THE ROOT OF BITTERNESS

Heb. 12:15

I. Introduction.

A. Notice who Paul is writing to, and their spiritual condition as mature Christians.

B. Eph. 4:31 - Let all bitterness, wrath and anger...

C. James 3:14 - "But if ye have bitter envy and strive in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth."

1. It is very hard for some to believe, but sometimes saved people have things in their life that are not good.

2. Saved people must admit this to God so He can forgive them, and use them effectively in His service.

II. People who are filled with bitterness.

A. Rom. 3:14 - Lost people are naturally filled with bitterness. This same characteristics overflows from the saved persons sinful nature into the saved persons life. It is possible for the saved person to portray characteristics of a lost person.

B. Judges 6:13 - God used the bitterness of Gideon (a saved person) to deliver Israel from the Midianites.

C. II Sam. 17:23 - Ahithophel, the grandfather of Bathsheba, killed himself when his plans to destroy David were not accepted. Bathsheba's dad remained faithful to David in spite of what he had done to his daughter.

D. People I have known who are filled with bitterness.

1. Ralph, the bus driver, mad at God because his wife died giving birth to their youngest son. He was left alone to raise his son. He remarried, and soon after his second wife died suddenly in his arms.

III. People who aren't filled with bitterness even though they have "undeserved" trouble.

A. Job 1 - Job wasn't bitter at God when he lost everything. He worshipped God even when he heard that his sons and daughters had been killed by a whirlwind and when his wife turned against him.

B. Examples of people I have known who didn't have a root of bitterness, but had "undeserved" troubles.

1. Terry was not mad at God because his daughter was born deformed. He said this little deformed girl had taught him more about living God's way than any other single thing.

IV. How to kill the root of bitterness.

A. Matt. 11:28-30 - "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

1. We will learn that these verses are for us.

2. We begin by taking God's word for what He says, coming to Him while we are still in trouble, giving Him our burdens, because He cares for us when every man forsakes us.

B. Romans 8:28 - We may give lip service to this verse, but if we really believe what this verse says, we will "...KNOW (emphasis mine) that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose".

C. Phil 4:4-9:

1. Verse 4, We are to rejoice at all times, when times are good and when they are bad.

2. Verse 5, We are to let our self control be known to all men because the Lord is at hand. He is not a God "far off", but as near to us as our hands.

3. Verse 6, Don't worry about our troubles, but pray about them, thanking God for our troubles, and asking Him to take care of them for us.

4. Verse 7, We shall receive the peace of God.

5. Verse 8, We must occupy our minds by thinking about the good things of God, not our troubles.

6. Verse 9, If we do what God tells us to do, the God of peace will be with us. (Note: the peace of God, verse 7, is different from the God of peace in verse 9.)