Out
of the Wicked
By
Shelby G. Floyd
Titus 2:11-14
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
NIV
After God rejected
Saul from being king over
Saul
Acted Wickedly Toward David
One time Saul’s army was encamped in a cave. David and his army were camped farther in the cave. When David was encouraged to take Saul’s life, he refused because he was the Lord’s anointed. He cut off the corner of Saul’s robe and then called and asked him why he was trying to take his life. David said that he would not take Saul’s life, but would let the Lord judge between him and Saul. Then he quoted the ancient proverb,
“Out of the wicked comes wickedness.”
(1 Samuel 24:13.)
This ancient proverb is still true. We see much of the same wickedness of ancient times being practiced in modem times.
King
Herod Acted Wickedly Toward the Apostles
In the early days of the church, Herod the king killed James the apostle with the sword and attempted to do the same to the apostle Peter. But God sent an angel and delivered Peter. (Acts 12:1-19.) We do not understand God’s ways. Why God allowed James to be put to death and then sent an angel to deliver Peter is hard to understand. But Herod was a wicked person and “out of the wicked comes wickedness,” both then and now.
The
Wicked One Inspires All Wickedness
We know that all of the wickedness we see going on in our country and around the world is not of God, but is from the Wicked One who inspires such.
Identifying Wickedness
We live in a time like Isaiah the prophet, who said that people were calling good evil and evil good etc., “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 sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20). There is no ambiguity as to what is wickedness in the Biblical record. Those who practice such things are wicked in that thing which is wicked and wrong. Let us identify what God calls wickedness.
1. Betraying a friend is wickedness. Peter declared, “(With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out” (Acts 1:18 NIV). Judas was wicked because he betrayed his Savior and friend for a few measly pieces of silver.
2. Using the members of our body for
impurity is wickedness. “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as
instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who
have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him
as instruments of righteousness” (Romans 6:13 NIV). “I put this in human terms
because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the
parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so
now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness (Romans 6:19
NIV).
3. To be unequally yoked with
unbelievers is wickedness. When I was a little boy, my grandfather hitched
a horse and a mule together. As we went up the mountain in a wagon he told me
that the horse would let the mule do all the work. He was right. But grandpa
was unscriptural and did not know it. The Old Testament taught that one should
not yoke an ox and an ass together—they would be unequally yoked together. In
the New Testament we are taught that religiously and spiritually we should not
be yoked together with unbelievers. “Do not be yoked together with
unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship
can light have with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14).
4. Let us take note of a
whole catalogue of wickedness:
Romans 1: 18, 19, 24-32
The wrath of God is being
revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who
suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is
plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.”
Therefore God also gave them
up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among
themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and
served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason God gave them
up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is
against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman,
burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful,
and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error
which was due.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do
those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual
immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder,
strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they
are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud,
boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning,
untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that
those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but
also approve of those who practice them.
NKJV
Anyone who has an elementary education
can tell the difference between goodness and wickedness. Therefore, let all
discerning people turn away from all wickedness (2 Timothy
By the grace of God, Christ came to
redeem us from all wickedness (Titus
Then we should go forth to live the
Christian life and pray to God every day to deliver us from evil and wicked men
(2 Thessalonians 3:2), as God delivered David from Saul. The ancient proverb, “Out
of the wicked comes wickedness” is true. Copyright © 2008