First, the question about wars and suffering. Why does God allow them? The first point which the Bible makes in dealing with all questions of this kind is to demand a certain standard of reverence in order to understand the reply. The Bible begins with God, and reminds us of God's character.

God is perfect, absolutely holy, and infinitely just and fair. He is full of love and mercy, and therefore He must have a very powerful reason for allowing things such as suffering to take place. If God cannot sin, or fail, certainly there must be an unassailable reason.

If an air disaster kills three hundred people what happens? Does everyone stop getting into aeroplanes, and airlines go bankrupt overnight? Do we immediately assume that flying is too dangerous, and say it is not feasible? Of course not. The last thing we want to see is people rushing to shallow, hasty conclusions, driven by mere prejudice. We say, 'What caused the disaster?'

Similarly, in the case of wars and suffering we must ask the cause. It is no use using these things as missiles to throw at God. The important thing is to want to know the reason why God allows suffering.

Sometimes we do not want to know the reason. Or we just do not believe there is a reason. We tell ourselves that because wars and suffering occur, therefore there cannot be a God Who cares, certainly not a God of love. But there is; and our thinking should proceed along these lines: 'If a perfect, holy, powerful and loving God allows such things, then certainly there must be a reason of such magnitude, that they are completely unavoidable'

What, then, is the holy, loving, all-powerful Father's unavoidable reason for allowing wars and tragedy? The reason is taught from cover to cover in the Bible. The first book in the Bible, the book of Genesis, explains it in great detail, and every subsequent book of the Bible gives exactly the same reason.

Mankind has seized this world from God and rebelled against Him. We have turned our backs upon God. Indeed, we have spat on Him, We have spurned and rejected God's government of us. We have rejected God's ownership of us, His companionship also, and we have thrown aside His help, protection and love.

We are determined to go it alone, to do everything our own way, and to be captain of our own ship. It is as though we are determined to prove to ourselves that God is not there.

We have all abused Him, sinned against Him, fouled up His world, and got into all kinds of trouble. We cannot make things work out, and so we suffer the consequences of our conduct -- the forfeiture of God's protection and help. Despite all this, our pride will not let us admit our folly, and we even use the mess which we have brought about (including war and suffering) as a means of disproving that there could be a God of love. If it were not so ugly and tragic, it would be laughable.

Imagine a violent mutiny on a cargo vessel somewhere in the English Channel. The crew murder the officers and throw the captain into the sea. But they are incapable of navigation and within twenty-four hours they have fought among themselves, set light to the ship and hit the rocks off Land's End. Would you expect them to blame the owners of the vessel? Or to conclude that because they were in this mess the owners, captain and officers had never existed?

Man has brought about all his own problems and, far from proving that there is no God, wars, suffering, illness and tragedy all serve to prove that teaching of the Bible, which says that man has rebelled against God and is now the victim of his own sinfulness.

Many people think that the Bible is a human production, written over the centuries, and therefore showing a gradual development or evolution of teaching about God. Actually that is a complete misunderstandings.

One of the most remarkable features of the Bible is that although it came into being over a period of nearly sixteen hundred years, and although many different people were used to write down its contents, it has a consistent and uniform message throughout its length.

Can we imagine any human movement, political or whatever, being able to produce the books of its advocates, written over a mere fifty or hundred years, and showing that they perfectly agree? The Bible is unique, for its literature was written down, not over a hundred years but over sixteen hundred years, yet Moses (who wrote the first five books) teaches exactly the same profound truths about God as the disciple John (who wrote the last - book of Revelation).

All the Bible writers say exactly the same things about God and His character, and about human beings and their rebellion against God. They say exactly the same things about what God will do -- how He will forgive and pardon many people when they become ashamed of their sin, end their rebellion, and earnestly repent.

The amazing agreement of every book of the Bible, and the complete absence of contradiction in these things, is one of the great proofs of its inspired nature, showing that it is truly God's Word. The teaching of the Bible is equally consistent in ascribing all war and suffering to the rebellion of the human race. They occur because man has become weak, sinful and depraved.

Many people say, 'I can't believe that. I can't believe that man is that bad.' But just look at people whey they are engaged in the savage annihilation of others. Nations will go to war when practically nothing is to be gained. People will kill for greed and for personal power.

In the last decade countless lives have been lost in bitter and vicious wars -- several of which continue even now. In one country thousands of people parish from starvation while civil war racks their land. As a matter of fact the Bible teaches that the human race is so bad that there would be total war all the time but for the restraining hand of God.

Look at the way people exploit each other, tread on each other, and hurt each other. Look at the way men and women will fight in marriage, irrespective of what happens to the children. Look at the horrible selfishness and deceitfulness of which we are all capable.

Everyone of us, to some extent, expects the world to revolve around me, as though I am the only person who matters. So if I experience a tragedy, or, if I am a parent and one of my children has a terrible illness and perhaps dies, I cry out in bitterness, 'Why does God allow this to happen to me?'

We forget that we are part of the human race -- a race which has rebelled and is now cut off from God. From man's very first act of vile disobedience until now, men and women have had to struggle unhelped in a world which has God's sanctions applied to it.

God's sanctions are that His blessing and power are taken away from us. Death and decay are now present to remind us that we are temporary here, and soon will have to face God. These troubles are to humble us and make us realise that we are offenders who are separated from God.

We are all instinctively critical and disgusted when we see people, especially children, being utterly spoiled and getting away with everything. Almighty God cannot do that to us. He cannot be indifferent to our sin. He will not bless us while we wander far from Him and sin against Him. He will not and He cannot, because He is absolutely holy and just. While the Lord is pained at the consequences we bring upon ourselves because of our sin, yet He hates sin.

Once we see these things, we realise we are asking the wrong question. The question to ask it not, 'Why does God allow suffering?' The real question is 'Why does God allow this rebellion human race to survive? Why does He not punish us immediately and end this world?' And the answer is, because God has done something about the world's rebellion.

Almighty God has planned to save millions of men, women, young people and children from the consequences of sin and rebellion. The Lord Jesus Christ (Who is God, the God the Father) has come into this world, to suffer and die in our place, and to bear the agonising pain and punishment of our sin so that we may be pardoned and forgiven.

Rebellion against God is a terrible thing. Look at it as far as it affects you and me. My life, your life, has been a terrible rebellion against the Lord. It is no use -- as some people do -- hiding behind a wafer-thin pretence of respectability. We have all sinned and come a million miles short of the standard which God requires of us. We have all committed so many, many sins.

Sin is not merely what we do. It is the state we are in. We sin because we are hopeless sinners by nature. We are rebels, and we are spiritually and morally fallen creatures. So we are corrupt, proud, selfish, self-centred, and highly deceitful. We are also malicious and sensual, and we have stolen our lives, our years, our gifts and abilities, and seized them for ourselves. God, as far as we are concerned, might as well be dead.

What, then, do wars, tragedies, and sicknesses show us? They show us that God is separated from us and will not bless us. They show us that we are on our own. In fact, they show us that God must punish us for our sin.

And if God cannot have anything to do with us now, what about at the end of this life? What when we draw our last breath and we cross over into eternity -- what will He do then? Clearly, if we have never turned to Him in repentance, He must sentence us to everlasting banishment from His presence, and we must bear the punishment which is due to us.

But here is the wonderful grace of God. He is still ready to pardon and forgive all who turn to Him. God is a great God of love, but wars and sufferings warn us that He cannot endure sin, and that He must and will punish rebellion. They warn us to turn to Him while there is still time, and discover His mercy and converting power.