The presence of evil seems to be an integral part of our development and edification. Removing it too soon by calling all people to Jesus before the time might be like pulling a pie out of the oven before it's done.
Dear Patrick1966,
Yes! God uses evil for His good purposes. Scripture teaches that God created evil and that He uses it to humble us.
Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. 7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Ecc 1:13 An experience of evil God has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.
God even created Satan to be mankind's destroyer:
Isa 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
After God has finished using evil, mankind will have a full knowledge of evil so that when Christ shows us the goodness of God, we can have a full appreciation for it. I believe this is God's ultimate purpose for creating and using evil in this world.
I also agree with your "pie in the oven" comment. Here is a scripture that best supports that mankind must be
fully baked with evil before Christ comes to us and saves us:
Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
I am aware that you and others on the forum do not understand this scripture as a teaching on the pathway to salvation the Elect will travel, however, I still wanted to point it out because the truth it teaches matches so closely to your pie in the oven comment.
In the verse, the phrase "this gospel of the kingdom" is not referring to the Gospel of Christ. It is referring to the "another gospel" Paul mentions below:
2Cor 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
This "another gospel" is the one that Satan and his ministers in apostate church teach. This false gospel comes from the spirit of anti-Christ which indwells the churches the Apostles started. That spirit is still alive and well in the churches today. This is the apostasy Paul said would come and is the one Paul warned (with tears) everyone in his churches for
3 years about its coming.
Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
Paul's knowledge of the coming apostasy greatly distressed Paul because he loved the churches he started. However, Paul knew that it was God's "will" for the apostasy to come so he accepted it.
Because the apostasy came and devoured the church, the parables and the end-time prophecies teach its coming. It is this apostasy that
kills the saints and is why Satan is called the destroyer and the crooked serpent:
Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
Jer 4:7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant (the church is devoured and no one is spared).
Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
Satan is called the "crooked serpent" because his gospel teaches the crooked way of "works". Mixing "works" with faith is the sin that leads to death and is how Satan kills the saints.
After an Elect believer has fully accepted Satan's "another gospel" and has spiritually died, they will be made "worse than the first (
Mat 12:43-45) and will become a "Man of Sin" (the Seven Headed beast). This fallen away spiritual condition is the fully baked pie of evil that God wants everyone to experience before He gives us the gift of salvation. Our time as a Man of Sin is mankind's "Day of Evil":
Prov 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the Day of Evil.
Jer 17:17 Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the Day of Evil.
Because the Elect fall away and accept Satan's "another gospel", it is necessary for a person to come to them in the
spirit of Elijah with the call to repent from their works. John the Baptist fulfilled this role for the Nation of Israel and converted Elect believers will fulfill this role for the unconverted Gentile Elect. With the believer's repentance, they will begin solely approaching Christ by faith. When they do, it will make the path "straight" for Christ to come with the Latter Rain and salvation.
So you are right; mankind must experience evil and wait until that "pie" is fully baked until Christ "comes again" with our gift of salvation.
Joe
