Evil Works Against God
An all-creatures Bible Message

Evil Works Against God
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
21 August 2016
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Psalm 103:1-14
Isaiah 5:13-23

Evil works against God and His heavenly will, causing immense pain, suffering, and death upon this earth for millions of humans and billions of animals every year.
 
God calls upon us to help free creation from its present corruption, but unfortunately most people only seem to want to corrupt it further and are indifferent to how their evil works against their own best interests.
 
Psalm 103:1-14 begins as a psalm of praise and then switches to one of looking at who we are in the sight of God. Are we children of God, or are we following the corrupt ways of this world and just watching how our evil works against God and His heavenly will?
 
Or perhaps many of us just don’t care; let’s see…

1. Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.

This is the way we should be if we are fully dedicated to the Lord our God.

2. Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
 
3. Who pardons all your iniquities;
Who heals all your diseases;

The Bible plainly shows us that God is able to do all these things, but He does not always do this, as happened with David.
 
God did not pardon the iniquity of David for killing Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba; He forgave him, but He did not pardon him, for He would not allow David to build the Temple because of the blood on his hands, and He did not heal the baby of David’s adulterous affair with Bathsheba.
 
David’s evil worked against the way God wanted and trusted him to be, just as our evil works against God and our own best interest.

4. Who redeems your life from the pit;
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

God will certainly do this for all truly repentant people, but he doesn’t do this for unrepentant sinners whose evil works against His heavenly will.

5. Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
 
6. The LORD performs righteous deeds,
And judgments for all who are oppressed.

The Lord does all of these things for the truly repentant children of God.

7. He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the sons of Israel.

Yes, He did; but most of the people failed to heed the word of the Lord, and continued following the corrupt ways of this world, and as we can see from reading the Biblical history, evil works against God and our own best interests.

8. The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.

Unfortunately, most people live like they expect this kind of treatment from God no matter what they do, or how far they stray from His heavenly will, but there comes a time when He just has had enough of this worldly attitude.

9. He will not always strive with us;
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
 
10. He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

However, looking at all the corrupt and evil actions going on in the world, it appears that we are at the tipping point, and God is about to act.
 
Just look around the world: at our warring madness, at the disastrous weather conditions, at the horrible way we are treating animals, and at all the new diseases that we don’t have cures for; our evil works against God and our own best interests.

11. For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.

Or, reverence Him, and they represent a relatively small percentage of our population; for most people are living in the corrupt and evil ways of this world.

12. As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

The problem is that most people take their transgressions back, and even do more evil and corrupt things.

13. Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

Or, as we said, those who reverence Him.

14. For He Himself knows our frame;
He is mindful that we are but dust.
NASB

This is very true, but at the same time He is also very much aware of our corrupt and evil actions.
 
We all need to wake up to the corrupt and evil things that our human society is doing in the world around us, and do everything in our power to end it, by repenting and changing our own ways, and encouraging others to do the same, for we all need to be true children of God in the sight of God and each other.
 
Now, let’s take a look at Isaiah 5:13-23 and see whether he is addressing the children of God, or those who perform evil works against God and their own best interests.

13. Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge;
And their honorable men are famished,
And their multitude is parched with thirst.

The people that Isaiah is talking about are the Israelites who lack the knowledge of God’s heavenly will.
 
They’re famished and thirsty because their evil works against God and their own best interest, and Isaiah is trying to wake them up.

14. Therefore, Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure;
And Jerusalem's splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry, and the jubilant within her, descend into it.

Sheol is hell, and Isaiah is telling the people and us today that our evil and worldly ways will descend into hell.

15. So the common man will be humbled, and the man of importance abased,
The eyes of the proud also will be abased.

The proud people of this world are those who follow the evil ways of the devil and his minion (both demonic and human) who have corrupted this world, and they will be brought down, but those people who desire to live in God’s heavenly will here on earth as it is in heaven, where there is no pain or death for humans or animals; they will be raised up.

16. But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in judgment,
And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.
 
17. Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture,
And strangers will eat in the waste places of the wealthy.
 
18. Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood,
And sin as if with cart ropes;

These are the kinds of things that we are going to start seeing as God’s anger burns against the people who deliberately go against the heavenly will of God, and continue to corrupt this world with their evilness.

19. Who say, "Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it;
And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near
And come to pass, that we may know it!"

People say they don’t know the presence of God, because they have rejected Him and His heavenly will in favor of the corrupt ways of this world, and we believe that the only thing these people are going to see is the doors of hell opening for them.
 
Their evil works against God.

20. Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;,
Who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
 
21. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And clever in their own sight!
 
22. Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine,
And valiant men in mixing strong drink;
 
23. Who justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!
NASB

These are the people who have corrupted God’s once peaceful creation, and caused so much pain, suffering, bloodshed, and death to millions of humans and billions of animals every year; their evil works against God and His heavenly will.
 
We all need to take a strong stand against these evil and corrupt people, and at the same time do everything in our power to free creation from its present corruption.
 
If we sit back and do nothing, the evil will only get worse.
 
We can make this a kinder and gentler world, if we want to.
 
Amen.

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