1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,690 Speaker: we are talking about the problem of evil. 2 00:00:03,809 --> 00:00:05,580 Um, essentially, right? 3 00:00:05,730 --> 00:00:07,050 One of the biggest. 4 00:00:07,425 --> 00:00:11,805 Objections to Christianity that is out there is, if God is 5 00:00:11,805 --> 00:00:14,685 good, why do bad things happen? 6 00:00:14,745 --> 00:00:14,925 Right? 7 00:00:14,925 --> 00:00:19,155 I want you to imagine maybe that you are, instead of growing up in the US, that 8 00:00:19,155 --> 00:00:22,635 you're someone maybe growing up in another part of the world, maybe like there's 9 00:00:22,635 --> 00:00:25,095 a war going on right in Iran out there. 10 00:00:25,095 --> 00:00:26,270 Maybe you're growing up there. 11 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,870 You, your family is maybe killed or your friends get killed 12 00:00:30,870 --> 00:00:32,729 in, in a bombing or something. 13 00:00:33,210 --> 00:00:35,850 Um, and you wonder if God exists. 14 00:00:35,850 --> 00:00:37,140 Why doesn't he stop this? 15 00:00:37,620 --> 00:00:37,770 Right? 16 00:00:37,770 --> 00:00:42,480 If, if God is really in control of this, if God is really who the Bible says he 17 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:44,490 is, why does he do anything about this? 18 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:46,230 Why is he letting all these people die? 19 00:00:46,350 --> 00:00:46,500 Right? 20 00:00:46,500 --> 00:00:47,970 Why did he let my family die? 21 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:49,170 Why did he let my friends die? 22 00:00:49,170 --> 00:00:52,350 Why did he let this, you know, these governments take over? 23 00:00:52,350 --> 00:00:53,610 Why does he let these things happen? 24 00:00:54,555 --> 00:00:55,545 That's a big question. 25 00:00:55,575 --> 00:00:58,455 And we're gonna take these next two days, right? 26 00:00:58,455 --> 00:01:01,755 These next three sermons to think through, how does that work? 27 00:01:01,755 --> 00:01:04,125 How can God let these crazy bad things happen? 28 00:01:04,125 --> 00:01:05,715 Or even things like natural disasters, right? 29 00:01:05,715 --> 00:01:07,485 Why do, why does God allow those things? 30 00:01:07,485 --> 00:01:09,735 Why does God not just stop them right away? 31 00:01:09,855 --> 00:01:12,645 So, 'cause if we say he can, why doesn't he do it? 32 00:01:13,620 --> 00:01:14,880 So that's what we're gonna be talking about. 33 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:19,619 So, um, essentially, right, the problem of evil, kind of, I was try, 34 00:01:19,649 --> 00:01:22,350 I tried to show, there's actually a clip of it in, I don't know if you 35 00:01:22,350 --> 00:01:23,670 guys know, Batman versus Superman. 36 00:01:23,670 --> 00:01:26,369 The movie like 10 years ago, that was like a giant flop. 37 00:01:26,700 --> 00:01:31,140 Um, but the bad guy likes Luther and Badman versus Superman essentially lays 38 00:01:31,170 --> 00:01:35,640 out this whole problem, um, in this speech to Superman because he, he's 39 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,640 saying that Superman is kind of like God, and he's saying, Superman, if you're so 40 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,460 good, why don't you, why don't you stop all these bad things from happening? 41 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:42,330 Um. 42 00:01:43,125 --> 00:01:48,015 But essentially if God is in control of everything right, then everything that 43 00:01:48,015 --> 00:01:50,835 happens is 'cause he let it happen, right? 44 00:01:50,955 --> 00:01:53,625 If, if God is in control of everything, then he could 45 00:01:53,625 --> 00:01:55,215 stop anything from happening. 46 00:01:56,265 --> 00:01:59,414 So anything that happens happens because God let it happen. 47 00:01:59,414 --> 00:02:02,445 So if that's true, and, and that's what we're gonna see, that maybe that's what 48 00:02:02,445 --> 00:02:07,215 the Bible says, then everything that happens is because God let it happen. 49 00:02:07,755 --> 00:02:10,880 But if God is good, why would he let bad things happen? 50 00:02:11,954 --> 00:02:15,015 So these god's in control, but God's good. 51 00:02:15,225 --> 00:02:18,285 So if those things are both true, why do? 52 00:02:18,374 --> 00:02:19,454 Why do bad things happen? 53 00:02:19,994 --> 00:02:22,725 And so a lot of people will say that, well, that means that God 54 00:02:22,725 --> 00:02:25,035 either must not be in control, right? 55 00:02:25,064 --> 00:02:28,035 Because maybe he's good, but he can't really stop people 56 00:02:28,035 --> 00:02:29,654 from doing bad things, right? 57 00:02:30,075 --> 00:02:33,524 Or maybe he can't stop natural disasters, or he can't stop wars. 58 00:02:34,035 --> 00:02:35,744 So then maybe God's not in control. 59 00:02:36,045 --> 00:02:39,084 Or they'll say, well, maybe God's in control, but he's not good. 60 00:02:40,125 --> 00:02:42,315 Because he lets all these horrible things happen so he can't be good. 61 00:02:43,095 --> 00:02:45,315 So those are conclusions that people come to or people say, 62 00:02:45,315 --> 00:02:46,875 well, therefore God can't exist. 63 00:02:46,935 --> 00:02:47,055 Right? 64 00:02:47,055 --> 00:02:51,225 This is what maybe a lot of your atheist classmates or friends will say is God 65 00:02:51,225 --> 00:02:55,425 doesn't exist because if, if the God you're talking about existed, he would 66 00:02:55,425 --> 00:02:56,925 stop all these bad things from happening. 67 00:02:56,954 --> 00:03:00,225 If God was really in control and if he was really all good, then he 68 00:03:00,225 --> 00:03:04,575 wouldn't let these bad things happen, so therefore that God can't exist. 69 00:03:05,910 --> 00:03:08,430 Now that causes us a problem, right? 70 00:03:08,430 --> 00:03:10,739 Because if we're gonna say the Bible's true, if we're gonna sit here and 71 00:03:10,739 --> 00:03:13,109 say, well, the Bible is God's word, if we're gonna sit here and say 72 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:16,135 that, um, God is who he says he is. 73 00:03:17,190 --> 00:03:18,390 We have to answer that question. 74 00:03:18,450 --> 00:03:21,120 Maybe you've never thought about this before, or maybe this is something 75 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,780 that for you is something that is maybe preventing you from trusting Jesus. 76 00:03:24,780 --> 00:03:27,480 Or maybe it's a question someone asks you and you just don't know a good answer. 77 00:03:27,750 --> 00:03:28,800 That's what we're here for, right? 78 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:30,150 We're here to answer this question. 79 00:03:30,150 --> 00:03:31,740 How does that all work? 80 00:03:31,860 --> 00:03:32,280 Okay? 81 00:03:32,310 --> 00:03:35,700 Because if we're wrong about this, then we're all believing a lie, right? 82 00:03:35,700 --> 00:03:37,680 Then we're all believing in a God who's either not good, 83 00:03:37,860 --> 00:03:39,270 not in control, or not real. 84 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:42,390 So, um, I hope you see how important this is. 85 00:03:42,420 --> 00:03:43,829 Um, even if it's a new. 86 00:03:44,265 --> 00:03:45,975 Area of, of thinking for you. 87 00:03:45,975 --> 00:03:49,035 This is gonna be really, really important for you to have conversations with people. 88 00:03:49,035 --> 00:03:52,155 I guarantee you you're gonna have someone who asks you this at some point, whether 89 00:03:52,155 --> 00:03:55,994 it's a relative or a college professor or, or someone who's gonna ask you this. 90 00:03:55,994 --> 00:03:59,715 So, um, hopefully this will set you up to trust God for 91 00:03:59,715 --> 00:04:00,674 the rest of your life, right? 92 00:04:00,674 --> 00:04:02,835 That's, that's my goal for, for all these sermons. 93 00:04:02,835 --> 00:04:03,075 Okay. 94 00:04:03,105 --> 00:04:08,234 So, um, and, and maybe this is like kind of an academic thing for you. 95 00:04:08,234 --> 00:04:10,755 This is what feels like Pastor Rod told me, um, this might feel like 96 00:04:10,755 --> 00:04:13,244 a conference 'cause you're learning about something that doesn't feel. 97 00:04:13,965 --> 00:04:15,644 It's, it's more theoretical than real. 98 00:04:15,915 --> 00:04:19,485 And so the first thing I want you to do is think about that this, realize that 99 00:04:19,485 --> 00:04:22,845 this is going to hit you like at home. 100 00:04:22,965 --> 00:04:26,385 'cause there's gonna be bad things that happen to you, right? 101 00:04:26,445 --> 00:04:30,255 So our first point tonight is, or not tonight, whatever time of day it is, come 102 00:04:30,255 --> 00:04:32,685 face to face with the problem of evil. 103 00:04:34,125 --> 00:04:36,435 I want you to see that this is something that will affect you 104 00:04:36,795 --> 00:04:37,875 at some point in your life. 105 00:04:38,895 --> 00:04:41,745 Something bad is gonna happen to you or someone you care about. 106 00:04:43,140 --> 00:04:45,300 You're gonna wonder why, right? 107 00:04:45,300 --> 00:04:46,590 Why did God let that happen? 108 00:04:47,370 --> 00:04:47,550 Right? 109 00:04:47,550 --> 00:04:50,550 It could be something small like your dog dies, right? 110 00:04:50,550 --> 00:04:52,050 Why does God let my dog die? 111 00:04:53,039 --> 00:04:55,080 If he's so good, why would he let that happen? 112 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:55,380 Right? 113 00:04:55,469 --> 00:04:58,620 It could be something big like one of your parents dies, right? 114 00:04:59,370 --> 00:05:00,630 Why does God let that happen? 115 00:05:01,710 --> 00:05:04,230 Or you have a really close relative who dies, right? 116 00:05:04,230 --> 00:05:04,555 Why does this happen? 117 00:05:06,090 --> 00:05:07,680 Or even just a, a little thing, right? 118 00:05:07,710 --> 00:05:10,530 There's, there's so many big little in between things, right? 119 00:05:10,530 --> 00:05:12,720 If, if God is good, why didn't he give me this? 120 00:05:12,810 --> 00:05:13,020 Right? 121 00:05:13,230 --> 00:05:15,510 Why did this person get sick, right? 122 00:05:15,510 --> 00:05:19,890 Why did this person, you know, whatever, why did these big terrible things happen? 123 00:05:19,950 --> 00:05:23,760 So this is gonna happen to you at some point, right? 124 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:27,540 I think a lot of us are really good at putting off problems, right? 125 00:05:27,540 --> 00:05:29,040 When I was in college, um. 126 00:05:29,805 --> 00:05:31,965 I got really, really good at procrastinating. 127 00:05:32,625 --> 00:05:36,825 Um, 'cause especially when you, like in college I lived in a dorm room and so 128 00:05:36,825 --> 00:05:40,665 we're all on this, on this like hallway and you know, I've got my friends 129 00:05:40,665 --> 00:05:44,085 down there, they've got a Nando switch hooked up to a projector in their room. 130 00:05:44,475 --> 00:05:49,185 And so essentially what we would do is like homework didn't start until 131 00:05:49,185 --> 00:05:55,784 10:00 PM like after dinner it was like, hang out, no homework time, and. 132 00:05:56,415 --> 00:06:00,465 We would just, we'd play Super Smash, we'd play Mario Party, we'd go do whatever. 133 00:06:00,465 --> 00:06:02,685 If someone's like, oh yeah, hey, we're about to, you know, 134 00:06:02,685 --> 00:06:03,765 we're about to play this game. 135 00:06:03,795 --> 00:06:04,515 We're like, oh, sure. 136 00:06:04,545 --> 00:06:06,045 I, I guess I have time for that, right? 137 00:06:06,165 --> 00:06:07,095 I can do homework later. 138 00:06:07,245 --> 00:06:09,555 And I got really, really good at putting off my homework. 139 00:06:09,975 --> 00:06:13,035 Um, I don't want you to do that with this problem. 140 00:06:13,980 --> 00:06:16,620 I don't want you to think, man, um, I can just worry about 141 00:06:16,620 --> 00:06:17,550 that when I'm older, right? 142 00:06:17,550 --> 00:06:19,680 Maybe you're in junior high, or maybe this is new for you. 143 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:21,060 Maybe you don't really go to church that much. 144 00:06:21,060 --> 00:06:22,230 You don't take read the Bible. 145 00:06:22,500 --> 00:06:24,060 Maybe you're, you're just thinking, oh, this is a, this 146 00:06:24,060 --> 00:06:24,960 sounds like an adult problem. 147 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:26,010 It sounds like a big problem. 148 00:06:26,280 --> 00:06:29,070 Big, you know, not, not for me, right? 149 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:32,670 I don't want you to procrastinate this because the problem is right. 150 00:06:32,670 --> 00:06:33,510 With procrastinating. 151 00:06:33,570 --> 00:06:37,530 My homework like I did, is eventually I had to deal with my homework, right? 152 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:38,400 I had to do it. 153 00:06:38,490 --> 00:06:39,180 I couldn't just. 154 00:06:39,550 --> 00:06:43,930 Forget about it and, and escape it because eventually it was gonna be there, right? 155 00:06:44,050 --> 00:06:46,630 Eventually when I came back to my room, right. 156 00:06:46,870 --> 00:06:49,659 Um, my homework was gonna be there and I had to do it right. 157 00:06:49,810 --> 00:06:54,790 This is gonna come on your doorstep at some point, right? 158 00:06:55,060 --> 00:06:57,580 You can't just keep putting this off and be like, well, I'm too young to deal 159 00:06:57,580 --> 00:06:59,740 with this, or, oh, this isn't a big deal. 160 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:01,000 My parents can figure that out. 161 00:07:01,305 --> 00:07:02,655 Or it's, it's okay. 162 00:07:02,655 --> 00:07:05,295 That's for, you know, the people who wanna go share the gospel, that's 163 00:07:05,295 --> 00:07:06,525 for them to figure out, right? 164 00:07:06,735 --> 00:07:09,765 This is something that you need to figure out at some point, right? 165 00:07:09,765 --> 00:07:11,355 And now is the best time for you to do it. 166 00:07:11,655 --> 00:07:14,955 So, um, don't, don't put it off, right? 167 00:07:14,955 --> 00:07:18,135 There's bad things that are gonna happen to you and to people you care about. 168 00:07:18,465 --> 00:07:20,235 Um, like we've talked about, um. 169 00:07:21,045 --> 00:07:23,595 Or someone will ask you this question, and I don't want you to be sitting 170 00:07:23,595 --> 00:07:24,615 there like, uh, I don't know. 171 00:07:24,615 --> 00:07:25,395 I never thought about that. 172 00:07:25,485 --> 00:07:25,845 Right? 173 00:07:26,295 --> 00:07:29,385 Um, I want you to be ready 'cause this, if you have a good answer to 174 00:07:29,385 --> 00:07:33,255 this question that could help someone trust Jesus for the first time, right? 175 00:07:33,255 --> 00:07:36,585 That could help someone become a Christian, is if, if someone asks you, 176 00:07:36,585 --> 00:07:37,905 is this why they're not a Christian? 177 00:07:37,905 --> 00:07:39,975 They say, I, I just don't understand how God could let all 178 00:07:39,975 --> 00:07:41,265 these bad things happen, right? 179 00:07:41,475 --> 00:07:45,315 Uh, I, I like Jesus, I like what he says, but um, I just don't 180 00:07:45,315 --> 00:07:47,175 understand why he let my mom die. 181 00:07:48,810 --> 00:07:49,530 What do you say? 182 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:50,220 Right? 183 00:07:50,220 --> 00:07:53,730 You, you, I had a friend in high school who told me that, what do you say, right? 184 00:07:53,730 --> 00:07:58,200 We were, we were walking from math class to history class, and I was 185 00:07:58,200 --> 00:07:59,100 like, oh, you ever go to church? 186 00:07:59,100 --> 00:08:00,750 And he's like, yeah, I just don't really like church. 187 00:08:00,750 --> 00:08:01,500 And I was like, oh, why not? 188 00:08:01,500 --> 00:08:05,700 He's like, well, um, I just had really bad experiences and whatever. 189 00:08:05,700 --> 00:08:07,169 And, and I asked, oh, what was that like? 190 00:08:07,169 --> 00:08:10,230 He's like, well, you know, they said that, that God is in control of everything. 191 00:08:10,230 --> 00:08:12,780 And he had a really hard situation at home and he was like, I just 192 00:08:12,780 --> 00:08:15,210 don't see how God can be in control of everything and let this happen. 193 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:16,710 And I'm 17 years old. 194 00:08:17,174 --> 00:08:20,715 In my six minute passing period from math class to history class 195 00:08:21,044 --> 00:08:23,054 and what do you say, right? 196 00:08:23,054 --> 00:08:23,625 That could be you. 197 00:08:23,655 --> 00:08:24,105 That could be you. 198 00:08:24,105 --> 00:08:26,625 Next week, someone could ask you that. 199 00:08:27,465 --> 00:08:27,975 What do you do? 200 00:08:28,005 --> 00:08:28,184 Right? 201 00:08:28,184 --> 00:08:29,505 That's why we're here. 202 00:08:29,775 --> 00:08:30,105 Okay. 203 00:08:31,155 --> 00:08:36,313 Um, but also, um, I don't wanna just approach this 204 00:08:36,313 --> 00:08:38,355 problem as something out there. 205 00:08:38,924 --> 00:08:42,554 Um, so if you've got your Bible, let's go to Luke chapter 13. 206 00:08:42,855 --> 00:08:43,155 Okay. 207 00:08:43,155 --> 00:08:44,205 Luke chapter 13. 208 00:08:47,459 --> 00:08:49,319 Because part of this is outward facing, right? 209 00:08:49,319 --> 00:08:51,959 There's, there's bad things that happen out there in the world, right? 210 00:08:51,959 --> 00:08:55,410 They're, they're on the news or there's things that happen in your 211 00:08:55,410 --> 00:08:58,230 life, right, that are hard, that are bad, that don't make sense. 212 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:05,490 Um, but part of the problem of evil has to do with you and me. 213 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:10,800 So, Luke 13, we're gonna start in verse one, okay? 214 00:09:10,980 --> 00:09:14,160 And we're just gonna read a few verses together and, and talk about 'em. 215 00:09:16,740 --> 00:09:24,150 So Jesus is talking with some, some people, and there was this really 216 00:09:24,150 --> 00:09:25,710 bad thing that happened, right? 217 00:09:25,710 --> 00:09:27,930 This was the, this was on the news at the time. 218 00:09:28,170 --> 00:09:32,190 So verse one, there were some, there were some present at that very time. 219 00:09:32,730 --> 00:09:37,380 So Jesus talking to them, uh, and they told him about the glees whose blood 220 00:09:37,620 --> 00:09:39,780 Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 221 00:09:39,780 --> 00:09:44,220 So essentially what happened is Pilate right, the governor of this area had. 222 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:49,470 Killed some people and he wanted to offend the Jews. 223 00:09:49,470 --> 00:09:53,520 He wanted to make the Jews really angry and really sad, and so on the altar. 224 00:09:53,605 --> 00:09:55,170 He, he killed people there. 225 00:09:55,620 --> 00:09:59,490 And that would be really, really like bad for the altar, right? 226 00:09:59,700 --> 00:10:02,760 Because you're not supposed to put, like, we've been, we've been reading 227 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:03,750 in our daily Bible reading, right? 228 00:10:03,755 --> 00:10:07,050 You're not supposed to put human blood with anything, right? 229 00:10:07,050 --> 00:10:08,550 You're not supposed to do do anything with that. 230 00:10:08,730 --> 00:10:11,680 So he, he kills these people and he. 231 00:10:12,675 --> 00:10:17,145 Makes a really horrible scene out of it, and she's answered them. 232 00:10:17,415 --> 00:10:21,135 He says, do you think verse two, that these Galileans were worse 233 00:10:21,135 --> 00:10:23,955 sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way? 234 00:10:24,825 --> 00:10:27,675 So he says, well, do you think that happened to them? 235 00:10:27,675 --> 00:10:30,645 'cause they're really bad people and you're not as bad of a person. 236 00:10:31,455 --> 00:10:37,035 He says, no, I tell you, unless you repent, you will all likewise. 237 00:10:37,365 --> 00:10:39,135 Perish, and we'll get more on that later. 238 00:10:39,375 --> 00:10:42,555 Verse eight, he brings up another, or verse four, he brings up another tragedy 239 00:10:42,555 --> 00:10:47,175 here in verse four, or those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them. 240 00:10:47,175 --> 00:10:49,635 So there was this tower, it fell down and killed a bunch of people, right? 241 00:10:49,635 --> 00:10:51,345 Something like that happens pretty often. 242 00:10:51,675 --> 00:10:53,565 Something, you know, a plane crash, right? 243 00:10:53,955 --> 00:10:54,675 A bunch of people die. 244 00:10:55,125 --> 00:10:56,925 He says, okay, well why did that happen? 245 00:10:57,255 --> 00:11:00,465 Is it because those people were worse offenders than all the other 246 00:11:00,465 --> 00:11:01,425 people who lived in Jerusalem? 247 00:11:01,995 --> 00:11:04,185 So when bad things happen to people, is it because they're 248 00:11:04,185 --> 00:11:05,385 really bad and they deserved it? 249 00:11:07,020 --> 00:11:13,860 He says, no, but I tell you, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 250 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:18,900 What Jesus is saying here is bad things don't happen only to bad people. 251 00:11:20,069 --> 00:11:26,010 What he's saying is that everyone's a bad person if you want God to get rid of 252 00:11:26,010 --> 00:11:27,600 all the bad things in the world, right? 253 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:27,959 That's a lot. 254 00:11:27,959 --> 00:11:29,880 A lot of people say, they say, I, I don't believe in God. 255 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:31,290 'cause he lets all these bad things happen. 256 00:11:31,470 --> 00:11:31,709 Right? 257 00:11:31,860 --> 00:11:32,250 Well. 258 00:11:33,075 --> 00:11:36,495 Good question to ask someone is, well, God, or sorry, would you want God 259 00:11:36,495 --> 00:11:39,255 to stop all the bad things, right? 260 00:11:39,255 --> 00:11:42,345 I, I was talking to someone, um, a couple years ago, one of my coworkers, 261 00:11:42,345 --> 00:11:45,705 we were talking about this and I, and I said, well, would you want God to 262 00:11:45,705 --> 00:11:47,655 stop all the bad things from happening? 263 00:11:48,225 --> 00:11:49,575 And they were like, yeah, that would be great. 264 00:11:49,875 --> 00:11:50,745 And so then we talked about it. 265 00:11:50,745 --> 00:11:54,345 I was like, well, how much of the bad things would you want God to stop? 266 00:11:55,215 --> 00:11:57,135 Would you want him to stop all the murder? 267 00:11:57,165 --> 00:11:57,795 And they're like, yeah. 268 00:11:58,065 --> 00:11:59,115 I was like, yeah, me too. 269 00:11:59,565 --> 00:12:01,545 Would you want God to stop all the lying? 270 00:12:02,460 --> 00:12:06,240 They were like, yes, but I could tell they were like not sure. 271 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:06,930 Because why? 272 00:12:07,860 --> 00:12:11,850 If God takes out all the liars in the world, who's left? 273 00:12:13,620 --> 00:12:14,130 No one. 274 00:12:14,250 --> 00:12:15,780 There's zero people left in the world. 275 00:12:15,780 --> 00:12:18,960 If God gets rid of all the lying in the world, there's gonna be 276 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:20,430 zero people left on the planet. 277 00:12:21,660 --> 00:12:21,930 Right? 278 00:12:21,990 --> 00:12:25,200 So if you want God to stop all the bad things from happening, right? 279 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:27,450 If maybe that's your objection to why you don't trust God. 280 00:12:28,110 --> 00:12:29,610 Or maybe that's really hard for you to think about. 281 00:12:29,610 --> 00:12:30,870 How does God let all these bad things happen? 282 00:12:31,110 --> 00:12:35,219 If God was going to stop all the bad things in the world from happening, 283 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:37,410 you and I wouldn't be here. 284 00:12:37,949 --> 00:12:38,370 Right? 285 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:38,969 We'd be gone. 286 00:12:40,079 --> 00:12:41,550 'cause God would have to stop us too. 287 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:42,030 Right? 288 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:43,860 What about all the bad thoughts in the world? 289 00:12:44,490 --> 00:12:45,599 All the selfish thoughts? 290 00:12:46,740 --> 00:12:51,420 If you want God to stop those, well that means you and I we're done, right? 291 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:56,099 So part of the problem of evil. 292 00:12:56,910 --> 00:13:05,520 Is you me, part of the problem of why this world is so messed up is, is me and you. 293 00:13:06,839 --> 00:13:09,569 And so don't just come face to face with, oh yeah, the world's messed 294 00:13:09,569 --> 00:13:12,630 up, and we have to figure out if God's in control and if he's good. 295 00:13:13,230 --> 00:13:16,199 We also have to figure out, okay, if we want God to stop all the bad things in 296 00:13:16,199 --> 00:13:20,819 the world, I'm part of the problem, right? 297 00:13:20,819 --> 00:13:24,719 It's not just all the bad stuff on the news that God needs to deal with. 298 00:13:25,245 --> 00:13:31,005 If I want God to stop evil, he has to do something about my evil, right? 299 00:13:31,005 --> 00:13:35,685 We're all part of the problem of evil now. 300 00:13:35,865 --> 00:13:36,795 So what do we do right? 301 00:13:36,795 --> 00:13:38,055 What do we, how do we figure that out then? 302 00:13:38,055 --> 00:13:38,295 Okay. 303 00:13:38,385 --> 00:13:41,625 So we know that God is, we think that God's in control. 304 00:13:41,625 --> 00:13:42,735 We think that God's good. 305 00:13:43,245 --> 00:13:46,425 Um, but also we realize that hey, if, if we really want God to do 306 00:13:46,425 --> 00:13:48,465 something, all the bad things, he's gonna have to do something about me. 307 00:13:48,495 --> 00:13:50,685 He's gonna have to do something about, about my sin. 308 00:13:50,745 --> 00:13:52,215 'cause I'm part of the problem. 309 00:13:52,215 --> 00:13:54,225 I contribute to the bad things that are happening. 310 00:13:54,735 --> 00:13:55,875 In the world. 311 00:13:55,995 --> 00:13:59,865 So what we're gonna do now is we're gonna look at some bad 312 00:13:59,865 --> 00:14:02,564 solutions to the problem of evil. 313 00:14:02,594 --> 00:14:02,865 Okay? 314 00:14:03,045 --> 00:14:07,485 So what we're gonna look, uh, uh, we're gonna look at three different ways. 315 00:14:07,485 --> 00:14:09,344 Some people try to resolve this problem. 316 00:14:09,344 --> 00:14:11,204 If God is good, why do bad things happen? 317 00:14:11,805 --> 00:14:17,324 There's three bad ways that are very common, um, that you might hear. 318 00:14:17,324 --> 00:14:19,814 So I'll give you the second point and then we'll talk through those three ways. 319 00:14:19,814 --> 00:14:20,025 Okay? 320 00:14:20,204 --> 00:14:20,775 So 0.2 321 00:14:20,954 --> 00:14:24,285 is don't compromise on who God says he is. 322 00:14:25,454 --> 00:14:27,855 Don't compromise on who God says he is. 323 00:14:27,855 --> 00:14:28,725 Compromise, right? 324 00:14:28,725 --> 00:14:29,175 Compromise. 325 00:14:29,175 --> 00:14:32,655 That means like you meet halfway, right? 326 00:14:32,655 --> 00:14:39,464 Like um, your sibling, you know, says, well, I wanna play on the Xbox right now. 327 00:14:40,094 --> 00:14:42,855 And you say, well, I'm playing right now. 328 00:14:43,574 --> 00:14:44,084 Right? 329 00:14:44,175 --> 00:14:48,824 And you compromise and say, well how about I'll let you play in 30 minutes? 330 00:14:49,485 --> 00:14:50,355 That's a compromise. 331 00:14:50,385 --> 00:14:51,885 'cause if it was up to you, you would keep playing. 332 00:14:51,885 --> 00:14:53,620 If it was up to them, they would beat you up and. 333 00:14:54,510 --> 00:14:56,160 Take control of the Xbox, right? 334 00:14:56,730 --> 00:14:59,610 So you compromise and you meet in the middle, right? 335 00:14:59,610 --> 00:15:00,960 You say, okay, you know what? 336 00:15:01,140 --> 00:15:02,130 I'll stop soon. 337 00:15:02,220 --> 00:15:03,600 That way you can play your game too. 338 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:04,920 Or you compromise. 339 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:10,170 Let's say you want to play, you know, um, M Lll v the show on the 340 00:15:10,260 --> 00:15:16,860 Xbox, and they wanna play, um, I don't know, Mar Mario Kart, right? 341 00:15:17,550 --> 00:15:22,050 And you compromise and say, well, instead let's just play. 342 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:24,270 Right, whatever. 343 00:15:24,510 --> 00:15:24,990 Fifa. 344 00:15:25,350 --> 00:15:25,620 I don't know. 345 00:15:25,620 --> 00:15:25,800 Baseball. 346 00:15:26,490 --> 00:15:27,180 Mario baseball. 347 00:15:27,180 --> 00:15:28,650 That's a great compromise. 348 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:30,720 That is a wonderful compromise, right? 349 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,060 If someone wants to play Mario Kart, you wanna play Animal V Show? 350 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:36,240 Let's play Mario Baseball so that you can still have your Mario and I 351 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:37,560 can still have my baseball, right? 352 00:15:37,620 --> 00:15:38,400 That's compromise. 353 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:38,880 Meet in the middle. 354 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:39,810 Great job, Josh. 355 00:15:39,810 --> 00:15:40,350 That was perfect. 356 00:15:40,470 --> 00:15:44,130 So essentially what some people do when they try to figure out 357 00:15:44,130 --> 00:15:45,270 the problem of evil, right? 358 00:15:45,270 --> 00:15:47,520 When they try to figure out if God is good, why do bad things happen? 359 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:49,740 If God is in control, why do bad things happen happen? 360 00:15:50,010 --> 00:15:51,120 They compromise. 361 00:15:51,735 --> 00:15:54,435 What they do is they meet halfway. 362 00:15:54,495 --> 00:15:58,694 They say, well, maybe God isn't all of those things, right? 363 00:15:58,785 --> 00:16:03,345 So all of these solutions sharing something about God, all these bad 364 00:16:03,345 --> 00:16:05,055 solutions that I'm gonna show you, okay? 365 00:16:05,925 --> 00:16:09,855 So the first bad solution, which is probably the most obviously bad, 366 00:16:10,245 --> 00:16:12,555 is that God doesn't exist, right? 367 00:16:12,555 --> 00:16:13,425 This is the bad solution. 368 00:16:13,875 --> 00:16:16,365 Um, well if God is really good. 369 00:16:17,370 --> 00:16:19,050 God is in control, but there's bad things happening. 370 00:16:19,050 --> 00:16:20,670 That means that God must not exist, right? 371 00:16:20,670 --> 00:16:21,270 Bad solution. 372 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:26,280 Hopefully I don't have to explain why this is a bad solution, but, um, here's 373 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:27,570 something that might be helpful for you. 374 00:16:27,630 --> 00:16:29,730 Okay, so when you're thinking about this, 375 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:36,390 the existence of evil actually proves that God exists. 376 00:16:37,380 --> 00:16:40,320 Now, maybe that's kind of crazy for you to think about. 377 00:16:40,650 --> 00:16:43,710 A lot of people use evil as a reason to say God doesn't exist. 378 00:16:44,250 --> 00:16:45,030 You can actually say. 379 00:16:46,260 --> 00:16:50,520 If you think evil exists, it's because God actually does exist. 380 00:16:50,730 --> 00:16:52,109 Now here, let me show you why. 381 00:16:52,379 --> 00:16:52,710 Okay? 382 00:16:53,010 --> 00:17:01,950 So, um, if we were just, you know, molecules bouncing around, right? 383 00:17:02,190 --> 00:17:05,760 A bunch of chemical reactions and if your emotions were just the product 384 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:09,960 of your hormones and chemicals, right, and not, there's no depth to it, right? 385 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:14,430 If you're just stuff that met other stuff and. 386 00:17:14,954 --> 00:17:17,655 Grew into more complicated stuff, right? 387 00:17:18,255 --> 00:17:21,585 Then why do you care about evil? 388 00:17:23,233 --> 00:17:25,483 You're just stuff, right? 389 00:17:26,145 --> 00:17:28,125 Maria, our dog, right? 390 00:17:28,125 --> 00:17:30,465 Doesn't care about evil. 391 00:17:30,885 --> 00:17:34,695 Maria just wants food and snuggles, right? 392 00:17:34,725 --> 00:17:35,895 That's all Maria really wants. 393 00:17:36,405 --> 00:17:40,365 Maria doesn't, doesn't know good from evil, right? 394 00:17:40,365 --> 00:17:42,615 Because so. 395 00:17:43,395 --> 00:17:48,375 The fact that we have a sense of good and evil shows, right? 396 00:17:48,405 --> 00:17:52,335 'cause there's no good reason that we have a, a sense of good and evil 397 00:17:52,485 --> 00:17:55,485 unless we got that from God, right? 398 00:17:55,485 --> 00:17:58,635 The fact that you're bothered by evil, the fact that it bothers you 399 00:17:58,635 --> 00:18:00,060 when someone lies to you, right? 400 00:18:02,085 --> 00:18:06,764 That means that something told you that lying was wrong. 401 00:18:07,935 --> 00:18:09,735 Something, something told you that lying was wrong. 402 00:18:09,740 --> 00:18:11,925 Someone told you that when someone, someone steals something from you. 403 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:17,910 The reason you feel something's wrong with that is because of God, because there's 404 00:18:17,910 --> 00:18:21,300 these morals that God has put into people. 405 00:18:22,350 --> 00:18:25,440 And so the fact that people complain about bad things happening 406 00:18:25,830 --> 00:18:27,450 actually shows that God exists. 407 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:31,920 If, if you're saying that, well, God can't exist 'cause all these bad 408 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:34,590 things happen, well, the only reason you would recognize those things 409 00:18:34,590 --> 00:18:39,030 as bad is because of God, right? 410 00:18:39,030 --> 00:18:41,430 If you're just the product of evolution. 411 00:18:42,524 --> 00:18:45,135 You would say, if someone steals from you, you would say, 412 00:18:45,135 --> 00:18:47,235 well, survival is the fittest. 413 00:18:47,655 --> 00:18:50,294 They're just better evolved to handle life than I am. 414 00:18:50,385 --> 00:18:50,804 Right? 415 00:18:52,274 --> 00:18:56,054 Or you would even maybe remember in our our Luke 13 passage, oh, 416 00:18:56,054 --> 00:18:57,225 those people must have deserved it. 417 00:18:57,254 --> 00:18:58,395 They were worse, right? 418 00:18:58,395 --> 00:18:59,205 They were worse people. 419 00:18:59,205 --> 00:19:02,145 They were worse at surviving, so that's why they died, right? 420 00:19:02,145 --> 00:19:04,004 They made bad evolutionary choices. 421 00:19:04,004 --> 00:19:04,699 That's why they died. 422 00:19:05,250 --> 00:19:11,054 So the fact that evil bothers people means that God must exist. 423 00:19:11,940 --> 00:19:17,250 Because people to be bothered by evil means that there's some 424 00:19:17,250 --> 00:19:20,100 kind of sense of good and evil, and that can only come from God. 425 00:19:20,730 --> 00:19:23,970 That can't just come from a bunch of people making up good and evil, because 426 00:19:23,970 --> 00:19:26,160 then how does everyone have the same standard of good and evil, right? 427 00:19:26,310 --> 00:19:29,610 Everyone inherently knows on the inside when something's good and when something's 428 00:19:29,610 --> 00:19:31,110 not right, you feel guilty about things. 429 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:36,840 Why do you feel guilty about something you shouldn't unless God made you that way? 430 00:19:37,170 --> 00:19:39,810 So the existence of good and evil. 431 00:19:40,380 --> 00:19:40,800 Um. 432 00:19:41,115 --> 00:19:43,695 Every culture thinks good and evil exist. 433 00:19:44,145 --> 00:19:48,615 There's no culture that says, well, everything's the same. 434 00:19:50,565 --> 00:19:53,805 So evil actually proves the existence of God. 435 00:19:53,805 --> 00:19:55,605 It doesn't rule out God's existence. 436 00:19:55,635 --> 00:19:55,935 Okay? 437 00:19:56,145 --> 00:19:58,815 So if someone's ever talking to you, right, and, and you're thinking, 438 00:19:58,815 --> 00:20:03,015 oh, well, I don't know what to say, you could start with, well, how 439 00:20:03,015 --> 00:20:04,575 do you know what good and evil is? 440 00:20:05,655 --> 00:20:06,525 Where do you get that from? 441 00:20:08,250 --> 00:20:09,419 That comes from God, right? 442 00:20:09,419 --> 00:20:12,000 So that's the first bad solution is God doesn't exist. 443 00:20:12,270 --> 00:20:13,409 Second bad solution here. 444 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:15,300 God isn't sovereign. 445 00:20:15,300 --> 00:20:16,199 That just means in control. 446 00:20:16,230 --> 00:20:18,570 If, if that makes more sense, you would just write, God isn't in control. 447 00:20:19,230 --> 00:20:22,020 Um, sovereign's just the fancy word, so you can impress your parents. 448 00:20:22,199 --> 00:20:23,340 I learned something at retreat. 449 00:20:24,149 --> 00:20:30,000 Uh, God isn't sovereign, so another bad solution to God isn't in control Now. 450 00:20:30,810 --> 00:20:31,409 Um, 451 00:20:33,449 --> 00:20:35,294 we start right with what the Bible says. 452 00:20:36,270 --> 00:20:40,620 So the Bible says Psalm 1 15, 3, our God is in the heavens. 453 00:20:40,710 --> 00:20:42,840 He does whatever he wants. 454 00:20:44,130 --> 00:20:46,320 So that means God is sovereign. 455 00:20:46,350 --> 00:20:48,210 He, he has the right to do anything he wants. 456 00:20:48,450 --> 00:20:50,460 So the, the Bible is pretty clear. 457 00:20:50,490 --> 00:20:51,720 There's other passages I could have gone to. 458 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:56,100 This was just the shortest and simplest, um, that God does whatever he wants. 459 00:20:57,240 --> 00:20:58,500 God has the right to do anything. 460 00:20:59,010 --> 00:21:00,090 God is in control of anything. 461 00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:02,370 God could, if he wanted to stop something, he would. 462 00:21:03,075 --> 00:21:03,735 He could do that. 463 00:21:04,065 --> 00:21:07,095 Um, if he lets something happen, it's 'cause he did it. 464 00:21:07,545 --> 00:21:10,995 It's not because he's like, oh, I didn't know that was gonna happen. 465 00:21:11,024 --> 00:21:11,385 Right. 466 00:21:11,655 --> 00:21:12,165 So 467 00:21:14,325 --> 00:21:19,185 some people, um, this isn't super common, at least in the church, but maybe 468 00:21:19,185 --> 00:21:25,635 people you talk to might think that good and evil are like, um, equal powers. 469 00:21:25,725 --> 00:21:25,965 Right? 470 00:21:25,965 --> 00:21:30,075 Maybe like, like God and Satan are like, kind of like, like every movie, right? 471 00:21:30,075 --> 00:21:31,514 There's, there's the good guys and the bad guys. 472 00:21:31,889 --> 00:21:32,250 Right. 473 00:21:32,700 --> 00:21:37,500 Um, that they're on equal terms, right? 474 00:21:37,710 --> 00:21:41,160 History is not God versus Satan. 475 00:21:41,190 --> 00:21:42,690 I wonder who's gonna win, right? 476 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:47,220 History is God's gonna win and he's letting Satan do what he do. 477 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:51,060 Satan things, so they're not on equal terms. 478 00:21:52,335 --> 00:21:56,925 So God and Satan are not equals in the sense of, oh, Satan does something. 479 00:21:56,925 --> 00:22:00,105 Or, or, you know, evil happens and then God's like, oh, I gotta fix that. 480 00:22:00,135 --> 00:22:01,665 Okay, let me fight back. 481 00:22:01,845 --> 00:22:02,145 Right? 482 00:22:02,145 --> 00:22:07,875 This isn't, you know, Avengers or Star Wars or whatever, where God is responding 483 00:22:07,875 --> 00:22:09,825 to evil and, and fighting against evil. 484 00:22:09,825 --> 00:22:11,655 And, and we're gonna see who wins, right? 485 00:22:11,655 --> 00:22:11,925 God. 486 00:22:11,925 --> 00:22:16,215 And good and evil are, are not equals in the sense of God and evil are 487 00:22:16,215 --> 00:22:19,845 not in this like two-way battle. 488 00:22:20,370 --> 00:22:20,820 Right. 489 00:22:21,450 --> 00:22:21,960 Um, 490 00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:29,880 also, um, evil in that scenario has always existed, right? 491 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,180 If you're saying, well, history is a story of good versus evil, 492 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:37,560 um, you would be saying that evil has always existed, right? 493 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:38,160 And that's not true. 494 00:22:38,670 --> 00:22:40,230 We know that from the Bible, right? 495 00:22:40,590 --> 00:22:45,360 Um, 'cause in the beginning was God, there wasn't evil. 496 00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:46,005 There was just good. 497 00:22:47,415 --> 00:22:49,905 So evil hasn't existed forever. 498 00:22:50,145 --> 00:22:53,865 This isn't, you know, something like, well, some people are 499 00:22:53,865 --> 00:22:54,795 good, some people are bad. 500 00:22:54,795 --> 00:22:55,845 And that's always been that way. 501 00:22:56,055 --> 00:22:58,545 It's like, well actually, remember we've been talking about this in Romans, right? 502 00:22:58,725 --> 00:23:04,845 People started out in the garden as perfect and then evil came into the world. 503 00:23:05,565 --> 00:23:08,265 So evil is like a alien coming into the world. 504 00:23:08,415 --> 00:23:09,735 Evil didn't start out in the world. 505 00:23:10,335 --> 00:23:15,465 Um, so yeah, evil isn't. 506 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:17,940 Eternal evil hasn't been around forever. 507 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:23,040 Um, you guys know the difference between like in geometry, uh, a line 508 00:23:23,430 --> 00:23:26,879 and array and a line segment, right? 509 00:23:27,540 --> 00:23:30,300 Um, like a line has the arrows on both ends. 510 00:23:30,750 --> 00:23:33,390 Array has the dot on one end and the arrow on the other end. 511 00:23:33,390 --> 00:23:36,000 And then the line segment has two dots on the ends, right? 512 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,879 You're like, please, this is like the worst Bible and math. 513 00:23:38,879 --> 00:23:39,660 This is terrible. 514 00:23:39,900 --> 00:23:42,480 Um, so evil. 515 00:23:42,959 --> 00:23:45,600 So, so God is a line set is a line, right? 516 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:46,860 God has arrows on both ends. 517 00:23:46,860 --> 00:23:49,649 God has always existed and will always exist, right? 518 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:52,500 So good has always existed and will always exist. 519 00:23:52,919 --> 00:23:56,310 Um, you and I we're array, right? 520 00:23:56,310 --> 00:24:00,330 We have a starting point, but we're all gonna exist forever. 521 00:24:02,580 --> 00:24:06,149 Some of you are gonna be in heaven and some of you are not, right? 522 00:24:06,149 --> 00:24:07,230 But you're gonna exist forever. 523 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:09,314 So we're raised. 524 00:24:11,190 --> 00:24:13,320 Evil is a line segment. 525 00:24:14,700 --> 00:24:19,890 Evil has a starting point and an ending point, which we'll talk about tomorrow. 526 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:23,040 We'll talk about the, the second dot on the line segment. 527 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:30,840 So evil is not a line segment or a, a backward ray if it, if you will, right? 528 00:24:30,930 --> 00:24:34,440 Um, evil has a starting point and an ending point, so God doesn't. 529 00:24:36,135 --> 00:24:38,175 Have like an eternal battle with evil. 530 00:24:38,325 --> 00:24:40,575 A lot of religions teach that, right? 531 00:24:40,935 --> 00:24:43,335 Um, like Egyptian mythology, right? 532 00:24:43,335 --> 00:24:45,315 There's this eternal battle between good and evil. 533 00:24:45,795 --> 00:24:47,835 That's not what we teach, that's not what the Bible says. 534 00:24:47,835 --> 00:24:49,965 So anyway, um, that's one thing. 535 00:24:50,175 --> 00:24:55,005 Another one part of God's sovereignty would be this, the fancy word 536 00:24:55,005 --> 00:24:57,705 is called, um, open theism. 537 00:24:58,155 --> 00:24:59,715 You probably don't care what that is. 538 00:25:00,225 --> 00:25:04,095 Essentially, this is that God doesn't know what's gonna happen. 539 00:25:05,145 --> 00:25:10,875 So God just kind of does things and he sees what happens. 540 00:25:11,235 --> 00:25:14,325 So like for example, it would be like this, God made Adam and Eve 541 00:25:14,805 --> 00:25:17,565 and then Adam sinned, and then God was like, oh no, what do I do? 542 00:25:17,625 --> 00:25:18,345 Let me fix that. 543 00:25:18,375 --> 00:25:19,875 Okay, let's do the gospel. 544 00:25:19,935 --> 00:25:21,615 Let's, let's, let's fix that. 545 00:25:21,615 --> 00:25:23,805 Let's send Jesus into the world and take away sin, right? 546 00:25:24,495 --> 00:25:26,565 Um, that's not true, right? 547 00:25:26,565 --> 00:25:29,205 God wasn't like, oh man, ate the fruit. 548 00:25:29,205 --> 00:25:29,865 What do we do? 549 00:25:30,075 --> 00:25:32,025 Okay, father, son, spirit, let's talk about it. 550 00:25:32,025 --> 00:25:32,805 Let's figure out what to do. 551 00:25:33,045 --> 00:25:33,375 Right? 552 00:25:33,540 --> 00:25:36,480 If they didn't have a huddle after Genesis three and be like, all 553 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:38,610 right, you know what we're gonna do, we're gonna do the gospel. 554 00:25:39,180 --> 00:25:40,440 That's not how this works. 555 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:46,110 So, um, you can't say that God doesn't know what's gonna happen. 556 00:25:46,110 --> 00:25:51,600 Some people, some Christians will say this, um, yeah, I don't, you might not 557 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:52,950 ever hear that, but some Christians do. 558 00:25:53,310 --> 00:25:59,490 Some Christians say that, um, God is, he doesn't know what's gonna happen. 559 00:25:59,550 --> 00:26:00,240 He doesn't know. 560 00:26:00,885 --> 00:26:01,245 Things. 561 00:26:01,245 --> 00:26:05,085 And so he just acts and then you and I do things and, and there's 562 00:26:05,085 --> 00:26:08,865 consequences to actions, and then we figure it out and God figures it out. 563 00:26:08,925 --> 00:26:09,165 Right? 564 00:26:09,285 --> 00:26:09,885 That's not true. 565 00:26:10,155 --> 00:26:11,025 God is in control. 566 00:26:11,025 --> 00:26:13,245 God knows the end from the beginning, right? 567 00:26:13,395 --> 00:26:16,155 That, um, God knows how history is gonna end. 568 00:26:16,245 --> 00:26:20,805 God knew in Genesis one, that Genesis three was gonna happen, right? 569 00:26:20,805 --> 00:26:22,695 God knew Adam was gonna eat the fruit. 570 00:26:22,935 --> 00:26:26,235 God knew that he would have to send Jesus to die on the cross. 571 00:26:26,610 --> 00:26:27,810 Maybe you're asking, how do you know that? 572 00:26:27,870 --> 00:26:29,940 Well, you think about Ephesians one, right? 573 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:32,700 God predestined people to be saved. 574 00:26:33,660 --> 00:26:38,040 So if God planned to save people, then he had to know that people 575 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:39,570 were gonna need to be saved, right? 576 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:46,650 Like if I knew right, that we were gonna do sermons here, 577 00:26:46,710 --> 00:26:49,530 so I planned to preach them. 578 00:26:49,650 --> 00:26:49,890 Right. 579 00:26:50,220 --> 00:26:50,610 Um. 580 00:26:51,435 --> 00:26:54,765 Or if you knew there was gonna be a pool, you planned and 581 00:26:54,765 --> 00:26:55,905 brought swim trunks, right? 582 00:26:55,905 --> 00:26:59,205 Hopefully, um, you knew it. 583 00:26:59,205 --> 00:27:00,285 So you planned, right? 584 00:27:00,315 --> 00:27:02,175 That's, you predestined it, right? 585 00:27:02,175 --> 00:27:04,665 You said, I'm gonna swim, so I'm gonna bring swim trunks. 586 00:27:05,265 --> 00:27:05,475 Right. 587 00:27:05,475 --> 00:27:09,555 God knew he was gonna save people, so that means that it's not like, oh, we 588 00:27:09,555 --> 00:27:10,755 gotta figure it out and save people. 589 00:27:10,845 --> 00:27:11,175 He knew it. 590 00:27:11,535 --> 00:27:14,175 So that's another part of this. 591 00:27:14,265 --> 00:27:16,455 And then another thing, and this is probably, um. 592 00:27:17,085 --> 00:27:20,415 Again, I just, for this last part, I wanna stress that there are many 593 00:27:20,415 --> 00:27:23,085 good Christians who believe this. 594 00:27:23,685 --> 00:27:27,495 Um, so I, what I'm saying is not like you're either a Christian or you're not, 595 00:27:27,885 --> 00:27:33,375 but I think, and this a bad solution to the problem of evil, is saying that people 596 00:27:33,405 --> 00:27:35,025 have free will to do whatever they want. 597 00:27:36,195 --> 00:27:44,145 Um, there's a very popular guy who, um, I heard him speak and he said his 598 00:27:44,145 --> 00:27:46,035 whole thing was called If God, why Evil? 599 00:27:46,695 --> 00:27:51,375 And his answer was, 'cause people can do whatever they want because 600 00:27:51,375 --> 00:27:54,825 if God lets you do whatever you want, he has to let you sin. 601 00:27:55,755 --> 00:28:00,405 So the whole basis for his, his thinking was that, well, you can 602 00:28:00,405 --> 00:28:03,045 choose whatever you wanna do and that's why God has to allow evil 603 00:28:03,165 --> 00:28:04,395 to let you do whatever you want. 604 00:28:05,025 --> 00:28:08,955 Now, again, you can still be a Christian and believe that 605 00:28:08,985 --> 00:28:10,245 this guy is a great Christian. 606 00:28:10,485 --> 00:28:12,825 He teaches the gospel, right? 607 00:28:12,825 --> 00:28:13,755 He believes the Bible. 608 00:28:14,235 --> 00:28:14,715 Um. 609 00:28:15,885 --> 00:28:20,415 And the problem with that is that means God's reacting 610 00:28:20,415 --> 00:28:22,725 to what you and I do, right? 611 00:28:23,655 --> 00:28:25,004 Um, and we don't think that's true. 612 00:28:27,135 --> 00:28:31,305 God's not reacting to, to bad things that happen. 613 00:28:32,055 --> 00:28:34,035 God knew those bad things were gonna happen and we'll 614 00:28:34,035 --> 00:28:35,025 talk about that more tomorrow. 615 00:28:35,535 --> 00:28:38,325 Uh, or sorry, later today we'll talk about that more. 616 00:28:38,475 --> 00:28:42,435 But God, the other way to that, so we talked about how it's not that 617 00:28:42,435 --> 00:28:43,575 God doesn't know it's gonna happen. 618 00:28:44,235 --> 00:28:45,975 The other solution is that God is like Dr. 619 00:28:45,975 --> 00:28:48,765 Strange and he knows all the possible outcomes. 620 00:28:49,695 --> 00:28:52,754 And then he says, okay, well here's the best one. 621 00:28:53,775 --> 00:28:54,165 Right? 622 00:28:54,675 --> 00:28:56,955 And he's kind of like pulling all the strings to make it work. 623 00:28:57,585 --> 00:29:03,525 Um, again, if God declares the end from the beginning, that's 624 00:29:03,525 --> 00:29:04,395 not really how that works, right? 625 00:29:04,395 --> 00:29:04,665 Dr. 626 00:29:04,665 --> 00:29:07,754 Strange didn't say, here's how we're gonna beat Thanos guys. 627 00:29:08,925 --> 00:29:12,615 He said, well, I saw, you know, however many possibilities there were. 628 00:29:13,980 --> 00:29:17,010 And he said, well, there's one that'll work. 629 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:18,900 We just gotta figure it out. 630 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:19,380 Right? 631 00:29:19,380 --> 00:29:21,090 That's not how history works with God. 632 00:29:21,330 --> 00:29:24,240 God's not like, okay, here's the one way this, this is gonna work. 633 00:29:25,410 --> 00:29:27,390 God said, no, this is what we're doing. 634 00:29:27,630 --> 00:29:27,900 Right? 635 00:29:28,410 --> 00:29:30,840 God isn't looking at a bunch of different histories and saying, 636 00:29:30,870 --> 00:29:31,620 okay, Well's do that one. 637 00:29:32,340 --> 00:29:35,790 So, um, that might be a little bit over your head, right? 638 00:29:35,850 --> 00:29:39,630 But the point is, all of these things say something about God, right? 639 00:29:39,780 --> 00:29:42,270 When we say, well, God just doesn't know what's gonna happen. 640 00:29:43,665 --> 00:29:48,615 That means that we're saying that God isn't all knowing, right? 641 00:29:48,705 --> 00:29:50,625 We're we're compromising on who God says he is. 642 00:29:50,625 --> 00:29:52,515 We're saying, well, yeah, I know that evil's a big 643 00:29:52,515 --> 00:29:54,255 problem, so let's meet halfway. 644 00:29:54,435 --> 00:29:58,635 Instead of saying that God knows everything and evil exists, 645 00:29:58,635 --> 00:29:59,475 I have these two problems. 646 00:29:59,475 --> 00:30:02,925 Let's compromise and say God doesn't know everything. 647 00:30:03,255 --> 00:30:03,645 Right. 648 00:30:03,825 --> 00:30:04,815 See what we just did there? 649 00:30:05,505 --> 00:30:07,725 We just played Mario Baseball, right? 650 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:14,550 Um, or instead of saying, well, God is in control of everything, but evil 651 00:30:14,550 --> 00:30:18,330 happens, so that means that people must be able to do whatever they want and 652 00:30:18,330 --> 00:30:19,890 God isn't in control of those people. 653 00:30:21,780 --> 00:30:24,060 We just played Mario Baseball, right? 654 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:29,340 We just said, well, people actually can do whatever they want. 655 00:30:29,340 --> 00:30:31,050 God's not in control of those people. 656 00:30:33,050 --> 00:30:33,389 Right. 657 00:30:33,510 --> 00:30:35,850 We just, we just compromise on who God says he is. 658 00:30:35,909 --> 00:30:36,060 Right? 659 00:30:36,060 --> 00:30:39,540 We just turned, and I'll leave the show into Mario Baseball, right? 660 00:30:39,540 --> 00:30:41,340 We just turned Aaron Judge into Bowser, right? 661 00:30:41,340 --> 00:30:41,879 That's what we did. 662 00:30:42,990 --> 00:30:45,300 Some of you have like, I have no clue what you're talking about. 663 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:49,260 Um, but some of you are like, that makes perfect sense. 664 00:30:51,300 --> 00:30:55,949 Um, the third way we sometimes compromise when we talk about this is God isn't 665 00:30:55,949 --> 00:30:58,470 good and I think this is the one that is the most dangerous for you. 666 00:31:00,015 --> 00:31:03,195 I think this is the compromise that's most dangerous for you. 667 00:31:04,545 --> 00:31:07,395 Hopefully most of you aren't saying, well, evil exists, so 668 00:31:07,395 --> 00:31:09,015 that means God doesn't, right? 669 00:31:09,015 --> 00:31:09,885 Hopefully that's not where you're at. 670 00:31:09,885 --> 00:31:10,935 And if that is, that's okay. 671 00:31:11,475 --> 00:31:12,405 Um, I'm glad you're here. 672 00:31:12,465 --> 00:31:13,095 That's why we're here. 673 00:31:13,155 --> 00:31:13,485 Right? 674 00:31:13,695 --> 00:31:17,175 If you're thinking, well, if God was real, he wouldn't have let my parents 675 00:31:17,175 --> 00:31:21,015 get divorced, and you're saying, therefore, God doesn't exist, right? 676 00:31:21,345 --> 00:31:22,005 I'm glad you're here. 677 00:31:22,635 --> 00:31:26,530 Um, most of you probably aren't thinking, well, that means that. 678 00:31:28,185 --> 00:31:29,115 God is in control. 679 00:31:29,925 --> 00:31:35,445 Most of you, this is the one that you're in danger for is Well, I don't 680 00:31:35,445 --> 00:31:38,445 know if God really loves me that much because he let that happen. 681 00:31:39,675 --> 00:31:43,034 I don't really know if I can trust God's plans that are good for me if 682 00:31:43,034 --> 00:31:44,745 he let that bad thing happen, right. 683 00:31:45,465 --> 00:31:47,565 I didn't get into the school I wanted to get into. 684 00:31:47,595 --> 00:31:47,775 Right? 685 00:31:47,775 --> 00:31:50,325 I didn't, um, my life didn't go the way I wanted to. 686 00:31:50,325 --> 00:31:53,565 I didn't get to date that person, or this bad thing happened to me, or my family 687 00:31:53,565 --> 00:31:55,485 went through this, or my relative died. 688 00:31:55,485 --> 00:31:55,815 Right? 689 00:31:55,845 --> 00:31:59,715 And your temptation is to say, well, God, you're not good to get angry at God. 690 00:31:59,715 --> 00:31:59,835 Right? 691 00:31:59,835 --> 00:32:00,555 To be bitter. 692 00:32:01,155 --> 00:32:01,935 I think we've all been there. 693 00:32:01,965 --> 00:32:04,575 We've all felt like, man, God, how could you let that happen? 694 00:32:06,135 --> 00:32:07,605 Because we know he's in control. 695 00:32:07,605 --> 00:32:08,595 We know he exists. 696 00:32:08,715 --> 00:32:10,815 And then we say, God, I just, I just don't think you're that good. 697 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:14,040 I'm smarter than you. 698 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:16,200 If I was God, I would've done things differently. 699 00:32:16,530 --> 00:32:18,720 That's what we say, and that's what we're saying. 700 00:32:18,870 --> 00:32:19,920 We're saying, God, you're not good. 701 00:32:19,980 --> 00:32:20,430 You're not good. 702 00:32:20,430 --> 00:32:21,960 Your way is not as good as mine. 703 00:32:22,860 --> 00:32:24,000 And that's what we're saying, right? 704 00:32:24,270 --> 00:32:29,310 When we get bitter and angry at God, and we know that that's not true, right? 705 00:32:29,310 --> 00:32:34,110 Mark 10, Jesus said to the rich young man, he said, why do you call me good? 706 00:32:34,290 --> 00:32:36,360 No one is good except God alone. 707 00:32:37,500 --> 00:32:38,490 So God is good. 708 00:32:38,490 --> 00:32:39,570 God defines goodness. 709 00:32:41,669 --> 00:32:43,919 God is how we know what goodness is. 710 00:32:46,860 --> 00:32:50,189 And so this I think is your biggest challenge. 711 00:32:51,540 --> 00:32:52,350 Your biggest 712 00:32:54,659 --> 00:32:58,965 challenge in facing the problem of evil is to be bitter when 713 00:32:58,965 --> 00:33:00,270 bad things happen, right? 714 00:33:01,050 --> 00:33:05,939 To not trust God when bad things happen to say, yeah, that might be the God of 715 00:33:05,939 --> 00:33:07,030 the Bible, but I don't want that God. 716 00:33:08,639 --> 00:33:10,560 I think that's probably gonna be your biggest challenge. 717 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:13,379 'cause we've all been there, right? 718 00:33:13,379 --> 00:33:15,600 Something bad happens and you're like, God, why did you do this? 719 00:33:16,050 --> 00:33:17,370 I wouldn't have had it go this way. 720 00:33:18,510 --> 00:33:19,919 And as you get older, guess what? 721 00:33:19,919 --> 00:33:22,350 More bad things are gonna happen and honestly, probably 722 00:33:22,350 --> 00:33:23,760 harder things are gonna happen. 723 00:33:25,740 --> 00:33:29,550 And you're gonna have to ask yourself, do I really believe that God is good? 724 00:33:29,820 --> 00:33:32,520 So I really believe that a good God would let this happen. 725 00:33:33,210 --> 00:33:36,575 Do I really believe that a good God would let my grandpa die? 726 00:33:38,025 --> 00:33:43,365 Do I really believe that a good God would let this family member pass 727 00:33:43,365 --> 00:33:44,655 away without hearing the gospel? 728 00:33:45,824 --> 00:33:46,034 Right? 729 00:33:46,034 --> 00:33:47,385 You're gonna have to deal with that. 730 00:33:48,435 --> 00:33:50,324 Does a good God really let those things happen? 731 00:33:50,625 --> 00:33:54,675 And so, uh, we don't just wanna not compromise on who God says he is. 732 00:33:54,675 --> 00:33:59,025 Our third point is that we wanna confidently defend God's goodness. 733 00:34:01,815 --> 00:34:05,804 That's one of the biggest takeaways I want you to be able to do. 734 00:34:07,199 --> 00:34:12,719 By Thursday evening, right by Thursday evening, when we get back, back home, 735 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:17,850 I want you to be able to confidently say God is good, even though all these 736 00:34:17,850 --> 00:34:19,290 bad things happen, and here's why. 737 00:34:20,219 --> 00:34:20,400 Right? 738 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:25,529 If, if you can do that, you've succeeded at revival, you've had or not 739 00:34:25,529 --> 00:34:28,380 revival, you've had a great two days. 740 00:34:28,409 --> 00:34:31,679 If by the end of Thursday night you can say. 741 00:34:32,355 --> 00:34:36,105 Yes, bad things happen, but God is so good and here's why. 742 00:34:36,885 --> 00:34:38,475 And I believe that with all my heart. 743 00:34:39,255 --> 00:34:40,155 That's what I want for you. 744 00:34:40,215 --> 00:34:46,275 I want for you to be able to be able to, to look your friends in the eye, right 745 00:34:46,275 --> 00:34:48,525 if, or look yourself in the mirror, right? 746 00:34:48,735 --> 00:34:52,485 When you're tempted to be bitter towards God, I wanna be able to say, 747 00:34:52,485 --> 00:34:56,895 God is good, even though this really bad thing happened, and here is why. 748 00:34:59,325 --> 00:35:00,045 First of all, right? 749 00:35:00,045 --> 00:35:02,384 We know that God defines good and evil, right? 750 00:35:02,384 --> 00:35:04,695 We saw that in our that mark 10 verse, right? 751 00:35:04,695 --> 00:35:06,045 Good and evil come from God. 752 00:35:06,285 --> 00:35:10,485 So our definition of what's good has to come from who God is, right? 753 00:35:10,485 --> 00:35:13,605 We can't make up our own definition for what good is, right? 754 00:35:13,605 --> 00:35:16,634 We can't say that nine inches is a foot, right? 755 00:35:16,634 --> 00:35:24,345 That's us coming up with our own standard instead of using what's really true. 756 00:35:24,615 --> 00:35:25,995 12 inches is a foot right? 757 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:30,000 So we already talked about, right? 758 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:31,890 No one would have a sense of good and evil without God. 759 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:34,319 No one would even know what good is if it wasn't from God. 760 00:35:34,770 --> 00:35:36,149 'cause you would just be able to do whatever you want. 761 00:35:36,180 --> 00:35:38,609 And no one could tell you that's bad because who are they to 762 00:35:38,609 --> 00:35:40,080 tell you that's bad, right? 763 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:41,609 Who are they to say, well, you shouldn't lie. 764 00:35:42,029 --> 00:35:44,160 You shouldn't be selfish, you should be humble. 765 00:35:45,270 --> 00:35:45,960 Why do you care? 766 00:35:46,234 --> 00:35:51,720 They have no authority to say that if they're just another bag of 767 00:35:51,720 --> 00:35:53,730 molecules jumping around, right? 768 00:35:54,885 --> 00:35:57,435 But if God's the one who says it, then that that matters. 769 00:36:00,195 --> 00:36:02,715 But also I want you to think about what is evil? 770 00:36:02,985 --> 00:36:04,515 'cause that'll probably help you wrap your mind around, well, 771 00:36:04,515 --> 00:36:05,565 what's good and what's evil? 772 00:36:05,805 --> 00:36:09,885 Well, evil is anything that steals God or steals glory from God. 773 00:36:10,305 --> 00:36:11,655 We talked about this in Romans one, right? 774 00:36:11,775 --> 00:36:13,155 What makes sin sinful? 775 00:36:13,155 --> 00:36:13,905 You ever think about that? 776 00:36:14,175 --> 00:36:15,405 What makes sin bad? 777 00:36:16,005 --> 00:36:18,705 Why does God say some things are sinful and some things are not? 778 00:36:18,945 --> 00:36:21,195 What makes sin sinful is what it says about God. 779 00:36:22,065 --> 00:36:22,800 That's why you can do. 780 00:36:23,985 --> 00:36:27,405 Good things for bad reasons, and they're sinful, right? 781 00:36:27,795 --> 00:36:30,135 You can love something too much, right? 782 00:36:30,135 --> 00:36:31,545 You can love ice cream too much. 783 00:36:32,295 --> 00:36:33,495 Ice cream is a great thing. 784 00:36:34,365 --> 00:36:38,535 I'm so glad that God made ice cream right, James One. 785 00:36:38,535 --> 00:36:40,995 Every good and perfect gift is from above, right? 786 00:36:41,685 --> 00:36:45,195 Ice cream is not too far down the list when I think of good 787 00:36:45,195 --> 00:36:46,005 and perfect gifts from God. 788 00:36:46,575 --> 00:36:50,445 But if you love ice cream too much, it becomes sinful. 789 00:36:52,095 --> 00:36:53,385 It becomes an idol, right? 790 00:36:54,675 --> 00:36:59,415 So because what you're telling is, what you're telling God essentially 791 00:36:59,415 --> 00:37:00,885 is ice cream is better than you. 792 00:37:01,035 --> 00:37:02,115 Ice cream is better than Jesus. 793 00:37:02,115 --> 00:37:02,925 That's what you say, right? 794 00:37:03,345 --> 00:37:04,755 You don't say it in your head, but that's what you're doing. 795 00:37:06,795 --> 00:37:13,215 So what makes something evil is that it says, God's not important. 796 00:37:13,605 --> 00:37:15,105 God's not, God's not trustworthy. 797 00:37:15,615 --> 00:37:15,795 Right? 798 00:37:15,795 --> 00:37:16,160 That's why. 799 00:37:16,965 --> 00:37:19,905 Things like anxiety or anger or lust or whatever. 800 00:37:19,905 --> 00:37:20,685 That's why these things are bad. 801 00:37:20,715 --> 00:37:22,845 'cause they say, God, you're not trustworthy, you're not good enough. 802 00:37:23,355 --> 00:37:24,705 You're not fill in the blank. 803 00:37:24,885 --> 00:37:25,095 Right? 804 00:37:25,095 --> 00:37:25,845 You're not in control. 805 00:37:28,155 --> 00:37:31,845 And so for all of this stuff, right, all of these evil things that are gonna 806 00:37:31,845 --> 00:37:34,155 happen to you, there's gonna be bad things that are gonna happen to you, right? 807 00:37:34,155 --> 00:37:37,305 I I, I'm not gonna stand here and tell you, you life's gonna be great 808 00:37:37,305 --> 00:37:40,125 because you're a Christian or because you go to church or whatever, right? 809 00:37:40,665 --> 00:37:41,565 Your life's gonna be really hard. 810 00:37:41,955 --> 00:37:42,885 It's gonna be really hard. 811 00:37:42,885 --> 00:37:45,015 Things that happen to you, right? 812 00:37:45,015 --> 00:37:46,305 There's, there's gonna be moments. 813 00:37:47,234 --> 00:37:51,915 Where you don't want to be where you are, right? 814 00:37:51,915 --> 00:37:59,145 There's gonna be times where you are going to have to come face to face 815 00:37:59,145 --> 00:38:05,115 with your situation and say, how could a good God let this happen? 816 00:38:06,524 --> 00:38:09,375 And I want you to be ready for that, right? 817 00:38:09,375 --> 00:38:13,335 And I don't want you to put it off until 10:00 PM and you have to do your homework. 818 00:38:14,174 --> 00:38:15,285 I want you to start now. 819 00:38:16,799 --> 00:38:20,640 The sooner you start the, the more confident you're gonna be. 820 00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:23,285 And I don't wanna just say God is good because Lewis said he was 821 00:38:23,290 --> 00:38:26,640 good, or my parents said he's good, or my church said he was good. 822 00:38:26,970 --> 00:38:27,240 Right. 823 00:38:27,390 --> 00:38:32,549 Have you ever been roped into like, um, something, someone else's idea 824 00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:36,029 and you had to like stand up for it? 825 00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:37,080 This happened to me recently. 826 00:38:37,410 --> 00:38:38,520 There was something that, um. 827 00:38:41,085 --> 00:38:42,165 So what was it? 828 00:38:42,525 --> 00:38:43,515 Okay, yeah, here it was. 829 00:38:43,725 --> 00:38:49,095 So Shay and I had this plan that we wanted to do, um, and I wasn't 830 00:38:49,095 --> 00:38:51,015 like super sold on the plan. 831 00:38:51,885 --> 00:38:56,865 Um, and I had tell someone, oh, here's what we want to do. 832 00:38:57,160 --> 00:38:59,985 And they were like asking me questions about it and like, 833 00:38:59,985 --> 00:39:00,945 why do you wanna do this? 834 00:39:00,945 --> 00:39:02,055 Like, is this a good idea? 835 00:39:02,445 --> 00:39:07,185 And I was like, well, you know, uh. 836 00:39:08,444 --> 00:39:11,924 We wanna do it 'cause it'd be good. 837 00:39:13,275 --> 00:39:14,174 And it was super awkward. 838 00:39:14,174 --> 00:39:15,464 'cause I was like, I actually don't know. 839 00:39:15,464 --> 00:39:21,615 I'm just doing this because like, we kind of want to, but it was mostly 840 00:39:21,615 --> 00:39:24,855 like not me wanting to, it was like Shay wanting you to do it right. 841 00:39:25,305 --> 00:39:31,605 Um, I don't want you to do that with God being good. 842 00:39:31,665 --> 00:39:36,884 I don't want you to say, well I guess God is good because I go to church. 843 00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:41,940 So I have to say that I don't want you to say, oh, I guess God is good because 844 00:39:43,230 --> 00:39:46,500 I am, uh, my parents are Christians. 845 00:39:46,950 --> 00:39:49,680 Or, uh, the, the Bible said it right. 846 00:39:49,680 --> 00:39:51,270 I want you to own it for yourself. 847 00:39:51,270 --> 00:39:54,390 I want you to say, this is a good idea because I believe it with all my heart. 848 00:39:54,595 --> 00:39:56,129 I, I believe who God is. 849 00:39:56,129 --> 00:39:57,029 I see it in his word. 850 00:39:57,029 --> 00:39:57,870 I see it in my life. 851 00:39:58,049 --> 00:39:59,310 I'm so confident. 852 00:39:59,310 --> 00:40:00,480 I'm so sure this is a good idea. 853 00:40:01,649 --> 00:40:01,950 Right? 854 00:40:01,950 --> 00:40:03,419 And so you can get there. 855 00:40:03,480 --> 00:40:05,879 You can get there from, oh, I, I just think God's good 856 00:40:05,910 --> 00:40:06,730 'cause my parents told me. 857 00:40:07,274 --> 00:40:10,785 To, I trust Jesus with all my heart, and that's why I think he's good. 858 00:40:11,564 --> 00:40:11,774 Right? 859 00:40:11,774 --> 00:40:13,875 And there's things that Shea and I talk about, and it's her 860 00:40:13,875 --> 00:40:15,194 idea, and she tells me about it. 861 00:40:15,194 --> 00:40:16,245 And I'm like, that's awesome. 862 00:40:16,274 --> 00:40:16,935 Let's do that. 863 00:40:16,935 --> 00:40:17,774 That's so good. 864 00:40:18,375 --> 00:40:21,615 And then we, I jump on board and I'm like, yeah, I own it for myself. 865 00:40:21,615 --> 00:40:23,504 I'm like, yeah, that is a good idea and I want to do that too. 866 00:40:25,259 --> 00:40:28,560 So I want you to feel that way about God's goodness. 867 00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:31,800 I want you to be prepared to defend his character, his goodness, not just 868 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:33,420 to others, but to yourself, right? 869 00:40:33,420 --> 00:40:35,640 There's gonna be moments where you're thinking, man, how could 870 00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:36,900 a good God let this happen? 871 00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:38,670 Why did this happen to me? 872 00:40:39,240 --> 00:40:40,320 Why did this happen to my friend? 873 00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:41,160 Why did this happen to my family? 874 00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:44,100 And you're gonna have to look yourself in the eye and say, here's why. 875 00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:45,810 You can still believe that God's good. 876 00:40:46,259 --> 00:40:48,300 'cause otherwise, you're not gonna make it right. 877 00:40:48,300 --> 00:40:51,210 If you don't think God's very good, if you don't think God 878 00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:52,680 really loves you that much. 879 00:40:53,235 --> 00:40:54,345 Why would you follow him? 880 00:40:56,055 --> 00:40:56,325 Right? 881 00:40:56,355 --> 00:41:00,195 You're doing that 'cause you have to, not 'cause you want to and I want you 882 00:41:00,195 --> 00:41:01,515 to follow Jesus 'cause you want to. 883 00:41:02,055 --> 00:41:02,295 Okay? 884 00:41:02,925 --> 00:41:05,835 So let's pray and uh, we'll go ahead and go to small groups. 885 00:41:05,835 --> 00:41:06,615 Just follow your leader. 886 00:41:06,675 --> 00:41:07,335 Find a good spot. 887 00:41:07,335 --> 00:41:11,445 You can go outside, you can go in your room, you can go in the pool. 888 00:41:11,445 --> 00:41:11,805 I don't know. 889 00:41:12,255 --> 00:41:12,975 Do whatever you want. 890 00:41:13,425 --> 00:41:14,955 Well do whatever your leader tells you to do. 891 00:41:15,555 --> 00:41:17,145 Um, not whatever you want. 892 00:41:18,105 --> 00:41:21,465 Anyway, let's pray and we will talk about the sermon. 893 00:41:22,935 --> 00:41:29,085 God, we are so glad that you are good and that we can be confident about it. 894 00:41:29,685 --> 00:41:35,005 We're so glad that you show us how good you are. 895 00:41:35,835 --> 00:41:40,275 So I pray for these students that they would be convinced with all their 896 00:41:40,275 --> 00:41:45,525 heart that you are amazing, that you're so loving, you're so good, um, and 897 00:41:45,525 --> 00:41:49,035 that they would be able to articulate to themselves and to others why. 898 00:41:49,095 --> 00:41:53,295 So I pray that for these next couple days, that we would take that seriously, 899 00:41:53,295 --> 00:41:54,315 that we'd really think about this. 900 00:41:54,315 --> 00:41:56,715 That wouldn't just be something that we're, we're having to do, just so 901 00:41:56,715 --> 00:41:58,185 we can also go to camp and have fun. 902 00:41:58,185 --> 00:42:00,915 But this would be something that we're doing because we. 903 00:42:01,905 --> 00:42:03,195 Wants to wrestle with this problem. 904 00:42:03,195 --> 00:42:07,845 I pray for anyone here who's maybe thinking about, um, they're really 905 00:42:07,845 --> 00:42:13,035 wrestling with, does God really exist or is he really in control or is 906 00:42:13,035 --> 00:42:14,205 he really, does he really love me? 907 00:42:14,685 --> 00:42:16,305 I pray that they would be honest about that. 908 00:42:16,335 --> 00:42:18,615 They'd be willing to share that and talk about that. 909 00:42:19,455 --> 00:42:23,805 Um, and that you would, you would just give them a good answer from your 910 00:42:23,805 --> 00:42:26,235 word, uh, on why they can trust you. 911 00:42:26,565 --> 00:42:27,735 We pray this all in Jesus' name. 912 00:42:28,125 --> 00:42:28,485 Amen