Our team, Marshall Smithson, John McCarty, Victor Connell and Michael Friesen departed Little Rock on the 15^th of January 2010 at 12:40 PM on a Continental Flight to Houston, TX where we boarded a 22 hour flight, via Moscow, to Singapore aboard Singapore Air.  After spending a short period of time in Singapore we boarded a Silk Air flight to Myanmar (Burma) and arrived at 9:40 am, Burma time, where we were met by Henry Lyann and his wife Ni Ni.  Henry had our reservations at the Mi Casa where we spent the night before boarding a government flight to Kalaymyo early the next morning.

Upon arrival in Kalaymyo we were welcomed by the Kalaymyo and Kamawi Bible church members, along with Stephen from the Myanmar for Christ Bible School of Kalaymyo, Sui Sui of the children’s day school and others.  The evening of our arrival, which was Monday, we attended a welcome service at the Emmanuel Theological Seminary and enjoyed the entertainment and all the festivities they provide whenever we come to Kalaymyo.

On Tuesday we went to Steven’s Myanmar for Christ Bible School where we spent the morning getting to know the students and having them share their testimonies and prayer request for their future ministries.  In the afternoon Marshall introduced them to Spurgeon’s catechism and John McCarty taught them about making their calling and election sure.  Vic Connell went to Emmanuel Theological Seminary where he taught on the book of John.  Michael spent part of the day with Steven’s Son Tong Tong and taught some songs to the students at the Bible School.  Wednesday, the following day we switched places.  At Emmanuel Theological Seminary we spend the morning getting to know the students and in the afternoon Marshall introduced the students to Spurgeon’s catechism and John McCarty taught on the Attributes of God.  Of course Vic Connell taught at Steven’s Bible school on the book of John.  That evening we attended the midweek service they had in a church member’s home.  We didn’t preach or teach because we wanted to experience their worship time and community group meeting.  Henry preached, Michael sang and it was a wonderful time of worship and fellowship.

Marshall and John both had the same vision for our ministry and time in Kalaymyo.  We both felt the need to get to know the members of the Bible Churches by spending time fellowshipping with them in their homes and in their churches.  After telling Henry what we wanted, he quickly began to catch the vision we shared.  We visited 47 homes which represented the entire membership of both Bible Churches.  Without a doubt this was the most profitable, enjoyable and meaningful time that we’ve had since we first began ministering in Kalaymyo.  We visited their churches, their homes, ate at their tables, prayed for their sick, and toured their villages, their fishponds, and their farm land.  Most of these families could hardly believe that we wanted to come into their homes.  Several of them said that there had never been white missionaries who wanted to visit with them in their homes.  Others stated that the white missionaries didn’t want to touch them because they thought they were dirty.  Still others said that if the white missionaries touched them they would immediately take out their hand sanitizer which made them feel dirty.  It is difficult to put into words how we felt after being told such things.  One man said that their homes were nothing more than shacks and that we lived in really nice homes so why would we even want to visit theirs.  Our only response was that we didn’t care about their homes but that we did care about and love them.  At the end of our day of visiting we made one more important stop at the Kalaymyo Bible Church orphanage.  The children sang; quoted verses and we ate more fruit.  Needless to say, that at the end of the day, after eating fruit in 45 homes and one orphanage we were about to explode.

The news that we had actually gone into their homes and ate at their tables spread like wildfire throughout the surrounding areas and everyone began asking the Bible Church members what was going on, all of which opened doors, not only for us, but for them to share the gospel that did not exist before.  God had really paved the way for us to forge some real and lasting relationships with the Saints in Kalaymyo.  I’ve never seen the people loosen up or become so affectionate in the past, but it was the following day that really set a precedent for future trips.

Early Friday morning we boarded a rented bus, which had to make two trips to pick up all the church members, including us.  We have seen and observed buses loaded to the max, inside and out several times but never, ever thought we’d be on one, in the middle of and surrounded by so many people.  The bus, although it was top heavy, headed for the Chin River some ten miles up into the Chin Mountains.  After arriving at our destination we spent the entire day on what we here would call a church wide picnic. The river water cascading down out of the Chin Mountains was cold and crystal clear. We had live chickens which were to be our noon meal, along with rice, freshwater crab, and fish which we caught basket fishing.  Since it would take a long time to explain basket fishing just let me say it was our first experience and it was a lot of fun.  We ate, swam, prayed, sang, threw one another in the river….several times….and just had a wonderful time of fellowship together.  We were able to see these lovely and wonderful people as they live and played and were honored to have been a part of their lives, even if it was for such a short time.

We had Saturday morning free, but went to Sui Sui’s children’s home and visited with her, her husband and family.   That afternoon we spent some time enjoying the people, touring the town and visiting friends we had met in past years. That evening Michael and Henry preached at Kalaymyo Bible Church.

Sunday morning Vic Connell when to Pastor Kai’s church and preached on the resurrection out of the book of John.  John and Marshall preached at Kalaymyo Bible Church, while Michael sang a special number with Sarah.   Sunday afternoon after lunch at Meng Meng Nu’s home, we met with the pastor’s of Kalaymyo Bible Church and shared with them that we wished to help purchase the material they needed to build a shed to secure their generator.  We also let them know that we wanted to purchase a keyboard for their worship services.  In addition we said we’d be leaving each pastor a personal gift of $100.00 to help with their families needs.

Sunday evening we went to Kamawi Bible Church where Victor preached on the resurrection out of the book of John and Team Burma sang a special for the congregation.  We belted out “Come Thou Fount” then Michael sang a duet with Sarah.  Following the service we met with the two Pastors’s of Kamawi Bible Church and let them know that we wished to give them $500.00 to help finish the addition they had started on their building.   In addition we gave the pastor’s a personal gift of $100.00 each to help with their personal needs.

For the Kalaymyo Bible Church we provided a thousand dollars so they could purchase rice for the church members during the year and $500.00 was given to the Kamawi Bible church for the same purpose.  $1000.00 was also given to provide rice for the children in the Kalaymyo Bible Church orphanage and a $100.00 personal gift to Ester Nu for all the hard work she does in taking care of so many children.

Monday morning was a sad, but joyful time in that we were making our departure but almost every member of the two bible churches were there to see us off.  We had a great hour or two of fellowship, taking pictures, sharing thoughts about the importance of relationships within the body of Christ.  The Chin people are very affectionate and love to touch and feel the skin and hair of the big white guys.  They told us we were the only white missionaries that didn’t pull away when they touched us.  Until now they were actually afraid to make any personal contact with whites.   Finally it was time to board the plane for our trip back to Yangon and our departure wasn’t without tears.

As we left Kalaymyo, we sensed our mission had been accomplished, although we didn’t know what God had in store for us in Yangon.  Once arriving back at the Mi Casa we rested the remainder of the evening.  Tuesday thru Friday John and Marshall taught at B.E.S.T. and Victor taught at Moses and Michaels.  Michael Friesen alternated between B.E.S.T. and the other schools and orphanages.  Michael was stripped of his man badge when he told us he wanted to call his mother to ask her what to do about head lice.  We were able to procure the meds he needed to deal with the situation and needless to say he was razed by Victor for a number of days, but Michael did manage to earn his man badge back after playing the piano, a Yamaha no less, at the exclusive Traders Restaurant in downtown Yangon.  We believe our time at B.E.S.T. was well spent in that both John and Marshall’s topics meshed very well.  We believe the students profited from what they were taught regarding the character and nature of God.  Betty Thomas’s book on the attributes of God will be a real asset to the school as well as the other books we were able to take them.

Saturday morning we visited Neih Chum and Ruth’s Victory Bible Institute and visited with the students.  Later we toured the future site of B.E.S.T. Seminary, prayed over the land and about the future ministry there.  That evening Henry and Ni Ni took us to an open air restaurant by a beautiful lake which we really enjoyed although rice was beginning to be less than desirable.

Sunday Morning we all went different directions and preached in different churches.  Marshall went to Joseph’s, John went to Henry Mang’s, Victor went to Michael’s and Michael Friesen went to B.E.S.T.  Without a doubt, Michael was a real asset to our team.  He is multi talented and has a wonderful way with people.  We would be proud to have him on any of our teams.

Sunday evening we saw a few sights, ate in a really nice restaurant, which was Henry and Ni Ni’s treat and toured a Pagoda in downtown Yangon.

Monday morning Marshall paid our final bill at the Mi Casa before leaving for the Airport.  We left Henry and Ni Ni a gift of $1000.00 and gave them the rest of the money to be dispersed as already noted in this report.  That afternoon we said our good byes to Henry and Ni Ni and got on the plane for our long, sleepless 48 hour trip back home.

Before beginning this trip our team spent many weeks in prayer about every detail we could think of and asked God to direct our steps.  We truly feel that our God not only blessed beyond anything we could ever ask or think but added to it good measure, pressed down and running over.

This is our report and this is the way it was in Burma, January 2010.

Marshall Smithson, Burma Missions Director for Foothills Bible Church
John McCarty, Pastor and Team Member:  Foothills Bible Church
Victor Connell, Pastor and Team Member:  Enola Baptist Church
Michael Friesen, Musician and Team Member:  Redeemer Community Church

Because this is a long post, I’ll send it in two parts. I do hope you’ll have the time
to read the comments. Some areas I covered a bit more, namely, the Holocaust,
Crusades,and Bosnia/Serbia.

Here is the initial statement: (I think this was from Neal S on/about 8 September)
“Christianity was once embroiled with as much violence as Islam. It took many centuries and
many, many great people to lead it to where it is today. Lets all pray that Islam hurries on its
course to become a religion of tolerance and peace. The world will be a better place when all
are free to express their faith and ideas without the fear of persecution. ”

Does anyone have any primary source citations proving that past violence of Christians equals
that of Muslims? Further, to hold out hope that the Muslims will have great leaders bringing
this religion to peace flies in the face of every authoritative writing in Islam. The writings of
Islam show it cannot head toward a religion of peace. Why? It would no longer be Islam.
“Death to infidels!” means you unless you are a Muslim and the right kind at that. Beginning
with Muhammad himself, it has been conversion through any means. (America is the “great
satan” because we are perceived as Christian.)

Sidebar: There are some peaceful Muslims such as the Suffis. They, too, have been and will
be targets of the adherents to the teachings of the Qu’ran.

The New Testament from Matthew through Revelation promotes peace even at the expense
of one’s life. In the past 250-300 years the church around the world has condemned
violence. Notice I did not say no violence has been done in the name of Christianity in the
past 300 years.

I want to begin by saying, quite clearly, that I do not deny in any manner, that, around the
world, atrocities have been committed while using the name Christian. Absolutely that has
happened and to the shame and sorrow of the Church universal.

If one is not a Jew and not a Muslim, one is not automatically a Christian. One is not a
Christian because he is born in a purportedly Christian nation. Wouldn’t the USA be a glaring
example of that? One is not a Christian by birth because one or both parents are Christian.
They may be but this is never the reason the offspring may be a Christian. Being a gentile is
not synonymous with Christian. Because I’ve run into this assumption so frequently I thought
it important to clarify this. I’ve often met people who identify themselves as Christians who,
when asked, have no clue what it even means biblically to be a Christian. This is an
important issue in understanding how a national, civil or ethnic, racial/cleansing war can at
some point be morphed into a “Christian aggression.” A nation can be seen as “Christian”
when that is often not the case at all.

Holocaust:

I’m surprised that there are any gentiles or nominal Christians who actually may believe that
Christians were responsible for the Holocaust. Yes, some were complicit with the Nazis. As
there were some Jews who were complicit. Yet I don’t recall anyone accusing the Jews of
causing the Holocaust (though Nazi types would say they brought it on themselves).

We know about the 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust. Unfortunately, history only
carries a small footnote that 3 million plus Christians were killed, too. Being a gypsy, gay,
retarded, against Hitler in any way or a Christian spelled doom. Here I would like to add that
we need to be aware that there were many churches “nationalized,” taken over by the Nazis,
which some people overlook when they try to assert Christians were the pivotal factor in the
Holocaust.

If anyone believes that Hitler himself was a Christian, I would point you to his disavowment
of Christianity, his embracing of satanism and the occult, etc. There is massive documentation
that proves this out but still some folks hold to this falsehood.

Consider this please:

“It is through the peasantry that we shall really be able to destroy Christianity because there
is in them a true religion rooted in nature and blood. One is either a Christian or a German.
One can’t be both.” (Christianity on Trial: Arguments Against Anti-Religious Bigotry.
Carroll and Shiflett. 2002. Encounter Books. Page 115)

Did you recognize the accent? That was Hitler in 1933.

Makes it hard to believe that the Christians were the power behind the throne or the drive and
motivation for the Holocaust considering Hitler’s determination to wipe out the Christians in
Germany. However, I want to pointedly say that there were those involved who identified
themselves as Christians of some stripe.

The long history of anti-Semitism within the church had to have added to the atmosphere in
which the Third Reich could grow. The “anti-Semitism” in some and even many early
Christians has historically been religious and not racial. The anti-Semitism of the Nazis
was race-based. To be clear, I am not excusing any Christian anti-Semitism no matter what
drove it but this fact is nearly always not known or overlooked. When the issue of Christian involvement in any aggressions comes up there is nearly
always wide-ranging ambiguity historically and nebulous numbers abound. Also, it would
be unique to hear a view that includes the expansive good that has been done worldwide by Christians, more than all other religions combined.

The Christian Crusades: The majority of histories of the crusades start with “The First
Crusade.” It then follows that it is seen as the first of many Christian aggressions against
Islam. But historical facts strongly show that the crusades began with Islam which, from its
very inception, pursued conversion through aggressive conquest.

Muslims invaded Christian lands and began slaughtering Christians — men, women,
children. That was the beginning. From Muhammad’s first razzia, the prevailing Christian
view was that the wars were to be in defense of Christendom or to liberate and reconquer
lands that were rightfully theirs.

The outcome was that both sides suffered tremendous losses. To toss out an assertion as if
the Crusades were nothing but Christians performing atrocities is not only without substance
but, to say the least, ill-informed.

Am I condoning the Crusades? Not on the whole. What? That’s right. If your family were
being run out of their home, their land, tortured and slaughtered would you want soldiers to
go in to try to rescue them? I sure would. I’d be riding the first horse.

Histories on the sack of Jerusalem in 1099 had the Muslim death figure upwards of 70,000.
In the past decade, a document has been uncovered and verified that puts that figure at 3,000
not 70,000. By the way, this is a Muslim document. (Jonathan Riley-Smith in First Things,
March 2000, 20-23. Cited in Christianity on Trial: Arguments Against Anti-Religious
Bigotry. Carroll & Shiflett. Encounter Books. 2002. p.92)

The Salem Witch Trials: depending upon which document one reads, anywhere from
16-21 people were killed. Murdered, actually. Yes, those calling themselves Christians were
responsible for that. Rarely do we read the death figures though and even more rarely do
we read that it was balanced Christians who stopped these murderers. It’s always curious
to me when I ask “How many ‘witches’ were hanged?” The answers range from a red-faced
“I don’t know” to “Hundreds” or “Thousands.” One death is one too many and egregious
but I’m all for getting the facts as straight as possible.

Serbia/Bosnia: Please study the long history of these lands and peoples. This was
nationalism and racism. The Serbs are terrible for it. These were racially motivated ethnic
cleansings. The Serbs are basically Greek orthodox who wanted to lay claim to sections of
Bosnia. The Bosnians are a mix of Muslims and Catholics.

The Greek Orthodox were attacking the Christians as much as they were attacking the
Muslims. Thousands of lives were lost as Clinton delayed and delayed acting on the
European request for help. He delayed about 6 years and finally sent in some Cruise
missiles, bombed Belgrade and peace negotiations began with the UN peace keeper
stepping in. Note: this request for help was against Serbia and not against the
Christians, as claimed in one of the responses.

The Wars of the Roses: Civil war between two houses. This was not a religious war. This
was about power and the throne of England with the houses of Lancaster and York duking it
out for over 30 years. The Lancastrian victory gave the House of Tudor rule over England
and Wales for 116 years.

Inquisition: To this day the name Torquemada chills the blood. A travesty against humanity.
Henry Kamen, who has spent a lifetime studying the Golden Age of Spain, wrote in 1998 in
The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision (Yale University Press,1998), pp.59-60.
that it is likely that over three-quarters of those who perished during the three hundred years of the Inquisition did so in the first half-century. I found this interesting,too: It is unlikely that more than
2,000 people were executed for heresy by the Inquisition.

Here’s something of interest: The Spanish crown introduced the Inquisition. The Catholic
church was not even robustly behind it. Kamen (cited earlier) says there is much to be
said for the argument that Ferdinand wished to use it to consolidate his power. (Kamen, 45)
Pope Sixtus IV was quickly alarmed by events in Spain and issued a papal bull against the
Inquisition but Ferdinand reacted so strongly that the Pope backed down. So much for
courage. It was after that that Torquemada was appointed. Evidence shows that for the
next half-century, the Catholic church made several attempts to interfere in jurisdiction
and to reform abuses. (Kamen, 50) This is no doubt the reason that 75% of the deaths
happened in the first half-century.

American Indians: Yes, certainly this was heart-wrenching (and the exposure to small pox
was devastating to Indians) There were many Christians who gave their lives aiding the
Indians. Such things are usually, and more likely often, overlooked when detracting
assertions are made.

While I’ve barely touched on the assertions, I hope this will provide some food for thought
and perhaps encourage us to seek out primary sources such as Vincent Carroll and
David Shiflett who authored Christianity on Trial: Arguments Against Anti-Christian
Bigotry (2002). This is a superb work, heavily documented and nearly all sources are secular
historians.

Many scholars consider Jaroslav Pelikan a quintessential source though his work on
church history, while extensive, covers doctrine, etc. There are many excellent primary
sources on the Holocaust and Hitler. David A Rausch, PhD and Irwin Lutzer both have
excellent material. I would also like to mention my hero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran
pastor, who was executed immediately after the declaration that the war had ended. He was
heavily involved with other Christians with plans to stop Hitler. Does anyone know of Pastor
Martin Niemoller? Corrie ten Boom, her father and sister? My heroes. Protestant pastor,
Andre Trocme and his village Le Chambon-sur-Lignon in France. The village saved 5,000 Jews.
Some more of my heroes.

The Problem of Evil
By Cary Cox

Why does evil exist? If God is all-powerful and infinitely good, why doesn’t he get rid of the devil? If God is all-knowing, why did he create Lucifer, knowing that he would fall into sin and become the devil? Why doesn’t God do away with suffering? These are questions that have perplexed people in all generations.

The Purpose of God

The key to understanding the solution to the problem of evil is by understanding the purpose of God. God is not caught in a problem. He has never been surprised. God “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11b), which means that all things happen because God willed it; ordained it to happen. God does or allows all things that happen, for an infinitely good and wise purpose. And the Bible informs us what this grand purpose is.

God’s purpose is God’s glory. This is the revelation that makes the whole Bible make sense. God is all about showing off the wonders of his glory, the beauty of his excellencies, to all the universe. God is absolutely and totally devoted to the honor of his glorious name. This is not arrogant. It is true, and it is good and right. If God were devoted to anything else he would be an idolater (by setting his affection on something other than the one true God) and he would be a liar (by saying that there is something else worthy of all glory, when there is not). Since God IS the summation of all good qualities, it is righteous for God to show himself off to all. And it is also loving for him to reveal his awesomeness, because all who see him and delight in his attributes are blessed and happy and satisfied.

Everything exists for God’s ultimate glory. Colossians 1 teaches us that all things were made by Jesus, for Jesus (v. 16): “all things…in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.” Colossians 2:15 and Ephesians 6:12 inform us that these “thrones, dominions, rulers and authorities” refer to demonic powers; agents of evil led by Satan! So the Bible is teaching that these evil monsters were actually created by Jesus, FOR Jesus; to show God’s glory to the universe. (This is brought out wonderfully in John Piper’s Spectacular Sins and their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ. www.desiringgod.org)

We must point out that God did not create them evil. Everything he created was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). God did not create anything evil, but he created what he knew would become evil by its own choice. Therefore the creation is responsible for its evil; God is not.

So we see that evil exists ultimately for God’s glory. “The LORD made all for himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of doom” (Proverbs 16:4 NKJV). God made what would choose to be evil, and God knew what this choice would be before he made it. He was not surprised. He allowed it to happen: evil, with all its horrors and pains and sufferings and terrors in the earth. And all of this somehow ultimately glorifies God. So our question is now, “HOW does evil ultimately glorify God?”

#1. Evil a Reference Point

The first way evil ultimately glorifies God is by providing a reference point , or point of comparison, to highlight God’s excellencies. Evil exists to show what God is not. This way we appreciate more fully what God IS. When we see evil, we can know what God is not like. God’s gloriousness is more fully known because we have something to compare him to.

For example, a tree is big. Until you compare it with Texas. Texas is big until you compare it with the Earth. And the earth becomes small when compared to the Milky Way Galaxy. If evil did not exist, God would still be good (He was good before evil existed!). But because evil exists, the universe understands that God is not like evil. His greatness seems greater by those who see evil!

#2. The Existence of Evil Justifies God’s Judgment

God has allowed evil to continue to show to the universe the exceeding sinfulness of sin. This, in a manner of speaking, vindicates (or justifies) God. He has declared to the universe that evil is horrible and completely unlike himself. God has claimed that evil is worthy to be hated (“O you who love the LORD, hate evil!” Psalm 97:10; “Abhor what is evil.” Romans 12:9). To remove any possible doubt, and justify his judgment against evil, God has allowed evil both to exist and to increase, thereby showing himself right and good in declaring it most abominable. Let me explain.

God created Lucifer, knowing that he would choose sin. God could have judged Lucifer immediately when he rebelled. But he had previously purposed to allow evil to continue and increase, for a time, to expose it for what it truly is. Lucifer’s evil spread when he convinced 1/3 of the angels to join him in his rebellion. Next, evil infected mankind when he tempted Adam and Eve in the garden and they, too, joined his sin. All along God was proving that he was completely true when calling sin hideous. Lucifer, all along, was questioning God’s declaration and raising a seed of doubt in the universe (“Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”…”You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:1b, 4-5).

God allowed man to fall into evil (as he had purposed). Then he allowed evil to continue in man and show itself to be putrid and vile. Because of sin in mankind the universe looked on as every hideous thing imaginable was done. Through evil came suffering, sickness, violence, oppression, and every abominable thing under the sun. It continues to this day; Evil is shown as putrid, deserving of God’s judgment; and God has shown what he is not. God has justified his claim of glorious goodness and righteousness by allowing evil to exist (“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment” Psalm 51:4).

#3. God’s Attributes More Clearly Seen Because Evil Exists

The third way evil ultimately glorifies God, which is really another way of looking at the first reason, is that the existence of evil becomes a way for God to show his attributes to the universe.

For example, many concede that Michael Jordan in his prime was the greatest basketball player of all time. But if no less-talented basketball players existed to play against Jordan, his talents would not be appreciated. What if everyone could play basketball like Mike? Then he would not be thought of as good.

· The existence of sin serves to show God as the Savior of sinners.

· The existence of addictions and bondages serves to show God as the Deliverer who sets people free.

· The existence of sickness and pain serves to show God as the Healer.

· The existence of suffering serves to show God as the Comforter for the downcast.

· The existence of evil serves to show God as the final and ultimate GOOD.

Even hell glorifies God! The existence of hell (and the sinners who will be punished there forever with the devil and his angels) will eternally show the attribute of God’s wrath; his extreme and just hatred of sin. God’s justice and wrath will be glorified at his judgment of the wicked: “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction” (Romans 9:22). Every atheist who denied God’s existence will one day glorify him forever by showing to the universe that God is just. Every sinner who delighted in his lusts and lived for his own glory instead of God’s, will one day be a picture to the universe that God hates wickedness. Hell exists because God wills it. It exists for a good purpose – to glorify God for his wrath against evil and his mighty power!

God’s glory and grace was most magnified at the darkest and most evil moment in human history: the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In this event man was unleashing his evil by murdering the innocent Son of God. God had ordained this before the creation of the world, and he used it (just as he planned) to show the greatness of his glorious grace! Because Jesus died on the cross, sinful man can now be forgiven, restored, reconciled to God. Evil was used by God to destroy evil and show forth God’s glorious love and grace! (For more on this see Piper’s Spectacular Sins…)

Responsibility

The final question remains: If evil serves God’s purpose and even ultimately glorifies God, how can God judge people for being and doing evil? The fact that God USES evil for his own glorious purposes does not nullify the fact that those who do evil did it for THEIR OWN purposes. They were certainly not sinning to give God glory. There is no love of God or respect for his honor in the sin of man. In fact, sinners are going AGAINST God’s clear commands. So they are completely responsible for their sin. The evil committed by angels and man is completely unrighteous, and they are worthy of God’s wrath, justice and condemnation. God will judge them. But he will use the evil they committed to fit into his glorious purpose!

A Day is Coming…

One day God WILL cast Satan into the lake of fire, along with all of the angels and mankind who joined in his rebellion against God. Justice will come. Evil will be punished forever and ever in those who delighted in sin and did not honor God. The punishment will be eternal because every individual sin was against an infinitely holy and eternal God. But the day IS coming when evil will no more be allowed to exist outside of God’s holy judgment. For those who bow the knee to Christ, there will be no more suffering, no more pain, no more consequences of evil! But until that day God is allowing these things to exist for a good and wise purpose. We must trust God, whose thoughts and ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9).

All will praise him forever and ever! Our God will be seen and known, and his glory savored, praised, appreciated and worshiped forever! What an awesome God, who has made all things for the glory of his name!

by Terry Simpson

“I form the light and create darkness,

I make peace and create calamity;

I, the Lord, do all these things (Is.45:7).”

This is a statement made by God to let us know that, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me (Is.45:5-7).” Only one is running the show, working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Eph.1:11) and bringing to pass all that He purposes (Is.46:9-11).

We say, “Jesus is Lord”, but what does that mean? Boss, CEO, manager, ruler. But what does all that mean? It means God does everything. The theological term is sovereignty. Sovereignty means God does everything. And He is either sovereign over everything or He is not God over everything. “I, the Lord, do all these things.” “Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there any who can deliver from My hand (Dt.32:39).”

You cannot possibly understand the Bible if you do not believe in the sovereignty of God. To the degree that you see the sovereignty of God in everything, to that degree you will understand the Bible. You will be unbalanced in its teachings and much of the Bible will remain a mystery until you come to grips with God’s absolute sovereignty. Every truth must be hammered out on the anvil of God’s sovereignty. God wrote the Bible for two reasons: to tell us everything we need to know about God and everything God expects of us. We need to know about God’s absolute control over all things or, whatever we know, we don’t know that much about the God of the Bible.

This truth will build stability into your life like no other truth. Kay Arthur says, “the single most powerful, liberating, peace-giving truth I’ve ever learned in God’s Word is the fact that He is sovereign. It has been a mainstay in my life. Resting in the sovereignty of God has held me through all the trials, all the pain – everything. God is in control, and therefore in everything I can give thanks – not because of the situation but because of the One who directs and rules over it. We find our joy not in the heat of the flame but in the fact that the Refiner is right there controlling it. The fire is a controlled fire. It isn’t a purposeless fire, and it isn’t a fire to destroy us. It’s a purifying fire. I can look back at every single trial and tragedy, at every hurt and every suffering in my life, and I can say, ‘God, You’ve used this to make me more like Jesus.’ From the picky little things like having to stand in line when some salesclerk is inefficient, to the piercing pains like my husband’s committing suicide or my father’s death – I can hold on to those things in the light of the knowledge of God’s sovereignty.”

She wrote of God’s sovereignty in the life of a Christian, but God is sovereign over unbelievers and everything in creation, to bring everything He has made to a predetermined conclusion – the glory of God and the good of His people.

The sovereignty of God is simply God doing whatever He wants, whenever He wants, wherever He wants, however He wants, with whomever He wants, for whatever reason He wants.

I. opening statements that need to be EXAMINED.

• Everything that happens is done by God. We shall see this in the Bible as we continue through this study. Hold on to your arguments. Logically, we may come up with all kinds of rebuttals to that statement, but remember, we are not going by logic; we are going by revelation. The Bible clearly and consistently teaches that “God does everything.”

• God works in and through every act of His creatures to the end that He might be glorified in everything. This is a most important truth, so our natural minds and Satan will seek to make this truth hard to grasp and hard to understand. The most precious jewels & minerals in the earth and in the sea are the hardest to get at. Costly pearls require deep diving and “mother loads” are in the hearts of mountains and require deep digging.
• God wills everything. If you want to know what the will of God is, watch what happens. Whatever happens is the will of God or it wouldn’t have happened. “Then I can’t get out of the will of God!” True. You may rebel against God and He may put you in hell, but you will not do that outside of the permissive will of God. God allots or allows all things. God performs or permits all things. And in the doing of these things He maintains control over everything.
• God does the Good and the Bad. I won’t take the time to explain God doing all the good that is done because Christians instinctively know that God does them. That is why when something good happens we always respond with, “Praise God.” (This is especially true in salvation.) But I will take some time to explain from the Bible God’s involvement in the bad things. That’s the hardest to see and so we’ll take some time to look at it.

Read the “Book of Woes” found in Isaiah 13-34. Does the Bible credit God with the terrible things that are to come upon these people? Absolutely. Read 13:3-6 and remember that God is speaking. (v. 9, 13, 17-19). God does the woes. “I can’t believe people could be so cruel,” you might say as you read these woes. I can, because I know people. BUT GOD? How can God say He is causing it all, bringing it all to pass? Because He puts it in their hearts to perform His will (woes). It’s time to delve, dive and dig deeper.

II. QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO BE ANSWERED

1. Does God Actually Do the Bad Things?

A. WHAT IS THE Worst Thing Done in the Old Testament?

How about the brothers of Joseph selling him into slavery? They were going to kill him but thought they’d make some money off him instead, so they sold him as a slave to a caravan going to a foreign country, dipped his coat in animal’s blood and told their father he must be dead. They watched their grieving father suffer for years thinking his favorite son was dead. That’s cruel. Yet, Gen. 45:1-8 says that God was acting through the brothers to fulfill His will. Look at Is. 45:5-7 and realize there are not two gods, a good god and a bad god duking it out. The devil is not God. There is only one God.

b. What is the Worst thing ever done?

Certainly that was the crucifixion of Jesus. If you think Joseph hadn’t done anything wrong to deserve such treatment by his brothers, Jesus was the unblemished Son of God who had never sinned once in His entire life. Yet Isaiah 53:4-7, 10 declares that God Himself smote His only begotten Son. The worst thing ever done is attributed to none other than God! That’s the reason He opened not His mouth (Jn. 19:11). Acts 4:28 tells us that the crucifixion of Christ was according to whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. On the way to the cross He told the women not to weep for Him. That was because He was in the middle of God’s will. “Not My will, but Yours be done.” He was drinking His Father’s cup. No one should cry for the ones suffering in the will of God.

The Bible is literally packed full of illustrations of God doing things we would normally never consider our God doing:

1. The Flood – Gen.6:5-7; 7:1-4

2. Sodom – Gen.19:23-25, 29

3. Curses – Dt.28:15-16,20-22,28

4. Canaan – Joshua 11:20

5. The Book of Revelation. (This book is heavy laden with the wrath of the Lamb being poured out on the inhabitants of the earth. He directs all that happens in Revelation.)

6. HELL – Mt.10:28; Rev.19:20; 20:10,14-15

2. What About The Devil?

Where does he fit in? The clearest revelation of role of the devil is found in Job 1:6-12, 20-22; 2:3-7, 9-10. The reason Job didn’t sin is because of what he said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Shall we not indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” This is why Rm. 8:28 is true, and also 1Thess. 5:18! When we see this, we will (perhaps after much fighting the good fight of faith) bless the Lord at all times and be thankful in every situation.

John 10:10 is used by many to teach that there are in fact two gods: “The thief (devil) comes to steal, kill and destroy; but I have come that you may have life.” They assume that Jesus is not Lord over the bad things, because the devil does all that. In so doing they remove the sovereignty of God over the devil. What a horrible thought that is! Compare 2 Sam 24:1 & I Chron. 21:1. Did Satan cause David to number the people, or did God? Yes! God did it, using the devil to get it done. There are not two gods. God has Satan on a leash; He yanks that leash or gives it slack, according to His will. Picture a yoyo. God controls the yoyo. He is either letting it fall through the natural pull of gravity (sin) or He is pulling it up. Romans, chapter one, says three times that “God gave them up”. So we see the sovereignty of God in the wickedness of man, even the works of the devil. He allows and He allots. He permits and He performs. In everything He is in control. God does everything.

3. Why Doesn’t He Remove Evil & Suffering From The Earth?

If He can’t, He’s not almighty. If He won’t, He’s not good. He is both and He doesn’t, so what’s the problem? Better yet, what’s the answer to why He doesn’t remove evil and suffering from the earth? He fully intends to one day – for His people. In the meantime, He is using these things for His own purpose. Our job is to trust Him. We can’t understand why one suffers, but if we could see the whole picture we’d say, “Oh, I understand…” He’s much smarter than we are. Like Job, we are not called upon to understand everything, but to trust Him in everything. Knowing why bad things happen will not remove the pain. Trusting God will.

4. Are We Passively & Meekly To Resign Ourselves To Whatever Happens In All

Situations? No. He causes some things to happen to TRAIN us and build us up in grace & faith. He commands us to “rebuke the devil”. Do yourself a favor and memorize Dt.29:29. It explains a lot by simply declaring that God has hidden some things, but that we are responsible for doing what He tells us. God does not intend for us to sit idly and passively by while the devil runs roughshod over our lives, our family, or our church. We are responsible. When the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, we are to resist him. David goes down to battle Goliath, but God had engineered the whole challenge to bring glory to Himself and good for David and Israel. The God who guides our planet in its orbit around the sun guided David’s slung stone to the one place that would knock Goliath down.

5. Does This Mean People Are Not Responsible For Their Sins?

No. We will be held accountable for our choices and our sins. Look at Joseph’s brothers. Who sold Joseph into Egypt? (his brothers) Were they free in doing that? (yes, nobody made them do it.) Was it evil? (yes.) Were they responsible? (yes) Do you think they ever considered themselves to be puppets in the hands of God? (no) How do you know that? They felt guilty. Puppets don’t feel guilty. Man’s evil actions are within the scope of God’s sovereignty. God does everything.

III. AN EXPLANATION THAT NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED.

An explanation for this can be found in the word ANTINOMY, which means two seemingly opposite things both being true. This is what makes all the things of God hard to understand? He simply does not think like we do (Is.55:8-9). We must learn to think like He does or we will never understand His word or His ways. What makes the truth that “God does everything” so hard to accept is that we want to understand everything and we can’t. “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Rm.11:33) They are past finding out (completely) because now we see in a mirror dimly (1Cor.13:12) and we know only in part (v.9). We do not see how two completely opposite things can both be true. How can God be sovereign and yet man responsible? How can God be holy, sovereign and good, yet bad things happen that are under His control? We must go by revelation and not reason. Our own logic will mess you up every time. Let me illustrate.

1. The Bible. Was it written by man or by God? Yes! 100% plus 100% equals (not 200%, but) 100%. “Impossible!” you say. No, antinomy. By our way of thinking, it is completely illogical. But we are not going by our way of thinking; we’re going by revelation – what God has revealed about the way things are. The Bible was 100% written by men and 100% written by God.

2. Jesus. Was He God or man? Was He 50% God and 50% man? No. He was and is 100% God and 100% man. Again, “Impossible.” No. It’s God’s math, and it isn’t new math. It’s as old as He is. It’s His way of thinking. And that’s what we are going by. Jesus was 100% man and 100% God.

3. The Trinity. In the Trinity we have three 100%s equaling 100%. Why do we believe these things? Because of reason? No, because of revelation. There is only one God; yet the Father is 100% God, the Son is 100% God and the Holy Spirit is 100% God. Three one hundred percents equals 100%. Within the essence of the one God are three persons.

4. Sovereignty and Responsibility. Everything that happens, every deed that is done is in its entirety both an act of man and an act of God. “That’s impossible!” So is the Trinity. So are Jesus and the Bible. In current church teaching we’ve heard about the 100% act of the creature, but we haven’t heard that much about the 100% act of a sovereign God. We must know and tell the truth about this sovereign God.

For example, most of us have been taught that conversion is the responsibility of man. We must repent and believe. And so we must. God commands all men everywhere to repent. He won’t repent for you and He doesn’t need to repent. We are commanded to believe. But then we are told that we are dead in trespasses and sins (Eph.2:1). We are told to “look” but then told that we can’t see until we are born again, and no one can give birth to himself. The fact is, God must grant repentance (Acts 11:18), faith (Eph. 2:8-9) and sight. Jesus said, “You must be born again.” The Bible never says you can birth yourself. Peter never preached, “You can repent”, he preached you must repent. You can’t, so when you do repent, who gets the credit? Right, God gets the credit, the honor and the glory. But if you don’t repent and believe, guess who’s responsible? Right, you are. We are responsible and God is sovereign. That’s just the way it is. “God would never tell anyone to do something he could do,” I have heard many say. Truth is, God never told anyone to do something he could do! “Then why tell us to do it?” So we’d see our need of the grace and power of God. We need Him to do the things He commands.

If this is true, why is this so hard to see?

Because God is very, very careful to show that He gets the credit for the good, so we can say, “Thank you Lord,” and He can be honored. We don’t normally praise Him for the bad stuff that happens, but we do for the good. However, you will find that people in the Bible praised Him for His judgment and wrath. Read Rev.19:1-6 and you will see all of heaven rejoicing over the destruction of the false prophets on the earth. The Psalms are full of praises to God for the horrible (and yet righteous) judgments He performs on unbelievers. In Ex.15:1-7, 18 we find Israel dancing on the east bank of the Red Sea because God has drowned all the Egyptians and their horses.

But then on the other hand, God is not so careful about the bad things that happen being attributed to Him because He uses instruments to do these things and He wants the instruments to know that they are responsible. In viewing things, we tend to look at the instruments God uses (Satan, ungodly nations, diseases, etc.) and forget that God declares that these things are under His control. And we don’t like to think badly of God, so we ignore the hard parts of the Bible. We do this to our own spiritual harm. Anytime we leave out part of the truth about God we are only hurting ourselves. Then again, we don’t like to think too deeply and considering instruments and antinomies and the unfathomable ways of the infinite God are a stretch for our little minds. I’ve always heard that if you want people to like you make them think they are thinkers and if you want people to dislike you – make them think. I think this is true.

IV. LESSONS THAT NEED TO BE LEARNED

1. We are not gods. This is a big problem today in our world of self-esteem. And it has been a problem ever since Eden (Gen. 3:5). In Ps. 82:5-8 they thought they were gods. Jesus referred to this passage in Jn.10:33-34 and in so doing He was saying, “You have set yourselves up as gods. What’s one more god among you?” This was a quote that dealt with the condemnation of evil, wicked rulers. He was echoing the irony and sarcasm of that Psalm. Nothing is so humbling as an intense realization that there is only one God and I’m not He. God works and if He doesn’t those who labor do so in vain. I have lived long and I have made at least two discoveries. One is that there is a God. Two is that I am not He. There is only one God and He does everything. He is God and there is none other.

2. We don’t let God do anything. Fred Price said, “God does nothing on this earth without man’s permission.” Does this guy ever read the Bible? Just the opposite is true. Man does nothing without God’s permission. There is a big difference between me pulling my throne around letting God do things and the real God sitting on His throne commanding me to do things. There’s a big difference between me letting God save me and God commanding me to repent.

3. We should have a reverence for this sovereign God; a respect and love that makes us fear Him who does everything. What did Job do? He worshiped God. He realized that the Lord gave and the Lord took away and he said, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job had a reverence for God when he went through his trials. He didn’t blame God for turning the devil loose on him; he blessed the God whom he knew did everything. In everything we should trust Him who controls all things. We should not murmur, we should trust.

4. We should love our enemies. No one can do anything to us unless God permits it. And if we love God and are fitting into His purpose He has permitted it for our own good and His own glory (Rm.8:28). Remember Joseph’s attitude. Jesus loved His enemies and prayed for their forgiveness.

So we see that, according to the Bible, God does everything. There is nothing outside the parameter of His sovereign will. His perfect, permissive, powerful will all make up His plenary will.