Class Notes: 8/23/2020

The doctrine of evil part 47

https://youtu.be/xQRN6Zyo180

Eccles 8:8; No man has the power to restrain the wind, or authority over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and evil people will not be delivered by their evil.

Psalm 91:1-10; The one who lives in the shelter of the sovereign One rests in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!"

3 For it is He who delivers you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly plague.
4 He will cover you with His wings, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is like a shield and a protective wall.

5 You will not be afraid of the terrors of the night, Or of the bullets that fly by day;
6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you.

8 You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked.
9 For you have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent.

Matt 19:26b; "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Mark 9:23b; All things are possible to the one who believes."

We are presently in a study of the doctrine of evil that is the product of believing the false narrative of the public lie aka darkness that satan, the god of this world, fabricates and asserts in his war against God's Word of truth aka light. Eph 6:12; 2Cor 10:5;

We have been noting the gates that people must pass through to enter into the evil hatred of satan's cosmic two system.

When we stopped last time we had noted that God's plan depends exclusively on God, His immutable essence and His grace policy; it never depends on the believer. The new spiritual species is the product of God's work not our works. Phil 2:13; Eph 2:10;

Arrogant believers set up false standards and narratives, and then when they comply with those false standards or narratives they conclude that they are superior. Arrogance assumes many incorrect things so it readily falls for satan's evil lies.

Like believers in reversionism and evil, the first group of workers in Matt 20:11-13; had erroneous standards. Their blind arrogance caused them to cling to their assumed standards instead of accepting the superior standards of the landowner.

Labor becomes evil when it complains and judges management. In Matt 20:15; KJV the owner is described as having produced divine good, because he kept his word to all of the laborers.

Assumptions made from blind arrogance prevent the believer from yielding to the superior standard of God's perfect grace policy. Grace is always related to doctrine (faith) and cannot ever be related to human works of any kind. Eph 2:8-10;

Rewards for the believer in eternity depend on God's grace policy, not on the arrogant, legalistic, anthropocentric evil standards of self-righteous people. God neither blesses in time nor rewards in eternity on the basis of arrogant standards of legalists. All of God's blessings are based on His grace standards and policies that His Word of truth reveals.

You can't make deals with God. When you know and love Him, you depend entirely on His wisdom to always be faithful because of His essence.

So in the analogy described in Matt 28:16; the "first group of workers" who are trusting in the deal they made are under the influence of evil and the "last group of workers" are grace oriented believers are trusting doctrine exclusively. This is faith alone.

Evil must also be distinguished from war, disaster and plague; Jer 28:8; War, disaster and plague are not inherently evil. Some people do evil acts during war, disaster and plague just like they do in times of peace, prosperity and wellness.

But the principle of war, disaster, or plague is good and noble when Jesus Christ uses it to control history for the purpose of maintaining freedom.

Self-righteous religious people arrogantly assume that all war or disaster or plague is evil and they get confused and led away from truth when they make that assumption because Jesus Christ can and does use war, disaster, and pestilence to control history.

Evil must also be distinguished from sin even though they often occur simultaneously; We see both in 1Chron 21:1-17; Sin can be confessed but evil cannot be confessed.

David distinguished between sin and evil even though both were a part of his numbering the people. His motivation for counting the people was evil and the act of counting the people was sin.

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