GLENN'S BIBLE STUDY
Title: GOOD OUT OF EVIL Part 2
by Pastor Glenn Pease
GOOD OUT OF EVIL PART II
Based on James 1:12
By Pastor Glenn Pease
A tornado came sweeping across the prairie of Minnesota destroying
everything in its path. When it struck Rochester, Minnesota, hundreds of
people were injured, and 23 were killed. It was a tragedy, yet millions
of people have been thankful for what God did to bring much good out of
that tragic evil. After the storm, the Mayo brothers, William and Charles,
worked with their father, who was the local doctor, in bandaging wounds,
setting broken limbs, and performing operations. Sister Alfred, the mother
superior of the Convent Sisters of St. Francis was so impressed with their
work, she offered to build a hospital if the Mayo's would take charge of
it. They agreed, and Mayo Clinic was opened in 1889.
Dr. Mayo and his two sons had never even had an hospital internship,
but they turned that hospital into one of the most famous in all the world.
They probably would never have been heard of outside of their own small
territory, but because of that tornado they got the chance, and they took
advantage of it, and became some of the best known surgeon's in America.
Millions of people have been helped, cured, and blest because of the suffering
of a few. It is one of the great truths of history, that God delights to
bring good out of evil, and turn a negative into a positive.
The vast majority of victories over disease in this world are the result
of someone's suffering. Out of suffering comes the victory over suffering.
Because John D. Rockefeller suffered an illness at age 55, he was motivated
to give millions to medical research. Several million a month is spent
by the Rockefeller foundation to promote good health throughout the world,
just because a rich man got sick. It may sound strange, but the fact is,
many can say thank God that Rockefeller never had perfect health. Thank
God he suffered, for out of his suffering millions have been able to conquer
suffering.
Thank God that Dr. Sabha Rav had a brother that died of a disease called
sprue in India. That may sound cruel, but listen to the full story. He
was so crushed by his brothers death that he was going to bury himself
in a Hindu Monastery for the rest of his life. A Christian missionary urged
him to, instead of that, do something to help others who suffered as his
brother did. His imagination was inspired by the idea, and he went off
to Spain, and then London, and finally to Harvard. After 15 years as a
professor in Harvard Medical School he became the director of the mammoth
research center in the Lederle Laboratories in New York. With 300 assistants
he discovered the cure for sprue, and with his own money he sent the drug
back to India where the disease that killed his brother was wiped out.
Dr. Rav became a Christian, and one of the most Christlike men of our time,
as well as one of the greatest medical men. Thank God for the tragic trial
he had to endure, for out of it came blessings for millions.
We cannot know the value of any experience at the time of experiencing
it. There is no way to know if that which makes us cry now it will be one
of our most precious blessings in the future. Jesus said blessed are those
who mourn for they shall be comforted. In other words, our weeping will
be turned to rejoicing, and the very thing that we feel bad about now will
make us glad in the future. James says the same thing as his divine brother
in verse 12. "Blessed is the man who endures trials for when he has stood
the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those
who love Him." Evil endured will end in good. What this amounts to is
a challenge to be an incurable optimist, always assuming that life's trials
are opportunities to cooperate with God in bringing good out of evil. Only
time can reveal the true worth of any experience.
Lin Yutang tells
the story of a Chinese nobleman who lost a beautiful horse. This was bad
luck, and so his friends came to console him for his misfortune. But the
next day the lost horse returned with ten other fine wild horses he had
befriended in the wilderness. This was a stroke of good luck, and his friends
gathered to congratulate him on his fine fortune. But the next day his
son tried to break one of the wild horses, and was thrown off, and broke
his leg. His friends gathered to bemoan this bit of bad luck. But the
next day a local war was declared, and the noblemen's son was unable to
fight in the bloody battle because of his broken leg, and it turned out
he would certainly have been killed if he had gone into battle. So his
friends gathered for a feast to rejoice over his good fortune.
The story is portraying the fact that just do not have enough knowledge
to judge the value of what comes to us in life. We call it a trial if it
hurts now, but we do not know what benefit it can bring to make us rejoice
later. Like the pain of getting a tooth drilled and filled that we might
enjoy the peace of painless months ahead. One of the main purposes of James
is to help Christians see that life's negatives may have very positive value,
and so we are to be optimists even in times of trial.
This takes
enormous patience, for the value of a trial may not be seen for a long time,
and may not even be seen in time at all, but will only be made manifest
when we receive our crown in glory. Anybody can be optimistic if the reward
is just around the corner, but what if it is a long way down the road?
A sign on the bank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota says, "God give me patience,
and I want it right now." We are often impatient in our desire to grow
in patience. It is the very fact that we cannot see the value of what we
suffer right now that develops patience. We must learn to wait, believing
that God is always working to bring good out of evil.
This was the
case of Jim Morton, a newsman who was bitten by a rattlesnake in North Carolina.
He was in a disaster area where a hurricane had blown down all the telephone
lines, and so no doctor could be called. Morton's buddy applied a tourniquet
and used what medication was handy. It was the next day before he was gotten
to a hospital. Doctors were puzzled that he was alive. Upon examination
they found that an injury he had received earlier in his life saved him.
The circulation was so poor in that leg that the poison venom did not spread
to the rest of his body. There is no way he could have known that when
he was injured in that leg that that negative experience would one day save
his life. It was a blessing he was wounded, but only a man of faith could
believe it. Only faith can be optimistic in trials expecting that what
is bad now will lead to some good in the future.
James says, this is just practical Christianity, and you need to pray
in faith for the wisdom to see life from this perspective. In other words,
do not judge life's events impatiently, assuming what is bad now is going
to be perpetually bad. Rather, assume that God will work in your life to
bring some good value out of what is bad, so that the day will come when
you can thank God for it.
Paul had so many places to go, and things
to do, and how frustrating it must have been to get arrested and thrown
in prison. The needs of the churches were urgent. How could there be any
good in this delay? Yet, we know now that Paul's imprisonment was one of
the greatest blessings of history, for while in prison he wrote his Epistles
that have been God's guiding light for His church for all time. Multiplied
millions have been blessed by Paul's imprisonment. Paul and James were
in perfect agreement on the optimistic view of life: That God works in
everything for good with those who love Him, and are called according to
His purpose.
Thomas Edison lost his hearing, but he had the wisdom to see its value.
He was convinced that his amazing power of concentration had been made possible
by his deafness. He was able to work undisturbed in the most noisy places,
where others developed nerve problems. His handicap enabled him to concentrate
and discover things that were a blessing to millions. Most negative experiences
are not calamities if one has the right spirit, and the insight to see beyond
the present. The same wind that blows out the match fans the smoldering
coals to a fierce flow.
One ship drives East, another drives West,
While the self-same breezes blow;
Tis the set of the sails, and not the gales,
That bids them where to go.
Like the winds of the air are the waves of the fates,
As we journey along through life;
Tis the set of the soul that decided the goal,
And not the calm, or the strife.
James agrees with the poet. It is not what happens to you, but how
you count it that really matters. It is your mental attitude that determines
how you handle life. If you are pessimistic, you can turn a blessing into
a problem. Like the farmer who had so many bad potatoes in his field.
One year almost all were perfect potatoes, and then he complained because
there were no bad ones to feed the pigs. If you are determined to be a
pessimist, you can cloud every beautiful day with a spirit of gloom, but
it also true that if you can see the value of trials, you can turn every
rainy day into a picnic. It is your responsibility to get the wisdom it
takes to be an optimist, says James.
If from the affliction somewhere
do not grow
Honor which could not else have been, a faith
An elevation and a sanctity;
If new strength be not given, nor old restored,
The blame is ours, not God's.
Wordsworth
Again, James agrees with the poet, for he says, God will gladly give
us the wisdom to see the value of life's trials, if we ask in faith. If
we fail to ask, or if we doubt, and we are double minded, we will not receive
the wisdom we need to see. The pessimist is a self-made man. The optimist
is a God made man. The person who can see no good in anything, and who
is forever complaining of life's lousy breaks, is in that state of mind,
not because God wills it, but because he has chosen to live in doubt that
God delights to bring forth good out of evil. Bad things always have the
last word with the pessimist, and they are ends, but to the optimist they
are means to a greater end.
Madam Guyon, the French mystic, was left a widow at 28. She resolved
to devote her life to the poor and needy. She was arrested and put in the
Bastille for 7 years. Like Paul, she used this time for writing, and her
works have made her one of the most quoted women in history. She has ministered
to millions because of her trials, or rather, because she was able to heed
the wisdom of James, and count her trials a joy. She wrote,
My cage confines me round, Abroad I cannot fly,
But though my wing is closely bound, My heart's at liberty.
My prison walls cannot control the flight, The freedom of my soul.
Oh! It is good to soar these bolts and bars above,
To thee whose purpose I adore, Whose providence I love;
And in thy mighty will to find, The joy, the freedom of the wind.
History is filled with examples of the truth of what James is teaching.
We can share our own testimony of how the near fatal accident of our daughter
Cindy has turned out to be a blessing for her and us. Her whole life has
been radically changed physically, mentally, and spiritually because of
that negative experience. There is no way we could know at the time of
the crisis. Everything was dark and negative, but in time good came from
that evil. This truth of James is demonstrated time and time again in history,
and can be experienced in our own lives. But I want to warn you of the
dangers involved in this precious truth. Just as good can come out of evil,
so evil can come out of good by abuse, misunderstanding, and superficial
application of the truth.
Christians tend to push this theme of good out of evil to a point where
they deny the reality of evil, and lose their balance. If God works in
everything for good, they say,
then everything is really good after all, and just seems to be evil. This
is the Christian Science view of life. Sin and evil are just wrong ways
of thinking, and are not real. This is not only heresy, it is nonsense,
and we need to avoid any connection with such folly.
The book of
James is packed with clear revelation of the reality of evil that is to
be avoided. In this first chapter he makes it clear that doubt and double-mindedness
makes us miss God's best. Temptation is not of God, but comes from our
own inner lust, and leads to sin and death out of God's will. Anger is
an evil that does not do the will of God. Christians can be deceased, and
be hearers of the Word, and not doers. They can use their tongue in many
evil ways. In chapter 2 he says Christians can be prejudice, and sin terribly
in showing partiality. He can profess faith, but be superficial because
he does not follow it up with good works.
In chapter 3 he warns
of the danger of teaching, and how we can make many mistakes, especially
with the tongue. It can do so much evil that hurts the body of Christ.
It is pure stupidity to think of this as good. So it is with the jealously
and selfish ambition that Christians can display. In chapter 4 he says,
war is not God's will. It comes from the evil heart filled with covetousness.
Unanswered prayers are common he says, because we only ask to fulfill our
own passionate drives. Christians can be such proud, arrogant sinners that
they become friends of the world and enemies of God. They can speak evil
of their brothers, and plan their future with no thought of God. In chapter
5 he condemns the rich Christians who live in luxury and pleasure at the
expense of others.
The point of this survey is to give balance, lest we jump to the false
conclusion that because God can bring good out of evil, all evil is really
good. Not so! Life is full of evil, and the Christian church is full of
folly and sin, and harmful practices that make life miserable for many,
and with no redeeming values. Christians hurt each other, injure each others
faith, and their ability to function properly in the body, and there is
nothing good about it. It is folly and nothing else. Keep the superficial
idea out of your head that everything is good. You will find this in the
literature of the cults, but not in the Word of God. Everyday rotten things
happen to Christians. If God can bring good out of evil, but man can bring
evil into good, we obviously have a confusing conflict that calls for some
clear thinking.
It calls for us to be aware of the danger of justifying evil because
God can use it for some good. Evil is still evil, and will be judged as
such, even if God does use it for good. When a fresh shipload of slaves
from Africa was unloaded in Newport in colonial days, the minister publicly
prayed and gave thanks to God for bringing these benighted blacks under
the blessed influence of the Gospel. He probably deceived himself, and
all who were present, but it did not make slavery good. No matter how much
good did come out of it, those who sinned in doing it will be held accountable
for evil. The good that comes out of evil is God's doing, and will not
be credited to those who do the evil. If that was the case, the opponents
of Paul were correct who said, "Let us sin that grace may abound."
If this was a valid principle that God followed, Hitler will be credited
for the destruction of his own evil philosophy. It was his prejudice that
made him drive Einstein, Bohr, Fermi, and others from Germany, and they
became the nucleus around which American and British scientists rallied
to produce the atom bomb. Good came out of the folly and hatred of Hitler,
but that was God's doing, and is no credit to Hitler.
Without balance
every truth has the danger of leading to error. A temperature is good,
for it warns of a problem in the body, and it fights the infection, but
we all know that if it goes to an extreme, it kills you. So it is with
the truth that God brings good out of evil. This truth can lead to promoting
and justifying evil, if pushed to extremes. For example, 50 thousand people
are killed on U. S. highways each year. Believe it or not, that means
big business for junk dealers, repair men, doctors, hospitals, lawyers,
and florists. In other words, there is good that comes out of the evil
of accidents, but only a fool would say, therefore, accidents are good,
and should be promoted. Instead, we do all we can to fight them and prevent
them, and so it is with all evil. The Christian is to prevent all forms
of evil as far as possible. However, there will always be some evil that
we cannot prevent. When it comes you have the choice of letting it defeat
you, or of cooperating with God, who will help you to bring good out of
evil.
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