Amen. The earth is filled with God's glory. Well, welcome to Riverview Church. We're glad you're here, part of the church family. And we're here to worship Jesus Christ and to lift Him up. And let's talk to Him right now in prayer as we bow our hearts before Him. Lord, thank You for the opportunity we have to worship You and lift You up. And Lord, I pray that as we open up Your Word today, that we would open up our hearts to You and we give You all the praise and all the glory for what You've done. So Lord, we love You. Thank you for the sacrifice that you made on the cross for us, Jesus. We're thankful that you're here right now with us. We've gathered together in your name, Lord. So we commit this time to you. We worship you this morning. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Well, we are still in a series entitled Light It Up, sharing God's good news of the needy world. And we began with talking about how to share our faith and what the core gospel message is. And we ought to know that. Somebody asks you, how do I come to faith in Jesus Christ? That you would be able to share that good news with them and have the joy of seeing people come to know Jesus Christ in a personal way, just like you have. Not that we have all the answers. Not that we have it all down. We're still growing. We still fail. God is still molding us and shaping us. But we know, bottom line, Jesus is the answer for the world today. That He's the only one who claimed to be the resurrection and the life and backed it up by dying on the cross and three days later, rising from the dead. That gives His message validity and authenticity that we ought to take notice of and commit our lives to and share with others. A few weeks ago we talked about what we say to somebody who says, I don't believe in the resurrection of Jesus. What do you say to someone like that? Then last week we talked about what about those that say, I don't believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven. Now a lot of times one depends on the other. If you go back a few weeks, we talked about why we believe the Bible to be the Word of God. Why we believe God exists. It makes sense that if God exists, He wants to communicate with His creation. We look at the Word of God and we see all this evidence for the fact that the Word of God stands alone on this planet as the revelation from God to us that we ought to live our lives according to. And one hangs on the other. The resurrection of Jesus Christ, that's important because again, that gives His message authenticity. And we talk about Jesus being the only way. Of course, we turn to the Bible because we believe it to be the Word of God and we talk about why we believe it to be the Word of God. And Jesus messaged that He is the only way to have peace with God. Today I want to talk about this. Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world? When people say that to you, what do you say? How can a loving God, how can a merciful God allow so much pain and suffering in this world? It's a great question. And one that probably all of us have, at times, have struggled with. Looking at the news at night, Lord, why, why is that allowed? ISIS, why, why is that allowed to happen? Terrorist organizations all around the world, repressive governments who kill Christians simply because they take the name of Jesus Christ. An average of 400 every day. Believers in Jesus Christ give their lives because they claim to be followers of Jesus Christ. And sometimes you want to cry out, Lord, why? Why does that happen? Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world? The bottom line of our talk today is this. Pain and suffering are prevalent realities in our lives. We see it all around us, right? From terrorist attacks, to my son struggling with cold sores yesterday at dinner and trying to eat his meal. He has these really bad cold sores and he's eight years old and he's like, oh, he's just putting his head down on the table, oh, trying to eat food because he's hungry, but every bite is painful for him. Something as simple as that. Why is there so much pain and suffering? However, the pain and suffering we experience are ultimately the result of mankind's rebellion against a holy God. That's what the Word of God tells us. All the pain, all the suffering, all the death we see around us, ultimately, bottom line, is a result of man's rebellion against God. That's the best, if you wanna give a one-line answer to somebody who says, why is there so much pain and suffering? Because we've rejected God. We've endeavored to push him out of our lives and out of our governmental system and out of our daily culture. Then, of course, when bad things happen, oh man, let's pray to God. Well, we've been pushing them out for so long. Why is there so much pain and suffering? Because we've rebelled against God. Let's turn our Bibles to Psalm 73. If you have your Bibles, turn to Psalm 73. If you don't have your Bible, there should be one nearby. Psalm 73. It's a powerful Psalm. Included in the word of God. Because it gives the honest struggle of a man of God who's seeking to understand why there's so much evil and suffering in the world. A man by the name of Asaph. We'll call him Ace, to make it a little bit easier. Ace wrote this psalm because he was struggling. Let me read to you what he says. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Lord, I'm looking around and I see arrogant people who are wicked and they're doing well. What's going on? For they have no pangs until death. Their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are. They are not stricken like the rest of mankind. You can sense Asaph is losing his perspective. Asaph is kind of going down this path of losing his perspective. They do have problems. They do struggle, but he doesn't see that. They're not like us. They don't have problems like we do. Therefore, pride is their necklace. Violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell through fatness. Their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice. Loftily they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens and their tongue struts through the earth. Therefore his people turn back to them and find no fault in them. People are following people like this. And they say, how can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are the wicked, always at ease. They increase in riches. Then listen to this. Here's his conclusion that he almost comes to. He almost got to the point saying, I've wasted my time trying to follow God. I'm looking around the world and I'm wondering why is there so much evil and wickedness and pain and suffering? And the wicked are prospering. God, have I wasted my time? And he says this. But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task. Until I went to the sanctuary of God, then I discerned their end. Asaph walks into the temple of God. And he began to worship God and draw near to God during this time. And he said this, truly God, you set them on slippery places. You make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors like a dream when one awakes. Oh Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant. I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, here's his final conclusion. I am continually with you. You hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel. And afterward, you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you, God? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your good works." I love the honesty of the Word of God, and the struggle of Asaph. I've had this struggle. Have you? At some time in your life, thought, God, why are the wicked prospering? Why is there so much evil, pain, and suffering? But God is still in control. God is still in control. And the best thing we can do is draw near to God and desire Him and realize there is no one else in heaven but Him that we are to draw near to. That yes, there is wickedness and evil and pain and suffering, but we need to understand that we may not understand everything. God never calls us to understand everything, amen? He doesn't. We're not going to. What He does call us to is to trust Him and be faithful. And that's the message of Asaph in this psalm, this amazing psalm of a struggle that he went through about all the pain and suffering and wickedness in this world. Here's the first point I wanna drive home with you today. God created the world free from the presence of sin. We need to tell people that. They may not believe it, but we need to tell them the truth. And I'm not saying that what I tell you to tell people will automatically solve their issues and they'll come to faith in Christ. No, we have a commitment to share the truth. We need to tell people that God created the world free from the presence of sin. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of rebelling against God. God did not create evil. God created the world free from the presence of sin. In Genesis 1.31, after God created the earth in six days and the universe and everything on it, God saw that it was what? Very good. You know, he's saying that, and it was good. And it was very good. Very good. People and animals ate plants, not other animals. Even at this stage in creation, animals weren't eating other animals. They were eating plants. There was no death. There was no suffering or death in this very good world. There was no suffering and death. It was only after sin that animals began to eat other animals, and that man began to eat other animals. It was only after sin came into the world that all of this happened. See, Adam's rebellion resulted in sin and death. That's the reality. Adam disobeyed God, and it resulted in sin and death. Romans 3.23 says, death is the result of sin. Death is the result of sin. And we need to tell people that. That all the illness, all the death, all the wickedness, all the evil is the result of man's rebellion against God. And God is patient. He could destroy the world, but He doesn't. He desires, like Peter wrote in his letters, that all should come to salvation. That's His desire. He wants all to come to faith in Him. But here's the second point we need to let people know. God created people like us with the ability to choose right from wrong. God created people like us, Adam and Eve, the first people that he created on this planet, with the ability to choose right from wrong. Turn your Bibles to Genesis chapter 2, all the way at the beginning. Genesis chapter 2. Now let's start at verse 15. Genesis 2.15. It says this, the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. See, God gave Adam the choice to obey God or not. He did not create Adam. He did not create Eve like robots programmed to follow God. Yes, God, we love you. We will worship. He didn't create us like that. In fact, he loved us too much to create us like that. He didn't want to create us robots programmed to worship Him. That's what you must have to have a world free from evil, pain, and suffering. You have to create robots that are programmed to follow you. And God loves us too much to create us like that. That obviously brings no honor, no glory to God. But when people come to God and worship Him and obey Him and seek to follow Him because they love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, That brings glory to God. That's the kind of worship that God is looking for. That's the kind of followers that God desires. But He created Adam and Eve with the ability to choose right from wrong. They were given that ability. And God's purpose was clear when He created us that way. He desired for us to worship Him because we want to worship Him. Because we desire to worship Him. Not because we get everything we want. Not because this world is a perfect place. But we see the love of God in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That He would give His own Son to solve our sin problem. And that is the balance we need, don't we? That God is a loving God. That God loves us. But God is also a just and holy God and demands a payment for sin. If someone murdered one of my children, if someone murdered one of my children and we went to court to try that person and the judge walked into the court that day and said, you know, I'm having a good day today. I'm going to free that murderer and that murderer can go free. I would think that I didn't get justice. There's no justice there. There's no justice. The same is true of God. God is a loving God, but God is a just God. And the reason why He can forgive you your sins is because He sent a replacement, His own Son, who is worthy to take the sins of the world upon Himself. That was Jesus Christ. That's why, by faith in Him, our sins are nailed to the cross with Christ. That's why God can extend His mercy and His amazing grace to us. Because He is a just God. In His justice, He could not say, okay, all that sin, I'm not gonna worry about it. That goes against His nature. I'm having a good day today as God. I'm forgetting about all this sin. No, His justice demands a payment. Why didn't God just make us so we couldn't sin? Because He loves us too much. Why couldn't God just make us so we couldn't sin? He loves us too much. He desires for us to worship Him from hearts that long to draw near to Him. We can no longer be humans, but we'd be robots programmed to follow and worship Him. I tell that to people all the time. Why does God allow evil and suffering? Because the only other option, ultimately, is to make us robots, programmed to follow Him. That's not His desire. That's not His plan. There are times I've told people, you need to allow God to be God. You might think, you know, if I had God's power, I would do it differently. If I had God's almighty power, I would do it differently. But I will then say this, but if you had His power and His wisdom, you would do it the exact same way. If you had His power and His wisdom, from our finite perspective, we think God could handle this better or that better. because we're so finite. We're limited in our understanding. We don't know like God knows. God's knowledge is amazing. His thoughts, the Bible says, are far above our thoughts. His ways are far above our ways. See, God created people in His image to connect with Him spiritually. See, God is a God who can make choices. And for us to be created in the image of God, I believe part of that image is to be able to make choices, moral choices, right and wrong. But with that comes some inevitable, unavoidable consequences. They are these. We became responsible for our choices. When we were given the freedom to choose, we were also made responsible for our choices. God never causes anyone to sin. You can't say God made me do this evil thing. That's not the way God operates in our lives. We became responsible for our choices. We had responsibility, the ability to respond and to make choices that would reflect the word of God. And all around us in this world, we see evil, making choices that reflects their own depraved, sinful nature. Here's another thing that we experienced. We experienced the consequences of our choices. Right? If you're speeding down the road, and the police officer pulls you over, you made the choice to speed. You made the choice to do that. And the officer pulled you over, and you have to accept the consequences of your choices. That's what life is like. Because we are responsible. The same is true of our Heavenly Father. There are consequences for our choices. And sometimes in a world that's steeped in rebellion against God, that loves to rebel against God and disobey God, there are consequences that hit even his children. Even in this life, all around the world, there are believers in Jesus Christ who love Christ, who are suffering today because of evil people around them. But again, we need to understand this life is but a breath. When we look at this life in the perspective of eternity, forever and ever and ever and ever, this life is but a breath, and then it's gone. And sometimes I believe God allows trials and tribulation in our lives so that we would not fall too much in love with this life, but we would always have an eternal perspective. God, we get it. There are people all around us that are evil and wicked, and you allow that to a certain extent. And I do believe there are boundaries that God places upon evil people and evil governments in this world because he will accomplish His plan, and His purposes, in His timing, in His way. Still in control. I love what it says in Isaiah 59, 1 and 2. Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, or His ear dull that it cannot hear. Isaiah is saying God can save everyone if He desires. Could God have stopped 9-11? Absolutely, He could have stopped it. I believe there are times that he does stop events like that. But if you look at the Bible and the word of God, there are times when God gives people over to their sin. He gives them over to the rebellion. You wanna rebel against me? Here's the full extent of what you will experience. And he gives people over to their own rebellion. And we see the terrible face of evil. Even President Obama talked about that. Talking about ISIS this week, if you heard his speech, you look into the face of evil. We see things like that. And we see how bad evil is. And we want to draw near to God. And God, I will draw near to you. See, the reality is, and I tell people this all the time, people like us have rebelled against God. The Bible calls that sin. which resulted in suffering and death because of our rebellion against God. Turn your Bibles to Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1. We'll start at verse 20 of Romans chapter 1. This is a powerful passage. It says this, for God's invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made so they are without excuse. Now when you look at creation, you get an idea that there is a God who created all of this. Look what he says, for although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles, they left the true God and began to follow idols. Listen to this. Therefore, God gave them up. Some of your translations read, God gave them over to their lusts of their hearts, to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie. and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. When I was in Chicago, I got a call from a newspaper, a Chicago newspaper. And for whatever reason, they called our church and just said, hey, you're a pastor. The person actually said this. We called a number of churches and the pastors didn't want to answer this question. So I want to ask you. We are doing an article on the Wiccan faith. You may know a little bit about Wiccan. It's kind of an occultic offshoot. satanic offshoot, worships created things, and kind of an offshoot of occultic practices. And he said to me, what do you think of the wicked faith? And I said this, the problem with the wicked faith is they serve, and I quoted this verse, they serve the creation, not the creator. They serve and worship the creation, not the creator. And that is their problem. They don't acknowledge the true Creator who is Jesus Christ. And that quote was in the newspaper and I started to get all these hate emails and phone calls from people of the wicked faith and all these abusive emails because of that statement. But that's exactly what happens. People worship the creation rather than the Creator. and they disobey God, and God gives them over to that. You want that? Here it is. You want to see what that leads to? Here it is. And we see the negative impact of that all around us. There are many times that we experience trials and pain. For example, one type of trial or pain that we may experience, the kind of suffering that we experience, are things beyond our control. And sometimes for a believer like Asaph, Lord, why? I'm one of your children. We might experience illness or sickness. Again, the result of the fall of man. The Bible says when Adam sinned, death came into the world. Death began on this planet, which includes illness and sickness. We experience a loss of a loved one or persecution or even natural disasters. Even natural disasters. When you read, you might say, well, yeah, well, why does God allow earthquakes and typhoons and hurricanes? Well, here's the reality. Romans 8.22 tells us, if you turn there, the whole creation groans under the weight of sin. If you're in your Bibles, turn to Romans chapter eight. Let's look at this passage. Let's start at verse 20 of Romans 8. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage. All of creation, when sin entered the world, it became full of bondage. We even read in the Old Testament text in Genesis that God was now going to allow thorns and thistles to grow among the crops. And Adam would now have to harvest with the sweat of his brow. Creation changed. There were things that changed in creation because of the presence of sin. Now look at verse 21. The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth. until now. The effect of sin on this creation was a negative one, and it's groaning under the weight of sin. And even though God still sustains creation, there's a sense in which when sin happened, he stepped back a bit. He stepped back, and the whole creation is groaning under the weight of sin. If this were a planet without sin, I don't believe any of these natural disasters would take the lives of people. God would be superintending this planet in a way that reflects a planet without sin. You might say, well, Mel, does God ever cause bad things to happen? Absolutely, he does. At times, God causes illness or disasters as an act of judgment or discipline. What's a good example of that in the Bible, right in the beginning? What's a good example? Noah and the flood, right? Here, God looks at the earth and says, wow, there is so much sin and rebellion. I will destroy the earth with a flood. But there was one man who found grace in the eyes of the Lord. That person was Noah. God judged the earth for its sin. And believe me, when you read the book of Revelation and other prophecies in the New Testament, there will be a time of judgment coming. That will be amazing, a demonstration of God's power and judgment against sin. There is a time coming when that happens. And we know that God at times will cause illness or disasters as an act of judgment or disease. I want to turn to 1 Corinthians 11 real quick. I want to read a verse just to give you an example of how God does that and why God does that. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 28 through 30. Paul's talking about the Lord's Supper and how we ought to take the Lord's Supper at church in a worthy manner. We shouldn't come to the Lord's Supper and partake of the bread and the cup knowing that there's sin in our life. Lord, I know I'm rebelling against you, but boy, I'm gonna take that bread and I'm gonna drink that cup as a sign of me receiving that amazing blessing as a symbol of the receiving of that gift of your death on the cross. It says this in verse 28 of 1 Corinthians 11. Let a person examine himself then. And so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are what? Weak and ill and some have died. Wow. New Testament church? They were abusing the Lord's cup. You mean the Lord passed a judgment on those who were abusing the Lord's cup? Some were weak and ill and some even died because they were abusing the Lord's supper. There are times when God causes disasters to happen as an act of judgment and discipline. Now here's the key thing. We are not the ones to look at others and say, look at that person's suffering. They must have done something really evil That is definitely not our call. Because sometimes God can cause evil, I'm sorry, suffering and hardship and trial in a person's life for his glory and because he plans to use that person as a tool in his hands to change the world. What's the number one example of that in the New Testament? Of God taking what looks like terrible suffering and pain and making it something victorious. Yeah, Paul of course, Jesus on the cross, right? People probably were standing there looking at Jesus saying, oh man, Jesus must have been really evil to die like that. How terrible. That would have been a Terrible judgment on my part or anyone's part to stand at the cross and say that Jesus was sinless This was not suffering that was a judgment on Jesus. It was a judgment on the sin of the world and Jesus the only righteous person to ever walk the planet was the one who had laid down his life for for us, and it became something victorious. And I don't know about you, but I've read the testimonies of many people who have gone through difficult times as believers in Christ, and yet God has taken that difficulty and that trial and that suffering and turned it into something amazing that has led many people to faith in Christ. Many people to faith in Christ. How many of you ever heard of Johnny Erickson Tada? Yeah, some of you have read her books. A young lady who was diving in the Chesapeake Bay became a quadriplegic when she dove into a sandbar. God has used that woman to change the hearts and lives of people all around the world, including my wife. When my wife was in Germany, she was so touched by this meeting she went to. when she heard the testimony of Johnny Erickson Tada. Now most people say, oh, how terrible, God must have judged her for something evil in her life. No, for whatever reason, God will use that circumstance in Johnny's life to change the hearts and lives of people. Here's another reason why people experience trials and pain, because of God's discipline. If you're a good parent, you know that you have to discipline your kids. If you're a good parent, Sometimes it's very hard, but God is the perfect parent who loves to discipline us because he loves us. It's a response to our sin, an act of love. The goal is restoration. There are times that God disciplines us. And I'm trying in my life that when difficulties come my way and trials come my way, instead of saying, why me, God? What would be a better question? What are you trying to teach me, God? Or why not me is a great question, but what are you trying to teach me, God, through this experience? What are you trying to teach me? What rough edges in my life need to be shaved off through this experience? C.S. Lewis said, pain is the megaphone of God. Why? Because when we're in pain, it's often then that we are most likely to receive God's message and hear what he has to say to us. Here's another reason why we experience trials and pain in this world. It's the consequences of our sin. The consequences of our sin. I tell people that I counsel, if you choose to sin, you choose to suffer. Choose to sin, choose to suffer. That on top of all the suffering that goes on in this world, because we have chosen to rebel against God. That's what I tell people all the time. We've chosen to rebel against God. The consequences of our sin will add even more pain to that. because of our rebellion, because of our not following biblical guidance. I was reading an article this week, and the author basically said that most people will estimate that 95% of the suffering in this world is the result of human error, human sin, human evil. Why can't food get to that starving group of people? Because there are political leaders who are involved in corruption, who will not allow world relief organizations to get food to that people, those people who are starving. You can read it today. On this planet right now, we supply enough food to give every person on the planet 3,000 calories a day. God is doing his part. There's enough food on the planet to feed every person on the planet up to 3,000 calories per day. What keeps the food from getting to people who are starving? Wars and evil and human corruption. It's the consequences of our sin. So when people ask me, why does God allow pain and suffering? Because he allows us the ability to choose, and it's our rebellion against God. It's our rejection of God that causes all the evil, all the pain, all the death, all the suffering on this planet. And we need to be reminded of this, that Jesus himself would become the great sufferer as he lays down his life for our sins. Jesus himself would be the Lamb of God who would lay down his life for our sins. We need to remember that Jesus himself suffered, not because he was sinful, but because he was willing to take our sins upon himself and be the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. As Jesus said, that he came to be the ransom for many, to lay down his life for you and for me. Amen, church? Amen. Let's bow our hearts before the Lord in prayer. Lord, this is a hard thing to talk about because all of us have struggled with it. Lord, sometimes we just wonder why we struggle like Asaph, the Psalmist. Why does this happen? But Lord, help us to still trust you in the midst of our struggle. Help us, Lord, like Asaph to go to the sanctuary, to worship you and to draw near to you in our times of struggle. Lord, we know that you are an awesome God, and your ways are higher than our ways. And Lord, as people struggle and come to us and ask us, why do you allow pain and suffering? Help us, Lord, to point them back to you, to help them to draw near to you, to help them to see that it's because of our rebellion on this planet against you. that has led to all this pain and suffering. So Lord, we love you today. We commit ourselves to you in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's all stand together and sing this song.