TEXT Gent sis 37:23-28;40:15 & 50:20a (L.B.) TITLE "WHEN THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE" SCRIPTURE READING ---------------- DELIVERIES: Date Hour Place E.F I CLASSIFICATION: - - EXPOSITORY --BIOGRAPHICAL --TEXTUAL --TOPICAL -~-DEVOTIONAL and Comments: F.B.C. F.B.C. F. B.C. I 2-3~~-88 A.M. Crestwood, St. L uis(mo) San Angelo, TX 1 L; T X w~/h-1 l1 (XXX++++); - ~- BIBLIOGRAPHY
WHEN BAD THINGS GOOD HAPPEN TO PEOPLE ~1/1-1, tafew.b,-hte SCRIPTURE: ~ Genesis 37: 50:20a (L.B.) INTRO: DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE? YOU BET YOUR LIFE THEY DO. A BABY rs BORN INTO YOUR FAMILY. YOU LOVE CHILD--YOU ADORE IT. YOU WOULD GIVE YOUR FOR THAT CHILD. YOU WATCH WITH PRIDE AS HE TAKES HIS FIRST STEPS. YOU LISTEN TO HIS FIRST WORDS WITH JOY. YOU BUY HIM THAT BRIGHT RED TR CYCLE HE WANTS SO BADLY. YOU LAVISH YOUR LOVE AND GIFTS UPON HIM. HE IS THE JOY OF YOUR LIFE. YOU TAKE HIM TO SCHOOL THE FIRST AND CRY ALL THE WAY HOME BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE ABY ANY MORE. HE REACHES JUNIOR HIGH AND GRADUALLY BEGINS TO WITHDRAW FROM THE FAMILY CIRCLE. HIS FRIENDS AND THEIR PARENTS ARE STRANGERS TO YOU. THEIR LIFE STYLES ARE A CONTRADICTION TO ALL YOU HAVE TAUGHT YOUR CHILD.,1 I(, HIGH SCHOO AND ANNOUNCES THAT HE HATES YOU. YOU DON'T KNOW WHY OR WHAT YOU MAY HAVE DONE. YOU'RE CLEANING UP HIS ROOM AND FIND SOME STRANGELY TWISTED CIGARETTES IN THE BOTTOM OF HIS DRESSER DRAWER ALONG WITH SOME LITTLE RED PILLS AND YOU REALIZE HE rs EXPERIMENTI NG WITH MARIJUANA AND DRUGS. TALK TO HIM ABOUT IT AND HE ANGERLY ACCUSES YOU OF "INVADING HIS PRIVACY! " HE DROPS OUT OF SCHOOL AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS SENIOR YEAR--MOVES OUT A NGY LITTLE APARTMENT WITH ONE. OF HIS "FRIENDS" AND ONLY GOD KNOWS WHAT HE IS INTO NOW. AND YOU WORRY AND PRAY AND CR A LOT. AT 21 HE IS LIVING WITH A GIRL WHO HAS AN ABORTION AND YOU ARE ABOUT TO DIE WITHIN. "DO THINGS LIKE THIS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE?" YOU BET YOUR LI FE THEY DO! AND THEY HAPPEN EVERYDAY TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT DESERVE IT! THEY, IN THE WORDS OF JOSEPH, COULD SAY, "HERE I PR SO I DID TO DESERVE IN 1
BAD THINGS ARE ALWAYS HAPPENING TO GOOD PEOPLE. THEY ALWAYS HAVE AND THEY ALWAYS WILL. GOODNESS IS NO GUARANTEE THAT BAD THINGS WON 'T HAPPEN TO JOSEPH STANDS AS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF THIS TRUTH. FROM HIM WE CAN LEARN A GREAT DEAL ABOUT BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE. " ~6 I. WHAT CAUSES BAD THINGS TO HAPPEN TO EOPLE? --NOTE: is a young man, an obedient son, a virtuous young person and a host of bad thi n g begin to happen to him. Wha t caused this? What may cause bad things to happen to good people today? 1. TRUTH That Is Spoken.. --37: 2 (L.B. ) --NOTE: Joseph did not make up these stories They were true. They really happened and they were bad. And so he tells his father the truth his brothers. And t he him into serious trouble. -- ILLUS: A young boy had recently gone to wo r k at a l ar ge plant. He worked hard and produced mor e than his fa i r share of the product each day. During the noon hour he began to notice his foreman's taking too l s and products from the p l ant and placing them in his t ruck. He told the owner about this. The foreman flatly denied it, covered his tracks well and in a week fir e d the young man for n o t be i ng produc tive... ask, "Do things like this really happen to good people?" Yes, really do! For one reason, truth h at is spoken. -=---NOTE : Truth often angers people. It did 1 so when spoken by Christ who said, "You \/ shall know the and the truth shall you free." And the people said,"we be Abraham's seed, and were never in 1 bondage to any man: how sayest thou, "Ye shall be made free? Jesus ans wered... (I } -2-
-r q oo ~,,,..,._u osoever committeth sin is the servant of sin... But now you seek to kill me, all because I have told you he truth!" (John 8:32-35 & 40). - - NOTE: Paul, will not endure sound aoctrine." 2. "' 7:3-4 Another --NOTE : Some people are just easier to love than others. Some children are easier to love than others and Joseph was one of them. The partiality of toward Joseph caused bad things 'to happen a good son. --ILLUS: & Clyde. Any expression of partiality or kindness toward Brandy meant bad things were going to happen to no fault of his own! --APPLY: Pastor of small rural church especially loved by a deacon and wife who airconditioned the church's parsonage so lint from cotten gin would get all throughout the house... 3. Personal?ride --NOTE: Not all bad things that happen to good people come upon them without provocation. Sometimes the way good people act provoke others to become hostile toward them. This was certainly the case with Joseph. The partiality of their father now compounded by young Joseph's own personal pride bad (Relate), --PROV. 13:10 "Only by cometh contention. (And it did!) l -3-
--QUOTE: "Conc eit is the only disease known to man that makes everyone sick except the one who has it." And Joseph's conceit made his brothers "sick" and it was not long until they began to do bad things to a good person. This can happen to any of us! vy But he things those --37:lla (L.B.) know that a man who shows me hi s like the beggar who shows me his They are both looking for alms from rich man for the alms of my ENVY, man for the alms of my long until Joseph got what alms of his brothers envy." than he wanted, for bad began to happen to him at the hands of envy he aroused! (KJV) his brethren NVIED him. ' nis were fit to be There is a sequence that often makes "bad things happen to good people." hich provokes envy which turns into hatred. 7:17b-20 TE: nature not under the control of -will sooner God or later take action award another whom it 6. No apparent Reason at All 5:7 "Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." --NOTE: Through this and other verses, the Bible tells u s that we live in a world where "bad things happen good people." King Soloman c. : admits that with all of his wisdom, does not understand why "bad things happen to good people." But the y do. And these instances we must, in f aith, est in hands of God. -4-
II. WHAT BECOMES OF GOOD PEOPLE WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO THEM? --NOTE: F om -Joseph's experience we learn tr ths. 1. Sometimes Things Get Better 9 :1-6 - - NOTE : Sound like a perfect story that i s about to end wit h "And everyone lived happily ever after!" But not so, for we anticipate problems ahead when the Scripture adds as a postscript in 6 by the wa y was a v ery h andsome young was this little note added? We are about to find out because: 2. Sometimes Things Get Worse wrf.e, - - 39 : 7-20 (Relate... ) - -NOTE : vss. 16-17 people ing to believe the worst people... ) 3. the Time They are to Remain Faithful - - OTE: Joesph, in his youth, might have been boastful and prone to pride but through it all he remained faithful t o his God--even in the most adver se circumstances: (Relate).. 4. In Time God Will Vindicate Them 1-16 & 28-40 - -NOTE: From a prisoner in the Kings dungeon to the second-in command in the Kings palace is what I would call "Vindication!" --APPLY: When you feel that you been wronged--that bad things have happened to you as a good person--just remember that God, in his own time and i n Hi s own way, will Vindicate you. " Commit thy way... ", -.
III. WHAT GOOD CAN COME WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD :1-2 (READ) When we read that Jacob is sending his s ons to Egypt to buy grain we know that something good is about to happen. and --NOTE: When bad things happen to good who remain fa i thful to God, He can br i ng out of it --42:6-20 21-24a (READ) --NOTE: Here are ten older, hardened who for the first time are smitten with conviction and remorse for the evil he y had done. It took time, it takes time, but in t ime it can happen! --NOTE: Here is Joseph, a good person, who wronge d. But when pos ition t o get even--to do bad things t o t hose who had done bad things to him--he Rat her than being filled with anger and vengence, Joseph is filled wit h compassion and so "He left the room and found a place where could ( vs. 24a ) 2. Repe n t ance and Change --NOTE: What a contrast is seen between the picture painted of in 37: 26 and the one see_n in 4 4 - -37: 26 "Look Theae," said to t he others " He r e comes s ome Ishmaeli tes. Let ' s se ll Joseph to t h em! " s e e this same Judah, now repentant and changed--a man of tenderness and compassion as he offers as substitute for his younger who was about t o be kept b ehind i n 3. Reconc i liation and Re storation 1-1 Recognition that God Is Active in All Circumstances and In All of Our Lives 0:19-21 -6-
--APPLY: You may be saying today, "I am not perfect, but I do try to be a good person. And bad things are happening to me at the hands of bad people." Remember the promise-:-7'all things work together for good to them that LOVE GOD, to t hem who are CALLED according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28). So just keep on loving God. Keep on remaining true to your cal ling and in time God Vindicate you. Remember, the last chapter has not been written and when it is written it will be written by the hand of God with fairness and justice for all. -7-
WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE :;i F.B. C., A.M. /~ - ",,,, I. II
When Bad Things Happen to Good People Genesis 40:15; 50:30a New Living Translation Sardis Baptist Church September 21, 2014 I. What causes bad things to happen to good people? 1. Truth that is spoken - 37:1-2 2. Partiality (generosity) of others 37:3-4 3. Personal Pride - 37:5-10 4. Envy- 37:lla 5. Hatred- 37:17b-20 6. No apparent reason at all - Job 5 :7 TT. What becomes of good people when bad things happen to them? 1. Sometimes things get better - 39: 1-6 2. Sometimes things get worse- 39:7-20
3. All the time they are to remain faithful 39:20-23 4. In time God will vindicate them 41 :1-16, 28-40 III. What good can come when bad things happen to good people? 1. Conviction and compassion 42 :6-24 2. Repentance and change 44:18ff 3. Reconciliation and restoration 45 : 1-8 4. Recognition that God is active in all circumstances and in all of our lives 50: 19-21 Remember, last not been written and it is written it will be written by of God fairness and justice for all.