CARE GROUP LESSON LESSON 8 GOOD AND EVIL (PART 1)

Transcription

1 CARE GROUP LESSON LESSON 8 GOOD AND EVIL (PART 1) In the Scripture evil sometimes is presented as being wrong and useless. As God s people, we want to avoid evil. If we want to see a lot of good days, we must keep our tongue from bad. Don t talk bad. Talk good. This is a spiritual law: Talk what you want. If you don t want what you have, quit talking about what you have. Talking about your problems is going to perpetuate your problems indefinitely. Talk what you want, not what you have or who you are. Don t talk poverty. That is bad. Talk blessings. Talk prosperity. Don t talk sickness even though you feel sick. Talk healing and health. Talking the right thing is not easy to do, but it is a way out. God says, Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. We should leave the bad and do the good. Today, our lesson will focus on Good and evil. SEEK THE LORD Amos 5:4, 6 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: "Seek Me and live; 6 Seek the Lord and live, Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, And devour it, With no one to quench it in Bethel-- (NKJV) If we are going to overcome evil and do good, we must to seek the Lord. There are some things in medicine that can help you. There are some things in nutrition that can help you. But you have to watch your heart whether you are seeking those things instead of seeking the Lord. You may put your faith in those things to heal you, instead of in the Lord. Many people who get into troubles are seeking something else instead of seeking the Lord. They think, This new medicine is going to be my salvation. This new doctor is going to be my salvation. There are times that the Lord can use something else to help you, but you should depend on Him and seek Him.

2 2 Seek God, not nutrition, not medicine. God should not be last on our list. A lot of Christians sought something else besides Him. They don t talk about the Lord and healing in the Word. You can tell what they seek by listening to what they talk about. Their faith is misplaced and their focus is misdirected. When we seek the Lord, we are told that He hears our cry. Psalm 34:14-15 Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. (NKJV) Hezekiah sought God We must seek God and the good, not the bad. We must seek God and live. Hezekiah was told to put his house in order because he was going to die, but he did not die. He lived a long time after he was healed. A prophet of God told him to set his house in order. He was going to die. What did he do? He turned his face to the wall. 2 Kings 20:1-7 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, "Thus says the Lord: 'Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.' " 2 Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 "Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 5 "Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. 6 And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David." ' " 7 Then Isaiah said, "Take a lump of figs." So they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. (NKJV) Isaiah 38:1-5 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, "Thus says the Lord: 'Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.' " 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said,

3 3 "Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5 "Go and tell Hezekiah, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. (NKJV) Hezekiah was praying and talking to God. He was seeking God s mercy and His face. He thought about nothing but God. He sought the goodness of God. Before the man of God walked out of his property, the Lord told him to turn around, go back and told Hezekiah that He had heard his prayer. The Lord had seen his tears and would add to his days fifteen years (A decade and a half). Did God change His mind? No! Hezekiah said, The Lord was ready to heal me. (Isaiah 38:20). The Lord does not change. Hezekiah changed. Because he changed, God gave him fifteen more years. He was not ordained by God that he die right then. Hezekiah changed something within himself. He did something which changed the length of his life. The books of Proverbs and Psalms say that there are things you can do that will add years to your life. You can do things that will cut your life in half. It is not up to the Lord how long we will live. It is up to us. What we do and don t do will determine how long we will live. Seek the Lord and live. Proverbs 3:1-4 My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands; 2 For length of days and long life And peace they will add to you. 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart, 4 And so find favor and high esteem In the sight of God and man. (NKJV) Proverbs 9:10-12 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 11 For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you. 12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you will bear it alone." (NKJV) DON T CALL EVIL GOOD Isaiah 5:20-21 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and

4 4 sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight! (NKJV) Isaiah 5:20-21 talks about one of the main areas of how the enemy operates. He is an evil one or a bad one. He is wicked or twisted. He tries to confuse humanity about what is good and what is bad. Millions of people on the planet call evil good and good evil. That is what happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Satan talked to Eve, Did God really say that? The woman saw that the tree was very good for food. She had not eaten its fruit. Why did she think that way? God told them that they would die if they ate of it. The enemy said that they would not die. He made them believe that a bad thing is a good thing. Satan said, How can this good fruit be bad? Besides that, you will not surely die. When you eat it, you will have the knowledge of good and evil like God. And what will be bad with that? Having more knowledge is good. Having more understanding should be good. What he was saying means evil is good. Satan has made people think that evil is good since he deceived Adam and Eve. Many Christians allow themselves to be deceived and confused. They have called evil things good. And many people around the world call good things evil. They think that Christians do not open their mind enough to other religions. We believe only in one God and only one Savior. We believe that there is only one way to heaven. They think that the Christian faith is bad. We are not evil. God is good and we are His children. We are good children of a good Father. Good comes from good. Good cannot come from evil. Only evil comes from evil. WICKEDNESS PROCEEDS FROM THE WICKED David could have easily killed Saul one day. Saul was a demon-possessed man. He was a bad man. But David said, No, my hand will not touch him. He is the Lord s anointed. David said, As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.' 1 Samuel 24:9-13 And David said to Saul: "Why do you listen to the words of men who say, 'Indeed David seeks your harm'? 10 Look, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, 'I will not

5 5 stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord's anointed.' 11 Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you hunt my life to take it. 12 Let the Lord judge between you and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.' But my hand shall not be against you. (NKJV) A bad thing will not come from a good person. David was not going to hurt Saul because he would not do evil things. Evil comes evil. Luke 6:43-45 "For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (NKJV) How can an evil man be fixed? You can tell if a man or woman is good or evil by their fruit. How can an evil man or a bad man be fixed? First of all, he has to be born again. And God will change his heart. As Christians, we don t have an evil father, the devil. We are born again. Old things have passed away and all things have become new. God is good. Therefore He has given us good things. We must fill our heart with good. We need to be filled with the good Spirit of God and the good Word of God. And we need to fellowship with good children of God. We need to receive good input from God. We need to be aware of things around us such as media, internet, TV, movies, books that have evil in them. We must not allow anything to put bad in us. If we feed on something long enough, it is going to get in us. If we get enough of it in us, it will come out of us. But if we get the good Word and the good Spirit of God in us all the time, we are going to change. If we have a cup full of dirty and bad stuff, and we put clean pure water in it and keep flowing it into that cup, the bad stuff will eventually be washed out of

6 6 there and displace all the bad stuff out of there. We can be clean and pure by the washing of the water of the Word. We can be washed by the Fire of the Holy Spirit. People may say, Watch out, that church may brainwash you! We should say, I need good things to be scrubbed into me. I need a good washing. I need God s idea which is clean and pure. I need a good church. I need to fellowship with good Christian brothers and sisters. I need to pray in tongues every day. I want to be around Christians who talk about good things and want to do good things. Teenagers, you should not hang around people who want to do bad stuff because they will be affecting you. They talk about getting high or stealing something. They talk about fornication or having an affair. You don t need to be around them. You cannot afford that. Your flesh does not need to hear their bad conversations. You should not be nourished with bad stuff. You should not spend all of your time with bad friends who always want to talk about bad stuff and do bad things. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good. How can you tell whether your friends are good people? Out of the abundance of the heart, their mouth speaks. Whatever is in their heart will come out through their mouth and their actions. If their heart is full of lust, they will talk about it. If their heart is full of covetousness, they will talk about it. They may say, I don t mean that. Believe me, I don t care about money and material things. Most of the time, they mean what they say. An evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Wickedness manifest when we suppress/deny the truth Romans 1:18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. (NLT) These wicked people are not those who have never heard and seen the truth. They see it but choose something else. Romans 1:20 For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been

7 7 made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification], (AMP) Anybody who is alive and can see and experience the creation knows that there is a God in their heart, whether they admit or acknowledge it or not. Their hearts know that there is a Creator. They can override this truth with their head, but inside their heart knows that there is a Creator. Faith is beyond the intellect and the reasoning. If every human-being would have admitted that the creation did not come into existence by accident, he will know that there is a Creator. Human s heart is calling to and searching for the One who made him. You can see the evidence of God when you look at stars in the night sky. You see it when you see the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom. You see it when you look across the mountain range. The creation did not happen by a random collision and explosion. When you look at the harmony and the complexity of the universe, the animals and plants, you know that the Creator designed them, planned the creation and made it. From the creation of the world, His attributes, His divine nature and His power are discernible and seen through His handiworks. Romans 1:21 Because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened. (AMP) People played ignorance but they are not. They saw and knew that there was God, but they did not honor and glorify Him as God. They did not give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and godless in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. When you see light and you decide that you don t want it, there is only one thing for you darkness. Romans 1:22-23 Claiming to be wise, they became fools [professing to be smart, they made simpletons of themselves]. 23 And by them the glory and majesty and excellence of the immortal God were exchanged for and

8 8 represented by images, resembling mortal man and birds and beasts and reptiles. (AMP)