The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Series

SERIES: ANGELS and DEMONS

(adapted from a series of the same name by James Merritt)

“THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY”

SELECTED SCRIPTURE

OPEN

This morning, we start a new sermon series called, Angels and Demons. Over the next four weeks, we’re going to look at what the Bible has to say about this subject – are they real and if so, why do they exist? What role do they play in our everyday lives?

What is now a classic western movie was released in 1966. The main characters were played by Clint

Eastwood, Eli Wallach and a little known character actor with a menacing evil look by the name of Lee Van Cleef. This particular movie propelled Clint Eastwood to stardom. It was titled, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

The movie’s setting is the wild west during the Civil War. Each character is a gunman. Clint Eastwood was a bounty hunter by the name of Blondie who only took money in the pursuit of justice. He was the good guy, stamping out evildoers and bringing them to justice. Occasionally, and for mutual convenience, he teamed up

with a wanted criminal with an endless record by the name of Tuco, played by Eli Wallach. He was the bad guy but he has some redeemable qualities.

Such was not the case for the third main character – Angel Eyes Sentenza, played by Van Cleef. He

was the “ugly” in the movie, a paid killer with a menacing evil look whom no one could possibly ever love. He

was wicked to the core, the kind the old movie audiences would hiss at when he came on screen. He was a classic villain — black hat and all.

This morning, we’re going to start off this series by looking at the good, the bad, and the ugly in a spiritual sense. We’re going to take and overview of the unseen spiritual world. We’ll talk about where angels and demons originated, why they’re here, and what you should know so that you can deal with them in your life.

. Sherlock Holmes used a method of solving crimes called deductive reasoning. You can pick up clues from one small piece of evidence and deduce things that are bigger in scope than just that small piece of evidence. For example, if you find a few crumbs of bread, somewhere out there is a whole loaf of bread. In one of his stories, Holmes made this statement: “From one drop of water, anybody can infer there’s the possibility of an Atlantic Ocean or a Niagra Falls without having seen or heard of one or the other.”

We can use deductive reasoning to determine the cause behind evil. We can look at what’s happening in our world by reading newspapers, or watching news programs on televisions, or getting on the Internet, wherever you get your information and we can know that something is causing the awful things going on in our world.

We’ve suspected that at one time or another that with all of the evil and wickedness in this world, there’s something more than people behind it. We’ve had the suspicion back of what is visible and tangible that there is something sinister that is invisible and intangible There is some kind of unseen wicked spiritual powers.

You’ll hear people that don’t even go to church say something like this, “That’s just demonic.” Where do they get that idea from? There is something inherent in us that says there is something more to evil than evil people doing evil.

The apostle Paul tells us in Eph. 6:12 – “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Paul is saying behind all the evil – the murders, the rapes, the child molestations, whatever. – is the work of dark, demonic forces.

These spiritual beings are not just some kind of science fiction story. They’re the real deal. These dark forces are involved in your life at a level you’ve probably never considered. And I’m not saying this just to scare you but you need to understand that devil and his demons are after you. They’re after your marriages, your finances, your relationships, your children, your businesses, and your spiritual peace.

What I want to do today is to answer some questions that have been asked concerning angels and demons. We’re going to look at the three most important questions along this line.

WHERE DID ANGELS AND DEMONS COME FROM?

We go back to the first chapter of the Bible. Gen. 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” And we follow that chapter through and find out that everything comes from God. God is the source of everything. Everything you can touch, see, feel, hear, experience is made by God.