Sermon #1378 Miscellaneous
Notes
Title: THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
Text: Psalm 76:10
Reading: Isaiah 45:1-25
Subject: The
Problem of Evil
Date: Sunday Evening – November 14, 1999[1]
Tape
# V-54a
Introduction:
I have been asked to preach on The Problem Of Evil.
Frankly, it is a subject I probably would never have chosen on my own. I
seriously thought about declining the request altogether, simply because I have
absolutely no interest in indulging the vain curiosities of depraved hearts
about sacred things. But after much thoughtful, prayerful study and
consideration, I believe the Lord has given me a message that will both honor
him and be helpful to you.
Isaiah
45:5-7 "I am
the LORD, and there is none else,
there is no God beside me: I girded
thee, though thou hast not known me: (6) That
they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. (7) I
form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD
do all these things."
Proverbs
16:4 "The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked
for the day of evil."
Psalm
76:10 – “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of
wrath shalt thou restrain.”
The question is often raised, “How did sin and evil arise
in God’s creation?” If God is absolutely sovereign, absolutely holy, and
absolutely good, if he created all things good, how is it that pride was found
in Lucifer’s heart? How were the fallen angels led to rebel against his throne?
How was Adam seduced to sin?
I frankly acknowledge that when I am done preaching there
will be more questions unanswered than answered.
Augustus Toplady
wrote, “The origin of evil…is the most difficult question, perhaps, and the
most mysterious part of the divine conduct that ever presented itself to human
investigation. Clouds and darkness are the seat of its residence; though
wisdom, goodness, and justice, were certainly (in a manner unknown to us) the
motives to its permission.”
Yet, the existence of evil is a problem which vexes our
minds continually. We must, whenever considering such a subject, at once, as
Toplady put it, “clip the wings of curiosity.” Knowing that God is not the
author of sin, and that he never tempts any to evil (James 1:13-17), knowing
that nothing comes to pass without his all-wise decree, the matter cannot be
resolved in a more God honoring way than to use the words of our Lord as the
expression of submissive faith, “Even so,
Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.”
We bow
before God in reverent submission, and confess, “Lord, we are darkness. You are
light. We are ignorance. You are Wisdom. We are but creatures. You are our
Creator. We see nothing, know nothing, and understand nothing clearly. You see
all things, know all things, and understand all things perfectly.” Before him
of whom are all things, we acknowledge our utter ignorance. We are, ought to
be, and must be content to wait until our souls are freed from the influence of
evil in the world above to know the mind and purpose of God in permitting the
evil which here perplexes our minds. Still, two things we know by divine
revelation.
1.
“All things are of God!”
That is
Bible language (2 Cor. 5:18). Everything God does, or permits others to do, is
to show forth the greatness of his glory
(Rom. 11:33-36; Eph. 1:11-12; Rev. 5:13).
O
the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable [are] his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or
who hath been his counsellor? Or who
hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him,
[are] all things: to whom [be] glory for ever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will:
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in
Christ. (Ephesians 1:11-12)
And every creature which is in heaven, and on
the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in
them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, [be] unto him
that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. (Revelation 5:13)
It
appears, then, that the perfections
of God could not have been so gloriously revealed as they now are in Christ,
had evil never been permitted to enter the universe. God all-wise
permits sin and evil so that he may use it and overrule it to his own praise
(Psa. 76:10).
·
Had sin never been permitted, how could the justice of God be known in
punishing it?
·
Had evil never existed, how could the wisdom of God be seen overruling
it?
·
Had sin never entered the world, how could the goodness of God be made
manifest in pardoning and forgiving it?
·
Had there never been any wickedness in God’s creation, how could the
power of God be revealed in subduing it?
2.
“All things work together for” the eternal good of God’s elect.
Without
question, all evil in the world is included in the “all things” which work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28-30).
And
we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to [his] purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he
called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also
glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)
The presence of sin in God’s
universe is either according to God’s will, or contrary to it. It is here
either because he wills it, or because he is unable to prevent it.
The fact is, the fall of our father Adam, and the entrance of sin into the world by him, was one of the countless links of providence essential to Christ’s incarnation, life, death, and resurrection as our Substitute for the redemption of our souls.
To
suggest (as many ignorantly do) that the fall was not purposed by God, is to
assert that the incarnation, birth, life, death, resurrection, and glory of
Christ, and the salvation of his people by virtue of his obedience as our
Substitute, is all, from beginning to end, the result of chance, luck, or blind
fate. That, of course, is as absurd as it is blasphemous.
Proposition: All evil in God’s creation exists by the
will and purpose of God for the everlasting glory of his own great name and the
eternal good of his elect.
I.
The evil that is in God’s
universe is here by God’s purpose, design, and sovereign decree.
I know religious infidels, people who imagine that they are smarter, wiser, and holier than God, hoot and holler, and get all bent out of shape, when they hear anything like that; but that is just the way it is.
It does not matter whether we talk about moral evil, social evil, physical evil, or evil under any other name, either it is here by accident, or by purpose. Either God rules evil, or he is ruled by evil. There is no alternative. The Book of God tells us plainly that our God is God in control, absolute control of all things.
· The Cussing of Shemei
· The Evil Spirit from the Lord upon Saul
· The Fall of Lucifer (Isa. 14:24-27)
The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, [so] shall it stand: (Isaiah 14:24)
This [is] the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this [is] the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul [it]? and his hand [is] stretched out, and who shall turn it back? (Isaiah 14:26-27)
Hear the Word of God!
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [things]. (Isaiah 45:7)
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:17)
God did not say to Adam, “If you eat.” He said, “In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” The fall of our father Adam was by divine design.
A. God’s purpose of grace is hinted and pictured in the
creation, ruin, and recreation of the world (Gen. 1:1-3).
In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void;
and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters. And God said,
Let there be light: and there was light.
(Genesis 1:1-3)
B. Adam’s fall as the federal head of all men was
designed by God to be a type and picture, as well as a preparation for, the
redemption of God’s elect by Christ, our Federal Head and Covenant Surety (Rom.
5:12, 18-19).
Wherefore[2],
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned:
(Romans 5:12)
Therefore as by the offence of one [judgment
came] upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [the
free gift came] upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were
made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Romans 5:18-19)
1. Adam knew what he was doing,
when he plunged into sin. – So did our Savior.
2. He did it because of his
love for his wife. – So did Christ!
3. He did it as a
representative man. – So did Son of God.
II.
All sin and evil in the
universe is under God’s total, absolute control and serving his wise and holy
purpose of grace in Christ (Ps. 76:10).
Surely
the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou
restrain. (Psalms 76:10)
Let’s see if this is not obvious, by just a casual glance
at some of the facts revealed in Scripture which are most commonly known to
men. I am going to point out some horribly evil acts performed by men. These
are acts for which the people involved were each personally responsible. Yet,
they are things wisely ordained, ruled, and overruled by our heavenly Father
for the salvation of his people and the glory of his dear Son as our Savior.
1. Lot’s incest gave us Ruth,
the Moabite grandmother of our Savior.
2. Joseph’s brothers’ betrayal
of him set him on the throne of Egypt to save his people.
3. David’s sin in the matter of
Uriah, gave us Solomon, through whom Christ came into the world.
4. Judas’ kiss of betrayal was
God’s means of delivering his Son into the hands of the Jews.
5. Pilate’s weakness delivered
our Savior over to the will of reprobate men.
6. It was by the will of
God-hating rebels that the Lord of glory was crucified upon the cursed tree as
our Substitute, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God (Acts
2:23).
There
is no greater display of God’s total sovereignty over even the wicked deeds of
men than in the actions of reprobate men, religious men, politically powerful
men, and drunk, harlots, and thieves, in crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let me show you (Mk. 14:1-2).
Mark 14:1-2 "After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief
priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. (2) But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people."
In these two verses of
Inspiration the Holy Spirit shows us that the
Lord our God is the God who can be trusted.
Here is a glaring contrast between the God
of the Bible and the gods of men. The gods of religion want to do things,
desire to do things, and try to do things, but are unable to accomplish them
because of the works of the devil and the wills of men. The God of the Bible,
the only true God, our God and heavenly Father never wants what to do, desires
to do, or tries to do anything except what he does. He is a God in whom we can
be confident, a God who can be trusted implicitly, because he always has he way
and does as he will.
In
these first two verses of ark 14, we have a very clear example of God’s total
sovereignty and omnipotent power to accomplish his will. He who truly is God over all and blessed forever always has his way.
Here we see our great God disappointing the plans and designs of wicked men,
overruling their wills and decisions to accomplish his own eternal purpose of
grace in predestination. Our Lord’s enemies did not want his death to be a
public spectacle. Repeatedly, they tried to stone him to death, throw him off a
cliff, or in some other way murder him without the common people being aware of
what they had done. Notice the words of our text - “The chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by
craft, and put him to death.” But that was not what God had purposed.
Therefore, in his wise and adorable providence, he simply overruled their
schemes. God defeated their counsel and performed his own.
It was the purpose of God from eternity that the Lord Jesus Christ must
be lifted up upon the cursed tree and crucified as a cursed man as our
Substitute. There
was no way possible for God to be both just and the Justifier of chosen sinners
except by his own dear Son dying in our room and stead as our substitute. His
justice must be satisfied. Else, he could not forgive sin. Christ alone, the
God-man Mediator, could satisfy the justice of God for us.
Yet,
in order to fulfil the Scriptures, our Savior must die “according to the Scriptures.” You will recall that our Savior
often said, with reference to his sin-atoning death at Calvary, “The Scriptures must be fulfilled” (v.
49). In other words, the Lord Jesus must be betrayed by his own familiar friend
for thirty pieces of silver, crucified by the hands of Gentiles at the
insistence of the Jews, without a single bone in his body being broken, yet
having his heart pierced. He must be numbered with transgressors in his death,
mocked, beaten, spit upon, and stripped in public humiliation. And the soldiers
who crucified him must cast lots to see which one would get his garment.
All
these things were prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures. But “the
chief priests and scribes sought how they might take him by craft and put him
to death.” That presented no problem to God Almighty! His counsel stood
firm. His purpose was fulfilled. God’s will always prevails. His purpose was
accomplished by these very men (Acts 2:23). Christ was crucified at Calvary
exactly as God had purposed from eternity.
“Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath
shalt thou restrain.” The chief priests and scribes thought they would put an end to Christ’s
kingdom by killing him; but they were actually instruments in God’s hands for
the erection and building of his kingdom. When they did, with vile hearts, have
the Lord Jesus crucified, they thought they would vilify him and make him a
laughing stock; but God used them to make his name glorious. The Jews thought
they would scare his disciples into silence by killing our Master; but God used
their wicked deeds to embolden his disciples in preaching the gospel.
I want you to
understand that our God is in control of this world, absolutely in control of
it (Ps.
76:10).
That God, and that God alone, who is in absolute, total control of the
entire universe, we can and should trust with implicit confidence in all things
and with all things. The Word of God, the promises of God, the prophecies of Holy Scripture
are all utterly meaningless unless our God is the God who rules everything,
whose will is always performed, whose purpose stands fast, whose thoughts are
irresistible!
Here is the basis of our faith and the
foundation of our comfort - Our God is in control, as fully in control of
Satan, the demons of hell, and the thoughts and deeds of wicked men as he is of
the angels about his throne. We live in a world of woe. We are often tossed
to and fro in this world, confused and perplexed by many things. Let us ever
rest ourselves in our God. “All things
are of God.” All things are ordered by our heavenly Father for our good.
All things are arranged by God’s infinite wisdom and omnipotent arm for his
glory. Nothing is beyond his dominion.
Look to Calvary and laugh at those will worshippers who vainly imagine
that the events of this world are ordered not by the will of almighty God but
by the wills of puny men! I often hear preachers and others say, “God will never interfere with
the will of man.” Our text gives the lie to that notion. It was the will of
these men that Christ be put to death secretly. But God willed that he be
crucified in due time for the ungodly. Consider this and think. God would not
allow these wicked men to kill his Son when they wanted to, the way they wanted
to, or in the place they wanted. However, he did permit them to kill his Son
exactly according to the malice of their hearts. Yet, he used their sinful
malice to accomplish his purpose of grace in the redemption of his people,
exactly as he had purposed from eternity. Read carefully those things written
in Acts 2:22-23, 4:27-28, and 13:28-30.
Acts
2:22-23 "Ye men of Israel, hear these words;
Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and
signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: (23) Him, being delivered by the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain:"
Acts
4:27-28 "For of a truth against thy holy child
Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the
Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, (28) For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done."
Acts
13:28-30 "And though they found no cause of death
in him, yet desired they Pilate that
he should be slain. (29) And when
they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. (30) But
God raised him from the dead:"
If
the god you trust can be controlled, hindered, or even influenced by you, by
Satan, or by all the powers of earth and hell, then the god you trust is no God
at all, and you are an idolater. Our God is not a spectator or even a
competitor in this world. He is the Ruler of it. Salvation is knowing him, the
only true and living God as he is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ his Son,
the God-man, our Savior (John 17:3). He who is our God is the God, the only God
you can trust.
7. It was the rejection of the
gospel by the Jews which has sent the gospel to us (Rom. 9-11).
I see murder, rape, adultery, abortion, drunkenness, envy, jealousy, greed, racism, pornography, war, idolatry, homosexuality, incest, fornication, the abandonment of families by selfish, self-loving men and women, the murder of children by their parents, and the murder of parents by their children. These are great evils. These are the evils that perplex most people. But I have to deal with a far greater problem, with far more confusion evils than these.
The evil that is in me is far more disturbing than the evil around me. Yet, this, too, is according to God’s purpose and is under God’s control. Were it his purpose to do so, God almighty could destroy the influence of sin and eradicate it from his people as easily now as he shall when he takes us to glory. But he has not chosen to do so.
The Lord has fixed it so that as long as we are in this world, his people will have to struggle and fight with sin, sin within. As long as we are here, we are a people at war with ourselves (Rom. 7:14-23). And this is best. God has arranged things this way for good reasons.
· To Make Us Humble.
· To Teach Us To Be Kind, Gracious, and Forgiving.
· To Keep Us Looking to Christ.
· To Keep Us Aware that Salvation is by Grace Alone.
· To Wean Us of This World.
III.
All the evil that is in us
and all the evil there is in God’s creation will, in the end, redound to the
everlasting praise of our God and to the everlasting happiness of his people.
I do not pretend to know the details of how he will do it; but this I do know – OUR GOD WILL PUT ALL CHRIST’S ENEMIES UNDER HIS FEET AND WIPE ALL TEARS FROM OUR EYES.
When all things that must be have been there will be no
regrets in the world of the redeemed. Everything shall give praise to our God
and yield everlasting happiness to our hearts. Christ shall be triumphant at
last. Satan, the demons of hell, wicked men, and all evil shall prove the
goodness of our God as surely as songs of the heavenly angels.
·
Christ shall make the evil good by his blood atonement
·
He shall turn the evil to good by his omnipotent grace.
·
Our God shall turn the evil to good in the day called the “restitution
of all things.”
Repent
ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the
times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which
before was preached unto you: Whom the
heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God
hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:19-21)
Revelation 4:9-11 And when those beasts give
glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever
and ever, The four and twenty elders
fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for
ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory
and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure
they are and were created.
Revelation 5:11-14 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many
angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of
them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the
Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and
honour, and glory, and blessing. And
every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and
such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and
honour, and glory, and power, [be] unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and
unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And
the four beasts said, Amen. And the four [and] twenty elders fell down and
worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.
Revelation 19:1-6 And after these things I heard a great voice
of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour,
and power, unto the Lord our God: For
true and righteous [are] his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore,
which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of
his servants at her hand. And again
they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four
beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen;
Alleluia. And a voice came out of the
throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both
small and great. And I heard as it
were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as
the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth.
Revelation 21:1-4 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for
the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more
sea. And I John saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. And I heard a great voice
out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will
dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them, [and be] their God. And God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the
former things are passed away.
AMEN.