Evil Attracts Most People
An all-creatures Bible Message

Evil Attracts Most People
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
21 July 2019
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Genesis 1:29
Psalm 52:1-9
Psalm 53:1-6
Matthew 6:10
Colossians 1:24-29
Revelation 21:4

Evil attracts most people may seem to be a harsh statement, but when we look at it closely, we see that it is absolutely true, and if anything, it might even be an understatement.
 
All we have to do is go to Genesis 1:29, which is a definite commandment, and understand that violating a commandment of God is really evil, we prove our point, and just so there is no mistake, let’s take a look at this verse…

29. Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
NASB

And if we couple this verse with what we are told in Revelation 21:4, which describes God’s heavenly intent when He creates the new heaven and earth, we also come to the understanding that it confirms His creation intent, so let’s take a look at this verse, too…

4. and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.
NASB

And just in case some people doubt what we are saying, let’s take a look at the second part of the way Jesus taught us to pray, which is a part of what has become known as the Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:10…

10. 'Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
NASB

And since we have talked about this many times before, this should be nothing new, for it points to us living a vegan lifestyle, but there is much more for we have only talked about what we are to eat.
 
Is not all the violence and warring madness in the world today, and in our recorded past, also a sin against God?
 
Of course it is, and that adds even more people to our number of people who are attracted to evil, and there are many more things that we all could cite that prove that evil attracts most people.
 
With this in mind, let’s take a look at a couple of psalms, and see how the psalmists felt about the fact that evil attracts most people.
 
The first of these is Psalm 52:1-9…

1. Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?
The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.

The way the psalmist couples these verses, it seems to portray the image of  the people who follow the evil ways of this earth flaunting their ways before God, and that this is particularly true with the leaders of this world, which to us includes clergy and politicians.

2. Your tongue devises destruction,
Like a sharp razor, O worker of deceit.

And these kinds of people are causing most of our world problems, because that are defying God openly because they seem to believe that because of their power, they can get away with it.

3. You love evil more than good,
Falsehood more than speaking what is right.
Selah.

Well, we’ve sure heard a lot of this coming from politicians and clergy and the people who follow them.
 
All people and all animals should be able to live in peace with one another in this world, and according to the Lord’s charge to us, we are the ones who are to be ensuring that this is happening, and because so few humans are trying to do this, the world is as corrupt and violent as it is, but there is hope, because over the past 30 years or more, we have seen a slow but steady improvement, so we cannot give up.

4. You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.

And because evil attracts most people, they feel empowered to brag about their evil endeavors, but God sees the intent of the heart.

5. But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up, and tear you away from your tent,
And uproot you from the land of the living.
Selah.

Even though evil attracts most people, they will have to face God’s judgement one day.

6. And the righteous will see and fear,
And will laugh at him, saying,
 
7. "Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But trusted in the abundance of his riches,
And was strong in his evil desire."

The righteous will see and fear because the same thing could happen to them if they turn away from God and have to face His judgement.

8. But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.

This is who we should all be.

9. I will give Thee thanks forever, because Thou hast done it,
And I will wait on Thy name, for it is good, in the presence of Thy godly ones.
NASB

In other words, we need to stay close to others who seek God and His heavenly will in every aspect of their lives.
 
Evil attracts most people and we need to stay away from them.
 
Now let’s take a look at Psalm 53:1-6, which also speaks about the fact that evil attracts most people…

1. The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God,"
They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;
There is no one who does good.

The psalmist even goes further than what we are discussing here; in fact, he is saying that evil attracts everyone, and that no one is good.
 
If we are talking about not being perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect, the psalmist is probably correct, for only the “man” Jesus met that criteria. None of us are that perfect, but by God’s grace we are adopted as children of God who truly seek to live in His heavenly will here on earth as it is in heaven; thus, I don’t believe we are knowingly following the ways of evil.

2. God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men,
To see if there is anyone who understands,
Who seeks after God.

We believe that there are people who God would see, even if the psalmist didn’t believe that there are any.

3. Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.

But we see some people all over the world who seem to be seriously trying to free creation from its present corruption.

4. Have the workers of wickedness no knowledge,
Who eat up My people as though they ate bread,
And have not called upon God?

If no one is righteous, then who are the “My people” that the psalmist was referring to?
 
They must be the same children of God that we are referring to.
 
Yes, the evil people of this world do seek to justify themselves and destroy the children of God who stand as witnesses against them, but they haven’t succeeded, because more and more people are listening to our peaceful message every day.

5. There they were in great fear where no fear had been;
For God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you;
You put them to shame, because God had rejected them.

We can see a perfect example of this in our supermarkets, for we are seeing more and more vegan products every day.

6. Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores His captive people,
Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
NASB

God’s people are now all over the world and not just in Israel, but we are still in the minority, but we are getting stronger and hopefully in the near future we will overcome evil with good.
 
In Colossians 1:24-29, Paul is speaking about himself and his ministry, but in a way his words reflect many of the same feelings we have as Christian vegan animal rights activists, for we live in a world where evil attracts most people, and we must stand as witnesses against them or we also perish along with the millions of people and billions of animals who suffer and die every year.

24. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ's afflictions.

Many people, who used to be “friends” no longer want to have anything to do with us, and many others ostracize us because of our stance on empathetic living for the whole of creation, and particularly because of our concern for the wellbeing of animals and our being vegan.
 
We have also been told that we cannot be Christians because they believe God told them to eat meat, which is against the heavenly will of God; animals are to be our companions and not our food and clothing.

25. Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,

We feel exactly the same way.

26. that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints,

Paul was referring to Jesus, but we are also referring to the compassionate ways of living that Jesus taught us, and which to us points to living a vegan lifestyle.

27. to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

And when people come to Jesus Christ and are filled with the Holy Spirit, they should also be filled with the empathy that would not let us bring harm upon any other living being, which includes both humans and other animals.

28. And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.

We do the same thing, but also believe that being complete in Christ means that we neither do, nor contribute in any way to the corruption of creation, but do everything in our power to free creation from its present corruption.

29. And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
NASB

What we do not understand is that if we collectively feel the same way, why do most Christians still contribute to the suffering of animals and the corruption of creation?
 
We should all be the peacemaking children of God, who live in His heavenly will and do everything in our power to help free creation from its present corruption.
 
We can do it, if we want to.
 
Even if evil attracts most people, we should not be among them; we should take a stand against them.
 
We should be the peacemaking children of God who live in His heavenly will and bring it to earth as it is in heaven.
 
Amen?
 
Amen.

Return to: Sermons Archive