Relationship Busters Pt.5 Series

INTRO: In a 2001 Times Magazine cover article entitled, "Power Struggle—Who’s in Charge", a vivid example of a somewhat epidemic was given. It reads: Here is a parenting parable for our age. Carla Wagner, 17, of Coral Gables, Florida, spent the afternoon drinking the tequila she charged on her American Express Gold Card before speeding off in her high-performance Audi A4. She was dialing her cell phone when she ran over Helen Marie Witty, a 16-year-old honor student who was out rollerblading. Charged with drunken driving and manslaughter, Carla was given a trial date—at which point her parents asked the judge whether it would be OK if Carla went ahead and spent the summer in Paris as she usually does.

Today I’m going to conclude my series on Relationship Busters. We are going to look at the foundation of what this house stands on and it’s self.

But let me quickly review what we’ve looked at this far.

1St pillar was gossiping. We looked at what gossiping will do. : It will separate close friends.

: It will ignite fights and quarrels.

: It will bring division.

: It will change you at the very core of who you are.

2’d pillar of an unhealthy relationship is envy.

: Where you find envy, there you will find disorder and every evil practice. : Envy rots the bones, our lives will fall apart if we don’t deal with envy. : No one can stand against envy.

3rd pillar of an unhealthy relationship is greed.

: Greed creates the wrong way of life.

: Breed also produces the wrong motivation in life. : Greed establishes the wrong authority in life.

4th pillar of an unhealthy relationship is disrespect.

: Disrespect is unhealthy because it devalues what God values.

: We need to be respectful in disrespectful times.

: When I’m disrespectful to others, ultimately I’m disrespecting God.

TITLE: Relationship Busters – Part 5

TEXT: I Kings 21:1-4

I. Picture of self.

A.Definition of self. It’s simply what people would call your sinful nature, your old nature, your flesh-

1. Those desires that lack ethical and spiritual goodness and is subject to sin.

B.Want a picture of self?

1. Mark 5:1-7

They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!"

Question: How is this a picture of self?

a.This crazed man lived among the tombs.

-Our self is death to us. (Nothing good can come from it, it only brings death and destruction.)

b.Notice no one could bind this man. Just like our self, it can’t be controlled by human means—only the power of God can ultimately conquer it.

c.Night and day among the tombs and hills, he would cry and cut himself with stones looking for relief but never finding it.

-This is a spiritual picture of what our flesh is truly like. It’s looking for satisfaction and fulfillment but never able to find it. It wants this and that, its appetite is never quenched.

d.When this crazed man saw Jesus he fell on his knees.

-The only thing in life that can subdue the flesh is the power of God.

e.Also in this example this crazed man was demon possessed.

-Our flesh, sinful nature, is not demon possessed but it is influenced by the demonic realm.

II. In the text this morning we see a man controlled by self. Simply put, he was spoiled rotten.

A. We see it all the time—whether it’s a temper tantrum thrown at WalMart, or the teenager on TV yelling at his parents.

1.There seems to be quite a few Nelly Olsons out there and each of them demanding they better get what they want when they want it.

2.It’s bad when these spoiled kids grow up into spoiled adults. It’s a scary thing to have a spoiled adult who has a position of power.

B. King Ahab had a desire and that was to get this vineyard because it would make a wonderful vegetable garden.

1. He offers to buy it or get Naboth another vineyard in its place. -The king is willing to pay what it is worth.