WEBVTT 00:00:09.449 --> 00:00:14.289 Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is 00:00:14.289 --> 00:00:16.589 an international church in Bangkok, Thailand, 00:00:16.750 --> 00:00:19.809 with dozens of nationalities worshiping together. 00:00:20.109 --> 00:00:22.989 We invite you to connect with us from wherever 00:00:22.989 --> 00:00:27.190 you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our 00:00:27.190 --> 00:00:31.030 mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed 00:00:31.030 --> 00:00:35.380 by this week's sermon. When I prepare this series 00:00:35.380 --> 00:00:38.820 of studies, I imagine us, you know, sitting across 00:00:38.820 --> 00:00:42.100 each other with a cup of coffee and in a time 00:00:42.100 --> 00:00:46.159 that is much more like celebration, conversation, 00:00:46.899 --> 00:00:51.460 reflection. And in this study today, what I want 00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:56.500 you to get from this reflection is do not lose 00:00:56.500 --> 00:01:06.340 heart. And what do I mean by this? Part of walking 00:01:06.340 --> 00:01:11.760 with the Lord, whether it is before you became 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:14.879 a Christian or after you became a follower of 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:18.060 Jesus, in that journey of following the Lord, 00:01:18.140 --> 00:01:21.819 we have to come to terms with the reality of 00:01:21.819 --> 00:01:26.200 brokenness. And if we do not come to terms with 00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:30.680 the brokenness and what that entails, we will 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:36.159 lose heart. And I want to make sure that we do 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:39.920 not lose heart. Let me show you this picture, 00:01:40.019 --> 00:01:45.180 for instance. Look at it for a second. Which 00:01:45.180 --> 00:01:52.099 one of those would you say is you? Interesting, 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:58.599 isn't it? So I'm not going to ask you to tell 00:01:58.599 --> 00:02:02.769 me the answer. You just keep it for you. But 00:02:02.769 --> 00:02:08.590 as we are walking with the Lord, we forget that 00:02:08.590 --> 00:02:15.069 we are broken. And that all of us are broken. 00:02:16.949 --> 00:02:19.509 The way I think of it as I put these pictures 00:02:19.509 --> 00:02:22.389 together was that when I came to know Christ, 00:02:22.569 --> 00:02:28.930 it was the justification. God accepts us, makes 00:02:28.930 --> 00:02:32.909 us whole in Him. Now I'm in Christ. But then 00:02:32.909 --> 00:02:36.250 he gives me the Holy Spirit and he starts a healing 00:02:36.250 --> 00:02:40.129 journey of sanctification. And now starts healing 00:02:40.129 --> 00:02:44.889 different parts of our lives. But then the promise 00:02:44.889 --> 00:02:50.550 of being made whole is the glorification. That 00:02:50.550 --> 00:02:53.629 is going to happen one day. But as you start 00:02:53.629 --> 00:02:56.650 following Christ, you realize more and more. 00:02:56.750 --> 00:02:59.449 The more you know the Lord, the more you know 00:02:59.449 --> 00:03:02.780 yourself. Almost like going backwards. It's like, 00:03:02.860 --> 00:03:06.699 oh, I have cracks in my life. And then to actually, 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:12.580 Lord, I'm broken. Unless you are the one that 00:03:12.580 --> 00:03:16.939 sustains me until the end, I cannot stop depending 00:03:16.939 --> 00:03:20.659 on his power and his grace at every stage of 00:03:20.659 --> 00:03:24.879 the journey. But when we forget we are broken, 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:30.259 we start losing heart. And there's a beautiful 00:03:30.259 --> 00:03:34.020 picture of brokenness that God uses to describe 00:03:34.020 --> 00:03:37.780 this reality without describing us directly, 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:40.020 but describing himself. And that's in the book 00:03:40.020 --> 00:03:42.939 of Psalms. It says in the book of Psalms, will 00:03:42.939 --> 00:03:47.240 you read this with me? He heals the brokenhearted 00:03:47.240 --> 00:03:53.300 and binds up their wounds. God describes himself 00:03:53.300 --> 00:03:59.360 as one who wants to heal. The broken hearted. 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:03.580 Who wants to bandage. The wounds of the one who 00:04:03.580 --> 00:04:09.180 is wounded. God wants. To take place in our lives. 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:12.300 In these spaces of brokenness. But even though 00:04:12.300 --> 00:04:14.979 this is a beautiful picture of who God is. It 00:04:14.979 --> 00:04:18.160 has an implication. It means that we are broken. 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:28.529 And that we are. Wounded. And that reality. It's 00:04:28.529 --> 00:04:31.689 something that not everybody engages with in 00:04:31.689 --> 00:04:35.930 the same way. And I want to take you through 00:04:35.930 --> 00:04:40.629 this study. Three aspects of brokenness that 00:04:40.629 --> 00:04:42.670 we need to understand as we are following Jesus 00:04:42.670 --> 00:04:46.089 so that we will not lose heart. Because if we 00:04:46.089 --> 00:04:48.449 miss the point in each one of these three areas, 00:04:48.569 --> 00:04:52.410 most likely you will lose heart, get into a place 00:04:52.410 --> 00:04:55.069 of faith crisis and discouragement in your work 00:04:55.069 --> 00:05:00.180 with God. And it doesn't have to be. The first 00:05:00.180 --> 00:05:04.000 one is the realization that the human heart is 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:07.339 broken. When you look inside of who you are, 00:05:07.480 --> 00:05:12.899 you will find brokenness. That is if you are 00:05:12.899 --> 00:05:21.500 honest with yourself. In the scriptures, I love 00:05:21.500 --> 00:05:26.560 how the prophet Jeremiah puts this because he 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:31.810 nails it. He says, look, the heart is deceitful 00:05:31.810 --> 00:05:35.149 above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand 00:05:35.149 --> 00:05:37.949 it? Have you ever done something that you regret 00:05:37.949 --> 00:05:41.670 later? Or done something you knew was wrong and 00:05:41.670 --> 00:05:43.829 you did it anyway and then you feel bad that 00:05:43.829 --> 00:05:48.430 you did it? The heart is deceitful above all 00:05:48.430 --> 00:05:52.930 things. Beyond cure. Who can understand it? He 00:05:52.930 --> 00:05:55.170 wrote this before Jesus came into the picture. 00:05:55.490 --> 00:06:00.699 Now we know the cure. Jesus. But then God says, 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:05.100 look, I, the Lord, search the heart and examine 00:06:05.100 --> 00:06:08.040 the mind to word each person according to their 00:06:08.040 --> 00:06:10.180 conduct, according to what their deeds deserve. 00:06:10.420 --> 00:06:14.100 God is interested in your heart, in your mind, 00:06:14.139 --> 00:06:18.839 in your inner world, not in the external. And 00:06:18.839 --> 00:06:22.720 often when we forget the brokenness inside, we 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:26.980 try to emphasize the external. And we can become 00:06:26.980 --> 00:06:31.060 legalistic. It's all about checking the boxes. 00:06:31.660 --> 00:06:34.459 But we never pay attention to what is going on 00:06:34.459 --> 00:06:37.300 inside. And that is where God wants us to focus 00:06:37.300 --> 00:06:41.800 on. What is going on inside at your heart level, 00:06:41.980 --> 00:06:45.620 at your mind level? What are you wrestling with 00:06:45.620 --> 00:06:48.959 in that space? Because that is the area that 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:54.680 God wants to heal. But not everybody will accept 00:06:54.680 --> 00:07:00.750 it. Some people will completely deny it. And 00:07:00.750 --> 00:07:05.290 in this trip to England with our apologetics 00:07:05.290 --> 00:07:11.389 class, Crossroads, we started that program because 00:07:11.389 --> 00:07:15.829 we wanted to equip Christians to learn how to 00:07:15.829 --> 00:07:19.629 think critically about contemporary issues of 00:07:19.629 --> 00:07:22.930 worldview so that we can engage intelligently 00:07:22.930 --> 00:07:28.759 in conversations and guide people to truth. So 00:07:28.759 --> 00:07:32.519 that we can love compassionately. So think critically, 00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:35.379 engage intelligently, and love compassionately. 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:39.540 That was the desire that drove us to start the 00:07:39.540 --> 00:07:43.300 School of Apologetics. And as part of the completion 00:07:43.300 --> 00:07:47.839 of the first year of the whole program, we took 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:51.959 a group of people from ECB. to England, to London, 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:54.899 and to Oxford, to be able to engage with some 00:07:54.899 --> 00:07:58.120 of these things, biblical archaeology. And we 00:07:58.120 --> 00:08:02.759 were able to also engage with the origins of 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:06.079 Darwinian evolution thought. And we were able 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:10.720 to also engage with some of the most influential 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:14.680 apologists of the 20th century, C .S. Lewis. 00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:19.490 And as part of that trip, It meant that we wanted 00:08:19.490 --> 00:08:23.569 to also understand these two people, who they 00:08:23.569 --> 00:08:26.350 were, where they came from, what was their journey. 00:08:27.089 --> 00:08:31.829 And a picture emerged from that. I know that 00:08:31.829 --> 00:08:34.110 some of you wanted to go to the trip with us. 00:08:34.210 --> 00:08:37.690 You didn't get the visa or the flight cost went 00:08:37.690 --> 00:08:40.909 too high after the war with Iran and the U .S. 00:08:40.909 --> 00:08:44.110 And all the stuff like, oh, I cannot go anymore. 00:08:44.269 --> 00:08:46.870 So I promised that I was going to show you pictures. 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:51.340 So today, you will see pictures. You can also 00:08:51.340 --> 00:08:56.720 check Instagram. Roshanak has posted videos of 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:00.539 the experience there as well. But we went to 00:09:00.539 --> 00:09:02.779 these two places. We went to Charles Darwin's 00:09:02.779 --> 00:09:06.200 home, and we went to C .S. Lewis' home, and we 00:09:06.200 --> 00:09:08.679 learned more and more about their lives. And 00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:10.879 one of the things that we were reflecting... 00:09:11.909 --> 00:09:15.350 was the contrast between the two. One started 00:09:15.350 --> 00:09:18.269 his life identifying himself as a Christian and 00:09:18.269 --> 00:09:21.230 then abandoned the faith completely. And then 00:09:21.230 --> 00:09:26.090 the other started his life and identified himself 00:09:26.090 --> 00:09:29.750 as an atheist, and then he embraced the faith 00:09:29.750 --> 00:09:32.210 completely. It was like the opposite journey 00:09:32.210 --> 00:09:35.190 of these two influential thinkers, even until 00:09:35.190 --> 00:09:40.110 today. And what we have is that we have their 00:09:40.110 --> 00:09:43.789 own words because they have written books about 00:09:43.789 --> 00:09:47.350 their own journey. And we get to see what was 00:09:47.350 --> 00:09:50.090 the thinking about this area of their lives. 00:09:50.149 --> 00:09:52.509 And one of the things you realize is that one 00:09:52.509 --> 00:09:55.549 denies his brokenness and the brokenness of the 00:09:55.549 --> 00:09:58.889 world. The other one accepts it and recognizes 00:09:58.889 --> 00:10:04.610 it. And a very different outcome. This is Charles 00:10:04.610 --> 00:10:09.629 Darwin's home. This is where he lived after he 00:10:09.629 --> 00:10:13.429 got married. This is where he had his family. 00:10:13.769 --> 00:10:17.370 All the research that he did after his marriage, 00:10:17.629 --> 00:10:21.370 after he got married, was done in this place. 00:10:21.730 --> 00:10:26.429 He had received a big inheritance from his family, 00:10:26.529 --> 00:10:29.690 so he didn't have to work like a normal job hour, 00:10:29.750 --> 00:10:33.129 so that allowed him to do lots of research as 00:10:33.129 --> 00:10:38.340 a naturalist. Huge place, beautiful place. You 00:10:38.340 --> 00:10:40.759 can go inside the house that is now a museum, 00:10:40.860 --> 00:10:44.120 and you cannot take pictures inside the house 00:10:44.120 --> 00:10:47.879 except for his bedroom where he actually died. 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:52.139 And it's a big property, huge place. You can 00:10:52.139 --> 00:10:56.139 walk in the meadows. You can see some of the 00:10:56.139 --> 00:11:00.159 plants and things he had, the experiments that 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:02.889 he did with the worms. and all the things that 00:11:02.889 --> 00:11:06.009 he did. His most famous book that was a bestseller 00:11:06.009 --> 00:11:11.450 was a book that researched how worms affect the 00:11:11.450 --> 00:11:17.269 process of the ground. Very interesting. But 00:11:17.269 --> 00:11:21.350 as Charles Darwin was growing up, his mother 00:11:21.350 --> 00:11:26.110 died when he was young. His father was in the 00:11:26.110 --> 00:11:29.970 medical field. And his father was not a believer. 00:11:30.620 --> 00:11:33.960 In Christ. But he grew up going to church. He 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:39.559 grew up believing. And it was until he was 22 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:46.820 years old. That he took this trip on this boat. 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:50.259 This ship that took him all the way around the 00:11:50.259 --> 00:11:54.860 world. And that trip is going to be the one trip 00:11:54.860 --> 00:11:58.259 that starts marking the difference in his journey 00:11:58.259 --> 00:12:02.169 from faith. away from the faith. In fact, before 00:12:02.169 --> 00:12:07.289 22, once he took that trip, he was actually studying 00:12:07.289 --> 00:12:11.110 in Cambridge and his plan was to be a clergy. 00:12:11.190 --> 00:12:14.990 He wanted to serve God in ministry in the Church 00:12:14.990 --> 00:12:18.190 of England. So imagine somebody that is in his 00:12:18.190 --> 00:12:21.110 20s going to seminary and says, I want to be 00:12:21.110 --> 00:12:24.090 a pastor one day. And at 22, hey, I'm going to 00:12:24.090 --> 00:12:26.570 take this trip. Pray for me. It's going to take 00:12:26.570 --> 00:12:31.429 a few years. And then he comes back. And now 00:12:31.429 --> 00:12:38.070 he is doubting the faith. We actually got to 00:12:38.070 --> 00:12:43.970 also see in London the Museum of Natural History. 00:12:44.750 --> 00:12:49.590 And right there, they removed the statue of the 00:12:49.590 --> 00:12:52.710 founder of that museum who was a Christian, who 00:12:52.710 --> 00:12:56.610 wanted to... created this beautiful building 00:12:56.610 --> 00:13:00.990 as a cathedral architecture to display the beauty 00:13:00.990 --> 00:13:03.870 of God's creation so that all the displays of 00:13:03.870 --> 00:13:07.309 nature will point to God. And even though that 00:13:07.309 --> 00:13:10.570 was the intent of that place, today it has become 00:13:10.570 --> 00:13:14.009 a temple for Darwinian evolution. And in fact, 00:13:14.009 --> 00:13:16.490 right there in the center you see the statue 00:13:16.490 --> 00:13:21.129 of Darwin. And it's a whole place of indoctrination. 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:24.220 about Darwinian evolution from the very beginning. 00:13:24.679 --> 00:13:26.980 We'll talk about that in another study later. 00:13:28.600 --> 00:13:31.879 But Darwin tells us a little bit about his journey 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:36.000 and how he came to that place of denial. At the 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:39.179 beginning, when he's 22 years old and he goes 00:13:39.179 --> 00:13:45.080 into this trip, he puts it this way. He was on 00:13:45.080 --> 00:13:49.240 board of the Beagle, and it was quite orthodox. 00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:53.600 And I remember being hardly laughed at by several 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:57.519 of the officers for quoting the Bible as an unanswerable 00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:00.620 authority. It's like he believed in the Bible, 00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:03.279 he believed in the authority of the Bible, he 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:07.080 had been studying it, and he would quote it to 00:14:07.080 --> 00:14:11.759 his friends right there on the ship. And he would 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:14.120 get laughed at, even though there were also people 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:17.320 that were supposed to be religious. But the captain 00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:20.309 of the ship gave him a book. written by a geologist 00:14:20.309 --> 00:14:25.570 who did not believe in the Bible and he wanted 00:14:25.570 --> 00:14:29.950 to do one thing. He wanted to remove Moses from 00:14:29.950 --> 00:14:33.450 geology. That was his goal. In other words, he 00:14:33.450 --> 00:14:37.009 wanted to stop studying geology with the assumptions 00:14:37.009 --> 00:14:41.250 that the Bible was true and that there had been 00:14:41.250 --> 00:14:43.909 a catastrophic event in the past with a global 00:14:43.909 --> 00:14:46.820 flood and all of these things. For him, none 00:14:46.820 --> 00:14:49.779 of that made any sense. He wanted to study geology 00:14:49.779 --> 00:14:53.120 without the assumption that the Bible was true. 00:14:53.799 --> 00:14:56.480 And he wrote this book, and this is the book 00:14:56.480 --> 00:15:00.220 at 22 years old that Darwin gets from the captain 00:15:00.220 --> 00:15:04.480 of the ship, and he starts reading it. And that 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:09.000 book, with that worldview of the Bible not being 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:13.340 true, It's a book that started influencing his 00:15:13.340 --> 00:15:16.220 perspective. He's surrounded for three years 00:15:16.220 --> 00:15:19.100 by all of these people that are antagonistic 00:15:19.100 --> 00:15:21.620 towards the faith, who believe the Bible is not 00:15:21.620 --> 00:15:24.000 true. He's reading a book from a scholar that 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:26.620 says the Bible is not true. And you have to interpret 00:15:26.620 --> 00:15:29.600 the scripture and geology without the Bible. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:36.759 So in this journey, he comes back. And now his 00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:41.159 faith is completely in crisis. And he explained, 00:15:41.320 --> 00:15:44.659 I had gradually come by this time to see that 00:15:44.659 --> 00:15:47.519 the Old Testament from its false history of the 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:51.360 world was no more to be trusted than the sacred 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:55.159 books of the Hindus or the beliefs of any barbarian. 00:15:55.240 --> 00:15:57.840 You can see the shift. I believe in the Bible. 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:00.539 Let me quote the Bible. The Bible is true to 00:16:00.539 --> 00:16:03.700 now. The Bible is just a myth like any other 00:16:03.700 --> 00:16:07.659 book of ancient civilization. At that time, you 00:16:07.659 --> 00:16:09.279 must remember, there was not much archaeological 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:12.399 evidence like we have today about the historicity 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:14.899 of the Bible. And that's why we went to London 00:16:14.899 --> 00:16:17.320 to the British Museum, to be able to see some 00:16:17.320 --> 00:16:19.919 of that collection of biblical archaeology that 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:27.000 is amazing. So as he starts now no longer believing 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:31.039 in the Bible, then his worldview is not going 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:35.940 to be shaped by the scriptures. And he says, 00:16:36.660 --> 00:16:40.759 Thus this belief crept over me at a very slow 00:16:40.759 --> 00:16:45.700 rate, but was at last complete. The rate was 00:16:45.700 --> 00:16:50.820 so slow that I felt no distress. He had ten children. 00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:54.820 Three of them died. Two of them died, little 00:16:54.820 --> 00:16:59.379 babies. But one of them, who was his second child, 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:03.620 a daughter, Annie, she died when she was ten 00:17:03.620 --> 00:17:08.039 years old. Now, I know what it's like to suffer 00:17:08.039 --> 00:17:10.200 the pain and the grieving of having a daughter 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:15.779 that you love die at home. And it's a very painful 00:17:15.779 --> 00:17:20.259 process. Imagine having his daughter for 10 years. 00:17:20.440 --> 00:17:24.380 He describes her as the joy in the home. She 00:17:24.380 --> 00:17:27.160 got sick. They went through lots of treatments. 00:17:28.359 --> 00:17:31.960 But nothing helped. And eventually, she died. 00:17:33.289 --> 00:17:35.390 And we know that during that period of time, 00:17:35.470 --> 00:17:39.069 that affected him tremendously. But we know that 00:17:39.069 --> 00:17:41.490 at that time in his life, he stopped attending 00:17:41.490 --> 00:17:50.490 church altogether. So from reading people that 00:17:50.490 --> 00:17:53.170 say the Bible is not true, to now struggling 00:17:53.170 --> 00:17:55.849 with suffering. God, where are you? Why is this 00:17:55.849 --> 00:18:00.019 happening to me? How can you explain that God 00:18:00.019 --> 00:18:02.039 would allow a 10 -year -old daughter that is 00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:05.420 so full of life die, and even though we are praying 00:18:05.420 --> 00:18:09.880 for you to cure her, you're not curing her? What 00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:17.920 does that say about God? So his process of deconstructing 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:23.789 his faith was slow, but it was complete. And 00:18:23.789 --> 00:18:27.529 eventually he says, I can indeed hardly see how 00:18:27.529 --> 00:18:30.609 anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true. 00:18:31.170 --> 00:18:34.250 This whole idea of salvation, you being a sinner, 00:18:34.309 --> 00:18:36.950 God dying for you, you need to repent, and if 00:18:36.950 --> 00:18:40.349 you don't, you go to hell. That, he says, is 00:18:40.349 --> 00:18:43.630 a damnable doctrine. That's very strong language, 00:18:43.690 --> 00:18:46.690 isn't it? But that's why he believes. This is 00:18:46.690 --> 00:18:51.240 his own words in his autobiography. And it's 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:53.599 in this period of time that he starts figuring 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:57.000 out, right, if the Bible is not true, if Christianity 00:18:57.000 --> 00:18:59.680 is not true, and not only true, but it's detestable, 00:18:59.779 --> 00:19:07.519 and on top of that, we have to explain how everything 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:11.759 is, he comes up with an idea, a theory, that 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:15.819 can, from his perspective, explain life without 00:19:15.819 --> 00:19:21.730 a God. And that's how he starts writing his assumptions. 00:19:23.769 --> 00:19:26.950 But Darwin, what about your inner life? Look 00:19:26.950 --> 00:19:31.910 inside. What do you see? Are you aware of the 00:19:31.910 --> 00:19:41.849 brokenness? No? I feel no remorse from having 00:19:41.849 --> 00:19:45.349 committed any grace. The only thing is that I 00:19:45.349 --> 00:19:48.670 have often, and often, regretted that I have 00:19:48.670 --> 00:19:51.710 not done more direct good to my fellow creatures. 00:19:51.809 --> 00:19:55.809 I'm a good person. I'm a good person. I could 00:19:55.809 --> 00:19:58.509 do things. I wish I did more good. That's all. 00:19:58.769 --> 00:20:03.009 But brokenness? Being a sinner? Needing repentance? 00:20:03.829 --> 00:20:13.029 Nah. That's myth. Dammable doctrine. Okay, so. 00:20:13.579 --> 00:20:16.420 If you believe that you are not broken and God 00:20:16.420 --> 00:20:21.039 is not there and the Bible is not true, then 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:25.119 how do you make decisions? What guides you? How 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:29.599 do you determine right from wrong? What is your 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:35.200 compass? Well, a man who has no assured ever 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:37.799 present belief in the existence of a personal 00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:43.480 God can't have for his rule of life. Only to 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:47.440 follow those impulses and instincts which are 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:50.700 the strongest or which seem to him the best ones. 00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:55.119 The pleasurable sensations serve as the habitual 00:20:55.119 --> 00:21:00.440 guides. So, are you telling me your compass is 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:04.480 your feelings, your desires? Right. What else? 00:21:04.980 --> 00:21:08.680 I'm just another animal. Part of the animal kingdom. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:17.619 Animals live by instinct. So do we. At the end 00:21:17.619 --> 00:21:20.940 he writes and he says, look, I'm not an atheist. 00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:26.119 I was a deist. But actually if I had to put a 00:21:26.119 --> 00:21:29.720 word to really capture where I stand today, he 00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:32.400 says, it is only fair to call me an agnostic. 00:21:34.220 --> 00:21:37.599 And that was the experience with Charles Darwin. 00:21:38.180 --> 00:21:41.279 A man... who was influenced by Christianity, 00:21:41.740 --> 00:21:46.940 but the rejection of the veracity of the Bible, 00:21:47.140 --> 00:21:52.980 the endorsement of a humanistic worldview, the 00:21:52.980 --> 00:21:57.140 dealing with suffering in his life, and not really 00:21:57.140 --> 00:21:59.940 understanding the human brokenness and God's 00:21:59.940 --> 00:22:06.319 love, led him to become an agnostic. Who rejected 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:08.720 not only the Bible as a myth, but Christianity 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:18.559 as a detestable doctrine. From the faith to rejection. 00:22:19.180 --> 00:22:23.859 And then we went to C .S. Lewis' home. C .S. 00:22:23.880 --> 00:22:28.859 Lewis' home was in Oxford, not in London. Actually 00:22:28.859 --> 00:22:32.450 on the outskirts of London. Beautiful area. But 00:22:32.450 --> 00:22:34.869 in Oxford, that's where you go to the neighborhood 00:22:34.869 --> 00:22:37.490 where C .S. Lewis lived. And this is his house. 00:22:37.890 --> 00:22:41.309 You can go inside the house. You can take pictures 00:22:41.309 --> 00:22:45.349 in there. And we got to see the original typewriter. 00:22:45.589 --> 00:22:47.650 They still have it there with the big signs that 00:22:47.650 --> 00:22:50.609 do not touch. So the typewriter that he used 00:22:50.609 --> 00:22:54.069 to write some of his famous manuscripts or letters. 00:22:54.130 --> 00:22:56.950 And we learned that actually he would handwrite. 00:22:57.130 --> 00:22:59.690 And it was his brother, because they lived together, 00:22:59.829 --> 00:23:05.000 who would type. And we were able to also take 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:08.180 pictures. There was this desk in one of his rooms. 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:10.380 And they said, you can sit there and take pictures. 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:12.500 So everybody was sitting there taking pictures, 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:17.259 posing at his desk. And to realize, wow, this 00:23:17.259 --> 00:23:20.720 is the place where he wrote several of the letters 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:24.059 or some of the manuscripts, ideas that came. 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:34.480 And he was an intellectual atheist. And he had 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:37.380 experienced suffering in his life, just like 00:23:37.380 --> 00:23:40.660 Darwin. His mother died when he was a child. 00:23:41.180 --> 00:23:45.500 His father was someone that was a little bit 00:23:45.500 --> 00:23:47.660 emotionally distant from him and his brother. 00:23:47.940 --> 00:23:54.059 So he didn't grow up in a warm home. And then 00:23:54.059 --> 00:23:58.539 he went to fight in the war, and he survived 00:23:58.539 --> 00:24:02.410 it. Many of his friends died. So he experienced 00:24:02.410 --> 00:24:08.289 suffering as well. But in his wrestling with 00:24:08.289 --> 00:24:12.589 the ideas about mythology, of ancient mythologies, 00:24:12.869 --> 00:24:16.430 and thinking that the Bible was just one of those 00:24:16.430 --> 00:24:20.049 myths, he had a couple of intellectual friends 00:24:20.049 --> 00:24:22.970 that started also influencing his life and having 00:24:22.970 --> 00:24:28.349 good conversations about things. And he writes, 00:24:28.490 --> 00:24:31.609 he says, I was at this time living like so many 00:24:31.609 --> 00:24:36.950 atheists or anti -theists in a world of contradictions. 00:24:37.789 --> 00:24:43.150 I maintained that God did not exist. I was also 00:24:43.150 --> 00:24:47.690 very angry with God for not existing. I was equally 00:24:47.690 --> 00:24:52.890 angry with him for creating a world. So as he 00:24:52.890 --> 00:24:57.869 is realizing that his atheism was a reaction, 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:02.460 To the disappointments, the anger that he had 00:25:02.460 --> 00:25:08.799 about this whatever God. That was driving his 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:13.160 denial of the reality of God as well as the reality 00:25:13.160 --> 00:25:19.880 of his own brokenness. But then he started realizing 00:25:19.880 --> 00:25:24.160 that the claims of Christianity were so categorical. 00:25:27.049 --> 00:25:29.470 It's almost like somebody saying, hey, you have 00:25:29.470 --> 00:25:31.349 cancer, you're going to die unless you take this 00:25:31.349 --> 00:25:35.289 medicine. And I have the medicine. It's like, 00:25:35.329 --> 00:25:39.529 that how categorical that is. Because if I say, 00:25:39.710 --> 00:25:42.289 oh, no, I don't have cancer, I don't need medicine. 00:25:42.650 --> 00:25:47.130 What if you do? You're going to die of it. But 00:25:47.130 --> 00:25:48.690 if you do and you take the medicine, you're going 00:25:48.690 --> 00:25:53.589 to be healed. So he realizes the message of Christianity. 00:25:54.740 --> 00:25:57.859 That you are broken. God loves you. He sent Jesus 00:25:57.859 --> 00:26:01.279 to die for your sins so that he can reach the 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:03.460 inner part of your heart and your mind to start 00:26:03.460 --> 00:26:06.180 healing that until the day of your glorification. 00:26:06.660 --> 00:26:10.119 And this is a gift from God that you cannot receive 00:26:10.119 --> 00:26:12.740 based on your own effort. It's a gift that you 00:26:12.740 --> 00:26:15.700 can receive by his grace. He's interested in 00:26:15.700 --> 00:26:20.839 your heart, in you. And if you reject that, you're 00:26:20.839 --> 00:26:23.700 rejecting God and the only cure to your brokenness. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:25.900 And if you die in that brokenness, you will have 00:26:25.900 --> 00:26:30.759 to be separated from God for eternity. That message 00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:38.299 that Darwin called damnable doctrine, C .S. Lewis 00:26:38.299 --> 00:26:43.579 started realizing that this was something that 00:26:43.579 --> 00:26:47.359 needed deeper thinking. Christianity is false. 00:26:48.039 --> 00:26:53.700 It's of no importance. But if true, it's of infinite 00:26:53.700 --> 00:26:57.119 importance. The one thing it cannot be said is 00:26:57.119 --> 00:27:01.599 that it's moderately important. It's one or the 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:04.599 other, but not in between. Reject it completely 00:27:04.599 --> 00:27:10.119 or embrace it wholeheartedly. So as he started 00:27:10.119 --> 00:27:13.299 engaging more and more and reading the life of 00:27:13.299 --> 00:27:18.170 Jesus, he came to the realization that The claims 00:27:18.170 --> 00:27:22.990 of Jesus. And what the Bible said about him. 00:27:23.170 --> 00:27:27.950 That he was conceived by the Holy Spirit. God 00:27:27.950 --> 00:27:32.009 incarnate. The word of God made flesh. That God 00:27:32.009 --> 00:27:34.289 who created the world and who created humans 00:27:34.289 --> 00:27:39.430 became a human to save us. And that he healed 00:27:39.430 --> 00:27:42.490 people. And that he said, I am the way, the truth, 00:27:42.549 --> 00:27:44.650 and the life. No one comes to the Father except 00:27:44.650 --> 00:27:51.299 through me. Before Abraham was, I am. I came 00:27:51.299 --> 00:27:59.599 to heal. I came to give sight to the blind. I 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:04.940 came for the lost. I came to take away the sins 00:28:04.940 --> 00:28:08.119 of the world. All of these things that Jesus 00:28:08.119 --> 00:28:11.619 would say and the gospels would describe about 00:28:11.619 --> 00:28:15.819 him. were things that he started categorizing 00:28:15.819 --> 00:28:19.240 in his intellectual mind. He says, there's only 00:28:19.240 --> 00:28:25.920 three possibilities. Either Jesus really believes 00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:28.019 these things, but of course they are not true. 00:28:28.900 --> 00:28:30.920 Therefore, if they are not true, but he believes 00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:34.940 them, that means that he's insane. It's like 00:28:34.940 --> 00:28:37.680 me saying, I'm Superman. I really believe I'm 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:41.019 Superman. Pastor Pablo, we need to take you to 00:28:41.019 --> 00:28:45.089 the psychiatrist. Right? If I'm believing that 00:28:45.089 --> 00:28:46.769 I'm the son of God and that is not true, but 00:28:46.769 --> 00:28:50.190 I really believe it, you are insane. He said 00:28:50.190 --> 00:28:54.609 the second option is that he knows that he's 00:28:54.609 --> 00:28:59.269 not the son of God, but he's lying about it because 00:28:59.269 --> 00:29:03.210 he wants to deceive people to follow him. Therefore, 00:29:03.470 --> 00:29:07.890 the second option is that he's a liar, deceitful, 00:29:07.890 --> 00:29:12.920 an evil, ungodly person. And the third option 00:29:12.920 --> 00:29:17.240 is that he's actually telling the truth. He believes 00:29:17.240 --> 00:29:20.759 it, not because he's crazy, but because he's 00:29:20.759 --> 00:29:24.279 telling me the truth. It's one of the three. 00:29:25.140 --> 00:29:28.119 And as he's engaging in that wrestling with these 00:29:28.119 --> 00:29:33.380 three options, he realizes that the things that 00:29:33.380 --> 00:29:39.589 he said, the actions that he did, the life that 00:29:39.589 --> 00:29:42.549 he had did not match a person that was insane, 00:29:42.730 --> 00:29:47.990 did not match a person that was evil. It was 00:29:47.990 --> 00:29:53.549 only congruent with the third option. So he writes 00:29:53.549 --> 00:29:56.569 and he says, now it seems to me obvious that 00:29:56.569 --> 00:30:00.529 he, meaning Jesus, was neither a lunatic nor 00:30:00.529 --> 00:30:05.119 a fiend. And consequently, However strange or 00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:09.339 terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to 00:30:09.339 --> 00:30:17.960 accept the view that he was and is God. It was 00:30:17.960 --> 00:30:20.740 all an intellectual process of engaging with 00:30:20.740 --> 00:30:28.519 thinking and logic and discerning truth. He went 00:30:28.519 --> 00:30:34.940 to teach at Magdalen College. And we got to visit 00:30:34.940 --> 00:30:39.359 with the team that school. Actually, if you were 00:30:39.359 --> 00:30:42.259 to zoom in in this picture, you will see us, 00:30:42.259 --> 00:30:45.579 our team, all standing right there on the bottom 00:30:45.579 --> 00:30:50.819 as the tour guide is taking us through it. And 00:30:50.819 --> 00:30:53.059 why is this place so important? Because this 00:30:53.059 --> 00:30:56.799 is where C .S. Lewis, as he was wrestling with 00:30:56.799 --> 00:31:03.190 moving from atheism to believing in Jesus. There's 00:31:03.190 --> 00:31:07.289 a beautiful path like a big park that is part 00:31:07.289 --> 00:31:11.210 of this college. And we got to walk in that park. 00:31:11.789 --> 00:31:14.430 We went through that path walking with the group. 00:31:15.049 --> 00:31:18.150 And why we wanted to take that walk in that path? 00:31:18.710 --> 00:31:21.890 Because that is where C .S. Lewis says, I started 00:31:21.890 --> 00:31:24.210 walking here and when I got to the end of that 00:31:24.210 --> 00:31:30.089 path, I was a believer in Jesus. That was his 00:31:30.089 --> 00:31:33.009 experience. He was wrestling with ideas. And 00:31:33.009 --> 00:31:36.869 somewhere along this path it clicked. It is true. 00:31:39.029 --> 00:31:41.769 Jesus is the son of God. Which means that I am 00:31:41.769 --> 00:31:48.509 broken. And from that point on he became a follower 00:31:48.509 --> 00:31:53.150 of Jesus. Broken. But in a journey of healing. 00:31:54.250 --> 00:31:58.279 And he became a prolific writer. I'm one of the 00:31:58.279 --> 00:32:02.339 most influential apologists of the 20th century. 00:32:02.519 --> 00:32:08.160 A person who started dedicating his life to help 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:12.640 people understand why Christianity and the Bible 00:32:12.640 --> 00:32:20.900 was intellectually, logically true. What a contrast. 00:32:21.940 --> 00:32:26.359 The Apostle Paul. who was also one who rejected 00:32:26.359 --> 00:32:29.240 Christianity. He did not believe that Jesus was 00:32:29.240 --> 00:32:32.619 true. He was in a similar journey as C .S. Lewis 00:32:32.619 --> 00:32:35.200 in the idea of thinking that this whole thing 00:32:35.200 --> 00:32:39.720 about Jesus was fake until he met Jesus. And 00:32:39.720 --> 00:32:42.059 he turned from opposing Christianity to following 00:32:42.059 --> 00:32:45.140 Christ, and he writes this about his own brokenness. 00:32:45.799 --> 00:32:48.640 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full 00:32:48.640 --> 00:32:52.700 acceptance. Christ Jesus, Came into the world 00:32:52.700 --> 00:32:59.160 to save sinners. Of whom I am. Who? The worst. 00:33:01.940 --> 00:33:07.339 What a contrast. With a Darwin that says. I don't 00:33:07.339 --> 00:33:10.819 regret any sin in my life. I'm a good person. 00:33:12.200 --> 00:33:15.839 Once you look inside. If you're honest. And once 00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:20.099 you realize the depth of God's love. You can 00:33:20.099 --> 00:33:23.680 only conclude more and more like Paul says. I 00:33:23.680 --> 00:33:27.700 am the worst of sinners. But for that very reason 00:33:27.700 --> 00:33:31.079 I was shown mercy. So that in me the worst of 00:33:31.079 --> 00:33:34.839 sinners. Christ Jesus might display his immense 00:33:34.839 --> 00:33:38.839 patience. As an example for those who will believe 00:33:38.839 --> 00:33:43.740 in him. And receive eternal life. Now to the 00:33:43.740 --> 00:33:49.779 king eternal. Immortal. The only God. Be honor 00:33:49.779 --> 00:33:54.180 and glory forever and ever. Amen. And that is 00:33:54.180 --> 00:33:57.339 how he concludes his own reflection. Once he 00:33:57.339 --> 00:34:01.539 looks inside. And he acknowledges his own brokenness. 00:34:03.140 --> 00:34:09.119 In the presence of a loving merciful God. Rather 00:34:09.119 --> 00:34:11.400 than rejecting all this and saying it's myth. 00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:16.369 It's damnable doctrine. It cannot be true. There's 00:34:16.369 --> 00:34:22.449 nothing wrong with me. To I believe that I am 00:34:22.449 --> 00:34:25.389 broken. I believe that Jesus is the son of God. 00:34:25.610 --> 00:34:30.949 And he came to heal the broken hearted. And bandage 00:34:30.949 --> 00:34:38.630 their wounds. Of whom I am the first. Have you. 00:34:40.210 --> 00:34:44.309 Come to terms. With the realization that you 00:34:44.309 --> 00:34:47.659 are wounded. And that you are on a journey of 00:34:47.659 --> 00:34:51.699 healing? And have you confessed your brokenness 00:34:51.699 --> 00:34:55.719 to Jesus? If you are not following Jesus, Jesus 00:34:55.719 --> 00:34:58.800 is not your savior. I'm here to tell you God 00:34:58.800 --> 00:35:03.400 loves you. He sent Jesus to come and heal your 00:35:03.400 --> 00:35:07.400 heart. And he's inviting you today to bring your 00:35:07.400 --> 00:35:12.300 brokenness to him. As you are. And confess your 00:35:12.300 --> 00:35:15.869 brokenness to him. And submit. to the truth that 00:35:15.869 --> 00:35:19.909 he is God, that he is Lord, and you can trust 00:35:19.909 --> 00:35:25.769 him and follow him. Give your life to him. If 00:35:25.769 --> 00:35:29.610 you are already following Jesus, don't turn to 00:35:29.610 --> 00:35:33.570 legalism to mask your brokenness. You can dress 00:35:33.570 --> 00:35:36.690 the right way. You can listen to the right music. 00:35:36.809 --> 00:35:39.449 You can avoid the drinking and the smoking and 00:35:39.449 --> 00:35:42.289 avoid going to movie theaters and parties and 00:35:42.289 --> 00:35:46.300 all of that. And none of that erases the struggle 00:35:46.300 --> 00:35:52.719 that you are facing within. Invite Jesus inside. 00:35:53.739 --> 00:35:58.420 What is the woundedness that brings you the most 00:35:58.420 --> 00:36:02.719 shame, that brings you the most fear? That is 00:36:02.719 --> 00:36:07.599 the place that Jesus wants to enter. So do not 00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:10.059 replace relationship with God with legalism. 00:36:12.150 --> 00:36:15.250 Legalism is simply a way of masking the brokenness. 00:36:18.150 --> 00:36:23.289 So that is the first brokenness inside. But there's 00:36:23.289 --> 00:36:26.869 a second level of brokenness that is going to 00:36:26.869 --> 00:36:30.269 cause you to lose heart if you do not really 00:36:30.269 --> 00:36:34.530 understand it. And it follows from the first 00:36:34.530 --> 00:36:38.110 brokenness. And that is that the world is broken. 00:36:41.039 --> 00:36:45.599 The world is broken. Think about it. If every 00:36:45.599 --> 00:36:50.420 human is suffering from brokenness inside, whatever 00:36:50.420 --> 00:36:53.260 that may look like, and the world is populated 00:36:53.260 --> 00:36:56.559 by humans that they're all broken, then that 00:36:56.559 --> 00:37:00.079 follows that the world is also broken. And Jesus 00:37:00.079 --> 00:37:04.420 actually was going to say it very clearly, not 00:37:04.420 --> 00:37:09.219 to give us false hopes. Would you read with me 00:37:09.219 --> 00:37:12.739 what Jesus said to us? I have told you these 00:37:12.739 --> 00:37:16.659 things so that in me you may have peace. In this 00:37:16.659 --> 00:37:19.719 world you will have trouble. But take heart. 00:37:20.039 --> 00:37:26.860 I have overcome the world. Sometimes people wish 00:37:26.860 --> 00:37:31.159 that verse was not in the Bible. That Jesus would 00:37:31.159 --> 00:37:33.500 have said, if you follow me, everything will 00:37:33.500 --> 00:37:36.119 go well for you. I want to bless you in every 00:37:36.119 --> 00:37:38.320 way and nothing bad will ever happen to you. 00:37:38.539 --> 00:37:42.570 Because now you are following me. But that's 00:37:42.570 --> 00:37:46.210 not what Jesus said. He said, for as long as 00:37:46.210 --> 00:37:48.849 you are in the world, the world is broken, is 00:37:48.849 --> 00:37:56.809 under spiritual oppression. There is such a reality 00:37:56.809 --> 00:38:01.489 as spiritual darkness. There is the truth of 00:38:01.489 --> 00:38:05.670 human brokenness. And therefore, in this world 00:38:05.670 --> 00:38:08.949 that I came to save, you're going to face troubles. 00:38:10.699 --> 00:38:13.019 But in the midst of the troubles that you are 00:38:13.019 --> 00:38:16.739 facing, what I don't want you to miss is my peace. 00:38:18.519 --> 00:38:21.960 I'm not going to take the troubles, but I'm going 00:38:21.960 --> 00:38:25.280 to take the trouble from within. I'm going to 00:38:25.280 --> 00:38:28.559 give you peace in the midst of it. Because you 00:38:28.559 --> 00:38:31.699 can trust in me. I have overcome the world. And 00:38:31.699 --> 00:38:34.900 one day, all these things will be made right. 00:38:35.039 --> 00:38:38.980 One day, the world will be completely redeemed. 00:38:39.659 --> 00:38:45.139 New creation. No more sin. No more spiritual 00:38:45.139 --> 00:38:48.679 darkness. No more brokenness. But until that 00:38:48.679 --> 00:38:55.079 day, trust me with your pain. And this reality 00:38:55.079 --> 00:38:59.219 is one reality that many people do not come to 00:38:59.219 --> 00:39:01.639 terms with. And because they don't come to terms 00:39:01.639 --> 00:39:05.239 with this, they lose heart and they reject God 00:39:05.239 --> 00:39:12.570 altogether. Terrible things happened. This week, 00:39:12.670 --> 00:39:24.210 very sad week for the nation of Thailand. We 00:39:24.210 --> 00:39:30.070 got a student in a school that killed several 00:39:30.070 --> 00:39:35.230 people with a gun from his home. He killed his 00:39:35.230 --> 00:39:39.030 grandparents. They went to the school, started 00:39:39.030 --> 00:39:42.329 shooting at people. And as of this morning, eight 00:39:42.329 --> 00:39:47.389 people have died. Several more are wounded. Now, 00:39:47.469 --> 00:39:49.909 if you came from the U .S., where I come from, 00:39:50.489 --> 00:39:54.489 it's always sad, but we have become numb to it 00:39:54.489 --> 00:39:58.949 because it happens so often. Every year, shootings 00:39:58.949 --> 00:40:03.809 at schools. But this time was shocking because 00:40:03.809 --> 00:40:07.710 of what, Thailand? Is this happening now in Thailand 00:40:07.710 --> 00:40:13.250 too? And we're grieving as a nation because of 00:40:13.250 --> 00:40:19.030 it. And every time where that happens here in 00:40:19.030 --> 00:40:26.969 the U .S., sad, a broken world. But when we don't 00:40:26.969 --> 00:40:28.809 realize the brokenness of the world, we turn 00:40:28.809 --> 00:40:32.789 to God and we accuse him for it. And that is 00:40:32.789 --> 00:40:37.320 what C .S. Lewis wrestled with. In the process 00:40:37.320 --> 00:40:40.400 of wrestling with the moving from atheism to 00:40:40.400 --> 00:40:44.840 following Jesus, he says, my argument against 00:40:44.840 --> 00:40:48.400 God was that the universe seems so cruel and 00:40:48.400 --> 00:40:52.599 so unjust. But how had I got this idea of just 00:40:52.599 --> 00:40:55.880 and unjust to start with? Like many people who 00:40:55.880 --> 00:40:58.380 have rejected God and walked away from the faith, 00:40:58.719 --> 00:41:02.320 they reject God because they have experienced 00:41:02.320 --> 00:41:06.869 a broken world. And when the world is broken, 00:41:06.909 --> 00:41:10.369 it hurts so much and it's disorienting. It's 00:41:10.369 --> 00:41:13.789 like, what? This should not happen. This is wrong. 00:41:14.070 --> 00:41:17.289 And God, if you created this world, why is this 00:41:17.289 --> 00:41:20.550 happening? If you are so powerful, why don't 00:41:20.550 --> 00:41:24.190 you keep this from happening? And if you allowed 00:41:24.190 --> 00:41:26.889 it, then why did you allow it? That means that 00:41:26.889 --> 00:41:30.710 you are evil? And if you're evil, how can I trust 00:41:30.710 --> 00:41:33.050 you? Or maybe you're not even evil. Maybe you 00:41:33.050 --> 00:41:35.429 don't even exist. Maybe you are the product of 00:41:35.429 --> 00:41:41.730 my imagination. And that is the space where the 00:41:41.730 --> 00:41:45.449 person starts losing heart because cannot understand 00:41:45.449 --> 00:41:48.929 that a broken world is compatible with the existence 00:41:48.929 --> 00:41:52.030 of a loving, sovereign God. And they're both 00:41:52.030 --> 00:42:01.380 true. And that did not happen just to C .S. Lewis. 00:42:05.340 --> 00:42:08.300 It was a guy that grew up going to the church 00:42:08.300 --> 00:42:10.400 as a kid, but then he stopped going to church. 00:42:10.480 --> 00:42:14.519 He walked away from it altogether. And then he 00:42:14.519 --> 00:42:20.820 became an atheist. You see him right here in 00:42:20.820 --> 00:42:27.449 an interview with Sean McDowell. The reason why 00:42:27.449 --> 00:42:29.909 McDowell interviews him is because Brand wrote 00:42:29.909 --> 00:42:33.250 a book about his testimony, because when he was 00:42:33.250 --> 00:42:37.650 a young adult, he drank some water that was contaminated 00:42:37.650 --> 00:42:42.469 with bacteria, terrible stuff, went to the hospital, 00:42:42.550 --> 00:42:46.409 and he died. He had a near -death experience, 00:42:46.789 --> 00:42:51.090 and then he was able to come back to life, and 00:42:51.090 --> 00:42:53.869 then in that period of time, he had a spiritual 00:42:53.869 --> 00:42:58.969 encounter. And as he says, he saw Jesus, he says, 00:42:58.969 --> 00:43:01.989 I went to hell, and it was just a horrible experience. 00:43:03.250 --> 00:43:06.250 But as he's telling his experience, he says, 00:43:06.329 --> 00:43:08.289 you don't have to believe me because it sounds 00:43:08.289 --> 00:43:11.050 like out there, but this is, I'm telling you 00:43:11.050 --> 00:43:15.849 what happened to me. And as he's writing the 00:43:15.849 --> 00:43:18.570 story and as he's telling it, at a moment, he 00:43:18.570 --> 00:43:23.269 starts crying. His voice breaks because he says, 00:43:23.329 --> 00:43:28.329 when I saw Jesus, I had so much hatred for him. 00:43:30.190 --> 00:43:32.969 I realized, he says, that even though I wasn't 00:43:32.969 --> 00:43:35.730 there when Jesus was crucified, I would have 00:43:35.730 --> 00:43:40.210 done the nails. That's how much I hated him. 00:43:40.750 --> 00:43:45.570 Why? Because the world is broken. Because evil 00:43:45.570 --> 00:43:49.489 happens. And if evil happens, you are evil. You 00:43:49.489 --> 00:43:53.949 are responsible for this and I hate you. And 00:43:53.949 --> 00:43:58.139 that is what, shaped his life as a young adult. 00:43:58.320 --> 00:44:03.539 Very similar stage in life on age as Darwin in 00:44:03.539 --> 00:44:10.199 his crisis. Have you come to terms with the fact 00:44:10.199 --> 00:44:15.519 that the world is broken and that bad things 00:44:15.519 --> 00:44:20.420 will happen and that there's evil people and 00:44:20.420 --> 00:44:24.239 evil people will do evil things? Have you come 00:44:24.239 --> 00:44:27.019 to terms with the reality that we are not immune 00:44:27.019 --> 00:44:31.880 to suffering? That we are not immune to be touched 00:44:31.880 --> 00:44:36.880 by these evil things? Do you know how many followers 00:44:36.880 --> 00:44:41.059 of Jesus are being killed today in countries 00:44:41.059 --> 00:44:44.659 where Christianity is opposed by oppressive governments 00:44:44.659 --> 00:44:55.679 or religions? When we suffer, we do not point 00:44:55.679 --> 00:44:59.840 the finger to God and accuse him of being evil 00:44:59.840 --> 00:45:03.940 or for not existing. When we suffer, we turn 00:45:03.940 --> 00:45:09.539 to Jesus with our pain. And we give it to him 00:45:09.539 --> 00:45:14.460 and we grieve in his presence. Because that is 00:45:14.460 --> 00:45:17.219 the place where Jesus wants to give us his peace. 00:45:17.860 --> 00:45:22.039 In the world we will suffer. But in his presence, 00:45:22.119 --> 00:45:26.559 we will experience peace in the suffering. And 00:45:26.559 --> 00:45:33.900 then we will hope for the day of his return when 00:45:33.900 --> 00:45:37.840 he will complete the salvation of humanity and 00:45:37.840 --> 00:45:42.539 bring the world into a whole new chapter free 00:45:42.539 --> 00:45:48.619 from these things. If you are following Jesus, 00:45:50.380 --> 00:45:53.000 But the suffering in the world has made a crack 00:45:53.000 --> 00:45:56.719 in your faith. Could I encourage you to bring 00:45:56.719 --> 00:45:59.880 your pain to Jesus today? Do not lose heart. 00:46:01.800 --> 00:46:06.179 If you walk away from God because of suffering, 00:46:06.380 --> 00:46:11.159 you will not find solace. You will not find peace. 00:46:12.400 --> 00:46:15.179 You will not find what your heart needs anywhere 00:46:15.179 --> 00:46:26.489 else but in Jesus. And because our heart is in 00:46:26.489 --> 00:46:28.889 a state of brokenness and Jesus wants to heal 00:46:28.889 --> 00:46:31.869 us in that place, and because the world is broken, 00:46:32.050 --> 00:46:35.269 that follows that there's one more place that 00:46:35.269 --> 00:46:39.670 is broken and that we forget. And that is that 00:46:39.670 --> 00:46:50.550 the church is broken. Each person that surrounds 00:46:50.550 --> 00:46:55.960 you today Whether you look to the left, whether 00:46:55.960 --> 00:46:59.340 you look to the right, whether you look back 00:46:59.340 --> 00:47:06.280 or to the front. Every person in this room is 00:47:06.280 --> 00:47:09.920 a broken person meeting Jesus and his grace and 00:47:09.920 --> 00:47:14.679 his power. Everyone. And because we are all broken 00:47:14.679 --> 00:47:18.000 people, sometimes broken people make broken decisions 00:47:18.000 --> 00:47:21.000 that create brokenness in other people's lives. 00:47:24.650 --> 00:47:27.190 And for a long time, I lived with the assumption 00:47:27.190 --> 00:47:31.429 that church was a safe place. Because it's full 00:47:31.429 --> 00:47:35.650 of Christians who love Jesus. Until it wasn't 00:47:35.650 --> 00:47:40.750 a safe place anymore. And the disorientation 00:47:40.750 --> 00:47:44.989 that you suffer when someone does something to 00:47:44.989 --> 00:47:49.050 you, to your children, that is no longer safe. 00:47:50.550 --> 00:47:54.889 Wow. Coming to terms with the brokenness of the 00:47:54.889 --> 00:47:57.489 world is hard. Coming to terms with the brokenness 00:47:57.489 --> 00:48:01.530 of the church is even harder. Because this was 00:48:01.530 --> 00:48:05.750 supposed to be a safe space. And when it's not, 00:48:05.989 --> 00:48:08.630 you're not only grieving what happened, but you're 00:48:08.630 --> 00:48:10.469 grieving with the reality that it's not a safe 00:48:10.469 --> 00:48:17.489 space. What do we do? You turn to the scriptures, 00:48:17.630 --> 00:48:21.789 and the picture that you discover is just eye 00:48:21.789 --> 00:48:26.920 -opening. Let me take you through it. Jesus has 00:48:26.920 --> 00:48:29.099 a good shepherd that comes to heal all of the 00:48:29.099 --> 00:48:32.559 wounded sheep, saves us, brings us to the church. 00:48:32.699 --> 00:48:34.900 Now we are serving the Lord, we are walking with 00:48:34.900 --> 00:48:37.260 the Lord together. The Apostle Paul is preaching 00:48:37.260 --> 00:48:39.199 the gospel, people are coming to know Christ, 00:48:39.360 --> 00:48:41.440 and then he starts writing letters to these first 00:48:41.440 --> 00:48:44.139 Christians in the first churches in the history 00:48:44.139 --> 00:48:47.019 of humanity. Now look at some of the things he 00:48:47.019 --> 00:48:50.230 says. It is actually reported in the Corinthians 00:48:50.230 --> 00:48:53.530 that there is sexual immorality among you. And 00:48:53.530 --> 00:48:56.090 of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate. A 00:48:56.090 --> 00:48:59.829 man is sleeping with his father's wife. And you 00:48:59.829 --> 00:49:02.329 are proud? Shouldn't you rather have gone into 00:49:02.329 --> 00:49:04.909 mourning and have put out of your fellowship 00:49:04.909 --> 00:49:09.889 that man who is doing this? Like what? In a church? 00:49:10.170 --> 00:49:12.610 That happening and that church was celebrating 00:49:12.610 --> 00:49:19.050 it. How about this one? Alexander the metal worker 00:49:19.050 --> 00:49:22.250 did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay 00:49:22.250 --> 00:49:26.150 him for what he has done. You too, Timothy, should 00:49:26.150 --> 00:49:28.329 be on your guard against him because he strongly 00:49:28.329 --> 00:49:32.510 opposed our message. What? Politics? An opposition? 00:49:33.429 --> 00:49:39.289 In the church? What about this one? On my first 00:49:39.289 --> 00:49:42.369 defense, no one came to my support. But everyone 00:49:42.369 --> 00:49:45.170 deserted me. May I not be held against them? 00:49:46.460 --> 00:49:50.920 What? You were abandoned by people that were 00:49:50.920 --> 00:49:53.559 supposed to be there to support you and you felt 00:49:53.559 --> 00:50:02.719 disappointed with Christians? Yes. Yes. And yes. 00:50:06.079 --> 00:50:09.219 But he says at the end, but the Lord stood on 00:50:09.219 --> 00:50:12.820 my side. And gave me strength so that through 00:50:12.820 --> 00:50:15.400 me the message might be fully proclaimed. And 00:50:15.400 --> 00:50:18.599 all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered 00:50:18.599 --> 00:50:21.340 from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me 00:50:21.340 --> 00:50:23.920 from every evil attack. And will bring me safely 00:50:23.920 --> 00:50:26.980 to his heavenly kingdom. And to him be glory 00:50:26.980 --> 00:50:31.340 forever and ever. Amen. The fact that the church 00:50:31.340 --> 00:50:37.199 is a broken place. Does not mean that I walk 00:50:37.199 --> 00:50:39.619 away from the church. And I walk away from God. 00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:43.559 The completely opposite is true. I'm going to 00:50:43.559 --> 00:50:45.539 continue to proclaim the gospel and I'm going 00:50:45.539 --> 00:50:48.719 to continue to serve the Lord Jesus because despite 00:50:48.719 --> 00:50:51.059 what happens, he's going to take me home safely. 00:50:54.300 --> 00:50:57.039 Have you come to terms with the fact that the 00:50:57.039 --> 00:51:00.119 church is broken and have you given your disappointment 00:51:00.119 --> 00:51:07.590 to Jesus? I like to think of it this way. If 00:51:07.590 --> 00:51:10.650 you went to a hospital to visit a friend, would 00:51:10.650 --> 00:51:13.210 you be surprised to find people who are sick 00:51:13.210 --> 00:51:19.469 there? Would you? Of course not. That's what 00:51:19.469 --> 00:51:23.670 the hospital is for, isn't it? If you want to 00:51:23.670 --> 00:51:26.030 visit your friend at the hospital and then you 00:51:26.030 --> 00:51:29.170 came home and you start coughing and you realize, 00:51:29.409 --> 00:51:32.349 oh, I think I got a virus or something. Would 00:51:32.349 --> 00:51:34.909 you be surprised that you got sick by going to 00:51:34.909 --> 00:51:38.949 the hospital to see sick people? No, you wouldn't. 00:51:39.750 --> 00:51:42.170 You wouldn't come home saying, I don't believe 00:51:42.170 --> 00:51:44.929 in hospitals anymore. I will never put a foot 00:51:44.929 --> 00:51:48.510 again in a hospital. I hate hospitals. I hate 00:51:48.510 --> 00:51:51.210 doctors. They're a group of fake people. Would 00:51:51.210 --> 00:51:54.650 you say that? No. Then why are you saying that 00:51:54.650 --> 00:51:59.489 about the church? Why are you surprised when 00:51:59.489 --> 00:52:04.050 you find wounded people in the church? Why are 00:52:04.050 --> 00:52:09.000 you surprised? Will people in the church do or 00:52:09.000 --> 00:52:23.820 say things that hurt you? Don't lose heart. That's 00:52:23.820 --> 00:52:26.900 a reality. And wait until you become a pastor 00:52:26.900 --> 00:52:37.440 and start preaching at ECB. Listen. When we realize 00:52:37.440 --> 00:52:40.039 that the church is a hospital for broken people 00:52:40.039 --> 00:52:46.099 in a broken world, our expectations change. And 00:52:46.099 --> 00:52:48.860 rather than walking away from it, the determination 00:52:48.860 --> 00:52:52.619 the Apostle Paul mentions is true. How can I 00:52:52.619 --> 00:52:55.900 follow Jesus without making disciples? And how 00:52:55.900 --> 00:52:59.559 can I make disciples without a church? They go 00:52:59.559 --> 00:53:03.429 hand in hand. If I'm truly a follower of Jesus, 00:53:03.530 --> 00:53:05.869 I cannot follow Jesus without the community because 00:53:05.869 --> 00:53:08.349 if I'm following Jesus, I'm called to make disciples. 00:53:08.809 --> 00:53:10.730 So if I'm making disciples, we're the church. 00:53:11.670 --> 00:53:13.690 Now how are you going to deal with that brokenness, 00:53:13.690 --> 00:53:20.690 my friend? The only thing that is the right response 00:53:20.690 --> 00:53:24.550 is determination to say, Lord, as long as we 00:53:24.550 --> 00:53:29.329 are here, would you help us create a space where 00:53:29.329 --> 00:53:34.250 people can heal? And give us thick skin, as we 00:53:34.250 --> 00:53:37.510 say in the U .S. Give me a heart that is not 00:53:37.510 --> 00:53:41.030 easily offended or discouraged. Help me have 00:53:41.030 --> 00:53:47.909 my eyes fixed on you. And do not let me lose 00:53:47.909 --> 00:53:53.070 heart. So the three wrong responses that you're 00:53:53.070 --> 00:53:55.750 going to experience is denial. Nothing wrong 00:53:55.750 --> 00:53:58.789 with me. There's no brokenness in me. Everything 00:53:58.789 --> 00:54:02.800 is good. You are not being truthful. Wake up. 00:54:04.300 --> 00:54:08.940 Because if you are broken, you need Jesus. The 00:54:08.940 --> 00:54:11.559 second response that is wrong is turning away 00:54:11.559 --> 00:54:14.920 from God because there's a broken world. No, 00:54:15.019 --> 00:54:18.719 don't turn away from God. Turn to Jesus because 00:54:18.719 --> 00:54:20.659 he's going to give you peace in a broken world. 00:54:21.980 --> 00:54:24.659 And the third wrong response is to walk away 00:54:24.659 --> 00:54:26.940 from the church because there's a bunch of fake 00:54:26.940 --> 00:54:32.019 people. No. If you were hurt, invite Jesus to 00:54:32.019 --> 00:54:35.900 heal that wound and continue serving Jesus so 00:54:35.900 --> 00:54:40.400 more people will find the one who heals the brokenhearted 00:54:40.400 --> 00:54:44.460 and bandages their wounds. There's only one Jesus, 00:54:44.780 --> 00:54:48.420 one church, one faith, one baptism. Only one. 00:54:49.360 --> 00:54:52.159 And we'll continue serving him until the end. 00:54:54.219 --> 00:54:59.380 So that is my reflection. That is one of the 00:54:59.380 --> 00:55:02.539 things that I have been processing and thinking 00:55:02.539 --> 00:55:06.780 through. And I hope that this helps you not lose 00:55:06.780 --> 00:55:10.460 heart. And as we conclude this time, let's read 00:55:10.460 --> 00:55:15.840 together 2 Corinthians 4 .1. Therefore, since 00:55:15.840 --> 00:55:19.599 through God's mercy we have this ministry, we 00:55:19.599 --> 00:55:25.559 do not lose heart. Lord Jesus, thank you for 00:55:25.559 --> 00:55:32.800 the reminder. A reminder that sometimes we don't 00:55:32.800 --> 00:55:35.199 like to hear, like going to the doctor and realizing 00:55:35.199 --> 00:55:39.099 we have high cholesterol. We don't like to hear 00:55:39.099 --> 00:55:47.380 the reality. But you have reminded us today that 00:55:47.380 --> 00:55:49.920 we are broken in a broken world and the church 00:55:49.920 --> 00:55:56.139 is a broken place for broken people. And as long 00:55:56.139 --> 00:55:58.960 as you are in the midst of it, there's healing. 00:55:59.920 --> 00:56:03.260 As long as you're in the midst of it, there's 00:56:03.260 --> 00:56:08.380 going to be new beginnings. And give us the strength 00:56:08.380 --> 00:56:16.340 to not lose heart. In the beautiful name of our 00:56:16.340 --> 00:56:29.619 Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen. Whether near or far, 00:56:29.880 --> 00:56:33.079 if you are looking for community or are in need 00:56:33.079 --> 00:56:36.440 of prayer, we welcome you to engage by sending 00:56:36.440 --> 00:56:42.039 us an email to office at ecb .asia. If God is 00:56:42.039 --> 00:56:44.679 calling you to support our ministries, you will 00:56:44.679 --> 00:56:48.500 find giving options on our website. And remember 00:56:48.500 --> 00:56:51.219 to join us next week. God bless you.