Living Hope Fellowship Church

RAG TAG GROUP

Training Material

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

RAG TAG GROUP

Preface

(overcoming obstacles)

          1 Samuel 22:2 says, “And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.”   These men came to David and formed God’s little Rag Tag Group. 

           This group destroyed a wicked kingdom and brought in a righteous kingdom.  I pray that God will turn us around and use every one of us to deliver souls out of hell’s kingdom into the kingdom of God’s dear Son!

RAG TAG GROUP

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

          Let’s go to 1 Samuel, Chapter 22.  Verse 1-2 says, “David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him.  And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.”

          These men formed God’s little “Rag Tag Group”.  David can be equated in the Old Testament to Christ working and moving among men.  God promised David that he would have a son whose kingdom would never pass away, and Christ came through the lineage of the throne of David.

          This rag tag group was a group of several hundred men and their families that joined up with David.  They were not the pretty, the carefree, the jolly, the qualified, the accepted, or the rich.  The Bible says that they were in debt, in distress, and discontented. 

          That was the kind of people that David drew.  Although he had done nothing wrong, David was being hunted down like a dog by King Saul and the armies of Israel.  They hunted him from cave to cave, hole to hole, and place to place, as if he was a criminal.  The first king of Israel was hunting down the next king of Israel, trying to stop him. 

          That reminds me of Herod slaying the innocents when he had discovered that the wise men had gone back home another way.  However, the Christ child was born and survived in spite of him. 

          God gave David the rag tag group of four hundred men that were able and fit for war.  Later David had six hundred.  He became a captain over those who were in debt, in distress, and discontented.  What a group!  Yet, out of that very group came David’s valiant men.  One of those valiant men had hand to hand combat with an Egyptian who was the same size as Goliath and whose spear was the size of a weaver’s beam!  This man snatched the spear out of the enemy’s hand, and slew him with his own spear!

          Another one of David’s valiant men slew two men of Moab who looked like lions, they were such awesome individuals.  They were in a pit, and on top of that there was ice and snow all around, making it a slippery, sliding warfare.  Can you imagine fighting two lion-like men who had the power, grace, and ability to destroy you at any moment?  However, he fought two of them at once.  It seemed that everything was against him, but the Bible says that he got the victory!  This man came from a group that was in debt, in distress, and discontented. 

          Another one of David’s valiant men slew a Philistine who was a brother of Goliath (whom David had slain many years previously).  This man had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot.  This is not a fairy tale; this is in the Bible.  These are awesome individuals being totally annihilated by a little rag tag group of people that were in distress, in debt, and discontented in their beginnings. 

          1 Corinthians 1:26-29 says, “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:  That no flesh should glory in his presence.”

          It says that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble are called.  Would you qualify in one of these places?  Are you in distress over something?  Are you discontented?  Have you a debt that you can’t repay?

          That little rag tag group joined themselves to David.  When David saw these people coming down the road, it was not exactly what he had in mind to help him out of all of his troubles.  I don’t doubt that David many a night prayed in an old, dark, wet cave.  You can read it in Psalms where he said that they hated him without a cause.  He wondered how in the world he could be delivered!  He constantly had to move to get away from Saul.  God delivered Saul into his hands twice to see if he would kill him, but he chose not to.  He chose to let God have His way and let Him deal with the situation, and God blessed him mightily for that.

           God sent him some help.  Can you see that rag tag group?  They were probably dragging their pots and pans behind them.  Maybe some of them were riding donkeys.  They didn’t have too much because they were in distress, they were discontented, and a lot of them were in debt!  They didn’t come with a lot of money or ability.  Some didn’t come with their mind too squared away.  A lot of them were probably just waiting, probably thinking, “What can you do for me?”  What a group! 

          However, God began to do mighty and wonderful things in these people.  They became an elect group.  About fifty of them became mighty, valiant men.  One of them was Uriah, the Hittite, and there were others.  We find another time where David and others would be raging warfare and the sword would actually hold the hand!  The hand would cleave to the sword, and the sword was cleaving to the hand, and they continued to slay the enemy until they were all vanquished. 

          God uses people who are nothing to the world.  God is able to move in a person who has the least amount of resistance.  Many people have trouble giving even the smallest part of themselves to the Lord when God wants everything about us!  These people gave what they had, and a lot of them had nothing, and some of them owed a whole lot.  God began to work, and to move, and to change them, because God can only use somebody who is yielded to Him.  We need to quit resisting God.

          If God can get a hold of you, He can rotate you into the direction that He wants you to go.  However, it takes a trust in the Lord, and I am convinced that most people don’t trust the Lord.  If you trust the Lord you give to the Lord, not only in money, but of your time and life.  When you go through a trial, you trust the Lord to take care of that situation.  The Bible says all things are possible to him that believeth.  It is an act of faith to give your life over to the Lord. 

          Until we give over to the Lord and trust Him fully, we are not going to see the things that we desire.  Until that time we are going to be discontented.  Until that time we are going to be in distress.  Until that time we are going to be in debt to the workings of the devil. 

          The Ohio River is the second widest river in the world.  I dreamed that I went down to that bank, and the waters rolled back like the Red Sea did for Moses and the children of Israel.  I saw it part all the way over to Kentucky just as straight as an arrow.  The water rolled back and just sat there boiling.  I could hear the roar of the resistance of the river; it wasn’t the wind.  I looked down and saw rocks in the dry river bed, and I walked out there a short distance.  I began to look around, and realized that I was totally encompassed by it.  A decision would have to be made whether or not to trust God.  In the dream I heard God say, “You have to trust me.” 

          When you join up with God’s little rag tag group, you need to realize that you are going to have to trust God.  He will carry you and bring you through the most horrific times of your life.  This world is going to come unglued, but in Christ there is peace, there is safety, and there is refuge.       

          Genesis 5:24 says, “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”  There is a place that you can walk with God to where God takes you over, and YOU don’t have dominance anymore.  However, a part of you and me is fearful.  There is a part of us that is unbelieving, and a part of us is weak.  There is a part that is anti-Christ that actually resists the things of God.  There is a part of you and me that is absolute weakness and failure, but when God takes you, He also takes that.  He takes your good, but He also takes all of your bad.  You have to give your all to Him.

          David’s rag tag group had all kinds of trouble.  Today you can liken it to a group of people, maybe, that has been thrown out of other churches.  Maybe they have had difficulties at home, or had a bad beginning, or perhaps they’ve had a silver spoon in their mouth, but they have never done right by God.  In some way they are in debt or in bondage.  Before God gets done with them, He is going to make them great valiant men and women for God, if they will yield to Him.  God does not call you to Himself to keep you the way you are!

          God wants all of you, because even your best traits won’t fly with Him.  We have to let God have our all and all.  Then we won’t have any more failure, distress, or debt to the devil, and I guarantee, according to the Word of God, there won’t be any more discontentment.  The Bible says that there is joy unspeakable and full of glory.  Can you believe God for this?

           Both Moses and Paul were murderers, but God changed them and used them.  All the disciples around Jesus forsook him and fled during His trial and crucifixion, but God turned it around, forgave them, and used them.  Some in the crowd that shouted on that day, “Crucify him!” were some of the same ones that He had healed.  Later some of these got saved.  They were a fickle bunch.  They would change with the barometric pressure.  Some people today change with the weather.  There are days when we are unstable, and our thoughts go astray.  We need to let God have full control.  Come to God and let Him take over your distress, your debt, and your discontentment.  You have to join up with Him and walk with Him. 

          Give it all to Him, and don’t be any more what you used to be.  How can you do that?  When you give Him everything you have, He always returns it with something from Heaven.  Then you don’t walk like you used to walk anymore. 

          Let’s believe God’s Word.  The rag tag group that David acquired saved Israel from their troubles. They destroyed a wicked kingdom, turned it around, and brought the glory down again.  They brought in a righteous kingdom.  I pray that God will turn us around and use every one of us to deliver souls out of hell’s kingdom into the kingdom of God’s dear Son!

CONTACT INFORMATION:

PASTOR KEVIN BADGLEY

LIVING HOPE FELLOWSHIP, P. O. BOX 111, GRAND CHAIN, IL  62941

CHURCH / FAX (618) 634-2541

E-mail  livinghope@hughes.net

www.livinghopefellowshipchurch.org

These condensed Bible studies have been published to help new Christians in their new walk with the Lord.  Kevin Badgley, the author, is the pastor of Living Hope Fellowship Church.

This is a Living Hope Fellowship publication.