Is There Any Good In This World?

Is there any Good in this world?

Scripture: Romans 12:9-21

Theme: Evangelistic – There is only one Good and he is God

Prayer:

Introduction:

Today we are looking at the topic of “Is there any good in this world?”

The assumption is that there is evil in this world – so there is a need for us to search for good – Is there any good in this world?

Looking around us – we cannot help but acknowledge that there seems to be lots of evil around us:

Just this week in Monday’s paper – “Today” – I cannot help but notice the headlines: “Car bomb terror, from Baghdad and Bali to the streets of Britain.”

- it was about the recent car bombs incidents in Britain – two were found by the police and defused and the third was driven into Glasgow airport – thankfully causing only structural damaged.

- Such happenings are so common these days.

- We hear or read about the genocide that took place and is still on in Africa. Not too long ago in former Yugoslavia. Some people calls it the ethnic cleansing.

- China – human slavery – in ST, Thursday, 5 July 2007, pg. 7, “Shanxi brick kiln slavery: Five men in the dock.” “The kiln owner, labour contractor and three foremen accused of enslaving 32 migrant workers…”

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- It is amazing that slavery still goes on in such modern era.,

- CNN news on 5 July 2007, Thursday, a 3 year old British girl was kidnapped – most probably for ransom/money. She was on the way to school - gunman at a junction snack her from the car. It is in Nigeria – Africa.

Quote: Evil brings men together.

Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), (attributed)

“Evil brings evil men together to do evil things.”

The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced "nine eleven") consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[2] suicide attacks by Islamic extremists on that date upon the United States of America.

That morning, nineteen terrorists[3] affiliated with al-Qaeda[4] hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. Each team of hijackers included a trained pilot. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners (United Airlines Flight 175 and American Airlines Flight 11) into the World Trade Center in New York City, one plane into each tower (1 WTC and 2 WTC), resulting in the collapse of both buildings soon afterward and irreparable damage to nearby buildings. The hijackers crashed a third airliner (American Airlines Flight 77) into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. Passengers and members of the flight crew on the fourth aircraft (United Airlines Flight 93) attempted to retake control of their plane from the hijackers;[5] that plane crashed into a field near the town of Shanksville in rural Somerset County, Pennsylvania. In addition to the 19 hijackers, 2,974 people died; another 24 are missing and presumed dead

- The list goes on – mind you it is a long list.

- That is out there in the world – how about some of us – we too see evil in our small circle of people – bullying, unjust practices, bias treatment of individuals, ill-treatment,…

Evil is real in this world.

Bible:

Ephesians 5:16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Even the Bible acknowledges that there are evil in the world – that is the reality.

If there is evil – is it right to conclude that there is good – the opposite of evil.

Yes and no – it is not so simple because:

Good does exist because there is evil or that because there is evil therefore there must be good – somewhere.

This form of dualistic thinking is dangerous – it gives rise to the thinking and believes that Good and Evil exist on equal term – which they are not.

This thought gives the excuse for some nations to wage war against evil – just because they seem to be evil. This makes the people who wage war in the name of justice no better off than the every evil they seek to eliminate.

Winston Churchill: “Certain it is that while men are gathering power and knowledge with ever-increasing speed, their virtues and their wisdom have not shown any noticeable improvement as the centuries have rolled. Under sufficient stress – starvation, terror, warlike passion or even cold intellectual frenzy, the modern man we know so well will do the most terrible deeds, and his modern woman will back him up.” (Before WW2)

There is evil in this world because man chose to do evil.

Psalms 52:3 You love evil rather than good,

2 Timothy 3:13 while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Matthew 24:12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,