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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/peter-simms/the-gospel-the-origin-of-evil/
Good to see you tonight. Thanks for coming. Don't forget we're going to be having a meeting here every night 730 all week. We like it all. Come back if you can. The verse I'm going to read. One of the verses is found in Genesis chapter 1.
Genesis chapter 1 in verse 31 and God saw everything that he had made and Behold it was very good and the evening in the morning where the sixth day and Behold it was very good. Now chapter 2. Oh, yeah, that'll help one.
Yeah, that's better. Now chapter 2 and verse 8 and the Lord God Planted a garden eastward in Eden and there he put the man whom he had formed and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and Good for food the tree of life in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Verse 16 and The Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. 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.
Chapter 3. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made and he said unto the woman Yea, hath God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden. And the woman said unto the serpent We may eat of the fruit of the tree of the garden.
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God has said you shall not eat of it. Neither shall you touch it lest you die. And the serpent said unto the woman you shall not surely die.
For God does know that in the day you eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and you shall be as God knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that a tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and Gave on to her husband with him her husband with her and he did eat and the eyes of them both were opened and they knew they were naked and They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.
Chapter 4 and verse 1. And Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bear Cain and said I have gotten a man from the Lord. She again bear his brother Abel and Abel was the keeper of sheep. But Cain was a tiller of the ground and in the process of time it came to pass.
That Cain brought of the fruit of the ground and offering unto the Lord and Abel he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And The Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering but on to Cain and to his offering.
He had not respect and Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain Why art thou wroth and why is that countenance fallen if thou doest? Well shalt thou not be accepted. And if thou doest not well sin lieth at the door and Unto thee shall be his desire and thou shalt rule over him.
And Cain walked with talked with Abel his brother and it came to pass. When they're in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew and the Lord said unto Cain Where is Abel thy brother?
And he said I know not am I my brother's keeper. And he said what hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground and now art thou cursed from the earth which hath opened her mouth.
To receive thy brother's blood from the ground when thou tellest the ground it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the Lord my punishment is greater than I can bear.
Let's go over to the New Testament to Galatians chapter 1 and reading verse 3. Galatians chapter 1 verse 3 and verse 4. Grace be unto you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ Who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world?
According to the will of God and our father. Tonight we want to talk for a little while about evil. Where did it come from? What is it when God finished creating the the heavens and the earth? He looked at everything that he made and he said behold.
It was very good. He had no complaint. Nothing wrong with anything. He saw that he created it all was very good. Well, what happened to it. Because it's certainly not good today. Something happened to God's creation.
And when we came to Galatians chapter 1 and thought that's verse 4. It says that Christ gave himself to deliver us from this present evil world. So from the day that God created it and declared it was all very good.
Something happened that it's now evil and practically everything God has made has been touched with evil and God lost everything. Now we want to look tonight now for a few minutes at this Term evil where they come from.
What is it? How would you define evil? Well evil is that which robs that which is good from its goodness. Evil is an adjective. It's describing something so for instance you have. You hear people say one man says I got good eyesight and the other fellow said I got bad eyesight.
One of my eyes are bad. Well that bad eye is the evil. That's robbed them from having good eyesight. You see. You might have a case of oranges. You might have a good case of oranges. But then you might have a case that got too rotten in it.
And that's not a good case of oranges. The two rotten ones have robbed the case of oranges from being a good case. So evil is that which robs that which is good from being good and Constitutes it evil now when God made the man.
That's the man. Adam created them made that garden and Put the man into that garden now remember if you were here this afternoon We noticed that God created man with a free will. With the ability to choose.
Right or wrong? Obey or disobey love or hate he's got a choice he can make. That's the way God made him. And if you weren't here this afternoon, we can't go back over talking about that again. But the fact of the matter is that Adam was given at creation a free will.
Now, why did God give him that free will? Well, he didn't want him to be a robot. He wanted his creature man to make a choice. That he would obey his creator love his creator. Worship his creator and walk with his creator.
God. God wanted to reveal himself to his creature man and have that man. Respond to that with obedience and love and so on. But God did allow There to be another choice and the man has to make the choice now.
So when God put Adam in the garden. Everything was there that was essential for Adams well-being that was was pleasing to his sight. That which was pleasing to the taste sufficient to eat sufficient to look at for pleasure.
The river slowing there with water but in that garden he put one tree and. This is where the critic and the ungodly the unsanctified mind say God is to blame. Shouldn't put that tree there. He's provoking them.
He's responsible. He shouldn't have put that tree there. Well who says God shouldn't have put that tree there. Well the higher critics of our world and some religious leaders and people that were ungodly.
They will tell you. The whole thing's God's fault. He should not put that tree there. Well, then you can't tell you can't be like the prophet Isaiah said in chapter 29 in verse 16 the thing cannot say Why did you do this.
Or in Romans chapter 9 and 20. There the the Apostle says can the clay. Say to the potter Why are you making me this way? The thing created can't talk to the Creator and criticize the Creator for the way he made it.
Now we talked about that this afternoon. God is sovereign. He made man as he wanted to make him and he made him with a free will. With the intent that the man would respond to God's love. So God put the the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in that garden.
Now remember, it's the tree of the knowledge. It's that knowledge. It's that understanding. God did not want him to know Good and evil. He didn't want to know that and The reason he didn't want him to know that is because God knew if he learned the distinction between the two.
He would not have the power to resist the evil and he wouldn't have the power to do the good. And God did not want him. He wanted Adam to make a choice in all moral issues. He would obey God. He would exercise his free will to choose to follow and obey God.
And so God put that tree in the in the garden with this intent to test the man. It's a test. Will the man use his free will? To obey me his Creator. Or will he use his free will? To obey Evil. And so the tree is put in the garden.
No. No, I want you to understand. This is being carried out. God is talking to Adam in the garden and he's talking directly to the man and to his will. He's telling Adam Thou shalt not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil do not eat of it.
Because in the day you eat of it you will die. So he's addressing the man's will. He's telling him What not to do. And he's telling him what will happen if he disobeys. So Adams listening and Adams hearing and Adams got intelligence so he has to make a choice and That choice comes in the next chapter because the serpent comes now to the woman first of all and Begins to talk to the woman now listen the serpent now.
He's talking and addressing the will of the woman. He's talking to the woman. He's saying to the woman has God said well the woman has to think. And she has to ponder what? Did God say? That you shouldn't eat of that tree the knowledge of good and evil he'll die.
And she said yes. Well the serpent says you won't die. Now the woman has to react. You see it's like a conversation our wills are always active. We're always listening. We're making a decision. We're obeying.
Oh, we're disobeying the law says 30 miles an hour and We make a choice now will I go 30 when I go 50? See life is made up with choices. Our brain is always working. This is right, this is wrong. We're always active in that but here at the very beginning Adam and Eve at this point.
They're innocent. They don't know the difference between good and evil. They haven't got that knowledge yet. They just got the warning from God. God instructed them and told them the issues that were at stake.
Now the serpent comes and he's addressing their will. And he's telling the woman did God say this and the woman said yes, well you will not die. Then he says half God said you shouldn't eat of the fruit of that tree.
Well God's holding back on you. God knows if you eat of that tree you'll become like him and he doesn't want you to know as he knows. So he's holding back on you. So all this is going to the woman's mind.
Yes, she looks at it, it's pleasant to the eye it's pleasant to the taste and It will make me wise. Now she's got to react. What will she do? Well, she's going to disobey she's going to take and eat of what God forbid them to eat of.
That's a choice that woman made as the serpent the devil Addressed her will a free will she didn't have to. But she went by what her I saw. She went by what tasted would taste nice and she went by what would intellectually make her and her eyes become like God.
She made her choice and then Adam came and Adam he has to make a choice. Now Adam knows what God said in the day you eat thereof thou shalt surely die. Adam knows his wife is eaten. She's going to die.
She's already died spiritually and she will die physically later on and he knows the woman is going to be thrown out of the garden and he'll be left alone and He don't want to lose the woman. Now he makes a choice.
Well, I choose the woman or will I choose to obey God and lose the one. Now the woman was tested by an outside force the serpent but the man Adam is making a willing choice of rebellion a willful choice of rebellion.
Remember Adam is the head of the human family. He's God's representative this man here. We're going to talk a lot about the days to come. He was put in that garden to represent the human family. What that man does is going to affect the whole rest of the human family.
God made him of the dust of the ground and God breathed into him the breath of life not lines plural, but life and all human life Finds its origin in him. He simply passed it on to his book two boys and they got married and passed it on.
All that's happening is that the life that God breathed into that man's nostrils has been destroyed. It's become spiritually dead. It become evil and that's what was passed on to all his descendants now that happened because Adam made a willful choice to rebel against God.
Now what did that do. Because Adam previous to thee was good and Eve was good. But now something's happened. They exercised their free will to disobey God and When they abused their free will that became the evil.
That's what destroyed them the abuse of their free will. Now you might not pay a whole lot of attention to this because You don't think of it so much. But now listen. Every day you live. Every waking hour you're awake.
You're exercising your will. It's working. Unconsciously, it's working and it's going one or two ways. Either in favor in obedience to God or in disobedience to God. God has warned Adam reasoned with him and Then when the test came between Satan and the woman the woman vowed her will and submitted to the devil's suggestions.
The man comes upon the scene. He sees he's going to lose the woman and he makes a voluntary choice to Rebel against God that he might retain the woman and they're both now in the garden and they're both cast out.
They're both now spiritually dead. Now do you understand what it means to be spiritually dead? See these are terms that we must all get a hold of. To be spiritually dead means You've been separated from God.
Physical death is I die. My body stays here. My spirits gone body and spirit are separated. Separated from my family separated from friends or death simply means separation. Now there is a spiritual separation.
People who are born into the world as they're born see those little children precious as they are. They're born into the world of sinner spiritually dead. Sin has driven a wedge between them and God that spiritual death.
The second death is if we meet God as a child of Adam. Without ever being saved as our young brother here got saved if you die and meet God like that. Then God will say bind them hands and feet and cast them into the lake of fire.
Which is the second death from which there is no recovery. You're separated from God forever without a chance of Reconciliation. Now, that's the idea of death. Now. We want to go and talk about Cain now because this is going to be Giving us a little idea of how God works.
Cain and Abel are the two sons of Adam and Eve now if we'd have gone back. Because of time we can't go on to that story about how God found a way to Save as it were Adam and Eve. He took an animal he killed the animal the innocent animal dies in their place and God takes the skins of those two animals now and clothes Adam and Eve with garments of salvation as the Prophet Isaiah would say, but let's move on from that now years later Cain and Abel are born they grow up.
Abel he understands the need of a sacrifice because of his sin and he complies with the will of God and he gets a little little lamb the firstling of the flock and The best of the animal he brings and he puts it on the altar for God.
And fire comes down out of heaven and consumes it and the little animal is accepted in the place of Abel. It dies. Abel goes free. But Cain he did not do that. Cain brought of the fruit of the ground.
Something that had no life in it no blood in something that could not die for him it comes out of the ground that has already been cursed by God because of Adam's sin and he brings that and God will not accept it and He becomes angry.
Now this is the point I want to draw your attention to now God comes and Reasons with Cain now remember Cain is going to listen and he's got to use his mind his will. He's gonna listen to what God says he's gonna have to make a choice.
Now before I go further if there's somebody in the meeting tonight, and you're not saved. You're making choices and The choices you're making as you hear the gospel. You don't know but tonight might be the final choice.
You might get up from our meeting tonight and go home making the choice of not getting saved. That might be your final choice. Nobody knows when that moment will come, but I want you to understand. You're hearing tonight a Young brother told you about how he made his choice and you got to make your choice now.
God's talking to Cain and God's saying to Cain now. What's wrong Cain? What's wrong? If you offer the right sacrifice won't you be accepted? See how kind God is how good he is. He's talking to his will he's addressing him.
Cain has to listen and Cain's mind has to make choices. God's asking him if you do right and well Cain won't you be accepted? But if you don't Cain sins crouching at the door. And it'll destroy you. Cain don't listen.
He's got something else in his mind. He's angry with God because God accepted Abel's sacrifice and refused his. His mind is so bitter. So frustrated that he meets his brother Abel out in the field. And out of jealousy he killed him and God came again and Talked to Cain and said Cain.
Where's your brother Abel? Now Cain's got uses of choice. Cain's gonna react. What's he gonna do? Well Cain chose to lie. I don't know all my other brothers keep her. Well, God says Cain your brother's blood is crying on to me from the ground.
Crying out for vengeance and we read that Cain Walked out from the presence of God. He made a choice. I don't want to hear any more about this matter. He went out with a great lament. Yes, my punishment is greater than I can bear a piece of an a vagabond.
I'll be in the earth all that came true. But he still Made his choice to turn his back on God and he walked out and it was night he went away. Built himself a city. Started something new. My friends tonight listen.
You're making a choice and That's what's going to damn you or bring you blessing. It's the choice you make. God's giving you a chance. God's bringing issues before you. There's your sin and There's heaven and there's hell.
There's Jesus Christ who died for your sins all these matters. There's God who is your creator? There's all these issues that you must think about and then you must react. Up until now. What's your reaction you see?
What's going to constitute you good or bad. Saved or lost is your will. What are you going to. Well we can go to the man called a pilot. Their pilot one day was stood and they brought the Lord Jesus before him to judge him and Pilot found that the Lord Jesus was innocent and they said away with him give on to us Barabbas.
And then pilot says well now here here now. What will I now or then do with Jesus which is called the grace. What am I going to do with him? There's your choice pilot. Your will is brought to act now.
What are you going to do with him. And pilot made his choice? He sent him away to be crucified. That was his choice. Now friend tonight we come down to our meeting tonight. What is your choice going to be?
You choose. What you're going to do with Jesus Christ you choose whether you're going to accept them or reject them. That's a choice. You got to make along with all the other choices of life but the one that brought such havoc to our world and constitutes the world to be an evil world is because this man introduced sin into it and Sin robbed the good world.
From being good and turned it into an evil world. And that's why God sent Jesus Christ his son into this world. To deliver us from this present Evil world. Now, I don't have to tell you what the Lord Jesus did on the cross.
You know that I'm going to quote a verse now that's got to do with your will. I Will bring the meeting to an end with this verse. John 3 and 36 says this he that believeth on the Son has present tense everlasting life.
He that believeth not the Son shall not see light. But the wrath of God abideth on him. Now you make a choice. You have to make a choice. You got no choice because God's telling you. This isn't me reading and this is John 3 and 36.
God is saying to you he that believeth on the Son the man who will exercise his will and Put his faith in Jesus Christ who died upon the cross for our sins. He that believeth on the Son God says has everlasting life.
Will you believe that's up to you that's your will. But he that believeth not the Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God will abide at the bottom. No, that's your choice, too. You don't have to believe you got a free will.
You can believe or you can disbelieve. But whatever choice you make if it's to believe it's going to take you to heaven if you disbelieve. It's going to take you to hell. That's the choice you got. Adam had a choice if you disobey and you eat of the forbidden Treat you'll die.
He ate he died Cain. God told Cain if thou doest well will they all not be received and if thou doest not well sin crouches at the door. He murdered his brother. He walked out on God and he's in hell tonight.
Well, whose fault's that? Whose fault's he's in hell? He made his choice. Where's pilot tonight? What shall I then do with Jesus which was called the Christ and he sent him away to be crucified. He's in hell.
Whose choice whose fault? Judas sold the Lord Jesus for 30 pieces of silver and the Lord Jesus at the supper offered him the bread of his friendship. Had Judas as a hypocrite took it and then went out and sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
And before he went at the supper the Lord Jesus told him better for this man. Have he had never been born and Judas heard him? And he went out and he sold the Lord Jesus. And tonight he's in hell. Whose fault.
He made his choice. My friend tonight you're gonna make a choice. You gotta make a choice if you're not saved and You go home tonight unsaved. It's because you do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ because God said he that believeth on the Son has everlasting life.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. So if you will comply and you exercise your will in the act of faith in God's Word and in God's Son You'll be saved. But if you do not do so and You leave the meeting tonight unsaved.
It's because you made your choice not to be safe. That's how it is friend. Evil in this world comes about by the abuse of man's free will. God did not make him to sin, but God made man with the possibility that he might sin.
God created man with the possibility of sinning, but man makes the sinning actual man does the sinning. He does not have to sin. God has pleaded with the human family now in this day of grace for over 2 ,000 years God has been waiting patiently.
For mankind the human family to make their choice of putting faith in his son. How many people in our cross are making a positive choice. To put their faith in Jesus Christ. How many? Well, we'll let the people on the cross go.
How many in the meeting tonight have made their choice. I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ Died for my sins. I believe it and because I believe it I'm saved God said so I make my choice to put faith and Accept Jesus Christ as my Savior.
How many will do that tonight or will you go home? Unsaved and go home and take the chance of dying in your sins and Experiencing the wrath of God. We hope you won't do that now tomorrow night. We're going to talk about this Here the fall of man.
Now we're only talking tonight about the free will and what evil is and how evil came. But tomorrow night we want to talk about what evil has done to the human family. Now it's not going to be a pretty picture but you young people if you're going to understand your salvation the wonder of it and Appreciate it and you're going to be able to intelligently preach the gospel to other people then you must understand The position and the condition of the people you're trying to win for the Lord Jesus.
Come back tomorrow night. If you're unsaved come it'll do you good and if you are saved we expect you to be here. Let us pray. Our father we ask thy blessing upon thy word tonight. Young man got saved.
What a wonderful thing and of all the young men in the world so many Want nothing to do with it? And yet our father out of that family those two boys Accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and they exercised their will to faith in Christ.
And now father there's all kinds thousands upon thousands of Americans and Canadians. They're wandering out there tonight and they put their will to oppose thee and they've chosen the giddy pleasures of the world and Our father they're going to perish Unless they repent.
Unless they exercise their will to put faith in thy word and in thy son. He that believeth on the Son has everlasting life. But he that believeth not shall not see life. But the wrath of God abideth upon him.
The statements are simple. They're final and they are eternal. God does not repent. Thou will never change thy mind what thy word says. Stand sure and steadfast and So the one that will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved and so we pray.
Anyone in this meeting tonight that's not saved will exercise their will in putting faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who loved sinners and died for them on the cross and They'll not be like Pilate Who will say what shall I then do with Jesus?
Which is called to Christ and Then send them away to his death or like a Judas To sell the Lord Jesus for a little bit of money. Or like Esau Who would sell his place in heaven? For a little bit of food to satisfy a hunger that nothing could satisfy but thy son.
And the story goes on of Those who sold the Savior exercised their will to not believe. But to go their own way, so we ask thy blessing now as we part in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.