PUSHED INTO HEAVEN BY GOD'S USE OF EVIL


God's creation and utilization of evil is one of the hardest realities for a Christian to understand. The Bible emphasises the difficulty of comprehending "evil in the world" by coining the process as the "mystery of iniquity." Only through the unveiling of this "mystery" by the indwelling Spirit of Christ can we find the understanding of "evil" in God's purpose and plan to ultimately gather all mankind into the benevolent heart of the Father at the fullness of time.

Day in and day out, within the vast halls of Christendom the concepts of "evil and God's sovereignty" are debated and discussed in hard fought and painful contests. A year and a half ago it was this very subject that caused Joian to meet me in Coronado for a discussion. It was painful as she told me the "why's" of her interest in understanding the use of evil by a loving God. Today Joian and I still talk on the subject and yes it is still painful but much less so as we fall into greater surrender to a God called Love. It seems the mystery can only really be opened by a surrendered heart. So I pray your heart today is completely given over to God and He may show you that, "the evil of this world is but to push you into His Glorious Heavenly Kingdom" where there is no pain nor suffering and all the tears are wiped away. We must never forget we are pilgrims and this world is not our home. You and I are sojourners walking our way back to our Father's House and the great banquet He has already set for us.

I pray this introduction and excerpted writing blesses you to understand more clearly His ways,

Jack




My old departed friend, George Hawtin writes, "For many years I have felt that the gems dug from the mine of eternal truth through the anointed ministry of A.P. Adams, who wrote from about 1885 to 1925, were far too rich to be allowed to be lost to the present generation. I consider it, therefore, to be profitable that I should take in hand the task of compiling some of these precious unfoldings of truth that thousands of others, who have never had opportunity to be edified by his works, may now be blessed by them.

"God hath set in the church teachers; but like all other true ministries there are never more than a small handful of them at any given time. We are probably aware that many thousands of men profess to be teachers of the word of God, but in truth they are really merely "warming up" the traditions of the past as a housewife might warm up the leftovers of yesterday. There are many thousands of good musicians in the world, repeating the melodies of the great composers of the past, but thy themselves are not composers. So it is with the theologian, if indeed there be such, who re-writes and re-hashes from his own study that which was taught by the ancients.

"I have often smiled as I have wondered what the common theologian who lived in 1885 must have thought of the truth unfolded by A.P. Adams. I am sure many of them must have thought he was some mad heretic that was only leading mankind astray.

"Our Lord Jesus Christ was received gladly by the common folk of His day. Let us never forget that fact. The publicans and sinners "heard Him gladly" and responded to His message, but the old systems and the old theologians contradicted and blasphemed and never were at rest until they had hung Him upon a cross. Let us always remember that. But truth does not die upon a cross. It lays down its life that it may take it up again in greater power than ever before.

Sincerely in Christ our Lord,
Geo. R. Hawtin


A. P. Adams on "The Purpose of Evil"

"Now I hold that the following proposition is self-evident. Given a God of infinite power, wisdom and goodness, He is responsible for ALL things that exist. And this also follows from the wisdom and goodness of God: All things that exist are for an intelligent and benevolent end. These conclusions are inevitable from the premises; they cannot be modified except by modifying the premises. For instance, if you say that some things exist contrary to God's will, then it follows that God is not all-powerful; and you cannot escape this conclusion by bringing in the orthodox doctrine of man's free moral agency, for whatever a free moral agent may do, He is responsible for it who made him a free moral agent. If God made man a free moral agent, He knew beforehand what the result would be, and hence is just as responsible for the consequences of the acts of that free moral agent as He would be for the act of an irresponsible machine that He had made.

Man's free moral agency, even if it were true, would by no means clear God from the responsibility of His acts since God is His creator and has made him in the first place just what he is, well knowing what the result would be. If God's will is EVER thwarted, then He is not almighty. If His will is thwarted, then His plans must be changed, and hence He is not all-wise and immutable. If His will is NEVER thwarted, then all things are in ACCORDANCE with His will and He is responsible for all things as they exist. If He is all-wise and all-good, then all things, existing according to His will, must be tending to some wise and benevolent end. Thus we come back to my proposition again: If God is infinite in power, wisdom and goodness, then He is responsible for ALL things that exist, and all existing things are tending toward some wise and good end. He who cannot see that this proposition is absolutely inevitable, as much so as a mathematical axiom, must be very deficient in logic and reason, and it would be useless to argue with him. He who DOES see the truth of this proposition will also see the truth of several corollaries depending upon it; viz., ABSOLUTE evil cannot exist because God is absolutely GOOD. The absolute is the unconditioned and unlimited. If there were absolute evil, then the good WOULD be limited, and hence NOT absolute, and hence again God would not be absolutely or infinitely good. But God IS infinite in goodness; hence evil is NOT infinite. Therefore it is relative, temporary and limited, and therefore again ENDLESS evil is an impossibility unless you make God less than infinite. Thus it is seen that the doctrine of endless torments is as contrary to reason as it is to scripture".

THE PURPOSE OF EVIL. "I CREATE EVILS I, THE LORD.''