WEBVTT 00:01.516 --> 00:04.876 Welcome to the Valley Baptist Church sermon podcast. 00:04.876 --> 00:08.316 We're so glad you're here, and we hope this message inspires you, 00:08.316 --> 00:12.476 builds your faith, and moves you toward a deep relationship with God. 00:12.476 --> 00:15.516 Today, you'll find great insight into the Bible 00:15.516 --> 00:18.236 and learn how you can apply it straight to your life. 00:18.236 --> 00:20.736 So welcome and enjoy the message. 00:21.158 --> 00:26.718 There's a conversation that I think all of us have had with our kids at some point. 00:27.398 --> 00:32.038 Somewhere along the way, they said, you know, that's not fair. 00:32.158 --> 00:35.338 And we said, well, life's not fair, right? 00:36.768 --> 00:38.948 And you know what, that's an easy lesson 00:38.948 --> 00:42.208 for us to experience, but it's a hard lesson 00:42.208 --> 00:44.968 to come to grips with because deep down, 00:44.968 --> 00:47.248 we all expect life to be fair. 00:47.248 --> 00:49.448 We want justice. 00:49.448 --> 00:52.948 And that's because God hardwired us 00:52.948 --> 00:55.368 to want justice and fairness. 00:55.368 --> 00:58.088 We are created in the image of God. 00:58.088 --> 01:01.328 And so the reason we're so concerned with justice 01:01.328 --> 01:04.368 is because God is concerned with justice. 01:04.358 --> 01:08.738 I mean, your dog doesn't worry about justice or unfairness. 01:09.238 --> 01:11.458 I mean, in anger, you could throw something at him, 01:11.838 --> 01:14.518 and the next moment he'd curl up next to you 01:14.518 --> 01:16.898 and be your best friend like nothing ever happened. 01:16.978 --> 01:21.598 But someone throws something at us, mistreats us, we're offended, right? 01:22.330 --> 01:25.630 Our sense of justice is offended. 01:25.630 --> 01:31.710 And that makes living in this messed up, broken world very frustrating. 01:31.710 --> 01:35.370 Because we're surrounded by injustice. 01:35.370 --> 01:38.750 Now, in the beginning of chapter 3 that we looked at last week, 01:38.750 --> 01:41.710 Solomon shared some of his most famous words. 01:41.710 --> 01:44.450 He said, to everything there is a season. 01:44.453 --> 01:49.953 A time for every purpose under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant 01:49.953 --> 01:52.453 and a time to pluck what has been planted. 01:52.713 --> 01:59.533 And in beautiful poetic form, Solomon describes the various seasons and events of life. 01:59.533 --> 02:04.293 And his point is that God is sovereign over it all. 02:05.113 --> 02:10.493 You may think that you have control over everything in your life, but you don't. 02:10.492 --> 02:11.592 God does. 02:11.592 --> 02:13.632 The great victories that we celebrate, 02:13.632 --> 02:16.072 the great defeats that we mourn, 02:16.072 --> 02:19.532 ultimately speaking, God is behind it all. 02:19.532 --> 02:24.532 He has either directly caused it or he has allowed it. 02:24.772 --> 02:28.132 And so in verse number 16, Solomon begins wrestling 02:28.126 --> 02:32.686 with the unfairness of life in the light of God's sovereignty. 02:32.686 --> 02:34.026 He says in verse 16, 02:34.106 --> 02:39.406 Moreover, I saw under the sun, in the place of judgment, wickedness was there. 02:39.766 --> 02:43.426 In the place of righteousness, iniquity was there. 02:43.938 --> 02:47.278 Solomon is saying, we expect the good guys to be good guys, 02:47.278 --> 02:48.998 but that's not always the case. 02:49.158 --> 02:52.718 We expect evil to be punished and good to be rewarded, 02:52.858 --> 02:55.218 but sometimes the bad guy gets away, 02:55.218 --> 02:58.078 and sometimes the good guy is punished. 02:58.638 --> 03:02.658 Solomon is wrestling with the fact that God is sovereign. 03:03.428 --> 03:07.428 and yet life is still very unfair. 03:07.428 --> 03:10.628 I mean, how do those two things go together? 03:10.628 --> 03:14.108 How can a good and loving God, who's all powerful, 03:14.108 --> 03:18.108 allow evil and injustice into the world? 03:18.108 --> 03:20.508 That is perhaps the most difficult 03:20.508 --> 03:23.188 philosophical question of life. 03:23.188 --> 03:26.948 We dare not reject the goodness of God 03:26.952 --> 03:29.992 And we dare not reject the sovereignty of God. 03:29.992 --> 03:37.052 For if God is not all powerful and all knowing, we have no confidence that God actually beats Satan and we all win in the end. 03:37.672 --> 03:43.012 And so we've got these two great truths, the goodness of God, the sovereignty of God. 03:43.092 --> 03:51.132 And then when we throw in evil and injustice into the mix, we can't quite get our minds around how that all fits together. 03:51.612 --> 03:55.432 And so when tragedy and suffering come our way, we ask why. 03:56.332 --> 03:58.512 Why, God, did you allow this? 03:58.672 --> 04:01.832 How could this possibly fit into your plan? 04:02.432 --> 04:03.571 You know what? 04:03.572 --> 04:05.172 Asking God why is okay. 04:05.792 --> 04:09.752 Because asking why implies faith. 04:09.952 --> 04:12.012 That we believe that there's a God to ask. 04:12.492 --> 04:13.852 We believe that he's good. 04:13.852 --> 04:22.492 We believe that he is all-powerful, and yet we're having trouble reconciling the vents of life that we're experiencing with those truths. 04:23.534 --> 04:27.694 Now, the Bible is filled with people of faith asking God why. 04:28.054 --> 04:30.774 The prophet Habakkuk in the Old Testament asked God why. 04:30.854 --> 04:37.994 The Chaldeans or the Babylonians, wicked and evil people, empire, they were prospering and yet the Israelites were suffering. 04:38.654 --> 04:40.054 And Habakkuk wanted to know why. 04:40.414 --> 04:43.394 Why do the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer? 04:43.394 --> 04:45.254 And God answered him. 04:45.421 --> 04:48.541 But God did not give Habakkuk the answer he wanted. 04:48.761 --> 04:51.821 He gave Habakkuk the answer he needed. 04:52.321 --> 04:53.120 God answered him. 04:53.121 --> 04:57.181 He said, the just shall live by his faith. 04:57.721 --> 05:00.241 In other words, Habakkuk, trust me. 05:00.693 --> 05:04.293 We're like the little guy who keeps asking his dad, why? 05:04.773 --> 05:05.952 Why, daddy? 05:05.953 --> 05:06.192 Right? 05:06.193 --> 05:07.333 Well, why is the sky blue? 05:07.433 --> 05:08.212 Why this? 05:08.213 --> 05:08.832 Why that? 05:08.833 --> 05:15.053 And as dads, we don't give the little guy the scientific explanation of why the sky is blue. 05:15.253 --> 05:16.072 Why? 05:16.073 --> 05:19.813 Because it's far too complex for his little undeveloped brain. 05:19.933 --> 05:23.533 So instead, we say, because God made it that way. 05:24.250 --> 05:26.570 We give him the answer that he needs in life. 05:26.750 --> 05:28.550 There's a God who made it that way. 05:28.810 --> 05:33.130 Now, oftentimes, that's the response we get from our Heavenly Father when he answers us. 05:33.330 --> 05:34.630 He says, trust me. 05:35.370 --> 05:43.290 And understanding that is one of the keys to enjoying life in the midst of an unjust, unfair world. 05:43.990 --> 05:45.870 That in moments... 05:45.867 --> 05:52.747 When we don't understand God's ways, that we choose by faith to trust His heart, 05:52.827 --> 05:56.567 that He's our Father, and that He loves us so very much. 05:57.507 --> 06:02.247 When my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer, it was devastating. 06:03.333 --> 06:09.193 But I'm a bit of an optimist by nature, and so early on, as our church family, we prayed for him. 06:09.293 --> 06:14.013 I really believed God was going to heal my dad and that he was going to extend his life. 06:14.113 --> 06:21.953 Well, there were a series of weeks where every time the doctor came into the hospital room, the news he delivered was the worst. 06:22.621 --> 06:24.541 Case scenario news, right? 06:24.581 --> 06:27.241 We thought it was this, but it was actually that. 06:27.321 --> 06:29.821 We tried this, but it didn't work. 06:29.881 --> 06:35.401 And I remember during those first few months of multiple surgeries and treatments, we made 06:35.401 --> 06:37.821 a lot of important decisions on behalf of my dad. 06:38.621 --> 06:43.581 And it seemed like every decision we made turned out to be the wrong decision. 06:44.508 --> 06:52.248 And I would have these moments of incredible regret, but by God's grace, those moments didn't last more than a few seconds. 06:52.468 --> 06:56.628 How? My belief in the sovereignty of God. 06:56.748 --> 06:59.628 I knew I'd prayed over everything. We had prayed over it. 06:59.788 --> 07:03.808 We'd made the best decision we possibly knew how to make with the information we had. 07:03.808 --> 07:06.328 I also knew that God is sovereign. 07:06.580 --> 07:11.360 that whatever ultimately needed to happen with my dad was going to happen. 07:11.800 --> 07:15.040 I knew that while we were fighting like crazy for my dad's life, 07:15.040 --> 07:18.540 he was not going to live one day longer than God allowed, 07:18.760 --> 07:23.460 and he was not going to die one day sooner than his appointed time to die. 07:23.760 --> 07:24.459 And you know what? 07:24.460 --> 07:30.580 That truth, that fact was like a blanket of peace upon my soul. 07:31.015 --> 07:34.915 See, a lot of people are very troubled by the sovereignty of God. 07:34.975 --> 07:35.954 Not me. 07:35.955 --> 07:36.714 Not me. 07:36.715 --> 07:40.995 The sovereignty of God is one of the most comforting truths in all of the world. 07:41.095 --> 07:46.035 That whatever good or bad happens to us in our life, that we are in the hands of God. 07:46.455 --> 07:48.075 And His hands are good. 07:48.683 --> 07:54.503 And his hands are all powerful, which means we know how the story ends, right? 07:54.863 --> 08:01.383 In the end, God has the victory, and those who are connected to him join in that victory. 08:02.143 --> 08:05.323 Now, in chapter 4, Solomon moves. 08:05.403 --> 08:07.183 We're going to jump back to chapter 3 in a moment. 08:07.183 --> 08:12.803 But in chapter 4, he moves from the injustice of the courts to the oppression. 08:13.591 --> 08:18.211 of the vulnerable. He says in verse number 1, he says, then I returned and considered all the 08:18.211 --> 08:24.411 oppression that is done under the sun. And look, the tears of the oppressed, but they have no 08:24.411 --> 08:30.231 comforter. On the side of the oppressors, there's power, but they have no comforter. 08:31.006 --> 08:34.206 You know, there's a lot of oppression in our world. 08:34.506 --> 08:36.726 People like Hitler and Stalin exist. 08:37.186 --> 08:38.386 Racism exists. 08:38.846 --> 08:39.986 Abortion exists. 08:40.206 --> 08:43.326 There's all kinds of oppression that exists in our world. 08:43.326 --> 08:48.666 And Solomon says, the oppressed, they suffer at the hands of those who have power over them. 08:48.726 --> 08:53.646 They cry these tears, but no one is there to comfort them. 08:54.412 --> 08:59.412 Now, as Christians, we are to fight for and we are to comfort those who are oppressed. 08:59.412 --> 09:09.552 But the truth is, our world is so broken and marred by sin that no matter how much effort on our part is going to fully fix the problem. 09:10.052 --> 09:12.372 Life's going to continue to be unfair. 09:12.612 --> 09:18.312 And I think Solomon, like many of us, oftentimes he's getting overwhelmed with that thought. 09:18.432 --> 09:19.740 Verse number two. 09:19.741 --> 09:24.781 He says, therefore, I praised the dead who were already dead, more than the living who were still alive. 09:25.241 --> 09:33.501 Yet better than both is he who's never existed, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun. 09:33.621 --> 09:40.281 Solomon sounds a whole lot like the prophet Jeremiah, who said, I wish that my mother's womb had been my tomb. 09:40.281 --> 09:42.240 That's pretty low. 09:42.241 --> 09:44.281 Yeah, that's where many people... 09:44.311 --> 09:46.911 sadly find themselves in this unfair world. 09:47.011 --> 09:48.550 Maybe you're there today. 09:48.551 --> 09:55.391 Life has been so unfair to you, it seems, that you've lost even hope for living. 09:55.471 --> 09:57.251 I want to encourage you to stay with me today, 09:57.771 --> 10:02.551 because by the end of the message, I'm going to give you some hope and where you can find hope. 10:03.111 --> 10:05.331 Now, let's jump back to chapter 3. 10:06.215 --> 10:11.435 for a moment. Verse 17, he said, I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the 10:11.435 --> 10:16.775 wicked for there's a time then there for every purpose and for every work. He says there's a 10:16.775 --> 10:23.095 time for every season in the world and there's a time for justice. Here's our principle. God is 10:23.095 --> 10:29.555 going to judge all of the wickedness and the evil in our world. If you're like me, 10:30.245 --> 10:31.325 That's something to long for. 10:31.325 --> 10:34.105 You're troubled by the evil of our world. 10:34.105 --> 10:35.305 So Solomon reminds us here 10:35.305 --> 10:37.885 that time of God's judgment is coming. 10:37.885 --> 10:39.505 It's not now. 10:39.505 --> 10:42.045 And it's perfect timing that lines up 10:42.045 --> 10:43.945 with God's purposes for the world. 10:43.945 --> 10:46.125 When all who believe come to faith in Christ. 10:46.125 --> 10:50.945 He's being patient now, but someday justice will be served. 10:50.945 --> 10:55.125 Now that should be comforting to all of us, 10:55.125 --> 10:57.405 but it should also be a little bit frightening. 10:57.852 --> 11:00.832 It's comforting because we know that God wins in the end, 11:00.972 --> 11:03.932 that all the unfairness of life, it's all going to be straightened out. 11:04.252 --> 11:08.952 No sin or act of treason against Almighty God will go unpunished. 11:09.432 --> 11:11.852 Sometimes we wring our hands, we watch the news, 11:11.952 --> 11:14.352 we watch all the evil that's happening in our world, 11:14.372 --> 11:18.172 and we fret about how the Hitlers of the world and the Stalins 11:18.172 --> 11:20.532 commit these awful crimes against humanity, 11:20.532 --> 11:24.072 and it all seems like, you know, they get out scot-free. 11:25.112 --> 11:26.792 No, they don't. 11:27.400 --> 11:31.060 They will answer to the God who made them. 11:31.140 --> 11:34.820 They will receive judgment, the judgment they deserve. 11:35.000 --> 11:42.900 Justice is going to be executed upon every murder, upon every act of rape, upon every abuse of a child. 11:42.900 --> 11:47.740 And that is very comforting for us, but it's also a little bit frightening. 11:47.880 --> 11:48.839 Why? 11:48.840 --> 11:50.600 Because we're also sinners, aren't we? 11:51.515 --> 11:56.855 Justice is going to be executed also upon every sin we've ever committed, 11:56.955 --> 12:01.335 every thought of lust, every act of adultery, every lie, every word of gossip, 12:01.515 --> 12:07.415 every act of disrespect towards one's parents, every theft, every thought of envy, 12:07.415 --> 12:12.955 every curse word, every sin will be judged rightly and perfectly by God. 12:13.315 --> 12:16.875 Why? Because God is just. 12:17.435 --> 12:21.435 And God cares a whole lot more about justice than we do. 12:22.227 --> 12:25.307 So in light of that, the truth is, 12:25.822 --> 12:27.882 We shouldn't want justice, 12:27.882 --> 12:29.902 because we shouldn't want life to be fair, 12:29.902 --> 12:33.582 because if life is fair, that means we all go to hell. 12:33.582 --> 12:36.582 So instead of justice, what we really need 12:36.582 --> 12:39.462 is God's mercy and his grace. 12:39.462 --> 12:41.022 We need to be forgiven. 12:41.022 --> 12:43.062 We need to be acquitted of our crimes 12:43.062 --> 12:47.322 against God and humanity, our crimes of sin. 12:47.322 --> 12:49.102 Now, the question becomes, 12:49.102 --> 12:54.422 how can a just God 12:54.425 --> 12:57.625 allow the guilty to just go free, right? 12:58.045 --> 12:59.384 How does that happen? 12:59.385 --> 13:03.885 I mean, if someone rapes a woman and they stand before a judge and he says, 13:03.945 --> 13:06.465 you know, I feel really loving today, you can go free. 13:07.245 --> 13:08.565 We would be outraged by that. 13:08.565 --> 13:12.265 That would not be just because justice must be served. 13:12.385 --> 13:15.225 You do the crime, you do the time. 13:15.345 --> 13:18.125 And it's the same in God's courtroom of life. 13:18.765 --> 13:21.825 Every sin must be paid for. 13:21.825 --> 13:23.651 But 13:23.652 --> 13:31.752 Since we all deserve eternal judgment for our crimes of sin, and since God loves us, 13:32.692 --> 13:41.892 God provided another way that would allow him to give us mercy and grace while still satisfying his justice, his fairness. 13:42.592 --> 13:47.912 And that's the story of the cross, where God's love and God's justice meet. 13:48.374 --> 13:53.014 Jesus, the Son of God, he said, I'm going to pay for, I'll pay for their sins so they don't have to pay for them. 13:53.194 --> 13:55.074 They've committed high treason against us. 13:55.254 --> 13:56.854 They've committed sins against one another. 13:56.994 --> 13:58.573 But I love them. 13:58.574 --> 13:59.673 I love them so much. 13:59.674 --> 14:01.234 I will pay for their sins. 14:01.494 --> 14:11.934 And the gospel is that if you accept and you receive Jesus and you accept what Jesus did, paying for your sins upon the cross, you're going to get mercy and grace. 14:12.094 --> 14:12.572 Amen. 14:12.573 --> 14:14.093 You're going to be freed. 14:14.573 --> 14:20.993 But if you reject Jesus, you reject his payment for your sins, you get exactly what you deserve. 14:22.033 --> 14:25.373 Unrelenting justice that is right to give. 14:25.473 --> 14:27.393 That's the message of the Bible. 14:27.997 --> 14:51.597 Verse number 18, he says, 14:51.841 --> 14:55.861 All go to one place, all are from the dust, and all return to dust. 14:55.861 --> 15:03.001 Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth. 15:03.241 --> 15:11.601 Now, let's remember, throughout Ecclesiastes, Solomon is writing from an under-the-sun perspective, which filters God out of life. 15:11.681 --> 15:14.641 So what he's saying is, if there is no God, 15:15.213 --> 15:18.013 We're no better than the animals. 15:18.013 --> 15:21.113 An animal dies, he turns to dust. 15:21.113 --> 15:24.893 Well, a human dies, we turn to dust. 15:24.893 --> 15:27.573 Without God, there's no really any difference. 15:27.573 --> 15:30.013 In the end, we all turn to dust. 15:30.013 --> 15:31.333 Life doesn't matter. 15:31.333 --> 15:35.173 And he says, who knows if the spirit goes up when we die, 15:35.173 --> 15:38.953 our spirit, and the animal spirit stays on the earth. 15:39.158 --> 15:42.578 What he's saying is we don't actually know if all dogs go to heaven. 15:43.258 --> 15:46.158 Who really knows what happens after we die? 15:46.238 --> 15:50.058 Now, Solomon is describing life under the sun without God in the equation. 15:50.238 --> 15:53.698 So he actually knew what happens to the spirit of the believer. 15:53.838 --> 15:56.658 We know that from the end of the book in chapter 12, verse 7. 15:56.658 --> 16:05.918 He said, then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. 16:06.648 --> 16:10.028 So what's Solomon's point here at the end of chapter three? 16:10.028 --> 16:12.268 He's saying if you remove God from life, 16:12.268 --> 16:13.748 we're no better than the animals. 16:13.748 --> 16:16.688 Because just like the animals, we also are going to die. 16:16.688 --> 16:19.228 Now, Solomon is painting this hopeless, 16:19.228 --> 16:23.748 pointless view of life without God. 16:23.748 --> 16:25.428 Now, for the remainder of the message, 16:25.428 --> 16:30.148 I wanna transition and give several points of application. 16:30.148 --> 16:34.648 How do we navigate life when life's not fair? 16:34.648 --> 16:36.718 Here's our first point. 16:36.719 --> 16:41.059 We need to choose to enjoy the blessings of life. 16:41.779 --> 16:43.279 Verse number 22, Solomon said, 16:43.339 --> 16:48.679 So I perceive that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in all his works, 16:48.919 --> 16:52.639 for that is his heritage, for who can bring him to see what will happen? 16:54.573 --> 16:59.193 Solomon is saying, do not focus on the unfairness of life. 16:59.433 --> 17:02.733 Instead, focus on the blessings of life. 17:03.833 --> 17:09.673 Maybe you've experienced tremendous unfairness in life. 17:10.153 --> 17:14.313 Maybe as a kid, someone who was supposed to protect you abused you. 17:14.993 --> 17:20.573 Maybe someone who was supposed to be loyal and faithful and love you cheated on you. 17:21.640 --> 17:26.640 Maybe you live with chronic, if I can say that word, 17:28.920 --> 17:31.100 disabilitating pain. 17:31.100 --> 17:33.920 Maybe you live with a disability physically. 17:33.920 --> 17:35.960 Maybe you've lost a child. 17:35.960 --> 17:39.460 There's a tremendous suffering and pain in this life. 17:39.460 --> 17:41.380 I think Solomon's saying, 17:41.380 --> 17:43.080 no matter what awful things happen to you, 17:43.080 --> 17:46.120 no matter what evil you've experienced, 17:47.307 --> 17:51.807 The things that you've experienced don't have to be the focus of your life. 17:52.567 --> 17:56.647 You can let your focus be God. 17:56.747 --> 17:59.707 You don't have to let the injustices of life define you. 17:59.807 --> 18:04.827 Instead, by God's grace, you can allow God to define you and to allow you to heal. 18:05.027 --> 18:07.567 He can heal you so you can move on. 18:07.810 --> 18:15.610 Now, last week, Pastor Matt said, don't let what you can't control destroy what you can enjoy. 18:16.050 --> 18:17.150 And that's so true. 18:17.330 --> 18:18.670 But let me say it this way. 18:19.270 --> 18:25.250 Don't let what you don't understand destroy what you can enjoy. 18:25.790 --> 18:28.930 Choose to enjoy the blessings of life. 18:30.608 --> 18:36.988 Lori Rogowski, who served on our staff for 20 years as our Small Wonders Preschool Director, 18:37.508 --> 18:40.448 passed away a few months ago of pancreatic cancer. 18:41.208 --> 18:43.188 Now, Lori was a bit of a health nut. 18:43.908 --> 18:45.948 She rode her bike to work. 18:46.068 --> 18:46.987 She ate vegan. 18:46.988 --> 18:52.108 She was very conscientious of taking very good of her health, of her body. 18:52.411 --> 18:54.671 Well, when I first went to the hospital 18:54.671 --> 18:57.571 after she'd first been diagnosed to see her, 18:57.571 --> 18:59.051 she smiled and she said, 18:59.051 --> 19:04.051 "'Pastor, the moral of the story is eat the cake." 19:07.051 --> 19:08.571 Eat the cake. 19:08.571 --> 19:09.651 Her point was, 19:09.651 --> 19:12.971 "'We don't have complete control over our health.'" 19:13.538 --> 19:18.578 of our bodies, of when we're going to die. So enjoy some dessert now and then. And I think 19:18.578 --> 19:23.678 that's kind of what Solomon's saying. He said, enjoy life while we have it. Now here's our next 19:23.678 --> 19:31.598 point of application. Recognize that there is actually purpose in our pain. Solomon said earlier 19:31.598 --> 19:37.518 in verse number 11, he said, he's made, God's made everything beautiful in its time. 19:38.041 --> 19:43.441 You see, God's able to take the worst tragedy that we can imagine and bring beauty and good from it. 19:43.461 --> 19:48.041 Now, that doesn't mean that the tragedy itself is good or beautiful. 19:48.241 --> 19:52.601 It means God can take it and he can bring good from it. 19:53.161 --> 19:58.801 Romans 8 tells us that God is working all things together for good for those who love him. 19:59.725 --> 20:07.665 Now, why did God give mankind a choice of sin so that we would rebel and there would be evil in the world? 20:07.805 --> 20:09.405 I don't know exactly why. 20:09.465 --> 20:10.565 That's above my pay grade. 20:10.925 --> 20:14.045 But I do know that God is glorified through the cross. 20:14.405 --> 20:17.285 And I do know that God is glorified through our salvation. 20:17.545 --> 20:20.345 With no evil, there's no cross and there's no salvation. 20:20.971 --> 20:24.551 You see, light shines brightest in the darkness. 20:25.011 --> 20:31.971 It's the dark backdrop of life that causes the blessings of life to really come alive so that we appreciate them. 20:32.851 --> 20:40.811 In the movie The Truman Show, Truman Burbank lived this unknowing life in a 24-7 reality TV show. 20:41.828 --> 20:48.668 The directors of the show manipulated his life, and they caused everything to be perfect for Truman. 20:48.728 --> 20:49.687 He had the perfect job. 20:49.688 --> 20:50.748 He had the perfect wife. 20:50.868 --> 20:52.628 He had the perfect life. 20:52.708 --> 20:55.008 Nothing bad ever happened to him. 20:55.328 --> 20:58.128 And to be honest, as you start to watch that show, it's... 20:58.855 --> 20:59.994 It's very boring. 20:59.995 --> 21:00.794 The movie is very boring. 21:00.795 --> 21:01.614 There's no conflict. 21:01.615 --> 21:02.394 There's no hero. 21:02.395 --> 21:04.195 There's no real love. 21:04.815 --> 21:09.395 You see, the challenges and the sufferings that we face and we have to go through in life, 21:09.615 --> 21:12.255 they make happily ever after actually mean something. 21:12.875 --> 21:18.195 It becomes very, very special in light of all that we've been through and God has forgiven us from. 21:18.195 --> 21:23.235 Now we know how to appreciate the perfect life that is going to be in heaven with God. 21:24.522 --> 21:29.982 I don't know all the details of why bad things happen to good people, 21:30.122 --> 21:35.382 but I do know that ultimately God is working all things together for good. 21:36.762 --> 21:41.982 Joseph, in the book of Genesis, was sold into slavery by his own brothers. 21:44.122 --> 21:45.919 Betrayed. 21:45.920 --> 21:52.540 And years later, after he had arisen in prominence in Egypt, became Pharaoh's right-hand man, 21:52.680 --> 21:54.440 Joseph came face-to-face with his brothers. 21:54.560 --> 21:55.980 They were coming because they were starving. 21:56.080 --> 21:56.999 There was famine in the land. 21:57.000 --> 21:58.200 They were coming for food. 21:59.160 --> 22:00.680 And Joseph comes face-to-face with them. 22:00.760 --> 22:06.180 And Joseph says, he says, what you meant for evil, God meant for good. 22:07.807 --> 22:17.807 Corrie ten Boom, in her book, The Hiding Place, described what it was like for her and her sister, Betsy, to live through the evils of the Holocaust. 22:18.067 --> 22:26.547 She shared about how they were living in the concentration camp, and her sister Betsy insisted that even though they were suffering greatly, they needed to keep trusting God. 22:26.627 --> 22:28.767 They needed to thank God for everything. 22:28.767 --> 22:29.642 Thank you. 22:29.643 --> 22:34.703 And so that's what they did. Day after day, they trusted God and they thanked God for everything. 22:34.943 --> 22:42.203 Well, the thing that Corrie hated the most were the fleas that were in her bed in the barracks there. 22:42.943 --> 22:50.803 And so one day, Corrie was praying and thanking God and Betsy interrupted her and she said, and the bedbugs and the fleas. 22:51.175 --> 22:55.115 Be sure to thank God for the fleas." 22:55.115 --> 22:57.875 And Corrie thought that was crazy, but by faith, 22:57.875 --> 23:01.615 she thanked God for those fleas. 23:01.615 --> 23:04.955 Now, the two girls were Christian young women, 23:04.955 --> 23:07.355 and they started the Bible study in their barracks, 23:07.355 --> 23:11.195 and something that could have gotten them killed, 23:11.195 --> 23:14.995 but the guards never came in and saw their Bible study. 23:14.995 --> 23:18.375 They always wondered why did they never come in, 23:18.530 --> 23:20.330 to find out we were studying the Bible. 23:20.330 --> 23:25.090 Corey later learned it was because of those bedbugs. 23:25.090 --> 23:28.030 The guards were afraid to catch the fleas. 23:28.030 --> 23:31.030 You see, God had put a shield of protection 23:31.030 --> 23:35.690 around those young women and he used a bedbug to do it. 23:35.690 --> 23:38.470 See, we don't know what we don't know. 23:38.470 --> 23:40.090 We don't know when the irritations 23:40.090 --> 23:42.650 and the disappointments and even the sufferings of life 23:42.650 --> 23:45.850 are being used by God to prevent greater suffering 23:45.850 --> 23:48.090 in our life or in the lives of others. 23:49.310 --> 23:51.549 We just don't know. 23:51.550 --> 23:54.910 Tomorrow morning, I'm doing the funeral service for Ben Myhall, 23:55.650 --> 23:59.090 a 17-year-old boy in our church who recently died of cancer. 24:00.190 --> 24:05.290 Last fall, Ben's cancer returned, and he was placed on hospice. 24:05.410 --> 24:09.970 And so I went to see Ben and went into his room there and had a wonderful conversation, 24:10.110 --> 24:11.630 amazing conversation about the Lord. 24:11.710 --> 24:12.730 It was very uplifting. 24:12.730 --> 24:15.770 Made a good friend that day. 24:16.124 --> 24:24.644 And in our conversation, I learned that Ben wanted to be baptized, to go public with his faith, to make it known, his unwavering faith in Jesus. 24:24.804 --> 24:27.904 And so I baptized him just a few days later that Sunday. 24:29.204 --> 24:33.544 And our team posted his baptism online. 24:33.544 --> 24:40.844 And looking at the numbers yesterday, it went viral, over 200,000 views of that baptism. 24:42.297 --> 24:52.757 See, God used Ben's cancer to give him a platform to share his testimony with hundreds of thousands of people who otherwise would have never witnessed the gospel. 24:52.897 --> 24:55.197 They saw the gospel in Ben. 24:56.657 --> 24:57.877 Last week, I... 25:00.016 --> 25:03.676 We had the graveside for Ben, and it was a very intimate service. 25:03.836 --> 25:05.636 It was only his close family and myself. 25:05.956 --> 25:10.936 And at the end of the service, I watched as Ben's family went to the casket. 25:11.136 --> 25:13.656 They wept over that casket. 25:14.736 --> 25:21.396 My eyes also filled with tears, and I thought back in that moment to something Ben told me. 25:21.397 --> 25:24.257 In his room the first day that I visited him, he said, 25:24.257 --> 25:33.597 I'm thankful for my cancer because God used my cancer to deepen and solidify my faith in Jesus. 25:34.778 --> 25:38.998 He was a young man who understood something about the nature of suffering, 25:39.198 --> 25:41.138 something about the nature of God. 25:41.718 --> 25:42.798 You see, life's short. 25:43.318 --> 25:44.077 We're all going to die. 25:44.078 --> 25:47.718 Whether you're 17, whether you're 70, it doesn't matter. 25:47.818 --> 25:48.818 We're all going to die. 25:48.898 --> 25:49.958 Life is very short. 25:50.738 --> 25:55.558 Sorrows are going to come in life, and when they come, we all have a choice to make. 25:56.598 --> 26:02.678 Are we going to let those sorrows make us bitter, or are we going to let them make us better? 26:03.702 --> 26:05.662 I want to encourage you to be like my friend Ben. 26:06.202 --> 26:12.982 Don't waste your sorrows in life because God has incredible purpose in them. 26:14.422 --> 26:20.302 Now, for whatever reason, you can't seem to come to grips with the unfairness of life still, 26:20.362 --> 26:22.662 and it only makes you angry with God. 26:22.662 --> 26:24.802 I want to encourage you with this thought. 26:26.002 --> 26:28.282 Perhaps you need to know. 26:30.010 --> 26:35.650 that no one has ever been treated more unfairly than Jesus. 26:36.690 --> 26:37.769 No one. 26:37.770 --> 26:39.110 Jesus never did anything wrong. 26:39.170 --> 26:40.329 We've all sinned. 26:40.330 --> 26:41.409 Jesus never sinned. 26:41.410 --> 26:43.290 He never did anything wrong. 26:43.370 --> 26:44.450 He only loved. 26:44.790 --> 26:45.830 He only encouraged. 26:45.930 --> 26:46.909 He only lifted up. 26:46.910 --> 26:49.670 He only healed, and yet they crucified him. 26:50.395 --> 26:52.535 He stood trial before Pontius Pilate. 26:52.875 --> 26:55.495 Pilate even admitted, he said, I find no wrong in this man. 26:55.635 --> 26:57.335 This man, he looks innocent. 26:57.335 --> 27:03.335 And yet because of the cry of the mob, Pilate sentenced him to die by crucifixion. 27:04.495 --> 27:10.015 No one has ever been treated more unfairly than God, than Jesus. 27:12.248 --> 27:22.228 Interestingly, the corrupt sham of a trial, the injustice that crucified Jesus is what God used to ultimately provide justice for you and I. 27:23.068 --> 27:24.208 It's a great reversal. 27:24.828 --> 27:27.648 What Satan meant for evil, God meant for good. 27:27.768 --> 27:29.268 And he can do the same thing in your life. 27:29.468 --> 27:32.988 He can take the tragedies of life, even the evil that's done against you. 27:32.988 --> 27:39.168 He can take it and use it and turn something good and beautiful out of it if you allow him to do that. 27:40.632 --> 27:43.032 1 Peter 3, verse number 18 says, 27:43.172 --> 27:49.372 For Christ also suffered, he suffered once for sins, the just, that's Jesus, 27:49.872 --> 27:51.352 for the unjust, that's us. 27:51.632 --> 27:52.651 Why? 27:52.652 --> 27:55.372 That he might bring us to God. 27:56.292 --> 28:00.672 That's what we need most, to be reconnected to God. 28:00.752 --> 28:02.372 Here's our last point of application. 28:02.372 --> 28:05.292 I want you to invite God to comfort you today. 28:06.755 --> 28:07.795 Comfort is available. 28:08.095 --> 28:12.255 Whatever pain that you have, whatever suffering, whatever ails you, 28:12.875 --> 28:17.275 comfort is available to you right now if you invite God to comfort you. 28:17.375 --> 28:21.115 Solomon said, the oppressed, no one is there to comfort them. 28:21.255 --> 28:24.095 But he's wrong because he was just giving the small picture. 28:24.195 --> 28:25.375 He wasn't giving the big picture. 28:26.315 --> 28:29.715 The world cannot truly comfort you, but God can. 28:30.615 --> 28:33.815 And God will if you invite him to. 28:33.815 --> 28:36.201 Sometimes. 28:36.202 --> 28:39.182 People suffer and they get angry with God. 28:40.262 --> 28:44.162 Listen, God didn't oppress you. 28:44.162 --> 28:47.382 God's not oppressing you, the devil is. 28:47.382 --> 28:48.902 He's the father of lies. 28:48.902 --> 28:51.002 All of this evil, the devil's behind it. 28:51.002 --> 28:54.222 And yet oftentimes after our suffering, 28:54.222 --> 28:56.902 people reject God who offers love and comfort 28:56.902 --> 28:59.142 and they start living the devil's life. 28:59.142 --> 29:02.102 The very one who's behind all the suffering 29:02.102 --> 29:04.562 they're experiencing, they start living his life. 29:06.323 --> 29:08.143 We've got to draw close to God. 29:08.203 --> 29:10.963 Yet when people suffer, they ask God, why? 29:11.683 --> 29:14.883 And they ask God, they say, where's God? 29:14.923 --> 29:16.142 And I've been there. 29:16.143 --> 29:18.943 I'm praying earnestly for something in faith. 29:19.223 --> 29:21.563 And yet I feel like the prayer's not been answered. 29:21.943 --> 29:23.643 Where's God in this? 29:23.643 --> 29:24.142 Where's God in this? 29:24.143 --> 29:25.343 I understand that. 29:25.643 --> 29:28.643 But I want to encourage you today that God is right there with you. 29:28.923 --> 29:31.483 And you're going to find him if you look for him. 29:31.483 --> 29:35.083 Those who seek him, he says, will find him. 29:35.583 --> 29:44.403 Sometimes it takes the pain of hitting rock bottom in life before we look up and see God. 29:45.063 --> 29:52.003 The Bible says that God is near to the brokenhearted and that God comforts the afflicted. 29:52.578 --> 29:58.158 I want to encourage you, allow God to comfort you in the midst of whatever pain you have. 29:59.118 --> 30:01.018 Now, how's God going to do that? 30:02.358 --> 30:03.498 With His presence. 30:04.678 --> 30:07.238 The Holy Spirit's called the Great Comforter. 30:07.338 --> 30:11.838 There's nothing more comforting than the presence of God. 30:13.238 --> 30:18.518 My dad returned from MD Anderson where he was being treated for cancer in Houston, Tennessee. 30:18.650 --> 30:23.150 There were hundreds of people gathered at the church to welcome him home. 30:23.410 --> 30:26.810 And we were supposed to just drive by in the parking lot. 30:27.150 --> 30:29.150 But at the last minute, Dad asked for a mic. 30:29.950 --> 30:35.930 And so we stopped, and he got out, and he shared extemporaneously for nearly 20 minutes. 30:35.970 --> 30:38.430 And there were a number of quotable things that he said. 30:38.430 --> 30:41.910 But one line stands out to me today. 30:42.241 --> 30:53.641 He said while he was laying in that hospital bed for those weeks, he learned that God's direct answer to prayer is not the most important thing. 30:54.861 --> 30:56.301 That His presence is. 30:57.981 --> 31:00.481 We ask God for the, we don't have the full picture. 31:00.581 --> 31:02.441 Only God can make those perfect decisions. 31:03.421 --> 31:05.981 So what He gives us is what we need. 31:06.794 --> 31:09.074 And what we need is Him. 31:09.994 --> 31:14.534 Let me ask you, have you ever experienced the presence of God? 31:16.094 --> 31:17.454 There's nothing like it. 31:18.714 --> 31:24.334 Let me ask you this, are you experiencing the presence of God? 31:25.614 --> 31:29.394 I can tell you, you're not experiencing His presence if you're living in sins. 31:30.807 --> 31:35.407 Because the fellowship, your fellowship with God has been broken because you're living in sin. 31:35.467 --> 31:37.446 You're not living for him. 31:37.447 --> 31:41.887 But once we confess that sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us. 31:41.887 --> 31:47.127 His presence, the sweet presence of God, we experience again. 31:48.287 --> 31:53.087 You're also not experiencing God's presence if you've never given your life to Jesus. 31:53.247 --> 31:54.427 That's the starting place. 31:55.850 --> 32:01.810 I want to invite you today, right now, to turn from your life of sin, of self. 32:04.017 --> 32:06.377 And to turn in faith to Jesus. 32:07.277 --> 32:09.776 And to open your heart. 32:09.777 --> 32:14.177 Sometimes we get hurt, we callous up, we harden up, we don't want to get hurt again. 32:14.177 --> 32:17.357 I want to encourage you to allow the Spirit of God to do the opposite. 32:17.997 --> 32:22.117 And to soften your heart transparently before Him. 32:22.357 --> 32:25.197 And to receive the presence of God, the Holy Spirit. 32:25.517 --> 32:28.617 You receive Him by faith as you trust Jesus as your Savior. 32:28.937 --> 32:32.917 And allow God to comfort you right now. 32:34.291 --> 32:36.851 James chapter 4, verse number 7 says, 32:36.851 --> 32:41.851 Therefore submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 32:42.531 --> 32:47.731 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. 32:48.671 --> 32:57.051 Let's bow together in an attitude of prayer, both here and those even watching online. 32:57.211 --> 32:58.831 Perhaps God's really doing a work. 33:00.127 --> 33:03.127 in your heart, in your life, and you want to just kneel before Him, 33:03.847 --> 33:08.807 I want to invite you to bow your head and ask God, 33:09.527 --> 33:14.287 God, would you come into my life and comfort me? 33:15.707 --> 33:23.147 God, I'm sorry for my sin, and I confess it to you, and I'm turning from it right now. 33:25.152 --> 33:27.112 And I want to place my faith in Jesus. 33:27.252 --> 33:28.812 I want to receive him right now. 33:28.872 --> 33:35.672 Would you come into my life and give me your presence, your forgiveness, your life? 33:37.332 --> 33:41.012 If you're honest with God about that and you surrender your life to Jesus, 33:41.252 --> 33:43.832 he will meet you right where you're at. 33:43.872 --> 33:45.911 I can promise you. 33:45.912 --> 33:51.812 In just a moment after I pray, there's going to be pastors and other leaders here at the front of our worship center. 33:52.132 --> 33:53.572 We're going to stand to our feet. 33:53.672 --> 33:54.752 We're going to sing a song. 33:56.658 --> 34:05.118 At that moment, the first words that are sung, I want to encourage you at that moment to start walking forward as God leads. 34:06.078 --> 34:12.178 You're invited to come, walk down one of these aisles, walk down one of these staircases and say, I want to give my life to Jesus. 34:12.978 --> 34:14.258 I want the presence of God. 34:14.258 --> 34:17.978 Did you know that you were made for God's presence? 34:20.587 --> 34:26.907 You were made for a relationship with him, but because of our sin, we've been separated from him. 34:27.707 --> 34:29.627 So we don't experience that. 34:30.547 --> 34:35.827 That's why Jesus came, to the presence of God, to bring us back to God, he said. 34:37.127 --> 34:41.587 I want to invite you to allow yourself to be brought back to God today. 34:41.587 --> 34:44.147 And it only happens by faith. 34:45.359 --> 34:47.059 These folks will know exactly how to help you. 34:47.119 --> 34:49.879 They're not going to ask you any questions you can't answer. 34:50.019 --> 34:51.599 They're not going to embarrass you in any way. 34:51.679 --> 34:53.478 They're going to help you. 34:53.479 --> 34:55.639 Maybe you want to come and be prayed for. 34:55.739 --> 35:01.759 You're going through something in life, and you're experiencing a painful season. 35:03.398 --> 35:05.658 You just want a brother or sister to pray for you. 35:05.898 --> 35:06.817 We're here. 35:06.818 --> 35:09.058 We would love to link arms with you and pray for you. 35:09.458 --> 35:11.858 Maybe say, I want to be baptized like others today 35:11.858 --> 35:13.358 or join our church family. 35:13.458 --> 35:14.257 Come, let us know. 35:14.258 --> 35:16.178 We'd love to visit with you about that. 35:17.318 --> 35:18.898 Help you take the next steps. 35:19.978 --> 35:22.758 These steps are also open for you to just come 35:22.758 --> 35:24.298 and pour out your heart to the Lord. 35:25.658 --> 35:26.998 However he leads, let's pray. 35:26.998 --> 35:32.918 Father, thank you so much for your amazing love. 35:34.128 --> 35:38.028 Thank you that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 35:38.508 --> 35:41.288 Thank you that we love you because you first loved us. 35:41.368 --> 35:44.228 It's not that we have to initiate pursuing you. 35:44.368 --> 35:46.328 You're who initiates pursuing us. 35:48.788 --> 35:50.868 Lord, we've been born into darkness. 35:51.088 --> 35:53.188 We've been living in darkness. 35:53.328 --> 35:54.768 We've been adding to darkness. 35:55.708 --> 35:58.048 Thank you, Lord, for your marvelous light. 35:58.828 --> 36:03.768 I pray, Lord, that your light would shine brightly upon souls today. 36:05.431 --> 36:07.471 and their spiritual eyes would be opened 36:07.471 --> 36:11.111 so they could see you for all who you are. 36:11.691 --> 36:16.391 You are an amazing God who is faithful to be trusted. 36:17.671 --> 36:19.851 Lord, I pray that you do a work now 36:19.851 --> 36:23.151 that goes beyond anything I could ever do 36:23.151 --> 36:24.711 or anything our church could ever do 36:24.711 --> 36:26.451 or anyone could do except for you. 36:27.751 --> 36:30.051 Lord, that you would take hearts 36:30.051 --> 36:33.031 that perhaps have been calloused. 36:36.059 --> 36:44.059 by unfairness, calloused by pain and suffering, calloused by their own sin. 36:47.619 --> 36:51.179 And Lord, would you soften those hard spots? 36:52.327 --> 36:56.887 Would you give us a heart of flesh and remove the heart of stone? 36:58.307 --> 37:00.307 Do that which only you can do, Lord. 37:00.407 --> 37:01.627 We rely upon you. 37:01.707 --> 37:02.846 We need you. 37:02.847 --> 37:04.387 Apart from you, we can do nothing. 37:04.547 --> 37:08.547 And so we commit this time to you and we ask, Lord, that you do as you wish. 37:09.507 --> 37:11.917 Have your way. 37:11.918 --> 37:18.078 Give people the courage it's going to take to choose you, to respond to your love. 37:19.038 --> 37:21.658 Lord, we pray that you do a great work in our midst. 37:21.778 --> 37:23.138 We ask in Jesus' name. 37:23.618 --> 37:25.198 Amen. 37:25.199 --> 37:26.639 Thanks for listening today. 37:26.639 --> 37:28.299 We hope you enjoyed this message. 37:28.299 --> 37:30.399 And if you did, we would be so grateful 37:30.399 --> 37:32.079 if you left us a review. 37:32.079 --> 37:34.519 Also, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast 37:34.519 --> 37:35.819 if you would like to be notified 37:35.819 --> 37:37.719 when a new sermon is released. 37:37.719 --> 37:39.359 If you feel the Lord calling you 37:39.359 --> 37:40.979 to take the next step in faith 37:40.979 --> 37:45.279 through salvation, service, or giving, don't wait. 37:45.280 --> 37:48.740 reach out to us by texting podcast to 88988. 37:48.740 --> 37:52.280 That's podcast to 88988 or connect with us 37:52.280 --> 37:54.660 on one of our social media platforms. 37:54.660 --> 37:57.800 You can also visit our website, valleybaptist.org 37:57.800 --> 38:00.380 to find even more great resources. 38:00.380 --> 38:02.580 No matter where you are in your journey, 38:02.580 --> 38:05.300 know that we love you, we're praying for you 38:05.300 --> 38:08.280 and we can't wait to see what God will do in your life.