The good, the bad, and the ugly
Good Morning, Welcome to Sunday School.
I am excited about today’s lesson. Generally when I prepare a lesson, God will either lay a passage of Scripture on my heart to meditate on; or something will happen in the week that will challenge me to search out what does Scripture say about this. Or a topic will come up in conversation that will be the springboard for my lesson. We can thank Joey for this morning’s discussion.
My son is approaching finals this week. He is taken a psychology class studying the topic of relationships. Why do people do the things that they do? His final project paper covers the topic "relationships". The question/theme he is to explore throughout the paper is "what do I bring to the table?" The title of his paper is "the good, the bad, and the ugly". There’s the outline for today’s message.
The easiest way to learn the lesson is by observation. The hardest and often most painful way to learn lesson is to go through it yourself. I really believe that is one of the main reasons why God gave us the Bible. Not only does it reveal to us whom He is, but it gives us the insights into the lives and thought processes of the other people we share this planet with.
I shared with the Wednesday night prayer group how he had made the observation after service last week that the people from church really hadn't changed. They were the same as they had been before he left. He had expected them to change, because he had. -- I responded that yes he had changed. He had gone to a new place, and met new people, and did new things, and had new experiences. He was now in an environment where most of the people he came into contact with were not Christians. I told him that all these things had the potential of changing his perspective. He was being exposed to a world view.
I don't want to sound philosophical or even psychological. I'm simply saying that, the majority of the people we interact with on a daily basis do not have the same eternal perspective on life that we do. And while the holy spirit will help us minister to them, I have found it helpful in praying for them, to know why they do and say the things that they do.
OK, here is my epiphany, my light bulb moment! Why do people do the things they do? say the things they say? And live the way they live? It's about relationship! It's all a relationship thing; their relationship with God first, and then their relationship with the rest of us on this planet.
Now I know you're thinking, Duh! Lisa we know that!
Good! Now how do you take that knowledge and use it to lead others to Christ, to disciple, and to live a victorious lives?
Using Joey's assignment as our outline, and the Bible as our reference source, let's look at good, bad, and ugly relationships with God.
I'm going to read a list of names and ask you to rate the individual's relationship with God as good, bad, or ugly. Now be careful to only to rate the relationship and not the individual.
Let's start at the beginning. We know that Adam and Eve had a good relationship with God before sin entered the world. Afterward the relationship changed.
Let’s look at their sons Cain and Abel.
Turn to Genesis 4:2-7
2 Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.
3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
So each of them brought in offering to God. Abel's was accepted as pleasing and Cain's was rejected. What happened next? Cain lures his brother out into a field and kills him.
Was their relationship with God good or bad?
Abel – good.
Cain – bad.
What was the fruit of the bad relationship? Separation from God.
Genesis 4:13-16
13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence;
Sound familiar? Cain didn’t learn anything from the lesson his parent’s learned the hard way.
14b I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
This last part we just read is significant. Despite the fact that Cain’s action had taken him out of fellowship with God, God still cared for Cain. By placing His mark on Cain’s head God provided for his protection.
How about the following, good, bad, or ugly relationship with God? And what is the fruit of that relationship?
· Noah – good: salvation from the flood for himself and his family
· Abraham – good: Father of faith, called the friend of God (James 2:23)
· Joseph – good: became 2nd in command in Egypt, saved his family from famine
· Moses – good: Spared from death as an infant, met God in the burning bush, received the 10 commandments from God’s hand…
Those were fairly easy. Up until this point Israel had been led by first the patriarchs and then judges.
Turn to 1 Samuel 8:2
When Samuel [prophet & last judge of Israel] grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel.
3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. 4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
Israel never had a king. The nations around them however did.
6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.
Why didn’t Israel have a king? Because Israel was a Theocracy, not a monarchy. God was their leader.
9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”
In the next 11 verses we find out that the king will oppress them
· Their sons will be conscripted into the army
· The fruit of their fields and flocks will go to the king
· Their daughters will become his perfumers and cooks and bakers.
· a tenth of their grain and wine will be given to his cronies
· He will use their slaves, cattle & donkeys whenever and however he chooses
AND when they have had enough, they will cry out to God and he will not hear them.
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
So God gave them Saul.
How would you rate the relationship between God and Saul, Israel’s 1st king? What do we know about Saul?
· He was from the tribe of Benjamin
· Very tall: head and shoulders above his brethren
· Courageous and victorious in battle at first, but when they appeared to be loosing…
The Philistines had three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and so many soldiers the Bible records them “as numerous as the sand on the seashore”. When Israel saw that their situation was critical they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. Saul stayed at Gilgal. Those men that were with him shook with fear. They were supposed to be waiting for the prophet to come with instructions on how to defeat the Philistines.
Turn to 1 Samuel 13:8
8 Saul waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. 9 So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. 10 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. 11 “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, 12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”
What does that say about Saul’s relationship with God? Saul may have known God, but he didn’t have relationship with him. That’s my definition of an ugly relationship: knowing God and choosing to have no relationship with him. What’s the fruit of Saul’s ugly relationship with God?
14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
But that’s not the only example of Saul’s ugly relationship with God. We know that Saul had a vexing spirit. How ugly was the relationship?
1 Samuel 14:16 says,
14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.
Remember how God protected Cain after they broke fellowship? God didn’t give up on Saul either.
15 Saul’s attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the harp. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and you will feel better.”
God sent Saul, David, a man after his own heart, to show Saul that worship had the power to drive demons away.
We know that Saul became jealous of David. We also know that David was a man of prayer & praise, who continued to honor Saul’s position as anointed King of Israel even though Saul tried for a long time to kill him.
Now is Samuel dead, and Saul is growing more mentally unstable.
Turn to 1 Samuel 28:4
4 The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all the Israelites and set up camp at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. 6 He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. 7 Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.”
Why didn’t God answer Saul’s prayers? There’s a hint in Verse 3
“Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.”
That sounds like a good thing doesn’t it. If you look at the wording more carefully, you will discover that Saul had all those who made their livelihood in the occult exiled, or kicked out of the kingdom. What he should have done is put them to death. So when God doesn’t answer him, Saul consults a medium (someone who communicates with the dead). See what I mean about an ugly relationship?
We know what happens next. Saul visits the witch of Endor and asks her to contact Samuel. Drawing on demonic powers she called up an apparition of Samuel. We know this freaked her out. She was expecting something else, some thing more familiar, something demonic. She did not really expect to raise up Samuel but rather a satanic imitation.
Know for certain that the Witch of Endor did not raise up Samuel. Mediums do NOT have power over the deceased, especially the righteous, but can only produce counterfeits. God intervened, and allowed Saul one last visit with Samuel.
After the witch described what she saw as a “holy spirit” [Hebrew word elohim] in the form of an old man clad in a robe . . . Saul knew it was Samuel. But their visit wasn’t a happy one. There was a judgment to follow: the kingdom was torn . . . out of his hands and given . . . to David. Also He would be delivered to the Philistines, losing his life and the lives of his sons as well. Bad fruit comes from an ugly relationship with God, and in Saul’s case the penalty extended to his children.
Now we could explore more examples of relationships: good, bad, and ugly, but I think you have the point of this exercise.
When we use the Bible as our source to study relationships between man and God, we discover how those relationship effect mankind. Good relationships with God lead to wholeness: walking in favor, safety, health, prosperity, happiness, knowledge, understanding, the list goes on and extends to our households.
· Noah’s entire family was saved.
· Jesus is called the seed of Abraham.
· Joseph’s family grew from 70 who settled in Goshen during the famine to 600,000 men plus women & children, conservatively 2 million people.
Bad relationship with God lead to separation, being driven out of His presence with no where to go. Cain described it as
restless wandering, living in constant fear that someone would do him harm. I mentioned earlier that Cain didn’t learn the consequences of separation from God from his parents. But he did learn fear. Bad relationship with God leads to fear and that fear is passed from one generation to the next.
Ugly relationships: knowing God and choosing to have no relationship with him leads to death and destruction in every area of your life. We saw how the man, esteemed as head and shoulders above his brethren -- not only in physical stature but political power, was crippled by mental illness. Even when he knew the only true solution available to Him was seeking God’s help, he perverted that choice and turned to the occult for restitution. The consequence cost him his life and that of his sons, as well as the lives of many Israelites involved in the battle.
What we need to take away from this study this morning, and to remind ourselves of every time we read the Bible is that it is all about relationship with God. He wants good relationship with everyone.
If you’re here this morning and you feel a thousand miles away from God, something in your life or past has caused a relational separation between you and God, there is a way to reconnect, its called repentance. And the reward is forgiveness and restoration of right relationship.
If you’re here this morning, and you know who God is, you once enjoyed fellowship with Him, but something got in the way, you turned your back on him and created your own solutions to life’s questions. You see yourself as the person identified in an ugly relationship with God. It is not hopeless. There is a way for you too to reconnect with your God. It is also called repentance, you too can be forgiven and restored.