We cannot stop evil. We are told that if we resist the devil, he will flee from us, (James 4:7) to put on the whole armor of God, (Eph. 6:11-18) but we cannot stop the evil on this planet.
The woman down the street that abuses her child, the leaders of the world that are manipulating the masses with their fear campaigns, the drunk who beats his wife, demonic possession, we cannot stop these things altogether. When we see evil, and recognize it as such, we are to speak up, or do even more at times, but evil will continue.
After the Tribulation period, there will be only those who have accepted Christ entering into the Millennial period, along with the 144,000, (Rev. 14:1) no unrepentant sinner will be there on that first day, but we are all individually accountable to the Almighty, and the children born during that thousand years will begin to go down that same path of rebellion that everyone of us since Adam has trodden.
I question whether evil will ever be completely abolished, for Revelation 22:15 says, “For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” And this is speaking of the time after the new heaven and earth. Satan, all the fallen angels and all sinners will be permanently in the Lake of Fire, so I do not know the exact meaning of that text, and I have never read anything yet that gives a reasonable response to it.
As far as I know, no man has ever been born saved, although the words of Luke 1:41 can be seen as a debatable point here, “And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.” Since those who will enter into the time of eternity, the new heaven and earth, will be as the angels, “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage,” (Matt. 22:30) one could presume that we will not bear children, but that is all conjecture, suffice it to say we will find out.
The evil that we speak of here today, all the from the kindly old man who scoffs at the notion of salvation through grace, to the immoral and horrendous acts of men, complete with the deeds done by Satan and the devils, can only be stopped by God. We are to pray without ceasing, (1 Thess. 5:17) and “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16) These are our best weapons against evil, but along with this stands the truth of our actions, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17)
Here is the way we are to stand against the powers of darkness, whether they be in human form or not. “Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.” (1 Peter 3:9) And here is where many Christians fail, for they have believed the world instead of the Word of God. The “Jesus is only love” movement has all but put a stop to rebuking, reproving and correcting, and so, as Ecclesiastes 8:11 says, “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” What you have to consider is this, what do you do when you see evil, do you speak up, do you head in that direction with the whole armor of God on, or do you simply decide that its none of your concern.
Besides those normal, to use the word very loosely, evils that most of us witness every day, the “beginnings of sorrows” (Matt. 24:8) that we find ourselves in shows us the true nature of mankind, disobedient, disrespectful to the Lord Jesus Christ, self-centered and self-willed, the powers of darkness are beginning to move swiftly across this planet.
There is one other thing that you can do along with the aforementioned items, you can choose to stand. The cost may be very high to you personally, but if Jesus Christ is truly your Savior, then the highest price has already been paid, hasn’t it?
