Living Hope Fellowship Church

SLUG

Training Material

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

SLUG

Preface

(laziness, sluggards, obedience)

A slug is a snail without a home.  Their eyes are out on the end of sticks, and if you barely touch them, they withdraw them!  Some people are like slugs! 

Try to provoke a slug, and you will become frustrated.  Proverbs 10:26 says, “As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.”  When God sends us on an assignment for the completion of a vision He has placed in our hearts, and we act as the sluggard, we irritate the Lord.

 Let us not be sluggards.  Rather, let’s believe God.  Let Him not have to provoke us.  Let the fire, the zeal, and the anointing of the Holy Ghost be in our lives.  What He tells us to do, let’s do.  We have to believe God and go on.   

SLUG

 Kevin Badgley

          Do you know what a slug is?  We moved to town from the country to focus more on the work of the ministry, and the house we moved to was built in 1891!  We remodeled it, but I have noticed something from time to time.  Outside of our breezeway and carport area of the evenings, except in bitter weather, slugs come out. 

A slug is a snail without a home.  Their eyes are out on the end of sticks, and if you barely touch them, they withdraw them.  If they want to draw them both in where they can’t see anything, they can do that. 

A slug is not what you call speedy!  If you wanted entertainment, you wouldn’t sit around and watch a slug.  It isn’t going to happen, because they don’t get anywhere fast, and they leave a slimy trail.  If you’d like to have some slugs, leave some dog food out, because they will eat out of the dog pan!  One night I counted 14 on the breezeway. 

Some are tiny and some are about six inches long.  I’ve never eaten escargot.  That is a fancy word they use to hide the “snail” you are eating. 

Why am I talking about slugs?  When we were putting the heat and air conditioning in the church addition, we had to adjust it for the whole church.  One man said that people will generate a certain amount of heat.  He said it takes approximately 50 adults to generate one ton of heat in a building, but only 15 children to do the same!  They are smaller and lighter than adults, but they are more active, and they assert a lot of energy. 

Jesus said in Luke 18:17, “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.”  How did He mean that?  The first thing we think of is the faith of a child, his trust, and his purity.  A child must be guided, and has to learn not to be immature, foolish or wasteful.  However, a child has energy, activity, and the ability to change for good.  Children are a delightful, and if they are not active, there is something wrong with them. 

I don’t think God has any great interest in sluggards!  Sluggards are people who are like the slug or the snail - lazy, slow to act, and impossible to motivate.  Have you ever tried to get a slug to race?

Proverbs 26:16 says, “The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.”  He has a reason for the way he is.  Look at Verse 12:  “Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.” 

I used to think a fool in the Bible was the lowest life form God spoke of, because he is untamable, wild sometimes, talks off the top of his head, and certainly does not make any sense.  He has no comprehension, no reserves, he just blurts out words.  Ecclesiastes 7:9 says, “. . . anger resteth in the bosom of fools.”  However, there is something worse than that.  It is a sluggard according to Proverbs, Chapter 26, Verse 12 and 16! 

God spoke to the man who laid up treasures for himself and cared not for the kingdom of God.  He called him a fool and told him that night his soul would be required of him.  God doesn’t name call.  God describes a person, a thing, or a situation through titles.  Somebody not seeking the kingdom of God, but only seeks his own pleasure, is a fool.  God says He has no pleasure in fools.  We can be a participant in foolishness.  Proverbs 13:20 says, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”

We understand this, but there is something worse.  A fool has more hope of God getting a hold of him than a sluggard does!  There is more hope for a crazy man than there is for a sluggard who has his mind, but he does not want to do anything with it!

Mark 3:1-2 says, “And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.  And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.”  The man had a deformity, and the religious leaders were watching Jesus. 

Mark 3:3 says, “And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.”  Jesus wanted everybody to know about this man and the point He was about to make.  Verse 4 says, “And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.”

Then He looked at the church leaders with anger.  Mark 3:5 says, “And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.”

Ephesians 4:30 tells us, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

1 Thessalonians 5:19 says, “Quench not the Spirit,” meaning the Spirit of the Lord.

Jesus was grieved for the hardness of their hearts.  He had anger because He was grieved.  Not only were they not doing anything for the man, but they were keeping the man’s deformity, his infirmity, in place by giving their reasons against Jesus doing something!  

There is an apt saying:  If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.  If you are not performing the works of Christ, then you are assisting the impediment of it, and therefore you are assisting the keeping of the devil’s work in place. 

Jesus said in Luke 11:23, “He that is not with me is against me. . . .”  There is no such thing as neutral in the kingdom of God.  Jesus calls neutral lukewarm and He will spit you OUT.  We are created in the image of God.  We are not created as slugs.  Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, and God is my Father. 

The religious people were hard hearted.  They had not seen the man delivered, and they were resisting anybody who would try to deliver him.  It is one thing to refuse to work, yet another to hinder those who are trying to work. 

This is important, so please hear it.  In Matthew 23:37 Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”  You won’t find many exclamation points in the Bible.  Jesus was in agony.

Verse 38 says, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”  Why did He say this?  They wouldn’t let Him gather them together for revival!  He said He would have done it often!  People keep saying we will have revival when GOD gets ready.  Folks, I believe God has been ready since Jesus hung His head and said, “It is finished.”

People say, When God gets ready, and the time is right, or the weather is right, or when I get ready, but Jesus said, “. . . how often would I have gathered thy children together . . . and ye would not!”  In other words, He would have given them revival innumerable times, but THEY would not! 

It is not God’s fault that revival has not fallen on us.  God wants to start it now.  Don’t tell me God wants to leave His children in this devil possessed world like it is.  Yes, there is a time frame, but when are we going to realize that God wants to make us part of that time frame?  If we will walk in the kingdom of God, it will move things in this realm.  How often would we have revival?  How often would God bring us together in one accord in one place, but we didn’t listen to Him?  He said, “. . . and ye would not!” 

I think the sluggard would say, Not today!  I have to take a nap.  Those who will go on with God will say, Now is the time.  We are past due.  Let’s go!  I believe God wants to bring revival to our church, our area, and the world.  1 Peter 4:17 says, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God. . . .”  So it is that revival must begin at the house of God. 

In the last days there must be revival unto the ends of the earth before the Lord comes.  Isaiah 40:5 says, “And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”

Understand that it is in our hands to begin the work with prayer, fasting, seeking God and believing God.  Yes, I enjoy other things, but it is time we lay some things aside.  Revelation 22:17 says, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

The Spirit has been telling us to COME from the beginning, but the Bride is dragging her feet.  Finally we see the Spirit and the Bride in one accord in Revelation, Chapter 22.  My, how fast we learn. . . .  When the Spirit comes into your heart, He says, Now be filled with the Holy Ghost.  Some say their pastors have told them that it is not for today.  Come on and believe God’s Word.  You read in Matthew 8:13, “. . . as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. . . .”  Some may consider it – some day.

Maybe you need your house invaded by slugs for one week.  They are great teachers.  Get down and try to provoke a slug!  If you provoke it hard enough, it will roll up in a ball.  You can’t get to him anymore.  He won’t look at you or listen to you. 

How often Jesus wanted to give revival!  There is no limitation to Jesus.  When He sent out the disciples, there was no limitation to them.  There was no limitation to the first church in the book of Acts as long as they followed the Lord and continued in Him.

When you try to provoke a slug, and you can’t get it to move, the word frustration is not a word to properly describe the feeling you get.  I am preaching on slugs so the next time you see a slug, you can identify them and MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT ONE!   

We were talking as little kids, and somebody asked me what kind of animal I would like to be.  I chose a lion.  He was king of the beasts, and he looked really tough.  He was greatly feared and honored.  I wanted to be a lion.  Nobody said they wanted to be a slug! 

Proverbs 10:26 says, “As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.”  When God sends us on an assignment for the completion of a vision He has placed in our hearts, and we act as the sluggard, it is like this verse. 

Vinegar on your teeth can make it feel like they are going to break or take the enamel off.  You can’t put enough sugar in vinegar pie to make that thing right.  Have your teeth been on edge?  Have you had smoke in your eyes?  Was it a pleasant experience?  No, these are irritating things.  Smoke can make your eyes water and burn.  You have to move and get away from it. 

So is a person who is told by God to do something, and they are NOT doing it.  When you get to praying, God says, MMMMmm.  God has given you a vision and something to do in that vision.  When you get down to pray about something entirely separate from that perhaps, God says, Ughhh….  Remember - Proverbs 10:26 says, “As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.” 

God wants to bring revival, and He has given us assignments, visions, and the understanding of it, but we won’t go.  Then we keep praying for revival.  He says, MMMmmmmm.

Maybe your kid put their hand on the stove after you told them it was hot.  There is a sizzle, a Wahhhhh, and a carrying on.  If they did it without you warning them, you can easily comfort them.  If they did it after you told them and they didn’t listen to you, your comfort is about half and the other half is telling them, See I told you so.  If you had listened, you would not have been burned.  Now I have to put up with you hurting and nurse you along for your mistake.  God has been doing that for years.  He says so in the Word. 

He wants to bring revival worse than we want it.  He wants to bring salvation.  Look at the blood of His Son.  He sent something far in advance of our desire for revival.  You have not sent your children to Him to die, and He will never require it. 

Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish. . . .”  Not only the people who should be working in the vision will perish, but the people who would come in because of our obedience to God will perish.  Perishing is likened to dying and going to hell. 

There is more hope for a fool than there is for people who know to do right and won’t do it (the sluggard).  James 4:17 says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” 

Without a vision we perish, but if we don’t act on the vision, it is the same thing.  We can’t stand around and wait on someone else to get fired up so we can join them.  We may be the one carrying the torch.  We may have to be the first one out there, the first to be attacked, and the first to be ridiculed. 

Remember that being quenched is a grievous thing to God.  His Spirit comes and dwells in us.  God places Jesus in your heart in hopes that you will yield to Him and let Him work.  He wants you to obey the vision He puts in your heart.  If you have no vision, or if you have no desire to work in the vision, are you even saved?

  God desires the church and every Christian to come out of normalcy and go into revival.  We will get so busy about God’s business that the world has no business in our lives anymore! 

We may ask somebody to do a thing, and they may say, “I’ll think about it.”  Next month they are still thinking about it.  The carnal mind is enmity with God (Romans 8:7), so it doesn’t take very long to dream up excuses to keep on just thinking about it. 

This area has been thinking about revival and the glory of the Lord for a long time.  We have thought about the anointing that breaks every yoke and the manifestation of the sons of God.  We need to stop just thinking about it, and DO it.  Believing is far more than thinking.  It is having a desire to act on it, not theorize it or dissect it.  Let’s do something; let’s fast and pray.

Yes, there are risks involved, and the pressure can be tremendous, yet we can have a lift in our walk and a smile on our faces.  Tomorrow never comes, because tomorrow is the next day, and then it is the next day. 

Matthew 25:30 says, “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  There was no return on God’s investment.  He was a servant, but he was unprofitable, and Jesus would not give him a heavenly reward along with the profitable servants.  He went to hell. 

There is more hope of a fool than for a person who won’t do what God told him to do.  Much of our area population is children.  I want the children to grow up with godly people who will rebuke them when they are wrong, pray for them when they are hurting, and praise them when they seek the Lord.  There is nothing more important than living for the Lord and passing it on to our children.

If you are doing something strictly because you know God has told you to do it, by the grace of God it will not fall.  It is impossible to fail when you are obeying God. 

As I read about the sluggard, I told God that I surely understand now what He goes through.  I know what it feels like when the Spirit of the Lord is going YES, YES, YES, and we go, “I’ll think about that.”  It is grievous to God. 

There are many with withered limbs, minds, and family.  Other churches would take up the torch if we would begin to move.  When we pray, it is like vinegar to God’s teeth and smoke in His eyes, because we are sluggards at praying and obeying.  We should leave lethargy and deadness behind and go forward like the first church. 

God has called us to quickness, to His presence, to His goodness and mercy, and to where all things are possible.  Sometimes it is hard to get attention, let alone enthusiasm, but if we are not acting on the vision, we die as we sit here.

It is in our grasp and ability to do something if we will come in one accord in one place and tell the Lord we are not going to restrict Him or stop Him.  Let us not be sluggards.  Let us believe God.  Let Him not have to provoke us. 

Let the fire, the zeal, and the anointing of the Holy Ghost be in our lives.  What He tells us to do, let’s do. 

CONTACT INFORMATION:

PASTOR KEVIN BADGLEY

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

CHURCH / FAX (618) 634-2541

E-mail  livinghopefellowship@lazernetwireless.net

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.