When Bad Things Happen To Good People

TEXT Gent sis 37:23-28;40:15 & 50:20a (L.B.)

TITLE "WHEN

THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE"

SCRIPTURE R E A D I N G ? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

E.F

I

CLASSIFICATION:

- - EXPOSITORY - - BIOGRAPHICAL - -TEXTUAL - -TOPICAL - ~ -DEVOTIONAL

DELIVERIES:

Date

F.B.C. F.B.C.

2-3~~-88

F . B.C.

I

Hour A.M.

Place

and Comments:

Crestwood, St. L uis(MO) San Angelo, TX

TX

w~/h-1

l1

(XXX++++);

1 L;

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~-

BIBLIOGRAPHY

WHEN

SCRIPTURE:

BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO

GOOD PEOPLE

~1/1-1, tAfew.B,-hte

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 EX-

PERIMENTI 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

IN

PR SO

I DID

TO DESERVE ?

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 thing

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

(I 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 tool 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

productive ...

ask, "Do things like

this really happen to good people?" Yes,

really do ! For one reason, truth

hat 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

1 be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou ,

} "Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered . . .

-2-

-r

~ ,,,..,._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 es-

pecially loved by a deacon and wife who air-

q?oo

conditioned 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 (And it did!)

cometh contention .

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

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."

But he

than he wanted, for bad

things began to happen to him at the hands of

those

envy he aroused!

--37:lla (KJV)

his brethren NVIED him. '

(L.B.)

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

God will sooner 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 they

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 post-

script in

6

by the wa y

was a v e ry h a ndsome y o ung

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 cir-

cumstances: (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 con-

viction and remorse for the evil hey had

done. It took time, it takes time, but in

t ime it can happen!

--NOTE: Here is Joseph, a good person, who

wronged. 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 with compassion and so

"He left the room and found a place where

could

( vs. 24a)

2. Repe nt 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 tender-

ness and compassion as he offers

as

substitute for his younger who was about t o be kept behind 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 ofGod

with fairness andjustice for all.

-7-

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