Saturday, October 26, 2019
Cruelty
This week we commence series entitled "I have a Friend who." Under this title we will be thinking about how we answer people who inquire about various issues regarding the validity of our Christian Faith.
1 Peter 3:15 says 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
The word defense used here is the Greek word απολογιαν.
Apologetics is the study of how we provide answers to difficult objections against the Christian faith.
Almost always the issue at heart is that someone has not really understood the Christian faith, and so we have the opportunity to explain to them what we really do believe as Christians. It is how we fine tune their understanding.
However, before we consider any objections, we need to consider how we understand what we are doing in assisting their understanding.
We need to think.
And we need to think about how we think.
The day before I commenced theological college a friend at my home church gave me a car. Now don't think it was a great gift. It was a good gift.. but he owned a VW wrecking yard. And this is what the car looked like.
VW
I drive it the first day across Sydney to the busiest scariest intersection in Sydney where it broke down. Right in the middle of Parramatta road and Silverwater bridge road at 8:00 am exactly. It wouldn't restart. So I pushed it through the lights into a service station there. And the service station was closed.
So I began going through in my head what was wrong with the car. 3 main things can go wrong:
1. The radiator could overheat. I checked the radiator (yes there is none, it is air cooled.
2. It could be the electrics. I checked the electrics .. everything seemed ok.
3. It could have run out of petrol. I checked the gauge .. 1/3rd full. Just like yesterday.
Just like yesterday! So I checked the petrol tank itself! Bone dry.
When we think through a problem we go through all the alternatives and we check and recheck our evidences, and so we arrive at a conclusion.
However: what is we have to rethink how we think about our process of evidences.
And as Christians we should.
Evidences don't persuade people. Some folks think that the reasons we give are persuasive in themselves to help someone to come to a living faith in Christ.
Romans 1 Presuppositions .. what people already know.
God has made Himself known in and to them
1 Corinthians 1: 20 Where is the philosopher?4 Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn't God made the world's wisdom foolish? 21 For since, in God's wisdom, the * world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached. 22 For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.5 24 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God's power and God's wisdom, 25 because God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.
Special electing grace
Galatians 1: 13 For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I persecuted God's church to an extreme degree and tried to destroy it. 14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. 15 But when God, who from my birth set me apart and called me by His grace, was pleased 16 to reveal His Son in me, so that I could preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.
There are issues of Romans 2 common grace . conscience is a common grace. Sometimes God's purposes are not to convert people, but rather to preserve the society through recognition of Christian beliefs in the public square.
Persuasiveness doesn't persuade people.
Our abilities and persuasiveness are not the key to persuading someone to faith in Christ.
1 Corinthians 2: 1 When I came to you, * brothers, announcing the testimony1 of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. 2 For I didn't think it was a good idea to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom2 but with a powerful demonstration by the Spirit, 5 so that your faith might not be based on men's wisdom but on God's power.
But we are called upon to think clearly and present clearly those truths that will assist people to put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 17: Then they traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As usual, Paul went to the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and showing that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead: "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah." 4 Then some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas,
Acts 18:5 When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with preaching the message and solemnly testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.
I Have A Friend …Who Wonders Why Bad Things Happen To Good People.
This question reminds us that every person has a hole in the heart.
Sometimes the hole in the heart is illness… My auntie was embittered against God for nearly 70 years due to a. her unhappy marriage to a man who was insane, and who for the sake of her kids safety, she had to divorce. She then went through a further 6 years of suffering as her youngest son died of Leukaemia at the age of 12.
Everyone has a hole in the heart: some deep hurt. A Hole that only God Himself can resolve. Sometimes these holes are problems from living in a fallen world. Sometimes they are people in a fallen world. Lets consider the problem of people. Sometimes the people problem is a Christian not behaving Christianly. I often have people confront me on this problem. Other times it is just hurt people hurt by the falleness of humanity around them.
How do we answer this problem when it is raised?
Don't always assume that the person is attacking us. Ask the question, "Is there something in your life that has hurt you deeply that has raised this issue for you personally?" Asking this question will move you from being an antagonist to someone who can sympathise with others going through deep waters.
I. THE FACT IS, LIFE IS NOT FAIR.
1. Innocent and powerless people are abused by others.
* Ecclesiastes 4:1 "Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed--and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors--and they have no comforter."
"Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness" (Ecclesiastes 3:16). As we have seen before, the phrase "under the sun" describes "the futility and meaninglessness of life lived only for self and the moment, without gratitude to or regard for God and his ways."2 What we see "under the sun" in this instance is rampant injustice — man's inhumanity to man. The problem here is that even "the place of justice" is unjust. The very place where we most expect and most need to receive justice turns out to be a place of unfairness. Even the court system is corrupt. This is not merely a frustration, like some of the other problems we read about in Ecclesiastes, but a manifestation of genuine evil. Innocent people are convicted for crimes they never committed. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or maybe the wrong color in the wrong neighborhood. Just as frequently, other people get away with murder. They have the money to hire better lawyers, or else they hide behind the structure of a large corporation to take advantage of people who are less fortunate.
Even worse, there is nothing that can be done about this. The Preacher's frustration is not simply that injustice is done, but that it goes unpunished. According to Martin Luther, he is "not complaining because there is wickedness in the place of justice but because the wickedness in the place of justice cannot be corrected."3 When the halls of justice become corridors of corruption, where can righteousness be found?
The Preacher revisits this theme at the beginning of chapter 4, where he says, "Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them" (Ecclesiastes 4:1). By this reasoning, there are two kinds of people in the world: the oppressed and their oppressors. The oppressors are the ones who have all the advantages. The power is all on their side, leaving their victims with nothing but tears.
People Are Crooked
People Are Cruel
2. The wrong people seem to succeed.
* Ecclesiastes 8:14 "There's something else,... righteous men who get what the wicked deserve and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve."
* Ecclesiastes 9:11 "In this world fast runners do not always win the races...wise people don't always earn a living ... intelligent people don't always get rich ... and capable people don't always rise to high positions..."
II. THERE ARE SOME REASONS GOD IS NOT STOPPING INJUSTICE TODAY.
1. We live in a fallen world.
Everything in the world, nature, life, people is tainted by sin and troubled by it.
Romans 8: 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
* People are sinful by nature. Many choices we make bring suffering.
* We don't live on an island of one. Our wrong choices hurt innocent people around us as well.
* Injustice happens
* Natural disasters are also a consequence of the fallenness of the world.
2. God sometimes allows injustice to produce a greater good in our life.
As far as he could tell, bad people seemed to have a good life. If God is just, then he ought to judge the wicked. Yet as the Preacher looked around, he saw exactly the opposite. He was like Asaph, who admitted that he was "envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked" (Psalm 73:3). Asaph makes this complaint in Psalm 73, where he also writes, "They have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind" (vv. 4–5). In other words, God's enemies seem to get all the blessing. They make more money, have more power, and experience more pleasure than people who try to do what God says.
This is what Asaph saw, and the Preacher saw it too. Here was his epitaph for the wicked: "They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things" (Ecclesiastes 8:10). It is not entirely certain which "holy place" the Preacher had in mind. Maybe he was referring to Jerusalem, the holy city of God. Or perhaps he was referring more specifically to the temple in Jerusalem. This led Martin Luther to believe that the people who "go in and out of the holy place" were the priests who led worship at the house of God, in which case the Preacher was talking about Israel's religious leaders.4 But whoever they were and wherever they went, they used to come and go in freedom.
Most translations give the impression that these wicked people were popular, that they "were praised in the city" (Ecclesiastes 8:10).
Just like Asaph, in Psalm 73 12 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.
15 If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!
* James 1:2-4 "Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything."
* We always learn more from pain than we do from pleasure.
3. God sometimes allows injustice to show us that we need a Saviour.
* Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
* Jesus became our substitute so that we could go free. He died in our place, then rose from the grave and now offers to us forgiveness. That forgiveness comes when we accept Him as our Saviour.
The Cruelty of Corruption can instil humility in us
The Cruelty of Corruption can instil eternity in us
4. God allows injustice only for a season.
* Ecclesiastes 3:17 "In due season, God will judge everything man does, both good and bad."
* Romans 12:19 "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is Mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord."
* Hebrew 10:30-31 "For we know Him who said, "It is Mine to avenge; I will repay,"...It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
The Day of Wrath is the day when the Lord will be vindicated and righteousness upheld.
Why doesn't God judge people right away? Why does he wait until the Final Judgment? The Preacher had a good answer to this question as well: "I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts" (Ecclesiastes 3:18).
Our present existence is a proving ground. It is a test, not simply in the sense of something we pass or fail, but also in the sense of something that demonstrates our true character.5 One of the purposes of life is to examine and ultimately to reveal our place in the universe and our true relationship to God. This test is not for God's benefit, as if there were anything about us that he does not know already, but for our benefit, so that we learn to recognize our mortality. Will we see ourselves for who we really are?
III. THERE ARE SOME THINGS WE CAN DO TO SURVIVE THE UNFAIR THINGS ABOUT LIFE.
1 Accept that unfair things are going to happen no matter what.
* John 16:33 "In the world you will have trouble."
2. Though others do wrong, choose to do the right thing.
The Cruelty of Corruption can instil humanity in us
* Romans 12:17-21 "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right...as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge...On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."
Depending on our place in society — the spiritual or civil authority that God has given to us — it is our responsibility to fight against oppression. As fathers and mothers, as pastors and elders, as citizens and public officials, we are called to do what is right in the home, in the church, and in society.
Yet, unfortunately, even our very best efforts will not bring an end to all oppression. There will still be violence against women and children. Police officers will still get killed in the line of duty. There will still be structures of corruption in business and government. Foreign powers will still abuse their own people in defiance of world order. But in all the situations that we do not have the power or authority or wisdom to resolve, God will see to it that justice is done.
Our confidence does not lie in a justice system but in the Chief Justice himself, Jesus Christ. God has promised a day when his Son will judge the righteous and the wicked (Acts 17:30–31). The time for his work of divine retribution is the Day of Judgment, when he will render his final verdict on all mankind. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?" (Genesis 18:25). "God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:14).
3. Allow the Lord to bring comfort and encouragement to your life.
* 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 "All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. [4] He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort
God has given us."
4. Be patient and wait for God's intervention.
As we read the Bible, we quickly discover that this is a conflict in which God chooses sides. He is not on the side of injustice but stands against it with all his power. We see this again and again in the Biblical prophets. Amos preached against people who "oppress the poor" and "crush the needy" (Amos 4:1; cf. Proverbs 14:31). Ezekiel warned about extortion and stealing from foreigners (Ezekiel 22:12). Zechariah listed the people who were most likely to be oppressed: widows, orphans, travelers, and the poor (Zechariah 7:9–10; cf. Exodus 22:21–22). It is not just words and actions that bring oppression but also legislation. Thus Isaiah pronounced God's woe against "those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression" (Isaiah 10:1). Then there is all the oppression we see around the world — genocide, terrorism, slavery, sex trafficking, street children. Oh, the injustice of it all!
When the Preacher saw what was really happening in the world, he longed for someone to comfort the oppressed and dry their tears. In a culture of exploitation, he wanted to rectify wrongs and console the victims of injustice. Twice he lamented that no one was able to offer any comfort. But what the Preacher mostly felt was frustration that he could not bring an end to oppression.
"God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work" (Ecclesiastes 3:17). The Preacher does something similar in verse 17: he takes a spiritual principle that he taught earlier in chapter 3 and applies it to the issue of injustice. If there is a season for everything and "a time for every matter under heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1), then there must be a time for justice. Therefore, rather than simply getting angry and sad about all the oppression we see in the world, we can trust God to make things right in the end.
5. Thank God everyday that He doesn't treat us as we deserve.
* Romans 6:23 " For the wages of sin is death,"
* Ephesians 2:8 "God saved you by His special favour when you believed. and you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God."
Solomon writes about injustice in Ecclesiastes 8:14: "There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity."
Oh, the injustice of it all! If God is righteous, then we would expect him to reward the righteous and punish the wicked. Yet often he seems to do exactly the opposite. Good people have troubles that only bad people deserve, while bad people get what only good people deserve. Cruel dictators drive out free governments. The man who robs investors of their inheritance gets a huge bonus, while hardworking people lose their jobs and their homes. Suffering pastors are put in prison, while the persecutors of the church grow strong in their cruel power. To bring things down to the personal level, the student who cheated on a difficult exam gets an A, but all you get is a C-. The worker who stabbed you in the back gets the promotion, while you remain stuck at the same pay grade. Or you make a commitment to chastity, and although you are still single, the girl who throws herself at men gets a ring on her finger and a long white dress.
The Preacher is telling us that in this life there is a reversal of retribution and reward. This is not just the way things seem, but the way they actually are. So what is the use of being righteous? If bad people get a good life, then what do we gain by godliness? The Preacher called this "vanity." The Reformation theologian Theodore Beza called it "repugnant to reason."6 I would call it an absurd injustice.
"Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil" (Ecclesiastes 8:11; cf. 7:29).
The Preacher is far more hopeful about people who lead a godly life. "I know that it will be well with those who fear God," he says, "because they fear before him" (Ecclesiastes 8:12). Usually the Preacher tells us what he "saw," but this time he chooses a different verb and tells us something that he "knows." This is not something that he has seen from a distance, but something he has grasped with the rational conviction of his own mind. His reply "is not an observation, but the answer of faith."11 He believes what he cannot see — that one day all will be well for everyone who lives in the fear of God.
When the Bible talks about "the fear of God," it does not mean simply that people are afraid of God, although that may be part of it. Rather, the fear of God is what Michael Eaton calls "the awe and holy caution that arises from realization of the greatness of God."12
In this case, the realization of God's greatness also comes with a realization of his nearness. Those who fear God are said to "fear before him" (Ecclesiastes 8:12), meaning that they know they are in his presence. Most people, including many Christians, go through life hardly realizing that they are constantly in the presence of God. But the person who fears God knows that God is always near. He is with us when we are on our beds at night, worrying about tomorrow. He is with us when we have an opportunity for witness and are not sure what to say. He is with us when we have a sudden emergency and need supernatural help. To live a God-fearing life is to live in constant awareness of the presence of God, who is even closer than a prayer away. He is with us in the bedroom and the kitchen, in the car and on the bus, at the grocery store and at the football game. He is with us wherever we go.
The proper fear of God is an important theme throughout Ecclesiastes, but especially at the end. The Preacher has told us to fear God because he is sovereign over the times of life (Ecclesiastes 3:14) and also to fear God when we go into his house for worship (Ecclesiastes 5:1, 7). Later he will tell us to fear God by keeping his commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Here he says that if we fear God, it will go well for us in days to come.
This promise will be fulfilled completely at the final judgment. Remember the words of the thief on the cross next to Christ. Two thieves were crucified that day, one on either side of Jesus. One of them mocked our Lord, but the other thief rebuked him by saying, "Do you not fear God?" (Luke 23:40). Then he demonstrated his own fear of God by asking the crucified Christ to be his Savior. "Jesus," he said, "remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42). This is the way for anyone to begin living in the fear of God: Ask Jesus to save you!
Anyone who asks for forgiveness will receive the same promise of eternal life that the thief received when he was dying on the cross next to Jesus. Jesus will say to us what he said to that thief: "You will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). It is for this reason, and for this reason alone, that all "will be well" for the man, the woman, or the child who fears God. It is only because Jesus died for our sins on the cross.
Do not use the delay of judgment as an excuse for not repenting of your sins or trusting in Jesus. According to Ecclesiastes 8 — as well as what we read everywhere else in the Bible — there are only two kinds of people: those who fear God and those who don't! The Bible is equally clear that things will only go well for those who do. It may not always seem that way in this life. In fact, in all honesty sometimes it seems exactly the opposite, as Solomon tells us. But there will be final justice. The wicked will be buried, and after that they will be punished for their sins. As for the righteous, they will be vindicated by the grace of God. Justice is coming; it is only a matter of time.
