begotten Son
51:55 that whosoever, and that whosoever is even one person,
51:58 it's everyone believes in Him should not perish
52:01 but have everlasting life.
52:03 God is not willing that any should perish.
52:07 I am looking forward to the day
52:09 when God will indeed make a brand new planet.
52:12 And in Revelation 21:4 notice these words.
52:16 John writes as he sees in vision,
52:20 what is awaiting God's people,
52:22 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes,
52:25 there shall be no more death,
52:26 nor sorrow, nor crying.
52:28 There shall be no more pain,
52:30 for the former things have passed away."
52:32 Hallelujah.
52:34 Isn't that good news?
52:35 The day's coming when pain and suffering
52:38 and sorrow will be no more.
52:40 Death, disease and destruction
52:42 will be forgotten for ever more.
52:46 There shall be no more pain,
52:48 the former things have passed away.
52:52 Some may ask what if, what if,
52:55 what if somewhere down the track,
52:58 through the ceaseless ages of eternity
53:00 someone asks the question
53:03 that was asked at the very beginning
53:05 by God's leading angel,
53:08 is God really as loving as we think He is?
53:14 Will sin rise up a second time?
53:17 The Bible says no, why?
53:19 The evidence is on the hands of Jesus,
53:23 the evidence is written on His brow for all to see,
53:26 the evidence is there on his faith,
53:28 the evidence is in His side.
53:30 The evidence will be clear for all,
53:34 sin will not rise up a second time.
53:38 I want to take you as we conclude
53:40 to the country of origin of my parents,
53:47 the country of Macedonia,
53:50 to the town of Laki.
53:52 I was In fact conceived in Macedonia
53:55 and dropped off in Melbourne,
53:56 so that's kind of my short history.
53:59 Many years ago,
54:00 this is where my dad's father grew up in a town called Laki,
54:05 and there is really nothing lucky about it,
54:08 it's a pretty tough little town to grow up in
54:11 and here are my grandparents.
54:14 My granddad there and my grandma.
54:18 I had the opportunity of visiting them
54:21 when I was young a couple of times
54:23 and then when I turned 21 and 22,
54:25 I decided to go and spend some time with them.
54:27 I had a great time with my grandparents,
54:30 it was wonderful to see them,
54:31 to see where they lived and this is their village
54:35 as you can see and just a beautiful place,
54:38 very different to Melbourne,
54:39 to the western suburbs of Melbourne.
54:41 This is a birthday that we had for my grandfather,
54:43 his 88th birthday.
54:45 He was an orphan,
54:47 so he has actually no idea
54:48 when he was born,
54:50 there was no record kept of the day he was born,
54:52 the month he was born, just the year 1914.
54:54 And so we decided to have a birthday for my grandfather.
54:58 Fifteen years after I'm seeing my grandfather and grandmother,
55:03 I came back to Macedonia to run a program
55:05 such as I'm running here in Domino.
55:07 I had the opportunity to share and while I was there,
55:10 I visited my grandfather's village again
55:12 and this time I decided to go to my grandfather's grave site.
55:18 My grandfather's grave site is there,
55:21 as you can see just a simple grave
55:23 and as I reflected on my time with my grandfather,
55:29 I couldn't help but reflect on those final moments
55:32 I spend with granddad.
55:34 I remember we were at the bus stop
55:37 and I just had a feeling that this might be the last time
55:41 I would ever talk or see my grandfather
55:42 and I loved him,
55:44 we just had a wonderful relationship.
55:45 He was just very loving and very caring and very kind.
55:48 And I remember sharing with him these words,
55:50 I was impressed to share these words,
55:52 I said granddad,
55:53 this maybe be last time
55:54 we see each other here on this earth
55:57 but I want to make you a promise by God's grace,
55:59 when Jesus comes I will see you in the kingdom,
56:03 and I said to him granddad,
56:04 I want you to make me a promise that when Jesus come,
56:09 we'll be together again forever
56:11 and with tears streaming down our faces,
56:14 we hugged and we embraced.
56:17 I'm looking forward to that day when Jesus comes.
56:20 My granddad now rests, awaiting the resurrection.
56:23 What about you?
56:25 Do you want to join Jesus
56:26 and all those that have put their faith and trust in Him
56:29 on that awesome day
56:31 when God will make all things new?
56:33 If that's your decision,
56:35 why don't you just bow your heads with me as we pray?
56:37 Loving Father in heaven,
56:39 we thank You for the promise of Your soon return.
56:42 We thank You Father that one day
56:43 You will make all things right.
56:45 We thank You Father that one day
56:47 there will be no more pain,
56:48 no more suffering, no more sorrow,
56:51 no more evil,
56:52 for the former things would have all passed away.
56:55 Until that day Father, may we trust in Jesus,
56:57 may we look to Him,
56:59 for this is our prayer in his name, amen.


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Revised 2016-12-19