HOW I KNOW GOD IS GOOD
1 Chronicles 16:34
(1 Chr 16:34 KJV) "O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever."
(Ezra 3:11 KJV) "And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good…”
(Psa 100:5 KJV) "For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."
Most of mankind does not understand who God is – they give him credit for being someone who knows much, maybe do a few miracles, or who can hear us when we pray, but they do not understand what or who God really is. They just don’t understand.
There was a time when every person by the age of 8-10 years knew somewhat about the person of God and His nature – but since the Bible has been removed from the classroom, knowledge of God among children has been nullified. Most of you learned at an early age about God. You learned of His nature.
His nature is divine. Everything about Him is perfect. He has a perfect nature. He never has to work at or concentrate on doing right. That is just His nature.
Man’s nature is to do wrong. When man allows his nature to control, he will go the wrong direction. He will do the wrong thing. He will engage in the wrong activity. He will think wrong. He will speak wrong. He just does wrong because that is his nature. There is nothing about man, apart from God, that demands he do right.
You see, God has never been wrong.
He has never exaggerated.
He has never been challenged.
He has never been weary or sleepy.
He has never had to correct a mistake.
He has never apologized.
He has never been absent nor late.
He has never been partial nor proud.
He has never had an afterthought.
He has never been ill.
He has never been frustrated nor confused.
He has never had to apoligize.
I mention these things just to bring your mind to who God is. We sometimes portray Him with flesh and blood and all that goes with such.
It would be very easy to get bogged down in this subject, and I hope to prevent that today.
I have made reference to this phrase, “God is good” many times. Bro. Kirk made mention of this the other evening in his message. However, I feel the need to explain how I know He is good.
We normally give Him credit for goodness because He meets a certain need or He gives us something we had wanted and been praying for. That is not sufficient to base our knowledge or definition of His goodness. He is good whether He does any of these things. His goodness is not based upon what He does, rather who He is.
Goodness is an attribute of God just as is many others:
The Bible says that God is light. That is an attribute of God.
Also that He is love. That is an attribute.
He is just. He is holy – He is gracious – He is divine.
He is merciful.
He is longsuffering.
He is loving and caring.
He is also vengeful. These are all attributes.
I want to give you four reasons why I know God is good. We talk a lot around here about, “I Love God because”, and then we give reasons why we love Him. That’s what we are talking about today.
How do I know God is good?
I. THE SCRIPTURE TESTIFIES OF HIS GOODNESS
(Psa 34:8 KJV) "O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him."
(Psa 145:7 KJV) "They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness."
(Psa 145:8 KJV) "The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy."
(Psa 145:9 KJV) "The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works."
After Adam turned his back on God and committed sin, God displayed His goodness through His grace and made a way of forgiveness for Adam, and not Adam only, but for all mankind to follow. (Rom 5:19 KJV) "For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."
A. Scripture Displays His Goodness At The Cross.
1. Sin was the reason He had to die.
(Luke 23:33 KJV) "And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left."
The crucifixion was necessary because of sin.
The hymns says:
At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!
This tells us about His goodness.
Turn to: (Gen 2:17 KJV) "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." God promised Adam and Eve death if they did not follow His command. Until this point they had not been faced with the decision to obey God. This is the first command with penalty. Nothing before this ever bore a penalty. There had never been anything placed off limits to man before the sin in the garden.
2. Sin Brings The Death Penalty.
(James 1:15 KJV) "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
If you are here today unforgiven of your sins, then you are on death row. Your spiritual execution awaits you just around the corner. At any moment the attendant could be coming for you.
Oh! But God showed His love and goodness for you in that He provided you with a pardon. (1 John 3:16 KJV) "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."
Turn to: (Isa 55:7 KJV) "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." His goodness is seen in His pardon.
You don’t have to keep your appointment with sin’s death sentence. You can be pardoned and forgiven.
You can be set free, and once you are pardoned you will never be accountable of that sin again.
The Scripture Testifies Of His Goodness.
II. THE SAVIOR TESTIFIES OF HIS GOODNESS
(Mat 19:16 KJV) "And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?"
(Mat 19:17 KJV) "And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."
In this passage Jesus declares God the Father is good. Then the Son fulfils the goodness of God by giving His life for our sins.
(Rom 5:8 KJV) "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." In this verse we se God’s love through Christ’s death.
(Luke 23:34 KJV) "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots."
All three of these scriptures tell us of the Savior’s testimony of the goodness of God the Father.
A. We See God’s Grace Through His Son.
I’m afraid we take His grace too shallow. We seem to look at His grace as a stepping stone to enjoy our desires and whims.
May we not sin against His grace by taking Him for granted. When we don’t give Him our best, we are taking Him for granted. “..To whom much is given, much is required.” I wonder if Beth Haven meets that criteria. This time last year we were doing better than we are now. Our attendance was higher than now. Our altar response was better. Our membership growth was better then than now.
What’s happened? We have grown comfortable in His grace. We take Him for granted. God could take all we have away again and not give it back this time.
Some need to wake up and get serious with God. Some are treating Him like a Step-father. You skip church. You don’t accept your responsibility. You don’t take seriously your commitment to Him. Sunday School doesn’t bear a priority anymore with some.
Not very many are concerned about Saturday AM Visitation. Why? I don’t know why. Our attendance has been under 200 for several months. Does that bother anyone? Does anyone really care?
Nearly everyone of you committed yourselves to God for His will and work during our August revival. Where is that commitment now? Our attendance is down. When we had our biggest attendance push of the year, last year (Round-Up Sunday) we had no more than usual. When you take God for granted, you will lose. Don’t go to sleep on God. Some have gotten lazy on God. When you put something before God He will remove that object sooner or later.
Beth Haven Baptist has no special strings with God. Just because we are located at 12400 S. Western brings us no more blessings than any other fundamental Baptist church. Just because we have a nice building that everyone brags on does nothing to impress God. He could build better than this during His coffee break.
It is a serious thing to play with the grace of God. Sooner or later you become the loser.
The grace of God cost Him His Son’s life. How could we ever not uphold the goodness of His grace through our obedience and serving Him.
Turn to: (Rom 3:24 KJV) "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:"
Turn to: (Rom 5:1 KJV) "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:"
(Rom 5:2 KJV) "By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
Look also at: (Rom 5:20 KJV) "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:"
(Rom 5:21 KJV) "That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."
His Son testifies of His goodness.
III. THE SAINTS TESTIFY OF HIS GOODNESS
Paul testifies in his writings:
Look at: (2 Tim 1:12 KJV) "For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."
Luke testifies in his writings:
Turn to: (Acts 10:38 KJV) "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him."
As we have testimonies in our services weekly, it is easy to hear of the goodness that God has sent your way.
Some he has given good jobs. You make enough money for your family to live comfortably on.
Others he has given very nice homes, two cars, color TV – a microwave oven.
Most of you have good health. You are able to do what you want to do at any given time or place.
You have children; comforts of life; you have all the popcorn you could ever eat. How else could one describe goodness?
Let’s look at: (Mark 11:22 KJV) "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God."
Have faith in God. What does that mean? Most here would take that as being this: If we have faith in God He will answer our prayer. That is true to a certain area.
Let me state it different: Suppose God said to you, “Trust Me.” What would He be saying?
I’ll say it even differently again. When tragedy happens – severe sickness – maybe cancer – or a heart attack - do you think of Mark 11:22, “….have faith in God.” What that means is “Trust Me”. What was He saying? I’ll tell you how I would take it, and most of you also – we would take it that everything will be alright. That God will heal our loved one.
That is not necessarily the way God means “Trust Me”. It could mean, “Trust Me that I will do what is right” It takes on a whole different perspective like that. When He says, “Let me make the decision” it is not as good as, “Everything will be alright”. Yet, when I understand and accept that GOD IS GOOD then it is much easier to see how He works in any and all situations. He will not make a mistake. God will not be “any more good” if He heals our loved one – nor will He be “any less good” if He doesn’t heal them. His goodness is not determined by what he does, but who He is.
IV. THE SACRIFICE TESTIFIES OF HIS GOODNESS
When I hear of the blessed sacrifice that was given for my sins, I can’t help but know that God is good.
Who else would give their only child for payment of life for anyone? I can’t think of any person. God could do this because His goodness is an attribute and not a trait of His character. The sacrifice does not speak of His character, but His goodness. If His goodness was a characteristic only, then He could withhold it from those who did not deserve it. But it being an attribute, all who desire His goodness can have it, whether they deserve it or not. Every person has received of His goodness. (Mat 5:45 KJV) "….. for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."
He gives food to the drunkard and rapist as well as to the saintly mother raising four children without a father in the home.
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world….” That’s everyone. He loved all mankind. His sacrifice was given for all who are humans. If only we could really grasp the goodness of God that was displayed in the giving of the Sacrifice of His Only Son, we would all immediately surrender our total energy and efforts to God.
Therefore, since God is good to us, why can’t we be good to Him? Why don’t we give Him our everything? Why do we restrain and hold back in serving Him.
We commit full surrender – sort of. We reserve our approval on all of His leading. When He tells us to work or serve in a certain area – we say, “I’ll check it out and see if this is what I want or not and then I’ll get back with you, Lord.”
He expects blind surrender and accepts nothing else.
How have you been responding to His goodness? Have you shown your appreciation, or have you spit in His face?
INVITATION
THIS SERMON AND HUNDREDS OF OTHERS ARE AVAILABLE ON A CD DISK - CONTACT
BETH HAVEN BAPTIST CHURCH
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OKC OK 73189-1523
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