Matthew 5:44-45 – It Happens to Everyone – Bible study

Matthew 5:45 It Happens to Everyone There is a fact about the Bible that some do not know. The Bible does NOT promise either Christians (New Testament) or Jews (Old Testament) or anyone else, that they will not have problems in life. In fact, the Bible promises the exact opposite, i.e. that Gods people WILL HAVE problems. Just look at the previous verse: Matt 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; We cant love enemies that we do not have. We cant respond well to curses we do not receive. We cant do good to haters that dont exist or pray for persecutors and despisers that are not there. But that is just the beginning. Good and bad happens to everyone. Hospitals and grave yards are filled with both good people and bad people. Perhaps the most innocent in this world are children, but children get hurt, abused, sick, and die just like killers, kidnappers, rapists, mass murderers, and psychopaths. It is a horrible thought but "It Happens to Everyone," good and bad. And nothing we can do will stop all bad things from happening. Nothing. Not being saved. Not living right. Not praying. However, we can reduce the number of bad things that happen to us. This morning, let me give you two words, one will help you to reduce the number of bad things that will happen and one will help you to deal with the bad things that cannot be stopped. I. Guidance – Guidance helps keep the bad away. A. I am not speaking of my guidance but Gods. Ps 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. 1. Heeding Gods guidance WILL keep bad things from happening. 2. Gods guidance comes in a variety of ways. a. The Holy Spirit speaks to some. b. God gives wisdom to some. c. But the most reliable and common method for God to give guidance is through the Word of God. B. The Bible was written, in part, to help keep bad things from happening to people. 1. The Bible gives commands, precepts, and examples. a. Commands are specific orders of things people are to do and are not to do. b. Precepts are bits of advice or hints given. c. Examples in the Bible shows us what works and what does not. 2. All of these help to keep the bad away. C. Commands are the most obvious and some of the most helpful means of finding Gods guidance. 1. Gods commands are not suggestions. They are commands. a. Most of them are not explained. They are just commanded. b. Some of them are internal, orders concerning our heart and attitudes. c. Some of them are external, orders concerning our behaviors, our words, our actions, even our dress. 2. Some of the commands were limited to the Old Testament saints but all commandsat the leastrepresent the mind of God and none of them should be disannulled unless God Himself does it. a. It is not my purpose this morning to explain why God annulled some of the commands for this age. b. Neither is it my purpose this morning to debate with anyone which commands have been annulled. c. The statement that I want to get to you: D. You and I would not have experienced nearly as many bad things in our lives if we had obeyed Gods commands. 1. You can debate law and grace all you want, but God gave every command for a purpose and sometimes the purpose was as simple to keep us out of trouble. 2. Some of the things I am about to say in the next few minutes might offend some, but I am going to say them anyway. a. It is not my desire to be arrogant, legalistic, or militant. b. It is my desire to honest to the Word, helpful to the flock, and faithful to God. 3. Take the command God gives to woman (with application I believe to men) about modesty. 1Ti 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; a. The Bible does not explain why we should cover ourselves, but it commands us to do so. b. Can we imagine some reasons? (1) Skin cancer (2) How about curtailing lust? (a) I want to say this as right as I can. (b) It is never right for a male to touch a female or to coerce a woman to do any thing for any reason. In fact, that is a sin. (c) But ladies, it is also a sin for you to advertise products that you are not giving away or sellingand if you are not giving away or selling anything, dont put it on display. (d) The fact that most woman are wearing too little and are wearing it too tight does NOT excuse the men from their sin, but the #MeToo effort should not be JUST be about confronting the sin of the men. It should also be about confronting the sin of the women. c. I am pointing this out not to become either famous or infamous but to illustrate that if people would just obey the Biblefollow Gods guidanceon this issue, a lot less bad would have happened to a lot more people. 4. Can we not see how many of our lives would be filled with less bad if we had just followed Gods guidance? Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess. a. Have ever known of anyone who lost a family, a job, a career, money, respect, friendship over drunkenness? (1) Have you or someone you know been the unfortunate one to lose a loved one because someone was either drunk or stoned? (2) Have you ever known someone to ruin their life, squander their money, or hurt someone because they were drunk or stoned? b. By the way, its not just the commands that deal with the outward behaviors that bring the bad. (1) Gods commands on jealousy (envy), wrath and anger, lust, fear, forgiveness, love, mercy, and others help keep us from stirring the pot of bad until it spills over on us and those we know. (2) These are just a few of commands that, if obeyed, would help keep bad from us. II. Grace – Grace takes the bad and makes good come from it. A. God has made many promises to the believers to bring good from the bad things that happen in our lives. Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 2Co 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; Ro 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. 1. Perhaps you noticed that the word I gave to you was "grace" but the word "grace" was not mentioned in any of the verses that I read. 2. You might think I read the wrong verses, but I did not. 3. These verses are not talking about grace but about what grace DOES! a. Romans 8:28 – Grace is what makes all things-even the bad–work for our good. b. 2Co 4:17 – Grace is what takes our bad and makes them into light afflictions. c. Ro 1:17 – Grace is what is unleased from one exercise of faith to the next. B. Two thoughts about grace: 1. Grace is God stepping in to make good come from bad. a. Grace is God working, God stepping in. (1) Grace is not just a companion to mercy. (2) Some say mercy is God withholding what we desire and grace is God giving us what we dont deserve. (3) It is that but it is so much more. b. It was grace that changed (1) the betrayal of Josephs brothers to the exodus of Israel. (2) what we could have been calling "the nine refusals of Pharaoh" to the "Ten Plagues of Egypt." (3) the destruction of Israel at the Red Sea to the crossing of the Red Sea. (4) Israels rejection of the Messiah to the payment for our sin. c. Grace is God working in the bad to make good come from it. d. And Gods grace can do such a powerful work that we can become thankful for the bad because it brought to us Gods abundant grace. e. For grace to have that kind of an effect in your life, you must yield to it. 2Co 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. Ga 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God. (1) disobedience, bitterness, anger, jealousy, conniving, and others squelch the grace of God. (2) For God to work, we must stay in our place. (3) But when we let God work, He does not disappoint. 2. Grace can take EVERY bad and make something good come from it. a. Being obedient to God only gets hard when it gets personal. b. As long as it is someone elses bad times, letting God work is easy. c. But when it comes to our life, it is more difficult. (1) You were skipped over for a promotion? Let grace work. (2) You were stood up at the altar? Let grace work. (3) You were abused as a child? Let grace work. (4) You have been betrayed by friends and family? Let grace work. (5) You lost your fortune? Let grace work. (6) You have a sickness? Let grace work. (7) You have faced a death? Let grace work. d. Let God step into your bad and do a work of grace. I am going to close with this thought. You and I cannot stop some of the bad that is going to come. We just cant. If that is so, why waste the opportunity to see Gods grace work? Why be bitter? Why be angry? Why quit on God? Just because God allowed bad things into our lives does not mean that God does not have a plan. Certainly, be wise. Get saved. Live holy. Follow Gods guidance. Ask for miracles, but when the bad gets through Gods nets of projection, let Gods grace produce good from it.