Building Blocks for Life: Being Nice

Transcription

1 Building Blocks for Life: Being Nice By Mark Mayberry 8/9/2015 INTRODUCTION A nice person is someone who is pleasing and agreeable, polite and kind. In the NASB, the word nice only occurs once, and as a warning: Speaking of evil men, Jeremiah said, Do not believe them, although they may say nice things to you (Jer. 12:6). Jeremiah 12:6 (NASB95) 6 For even your brothers and the household of your father, Even they have dealt treacherously with you, Even they have cried aloud after you. Do not believe them, although they may say nice things to you. However, the word kindness often appears in the Bible. While hypocrites may pretend to be nice, Christians should strive to be kind and considerate toward others. MEMORY VERSES The concept of kindness is expressed by the prophet Micah and the apostle Paul (Micah 6:8; Col. 3:12-13). Micah 6:6-8 (NASB95) 6 With what shall I come to the Lord And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? 7 Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? Colossians 3:12-14 (NASB95) 12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

2 POSITIVE EXAMPLES King David to Mephibosheth King David demonstrated kindness toward Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul (2 Sam. 4:4; 9:1-13). 2 Samuel 4:4 (NASB95) 4 Now Jonathan, Saul s son, had a son crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the report of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened that in her hurry to flee, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth. 2 Samuel 9:1-13 (NASB95) 1 Then David said, Is there yet anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan s sake? 2 Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, Are you Ziba? And he said, I am your servant. 3 The king said, Is there not yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God? And Ziba said to the king, There is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled in both feet. 4 So the king said to him, Where is he? And Ziba said to the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lo-debar. 5 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. 6 Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he said, Here is your servant! 7 David said to him, Do not fear, for I will surely show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul; and you shall eat at my table regularly. 8 Again he prostrated himself and said, What is your servant, that you should regard a dead dog like me? 9 Then the king called Saul s servant Ziba and said to him, All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master s grandson. 10 You and your sons and your servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you shall bring in the produce so that your master s grandson may have food; nevertheless Mephibosheth your master s grandson shall eat at my table regularly. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11 Then Ziba said to the king, According to all that my lord the king commands his servant so your servant will do. So Mephibosheth ate at David s table as one of the king s sons. 12 Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate at the king s table regularly. Now he was lame in both feet. The Servant Girl to Naaman A little Israelite girl who served in the house of Naaman, demonstrated kindness for her master, wishing that he might visit the prophet Elisha and be healed from his leprosy (2 Kings 5:1-14). 2 Kings 5:1-14 (NASB95) 1 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the Lord had

3 given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper. 2 Now the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy. 4 Naaman went in and told his master, saying, Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel. 5 Then the king of Aram said, Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. He departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy. 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me. 8 It happened when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. 9 So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean. 11 But Naaman was furious and went away and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12 Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, Wash, and be clean? 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean. NEGATIVE EXAMPLES The Sons of Jacob to Joseph Filled with jealousy and hatred, the sons of Jacob sold their brother Joseph into slavery (Gen. 37:1-36; 42:21-22). Genesis 37:1-36 (NASB95) 1 Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the records of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father s wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic. 4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms. 5 Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6 He

4 said to them, Please listen to this dream which I have had; 7 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf. 8 Then his brothers said to him, Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us? So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9 Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me. 10 He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground? 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. 12 Then his brothers went to pasture their father s flock in Shechem. 13 Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them. And he said to him, I will go. 14 Then he said to him, Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me. So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, What are you looking for? 16 He said, I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock. 17 Then the man said, They have moved from here; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. 18 When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death. 19 They said to one another, Here comes this dreamer! 20 Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, A wild beast devoured him. Then let us see what will become of his dreams! 21 But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands and said, Let us not take his life. 22 Reuben further said to them, Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father. 23 So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him; 24 and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it. 25 Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh. And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt. 29 Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments. 30 He returned to his brothers and said, The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go? 31 So they took Joseph s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood; 32 and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son s tunic or not. 33 Then he examined it and said, It is my son s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been

5 torn to pieces! 34 So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son. So his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh s officer, the captain of the bodyguard. Genesis 42:21-22 (NASB95) 21 Then they said to one another, Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us. 22 Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not tell you, Do not sin against the boy ; and you would not listen? Now comes the reckoning for his blood. King Joash to Zechariah King Joash killed the prophet Zechariah who spoke out against the king s apostasy and sin (2 Chron. 24:20-27; cf. 22:10-12). 2 Chronicles 24:20-27 (NASB95) 20 Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, Thus God has said, Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord and do not prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, He has also forsaken you. 21 So they conspired against him and at the command of the king they stoned him to death in the court of the house of the Lord. 22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which his father Jehoiada had shown him, but he murdered his son. And as he died he said, May the Lord see and avenge! 23 Now it happened at the turn of the year that the army of the Arameans came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed all the officials of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. 24 Indeed the army of the Arameans came with a small number of men; yet the Lord delivered a very great army into their hands, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joash. 25 When they had departed from him (for they left him very sick), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and murdered him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. 26 Now these are those who conspired against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess. 27 As to his sons and the many oracles against him and the rebuilding of the house of God, behold, they are written in the treatise of the Book of the Kings. Then Amaziah his son became king in his place. 2 Chronicles 22:10-12 (NASB95) 10 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose and destroyed all the royal offspring of the house of Judah. 11 But Jehoshabeath the king s daughter took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king s sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she

6 would not put him to death. 12 He was hidden with them in the house of God six years while Athaliah reigned over the land. APPLICATION Toward God Are you mindful of the kindness that God has shown toward you? He offers physical provision and providential care (Gen. 39:21; Ruth 2:20; Matt. 5:43-45). He offers spiritual provision and promise of salvation (Eph. 2:4-7; Titus 3:4-7). Genesis 39:21 (NASB95) 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. Ruth 2:20 (NASB95) 20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead. Again Naomi said to her, The man is our relative, he is one of our closest relatives. Matthew 5:43-45 (NASB95) 43 You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Ephesians 2:4-7 (NASB95) 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Titus 3:4-7 (NASB95) 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Toward Others Are you thankful for the kindness that others have shown toward you? What about beneficial gifts (Luke 17:11-19; 1 Thess. 5:16-18)? What about needed rebukes (Psa. 141:5; James 5:19-20)? Luke 17:11-19 (NASB95) 11 While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at

7 a distance met Him; 13 and they raised their voices, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! 14 When He saw them, He said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they were going, they were cleansed. 15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, 16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine where are they? 18 Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner? 19 And He said to him, Stand up and go; your faith has made you well. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NASB95) 16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God s will for you in Christ Jesus. Psalm 141:5 (NASB95) 5 Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me; It is oil upon the head; Do not let my head refuse it, For still my prayer is against their wicked deeds. James 5:19-20 (NASB95) 19 My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. Do you, in turn, show kindness to others? Heed the admonitions of Proverbs and the prophets (Prov. 3:3; 14:22; 19:22; 31:26; Hos. 10:12; 12:6). Follow the golden rule (Matt. 7:12; Luke 6:31). Bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Cultivate the Christian graces (2 Pet. 1:5-7). Proverbs 3:3 (NASB95) 3 Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 14:22 (NASB95) 22 Will they not go astray who devise evil? But kindness and truth will be to those who devise good. Proverbs 19:22 (NASB95) 22 What is desirable in a man is his kindness, And it is better to be a poor man than a liar. Proverbs 31:26 (NASB95) 26 She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. Hosea 10:12 (NASB95) 12 Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord Until He comes to rain righteousness on you. Hosea 12:6 (NASB95) 6 Therefore, return to your God, Observe kindness and justice, And wait for your God continually. Matthew 7:12 (NASB95) 12 In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

8 Luke 6:31 (NASB95) 31 Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. Galatians 5:22-23 (NASB95) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 2 Peter 1:5-7 (NASB95) 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. CONCLUSION God s kindness carries responsibility: putting aside all that is sinful and selfish, and growing in respect to salvation (1 Pet. 2:1-3). 1 Peter 2:1-3 (NASB95) 1 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. Those who reject His kindness will suffer His wrath (Rom. 2:4-11; 11:22). Romans 2:4-11 (NASB95) 4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who will render to each person according to his deeds: 7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; 8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God. Romans 11:22 (NASB95) 22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.