Give Me an Answer - Answering Christianity's 5 Toughest Questions | Cliffe Knechtle

when Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me he's making a truth claim he's either wrong or he's right and the reason I'm convinced he's right is because he lived a sinless life he taught amazing teachings he bled and died on a cross forgiving and loving his enemies and he rose from the dead the dude's in touch with reality just in case you haven't noticed and that is why trusting in Him is so wise because he has a grip on reality that's phenomenal he's

totally credible and reliable in his teachings ethical teachings lifestyle death and Resurrection you can trust him and you can grow in that trust more and more each [Music] day pretty impressive worship wasn't it my goodness five questions this morning first one if God's so powerful and so loving why is there so much suffering why is there so much evil and destruction what's God's problem is he sleep on the switch or something second question doesn't science contradict Faith doesn't faith mean you commit intellectual suicide and you blindly believe third question you believe that Jesus really rose

from the dead when was the last time you saw some dead person get up and walk around fourth question you believe Jesus is really the only way to God isn't that narrow-minded bigoted intolerant fifth question the Bible's 2,000 years old what gives you any degree of certainty that we really have what those eyewitnesses wrote 2,000 years ago those are the five questions we're going to go over first one if God is so loving and so powerful then why do you suffer so much why do innocent people get raked over the coals what's going on doesn't

God care or is he simply too weak to do anything about it now one of the reasons that I think if you don't have a home Church you should make Fellowship Church your home church is because of what Pastor Ed and his precious wife Lisa went through in losing their precious daughter in 2021 I mean you're a pastor that's not supposed to happen to you and your wife well sorry all of us suffer it's part of reality and when Pastor Ed and Lisa wrote that book about pathway through pain I got to look at at

a bit last night the vulnerability the honesty is incredible so why why does God allow people to get destroyed by circumstances by other people is God disinterested first part of the answer is I do not know I don't know why God allowed evil and suffering for thousands of years philosophers and theologians far more intelligent than me have struggled with that issue and they've never come up with an old answer and the Bible does not answer that question ultimately so I do not know and I can promise you in 1997 when I went out to Madison

Wisconsin where my brother younger brother was a transplant surgeon transplanting kidneys and livers I went out there because his seven-year-old daughter had just been crushed in a car accident to death and if you think that I'm going to go out meet my brother who's far more intelligent than I'll ever be and explain to him why God allowed his 7-year-old daughter to be crushed by a pickup truck coming down the road at 55 mph why the babysitter didn't see the stop sign ran the stop sign and that pickup truck slammed to the side of the car

sending my seven-year-old niece to an early grave I'm not going to do that because I'd be lying I do not know why God allowed evil and suffering yeah but come on C you got to think well yeah we do have to think you're right and one of my thoughts on is the the issue is this which I think is very biblical God chose to limit his power by creating us with a free will which means I can either pull out my wallet and give you money to eat lunch or I can roll this hand into

a fist send it crashing into your handsome face I am free to do either and what the Bible teaches is in Genesis chapter 1 God created us In His Image which means we are not robots we're not machines and I like to walk so if I Stumble and fall off of this stage I'm not going to pick myself up at the bottom and say phew I'm glad that's over with that's determinism that's fatalism God creates Us in His image which means we're not robots we're not machines we're human beings created with a soul a personality

but it also means we got a free will and if we want to abuse our free will we can go right ahead and do it but there will be a day of judgment when God promises to hold us responsible for the free decisions that we have made and that's why Joshua stands before the people of Israel and says if serving the lord seems undesirable to you then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve but is for me in my house we will serve the Lord so Genesis 1 says God created this and God

saw that it was good and God created that and God saw that it was good and you got to get the point guys when an author repeats and repeats and repeats a little phrase obviously he's trying to get the point across when God created he did a good job and that little phrase God saw that it was good is repeated and repeated and repeated in Genesis 1 but in Genesis chter 3 we read how human beings rebelled against God they didn't eat an apple they ate some fruit but that is symbolic of their Rebellion against

God it's symbolic of sin and why do I sin I sin because I think I'm smarter than God and I know it'll make me happier so I'm going to do it my way instead of God's ways not because I'm trying to be evil I'm not trying to be evil I'm trying to be happy my problem is I think I know how to make Cliff happier than God knows and that's basically what Adam and Eve did we know what'll make us happier we will Define good and evil we will assume godhood and when they made that

decision that's where the train got off the track that's where the arrow missed the mark and things got ugly fast because when God steps back chaos fills the Gap now what's one of the main points of the Book of Job one of the main points of the Book of Job in the Old Testament is life is unfair God is fair don't get the two mixed up life is unfair God is fair do not get the two mixed up so when you suffer if you clench your fist and wave it at God that's misplaced anger misplaced

anger it's not God who's getting you rather it's you're born into a cursed unfair messed up world life hurts and to blame God is a copout the same way if I hold back slap you in the face and then turn to you and say God made me do it that is a copout I'm lying through my teeth to you he gave me a free will I am responsible for feeding you or I am responsible for slapping you God gave me that inability that's part of why I believe we have a soul because you see friends

if there is no God you don't have a free will if there is no God you just are a chemical reaction between your two ears that's all you are and determinism wins the day fatalism wins the day what will be will be what is is no the Bible teaches we've been created in the image of God we have a soul and that means a rational mind a free will the ability to love or to hate or to be indifferent we choose all right so we choose to rebel against God and that's where suffering evil and

death enter the experience of humankind then we go to the gospels and in the gospels what does Jesus do he comforts now what is comforting based on it's based on presence presence people Comfort Me by being present people don't Comfort Me by preaching a sermon to me people comfort me when they make their presence real when they're with me they don't have great points to make they don't talk a lot it is their presence that I need all right the biggest comfort you and I will ever get in this life is the presence of God

the presence of Jesus Christ well how on Earth do you experience that you open up your heart you open up your life by praying by repenting by growing and trusting Christ by obeying him by meeting with other believers by having a church family Allowing God to speak to you through other people in small groups in one-on-one conversations in a worship service and you begin to build an understanding of the presence of God job asked a lot of questions of God a lot of hard questions finally God comes to job job chapter 38 and we got

four chapters of God speaking to job did God answer one of job's questions nope he did not answer one of job's questions what did he do for job he gave job an overwhelming sense of his presence and that presence of God brought tremendous Comfort to job a you stupid person you're going to go to church every Sunday don't you know all the athletic events that your children could be attending Sunday morning you're really dumb you're hurting your child no you're not you are teaching your child how to position themselves to experience the presence of God

oh you read the Bible every day you read the Bible every day you pray every day you have a quiet time what an incredible waste of your time don't you know that if you were on the job you could be making more money mhm possibly true well let me tell you why I'm going to do it because I want to know God better I want to experience his presence better because life's going to get Rocky real Rocky in your future and in my future and the presence of God is one of the key ways that

we experience comfort in this life so yes there's a lot of suffering and yet Jesus Christ wants to comfort us and he also bled and died on a cross so if ever anybody says to you the reason you suffer is that you don't have enough Faith isn't it sad that Jesus didn't have enough Faith because in the Garden of Gethsemane he prayed father if it is possible take this cup from me yet not my will but your will be done did the father take the cup away from Jesus nope did the father answer jesus' prayer

the way I would have liked him or Jesus would have liked him to do it nope Jesus went straight to the cross one of the most painful excruciating death's possible death by crucifixion but what Jesus did was he surrendered to the father he said if it is possible take this cup from me yet not my will but your will be done then 3 days after he died he rose from the dead which means we have the ultimate solution for suffering and that ultimate solution for suffering is not a drug high it's not slitting your wrists

it's not hopping into bed with someone and having promiscuous sex it's not the solution the solution is eternal life which begins now as we experience the presence of God and then it continues through eternity when Christ returns he will give us new bodies he's going to give my little niece who was knocked into an early grave at the age of seven Annie a new body and my brother Stuart is going to be and his wife Mary banks are going to be reunited with their precious little daughter and I will get to see Annie one day

and Ed and Lisa are going to see their precious little daughter as well Lee Beth one day because leebeth put her faith in Christ and Ed and Lisa put their faith in Christ and Christ promises eternal life to all who trust in him that's the ultimate solution so now my atheist agnostic friend let's go to the hospital come on my atheist agnostic friend let's go into the room where the kid lies whose body is being shredded by some perverse disease come on my atheist agnostic friend what is your solution you're going to kick back and

say well if God was all powerful and all loving this wouldn't happen that is such a theoretical bogus question to focus on the kid's dying let's get a little more practical is there a solution no if there is no God there is no solution because if there is no God when we die we to the fertilizer pit and adol fitler's in the fertilizer pit and so is Mother Teresa in the fertilizer pit and that's where I'm headed and you're headed if there is no God so don't talk to me about a solution I as a

follower of Christ will walk to the other side of the bed and I too will hold that child's hand and seek to comfort that child but in Jesus Christ we have God's ultimate solution to the very real problem of suffering evil and death forgiveness and eternal life in heaven well there will be no more evil evil Injustice unfairness death Revelation 21:4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes and there'll be no more death or Mourning or crying or pain for the old order has been wiped away behold all things to become new so the

bottom line question is do you have God's solution to the very real problem of suffering and pain do you have Jesus Christ second question don't science and Faith contradict each other no they don't why because science is not a relationship science is a study of process how nature works it's a brilliant field of knowledge why can we do science because God has given us rational minds and we by using our rational Minds in a reasonable fashion can ascertain truth we can grasp truth Yohan Kepler the father of modern astronomy as he peered out into the

stars at night exclaimed oh God I am thinking your thoughts after you that is good science and it's good faith Russell cowburn is a professor of experimental physics at Cambridge University Russell cowburn as a professor of experimental physics at Cambridge University University says you can't work in science and not be struck by the amazingness of the universe and I love this line a good day in the lab is a cause for worship that's good because you come out of it seeing God's creation just a little bit more clearly than when the day started a good

day in the lab is a cause for worship because when you begin to Grapple with the amazingly intricate design of the universe the exquisite beauty it points you directly to God and then you begin to worship God you begin to stand in awe of God for his explosive creativity for his goodness for the gift of beauty that he's given us to enjoy so science is good now what is faith faith is not I believe I believe I believe I'm going to try harder I believe I believe I believe no that's intellectual naivity if Jesus Christ

had hated people if Jesus Christ had not risen from the dead I would not believe in Christ the reason that I Believe In Christ is because the evidence historical in nature is he taught amazing ethical teachings he lived a sinless morally perfect life the way I have tried to and have miserably failed he died a death forgiving his enemies who nailed him to the Cross I'd have been cursing those suckers from the cross not forgiving them and then 3 days after he died he physically bodily rose from the dead and over a period of 40

days he appeared to over 500 people who saw him risen from the dead so the overwhelming evidence is he is reliable so for a Christian faith is the following evidence of reliability plus commitment the evidence is historical in nature he lived a sinless life obviously the guy who taught the Sermon on the Mount was an ethical genius well that was Jesus thirdly he dies forgiving his enemies and fourthly he rises from the dead so the evidence is you can trust him now now you need to make a commitment to him I need to make a

commitment to him I need to respond to that evidence by trusting in Him by committing well faith is stupid no no no no faith is the biggest compliment you can give another person and it's the biggest compliment you can give Christ let's say I have the privilege of meeting you after the service and after meeting you I walk away from you like this what's that statement of it's a statement that I think you're a crook I think you got a knife or a gun and you're going to go get me no trusting someone is a

statement here's how I view your character you are good you are fair you are just and therefore I will trust you well faith in Jesus Christ is not stupidity faith in Jesus Christ is a statement that I understand your character Christ is good therefore I'm going to trust you and that is what a Christian is a Christian is someone who understands God is good Jesus Christ is reliable therefore I'm going to trust him that is not irrational that is very reasonable it's not based on proof no proof it's based on evidence of reliability third question

did he really rise from the dead no he did not rise from the dead if if there is no Supernatural God if all of reality is matter and energy then obviously there's no life after death it's impossible if all of reality is matter and energy there's no life after death friends if there's no Supernatural God then your life is you move dirt and when you die the dirt moves you it's that simple but if there is a supernatural God who created you in the first place then it's totally reasonable to believe if he chose he

could give you life after death eternal life now the historical evidence is that Jesus really died on the cross in the Gospel of John we read how they took the body of Christ off the cross and they put it in the Tomb of a very well-known man Joseph of arthea this was no hidden tomb his disciples dispersed in disillusionment and 3 days after he died he rose from the dead and first of all appeared to some grief torn women and you have to understand in the first century women were not allowed to get an education

and they were not allowed to testify in court that's how bad the sexism was pathetic chauvinism sexism women were viewed as inferior in spite of the fact the Bible teaches God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them folks miss that part and so the sexism was tragic and yet Jesus attacks that sexism and appears first of all to some grief torn women then over a period of 40 days he appears to over 500 people Paul writes in approximately 52 ad in 1 Corinthians

chap 15 and he peers risen from the dead many of those people are willing to die for what they claim to have seen the dead Christ risen from the dead they weren't like the kamakazi pilots in World War II dying for a belief they died for what they claimed to have seen the dead Christ risen from the dead the historical evidence is Jesus was stoned dead buried in a tomb 3 Days Later rose from the dead yeah he rose from the dead but I still have a problem I still struggle with doubt I mean just

imagine there I am in the cemetery performing another funeral and we got this box called a casket there and it's about to be lowered down into the ground and I'm supposed to tell people oh because this person put their faith in Christ they got life after death they're going to have a new Resurrection body and I'm sitting there saying really wow so what I do is I look up I look at the sky I really like to go out at night and pray as I'm looking up at the stars and the Moon is a really

big place we live in this universe this Cosmos now if there's an intelligent mind who's so powerful so creative so intelligent that he created the universe do you think he can raise a dead body to life and give you eternal life yeah that's easy compared to creating the universe here's the analogy that helps me if you bake a loaf of bread from scratch can you toast a Pop-Tart yeah yeah if you can bake a loaf of bread from scratch if you can make a loaf of bread I think you'll be able to figure out how

to toast a Pop-Tart okay so I'm standing there next to the casket or the n and all of a sudden I begin to realize in my doubts wait a second he created the universe that's like making a loaf of bread from scratch do you think he can raise a dead body to life pretty small this one body compared to the universe yeah it's like toasting a pop Dart so the evidence is Jesus rose from the dead and based on that evidence I have hope for eternal life and that is the basis for Hope from eternal

life the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead fourthly how can you believe that Jesus really is the way the truth and the life well it's real simple I don't say that Jesus said that in John 14:6 Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the father no woman comes to the father except through me oh Cliff that's narrow-minded arrogance well it might be yeah I do struggle with arrogance but no it's a truth claim and if I tell you that 2 plus 2 equals 4 and not five

or three that's not necessarily arrogance on my part it's a truth claim 2 plus 2 does not equal 5 2 + 2 does not equal 3 it equals 4 now in spite of the fact that I can be an TWiT at times I don't have to be when I simply say 2 + 2al 4 not 5 not three if I say to you every path leads to Heaven is that a truth claim of course it is I'm saying every path leads to Heaven that's a truth claim if I tell you half the paths half the

religions lead to Heaven is that a truth claim of course it is I'm saying half are wrong half are right when Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me he's making a truth claim he's either wrong or he's right and the reason I'm convinced he's right is because he lived a sinless life he taught amazing teachings he bled and died on a cross forgiving and loving his enemies and he rose from the dead the dude's in touch with reality just in case you haven't

noticed and that is why trusting in Him is so wise because he has a grip on reality that's phenomenal he's totally credible and reliable in his teachings ethical teachings lifestyle death and Resurrection you can trust him and you can grow in that trust more and more each day and then the fifth question is well what about the Bible is the Bible reliable or is it not well I can promise you I could never prove to you that the Bible's a word of God so I'm not going to waste my time trying or your time listening

instead the evidence is that the New Testament gospels are historically reliable why because I have tests and I would encourage you to have tests and I'd encourage you to teach your children to have tests to determine historical reliability my four tests are internal consistency are there contradictions within the text that point to mass of confusion secondly what's the literary style Jack and Jill went up a hill to fetch a pale of water Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after that's mythology sweet fairy tale no that is not the literary style

of the gospels the literary style of the gospels are at this time in this place with these people around Jesus said this and he did that it reads like the New York Times the LA Times third test archaeology are we talking about the is of Atlantis out in the ocean that none of us can verify no we're talking about Bethlehem Nazareth Jerusalem Rome did Jesus float a boat on the sea of Atlantis no Sea of Galilee archaeologically verifiable places and then fourth test come on man those new testament gospels are almost 2,000 years old what

gives you any degree of certainty that you really have what those dudes wrote well it's real simple the New Testament that we have in English Today is based on over 5,800 Greek manuscripts or pieces of manuscript found from the 2nd through the 11th century around the known world of that day which was the Mediterranean roam down around to Alexandria Egypt all agreeing to an infantes degree and if we didn't have all those manuscripts we have 38,2 189 quotes from the early church fathers who were quoting the New Testament between the 2 and fourth Century ad

there are only 11 verses in the New Testament that are not quoted by the early church fathers between the 2 and 4th Century ad so we could put the whole new testament together just based on their quotes we have a very reliable New Testament you can read it and ask yourself does the evidence of his life teachings death and Resurrection point to his credibility or not now why do I trust the Bible as the word of God because I've seen the historical evidence point to Christ being the truth I have made a commitment to Christ

and put my faith in him and I have experienced his trustworthiness how did Jesus treat the Old Testament as the word of God Matthew 5:18 I tell you the truth until Heaven and Earth disappear not the smallest letter not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished he taught the Bible at the Old Testament the Torah as the word of God how did he view his own teachings Matthew 24:35 Heaven and Earth will disappear my words will never disappear whoo he treated his words as the

word of God that's why I do but what about that Rascal Paul and Peter and James well the eyewitness Community accepted those writings as the word of God that's why I do now I can't show you that the Bible is a word of God because I can't give you my experience of the trustworthiness of Jesus Christ you got to do that for yourself you got to look at the historical evidence you got to put your faith in Christ if the evidence is he's reliable then you've got to develop a relationship with him and as you

develop that relationship you will experience his trustworthiness in your own life and then you'll begin to realize oh yeah the Bible is more than just a great work of literature it indeed is inspired by God God it's the word of God all right I'm going to lead in a short prayer it's not a magical formula but maybe some of this is beginning to make sense to you like never before it's a short prayer to put your faith in Jesus Christ to ask him for forgiveness to trust that he died on the cross for your sin

and then to commit your life to him and if you're at the point in your life where such a decision would be appropriate because it's beginning to make sense and the Holy Spirit is working in your heart and you want to respond to Christ by trusting in Him I would like to invite you to pray silently after me this is between you and Christ and nobody else let's bow and pray together Lord Jesus I know there's a gap between the person I should be and the person I am please forgive me for my wrongdoing thank

you that you promised to Lord Jesus I trust that you died on the cross to pay the penalty for my wrongdoing thank you for the gift of eternal life you give me Lord Jesus I got some bad habits I've got some addictions I got some hurts some pretty deep pain please put your Holy Spirit In Me help me to become the beautiful person you created me to be in Jesus name I pray amen God bless you hi guys thank you so much for watching the Ed Young YouTube channel that's right and if you want to

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