B (83:33)
Yeah, Jacob doesn't want to go there. Jacob doesn't want to go there for sure. This is again the tactic of emotionalism. Throw out something that is an abhorrent display of depravity. Throw out something that is so evil and so wicked. Throw it out so that it has an impact on people. And say, do you believe that God is sovereign over that somebody being raped? And then you say, well, because of scripture, it says that God works all things after the counsel of his will. Will he does according to his purpose and his will in heaven and on earth, that no one can thwart his purposes. That's what scripture says about God, that he declares the end from the beginning, works all things, all things, all things, all things after the counsel of his will. I wonder if all of the evil things that happen this world could be contained under all things. Yeah, all things after the counsel of his will. And so you throw it out for an emotional impact. How about rape? Is he sovereign over that? And then you say, of course he's sovereign over that. Otherwise it's purposeless, it's meaningless evil. And I can't accept that. That's not who God really is. And Jacob's like, okay, so I got you. Got you how? Because James is right. You don't want to go here. Because guess what? In this world, we wicked, evil, abominable things like rape happen. They happen in the Mormon's world and the Christians world. It's our world. It happens. And the question you have to ask is, what does God have to say about the matter? What does he have to say about it? Is he impotent? Is he powerless? Did he not know? Did he not understand? Was he surprised by it? Is that your God? Because you see, you have to deal with the fact that evil happens in this world. Scripture has an answer as to why it happens that way. Okay, evil happens in this world. Lots of evil things like rape. Okay, so is God powerless or is he incompetent? Is he ignorant? And he doesn't know? Because that's where you have to fall ultimately. Because if you want to say that God isn't sovereign even over the evil events that happen in this world, allowing it or even prohibiting it, which scripture does teach that God prohibits evil. He stops people from sinning. If you want to say that God has nothing to do with the evil that happens in this world, then that means that you Live in a world with a powerless, impotent, ignorant and incompetent God. And I won't accept that. I don't want to live in a world that rejects what God says about his sovereignty over evil. Because here's the deal. If God isn't sovereign, even over the evil, evil things that people do, if he isn't sovereign, then that means that God is powerless, incompetent, ignorant. He doesn't know. And I refuse to believe in a God like that. And here's the good thing. I don't have to, because I know what God says about himself and his Word. And that is that God has a purpose for the evil that he allows in this world. He has a purpose. There is no meaningless evil that happens in this world. And the premier example that James brings up to Jacob here is the murder and crucifixion of Jesus. Think about all the evil that went into Jesus being crucified on that cross. What took place, Betrayal, abandonment, lies. I mean, it literally says in the text that the Jewish leadership is drawing people into the trial of Jesus to bear false witness in court against Jesus. And their testimonies weren't matching because they were all lying. That's a dangerous game to play, by the way, because according to God's law, his standards of justice is that if a false witness was caught lying on the stand, purposefully lying on the stand, then God's law says justice for the false witness is that the false witness would get whatever the accused would have gotten had their testimony been believed. And so it's a dangerous. It's a dangerous game to play to be bearing false witness like that against Jesus according to God's law. But they did it. False witness, kidnapping, abuse. And think about what took place with Jesus in the crucifixion. This is critical to think about this. What did they do to Jesus? They took an innocent person, they took control of their bot of his body. An innocent person took control of his body and they did things to his body they had no right to do. Do. They abused his body, they took advantage of his body, and then they crucified him and they murdered him on that tree. Okay? That's what took place with Jesus. And what does it say in Scripture, in Acts chapter four, it says, gathered in the city against your holy servant Jesus were Pontius Pilate, Herod, the peoples of Israel, the Gentiles. It says to do whatever your hand predestined to accomplish occur that God had predestined all those events that took place. Was everybody guilty? For what they did to Jesus. Absolutely they did it. God wasn't making them like, I don't want to hurt Jesus and know you're going to hurt Jesus. They wanted to hurt Jesus long before that. How many times in the Gospels does it say that they were going to kill Jesus? They picked up stones to kill Jesus and Jesus like slips out and gets away. They wanted to kill Jesus long before the crucifixion of Jesus. But now at this moment, Jesus says, my time, time, nobody takes my life from me. He says, I lay it down of my own accord. He said now was the time to go to Jerusalem. Now he willingly go, goes like a sheep before, before it's slaughter. He goes and he willingly goes and is guided into that death on his own. Because he says, now I'll allow you to do this, but think about what from their perspective, what were they doing? Only evil, only abuse, only lies, only abandonment. That's what they're doing to Jesus. And it says in Acts chapter 4 that God predestined that to occur. Okay, so you already know that in history, you have it on record in the very words of God that God predestined the abandonment, the betrayal, the abuse, the lies, the slander, the beating, that doing things to Jesus body they had no right to do. You already see that it says God predestined that. Okay, so you already have an example of that kind of supreme evil happening and God had a purpose for it. So enough with the emotionalism. Can we just think with our Bibles? Can we just think with our Bibles here and not just try to manipulate the masses with emotion? And can we actually look at the scriptures to say what kind of God actually exists? And is he the kind of God that would allow any purposeless evil? And the answer from the words of scripture is is never, Never. And by the way, that's why I have hope. That's why I have hope in the midst of all the evil that happens in this world. Because my God says all things work together for good, for my good, for those who are the called according to his purpose, that he does according to his will. Among the hosts of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, no one can stay his hand. He declares the end from the beginning. And I know that all of history is in of the hands, hands of a sovereign almighty, all powerful, all knowing God. And there is no purposeless evil. I have people who are close to me who are raped. Yeah, yeah. And you know my solace, my peace is that what took place in their Lives. The evil, evil that took place in their lives is not something that God allowed without a purpose. And that God will have the final step say, my God will have the final say. And it wasn't something that surprised him. It wasn't something he was powerless over. That God has a purpose and that's my solace. I don't have to say man, God was powerless to do that because these creatures are just so powerful with their free wills over God. And God just can't intervene and he's just powerless. Or he didn't know. He was as surprised as. As she was. That's not the God of the Bible. Thank God. It's not the God of the Bible. And so all your emotionalism should be recognized for precisely what it is. And James is right. You don't want to go there, do you? Because again, like I said a little bit earlier, the arguments that you make, if they're turned around back on you and you're found wanting and in trouble. Not a very good argument. Because we could simply ask you, Jacob, let's talk about your. Your God, who became a God one day, who's growing in knowledge and power. Let's talk about him. Do rapes happen in this world? How do you solve that with the Mormon God? Is it something he just didn't know about? He had no control over? He was impotent, ignorant, didn't know, incompetent, What? How do you address the problem from the Mormon God perspective? Evil things happen in this world. And what God's just like, my hands are tied. I mean, I'm God and all, but I can't do anything. I can't intervene. Really? You want to worship that God? Let me just say, no thanks.