Righteousness Overcomes Evil; It’s Our Job

Righteousness Overcomes Evil; It’s Our Job

Righteousness overcomes evil; it’s our job, because God gave us the power and responsibility to do it.

Righteousness Overcomes Evil; It’s Our Job

Righteousness Overcomes Evil; It’s Our Job

A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church

6 September 2015

Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References:

Psalm 125:1-5
Proverbs 22:3-7
Mark 7:24-37
1 Timothy 6:10

Righteousness overcomes evil; it’s our job, because God gave us the power and responsibility to do it.

Righteousness overcomes evil, because righteousness is always loving, compassionate, and in the heavenly will of God; it never includes the corrupted ways of this world, including all its pain, suffering, and death that is inflicted upon millions of human beings and billions of animals every year.

People may claim that killing certain humans or animals is the right thing to do, but it is never in the heavenly will of God.

We are to be the loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God who know and live the fact that righteousness overcomes evil.

Let’s take a look at why and how righteousness overcomes evil in Psalm 125:1-5.

  1. Those who trust in the LORD
    Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

Those who really trust in the Lord also trust Him when He tells us that we are to pray for His heavenly will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, then it is also possible for it to happen; in fact, it is a reality.

If we act upon the fact that righteousness overcomes evil, then it will happen, even if only in small ways; but if enough of us have the faith to live this way, then we can change the world.

Then the psalmist writes about how the Lord supports and protects His faithful followers.

  1. As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
    So the LORD surrounds His people
    From this time forth and forever.
  2. For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous;
    That the righteous may not put forth their hands to do wrong.

Unfortunately, this hasn’t happened yet for there isn’t any real land of righteousness, because the majority of people in all lands are still following the corrupt and evil ways of this world.

And perhaps this is the reason that the psalmist offers the following prayer.

  1. Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
    And to those who are upright in their hearts.

And the psalmist adds…

  1. But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways,
    The LORD will lead them away with the doers of iniquity.|
    Peace be upon Israel.
    NASB

In other words, we are either for the Lord or we are against the Lord; there is no middle ground.

We are either evil like most of the people in the world, or we are righteous as the Lord calls us to be, and we do everything we can to show the world around us that righteousness overcomes evil.

Let’s continue with this discussion as we look at Proverbs 22:3-7.

  1. The prudent sees the evil and hides himself,
    But the naive go on, and are punished for it.

Let’s think about this in terms of all the suffering and death inflicted upon the billions of so-called “food animals” every year.

The prudent are the ones that see the evil inflicted upon the animals and want no part of it and eat only plant foods.

The naïve are indifferent to all this suffering and continue to participate in this evil by eating animalproducts, and their punishment includes a hardened heart which separates them from God, and failing health with many chronic diseases that come from eating the animal products.

This is a perfect example of how righteousness overcomes evil.

  1. The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD
    Are riches, honor and life.

The truly humble people of the world are those who work without fanfare to end the corruption of creation, for they live in the heavenly will of God.

  1. Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
    He who guards himself will be far from them.
  2. Train up a child in the way he should go,
    Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
  3. The rich rules over the poor,
    And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.
    NASB

This is a common problem in the world around us, for many of the rich people are also those who promote the corruption in our governments and businesses, and in the rest of creation for their personal gain.

These are the people that Paul warned Timothy about in 1 Timothy 6:10…

  1. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang.
    NASB

These are the evils in the world that the righteous children of God are to overcome.

We are not to be shy about this fact…we are to actively show the world that righteousness overcomes evil.

We can make a difference.

In Mark 7:24-37 Jesus gives us some examples of how we can be humble, but at the same time show the world that righteousness overcomes evil.

  1. And from there He [Jesus] arose and went away to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; yet He could not escape notice.

Because of the loving and compassionate way Jesus presented Himself, His reputation as a true Man of God was known beyond the land of Israel.

  1. But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, immediately came and fell at His feet.
  2. Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.

This woman was not Jewish, yet she knew the truth, which we believe is from the Holy Spirit, but unlike most people in the world, this woman listened and believed.

  1. And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

Jesus wasn’t saying these things to insult her; He was just testing her faith for the benefit of people who heard their conversation.

  1. But she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.”
  2. And He said to her, “Because of this answer go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.”
  3. And going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having departed.

Jesus healed her daughter because of her mother’s faith.

We may not be able to heal people in this way; but we sure can help heal this world of its corruption, because righteousness overcomes evil, and the demon was an example of this evil.

And this is the same kind of evil that inflicts so much pain, suffering, and death upon billions of animals every year.

  1. And again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis.
  2. And they brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they entreated Him to lay His hand upon him.

Again, we see that there are true believers in all societies, just as there are today, and we, as true loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God can work with and through them to show that righteousness overcomes evil.

  1. And He took him aside from the multitude by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva;
  2. and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”
  3. And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly.

Again, we don’t have to go through these kinds of demonstrations to get our point across.

If a person is sick with a chronic disease stemming from their consumption of animal products, then we can talk about how our health improved after we stopped eating animal products; that is, if we are also healthy vegans, which is a vital part of our presentation.

If they say that they love animals, but still eat them, then we can lovingly show that what they are doing is hypocritical, and encourage them to eat only plant foods for the sake of the animals, and it they listen, we will see miracles.

Would you agree that saving about 100 land and sea animals from suffering and death is a miracle?

Then, if you do, also realize that this is the number of animals every person who doesn’t eat animal products saves from suffering and death every year.

This is the reason we need to constantly remember that righteousness overcomes evil, and that it can and should be our righteousness that overcomes this and other evils.

  1. And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it.
  2. And they were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.”
    NASB

People don’t keep quiet about the healings they receive, and we have seen and heard from many who have been healed of many health problems simply by eating a healthful whole plant food diet.

And there is really no difference between these kinds of healings and the ones that Jesus did; they all helped heal this world from its corruption, and we can and should be a part of it.

They are all miracles.

Righteousness overcomes evil; it’s our job.

Amen.

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