His Goodness, Part 2

You know, we ask the question and we want to know how God can permit pain and suffering and poverty and hunger and strife and prejudice and crime and violence and war and bloodshed and catastrophe. Either God's not good or God's not powerful to overcome. Evil. That must be the natural conclusion. But I want to suggest to you we ask the wrong question. The question is not, how can a good God allow such evil things? The question is this. Why are things as good as they really are? That's the right question.

Why are things as good as they really are? You see, we look at it from the wrong perspective. Why are we not destroyed the moment we sin? Why? Because God is good. That's why. Our depravity is demonstrated in our asking the wrong question. Because God is so good, his wrath, his judgment is being restrained, is being held back. Remember back in Genesis chapter 6, tremendous story about how wickedness filled the earth. You know the story. It says in Genesis chapter 6, verse number 5: Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was.

Was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. God was looking down upon the earth and seeing nothing but wretchedness, nothing but man's depravity running wild. And in Genesis chapter 6 6, it typifies the worst the world has ever seen. And that's why Christ would compare it in Matthew chapter 24, I believe, and all of that discourse about as it was. In the days of Noah, so it will be in the end times before the Son of Man comes. As bad as it was then, before I came with a tremendous judgment, it's going to be that bad again.

The question really is, how come things are as good as they are? Why do I ask that? Because here's what the Lord God says in Genesis chapter 6, verse number 3.

Then the Lord said, My spirit shall not strive with man forever. Because he also is flesh, nevertheless his days shall be 1 years. God looks down upon the earth, he sees the evilness of man, he sees the wickedness of man, he sees the heart of man, he sees it's the Coming after God, it's never going to go after God. There's only eight people, and when we get to Genesis chapter 6, we're going to understand that there's somewhere between 4 and 6 billion people on the earth at this time. You understand that when you read Genesis chapter 5 about Adam's family.

But when you realize there's that many billions of people on the earth, and there's only eight people. Who are saved. Things are pretty bad. And God says, You got 120 years left.

That's all you got. Now, how come God didn't zap him? Why did he give him another 120 years? Because God is good. That's why. See that? God is good. So, the right question is: why are things as good as they are? Not why are things as bad as they are? And if God is good, why do evil things happen? That's the wrong question. That's a question that demonstrates the depravity. Of man, that's a question that demonstrates a humanistic perspective, not a biblical perspective. That's a question that says, Everything's about me.

And when the world's all about God. See that? But we want to answer that question because that is a legitimate objection by lots of people in the world. So, how do you answer that? Three ways we're going to answer it. Number one, Isaiah 55, verses 8 and 9, God says, Your ways will never be my ways, your thoughts will never be my thoughts.

As far as the heaven is from the earth, so are my ways from your ways, and my thoughts from your thoughts. God says, You're never going to understand me.

And you know what? You never will. You're never going to really understand God. If you could come to a point where you could fully understand God, you would cease your search for truth. You would no longer pursue God. And all of life is summed up by the fact that we are. To pursue God, God says you're not going to understand everything, but one thing you should always know, and that God is not the author of sin.

So, if God is not the author of sin, it can't be the fact that because God is good or not good that evil things happen. Hab in 1:13, he is a pure to behold evil. James 1: says that God tempts no man. Why? Because God is a good God. Over in 1 John chapter 1 and verse number 5, it says that God is light, in him is no darkness at all. So God's not going to be involved in doing anything evil, anything bad, because God is good. So, although we'll never understand the Ways of God, we'll never understand why events happen the way they do.

One thing we can be assured of, and that is, God is not the author of sin. He can't be because there's no darkness at all in him. He's perfectly clear. He's perfectly light. Number two, not only do we know that God is not the author of sin, but we know that God is sovereign and that he created men with.

Volition, the ability to choose good and the ability to choose evil. And because the first man, that is Adam, chose evil, sin has affected all of God's creation.

The heartaches in this world are a direct consequence of being in a world affected or infected. With sin. Creation was completely good when it came from the hand of God. But when man chose to walk away from God, he contaminated everything because of his own sin. Therefore, we live. In a world where many bad things happen to many good people because of sin. God said, You eat, you will die. You will die. And death entered the world through one man because one man sinned. And so when people die through car accidents, through drug abuse, through murder, it's a result of man's sin.

We know that. But thirdly, you need to understand this: not only do we know that God is not the author of sin, and not only do we know that God is sovereign and created man with the volition.

But we also know that God causes all things to work together for good. That's Romans 8:2. The Bible says that God causes God causes All things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

Now, think about this with me for a moment. I don't know where you are in your own personal pilgrimage with the Lord Jesus Christ, but you need to understand this. The text says, we know. The question is, do you know? Paul says, we know. Who's we? Those of us who have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. We know. That God causes all things to work together for good. Not some things. Not just holy things, but all things. That would include suffering. That would include your sin. That would include temptation.

God causes all things to work together for good. And you know, I don't really offer books for you to read very often, but there's a book. You need to get. It's a book by Thomas Watson, Puritan writer, 17th century. It's entitled All Things for Good. You need to get that book and read it. It's very good. All things for good. He wrote it after he was. Kicked out of the church in England and went through severe persecution. Great book, All Things for Good, based on Romans chapter 8, verse number 28.

Do you know that all things work together for good? Our God is so good that He will trans the negative. He will trans the evil. He will transcend the bad to ultimately work out that which will be for his glory and your benefit. That's how good God is. Question is: Do you believe that? So when we cry out to God and scream, why God? Why me? Why do you let these people hurt me? Why do you let these things happen to me? If you're a God who's so good, how can you not step in? How can you not stop these things from happening?

And yet, God says, you must believe and know that all things work together for good. To those who love God and are called according to His purpose. You got to ask you: Do you love God? Do you know God? Do you know that God is good and God does good? From God's viewpoint, our highest good is conformity to the image of His dear Son, and He will do whatever it takes to make sure that happens. Just like you. And I would do whatever it would take to take our child to the hospital, to subject them to tests, to make sure that they came out better than when they came in.

Now, turn back with me to Psalm 119. I want to show you something. Psalm 119: says, What? Thou art good and doest good. Now Psalm 119:6 doesn't mean near as much. If it stands on its own. But if you read verse number 67 with it, it becomes more enlightening. It says this: Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep thy word. Thou art good and doest good. The psalmist says, Before I was afflicted, before I was afflicted, I began to cry out, Why me, God? How come you don't intervene? Before I was afflicted, I did my own thing.

I just kind of went through life doing whatever I wanted to do. But now, now I keep thy word. Thou art good and doest good. Look at verse number 71.

It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn thy statutes. It is good for me to be afflicted. Most of us would have a hard time saying that amidst our affliction. But next time, next time the objection arises in your mind, next time you begin to question God, His sovereignty. His love, his goodness. You go back to Psalm 119, 68, and you say, God is good, and God does good. And it's good for me to be afflicted. Because without that affliction, I will not learn the statutes of God. Before I was afflicted, I did my own thing.

But now I keep your word. God is so good. I want to give you three ramifications of the goodness of God, beginning with verse number 14, down through the end of the chapter. It says in verse number 9, the Lord is good to all, and his mercies are over all his works. Verse number seven says, They shall eagerly utter the memory of thine abundant goodness and shall shout joyfully of thy righteousness. So God's goodness is abundant. But it says in verse number 14: the Lord sustained. All who fall and raises up all who are bowed down.

The number one ramification of God's goodness is that He sustains the lowly. He sustains the lowly. There was no one who was more bowed down than King David. There was no one who had known. the depth of their fallenness than David. He was bowed down by the burden of guilt, contrition, and shame. And he experienced God picking him up again. Because God is good, he sustains the lowly. Those who fall down, he causes them to rise up again. The next time you find yourself under the load, under the weight, under the burden of some sin, of some circumstance, of some event, you realize that God sustains the lowly.

Hebrews 6:5 tells us that the word of God is called good. Romans 12:2 says the will of God is called good. The next time you find yourself under the depth or under the pressure in the depth of difficulty. Go to the word which is good, to read about the God who is good. Wh gives a will that is good, and your life will be sustained. Number two, he satisfies our longings.

This is good. This is what it says. The eyes of all look to thee, and thou dost give them their food in due time. Thou dost open thy hand, and dost satisfy the desire of every li thing. Now, folks, this is unbelievable. God is so good that not only does He sustain the lowly, but He satisfies their longings. What are your longings this evening? What do you long for more than anything? And notice this: he satisfies them in two ways: number one, perfectly, and number two, abundantly.

He says he satisfies them, he gives them their food in what? In due time. God always does it at the right time. We talked about it last week. The eternality of God. God is never late, God is always on time. Because he exists outside the realm of time, he can never be late. Everything functions as he designs it to function. And so he satisfies man perfectly in due time. That's how God deals with his people. He's not late. Everything that happens happens. According to his time. And then he does it abundantly.

It says that thou dost satisfy the desire of every li thing. He opens his hand. And satisfies them. What does it say over in Matthew chapter 7, verse number 11? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them. Them that ask. That's what the Word of God says.

God wants to give you good things. He longs to give you good things because He's a good God. And so, therefore, whatever your longings are, He seeks to satisfy. Your longings, and He will always do it perfectly, and He will always do it abundantly. You, Well, wait a minute, wait a minute, I don't see my longings being met. I've been waiting a long time. I don't see the abundance of God's goodness being bestowed upon me so that my longings are no longer empty but fulfilled. How can that be true in my word, in my life?

Life very simply. In Matthew chapter 7, you've got to ask. In the name of God, you've got to ask in accordance to who He is. You've got to ask, seek, and knock. According to his name, with his will and his purposes. And whatever you do, you realize that the needs that you have can only be met in the context of a relationship. And no earthly relationship can do that. Only the one with your Heavenly Father can. And He will open His hand. He will satisfy you in due time. Number three, the third ramification is this: He saves the lo.

Look what it says. Verse number 17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his deeds. The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. He will also hear their cry and will save them. Let me pick up on this for just for a second, and we're going to talk about the fear of God in weeks ahead.

But for those who don't fear Him, their desires are never met. Those who fear him have all their desires met. And the text says that he will hear their cry and he will save them. The Lord keeps all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever. The goodness of God is seen not only in the fact that he sustains the lowly and satisfies their longings. But he saves the lost Romans:. Know what that verse says?

Romans chapter 2, verse number 4 reads as follows. Do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you treat lightly the goodness of God? Do you treat as empty, God is one who forbears with man and is patient toward man? Do you do that? And Paul goes on to say this: not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance. It's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. Forbearance refers to a truce, a cessation of hostility, or a withholding of judgment.

Do you take lightly the fact that God is withholding judgment? Judgment from the earth. He tells us that one day, the terrible day of the Lord in which he pours his wrath upon the earth is going to happen. But do you treat lightly God's forbearance? Do you treat lightly God's patience? Which depicts someone who has the power to avenge but doesn't. For long periods of time, God withholds his judgment, he withholds the exhibiting of his wrath upon mankind because he is a good God. Wants people to be saved.

He wants people to come to Christ. That's our God. That's why the Bible says that he is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kind.

Exodus 34, verse number 6. Read Psalm 103, verse number 8. Jonah chapter 4, verse number 2. It's a common thread in Scripture that God longs for the salvation of people's lives. So he forbears with man. He is patient with man. He is long-suffering with man because God is good and Does good. His goodness is designed to bring about repentance, to cause us to long for him and make us thankful that he allows us to live. In spite of our sin, God is so good, none of us deserves to live. None of us deserves to live for one breath after we come out of the womb because we are all rotten, wretched, depraved people.

But God is good. So good. And lastly, the motivation of his goodness. What does God's goodness motivate me to do? Turn with me to Psalm 107.

We'll close right here. Psalm 107, verse number 1 says, Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. For his loving kind is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. The first thing that God's goodness motivates me to do is in the realm of my communication.

It makes me talk about God. And all the things that he does good because he is good. Boy, we as Christians, we talk about a lot of things, don't we? But how often do we spend time talking about the goodness of God? Bible says, Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. And let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Let the redeemed of the Lord speak up. Let the redeemed of the Lord sp Speak loudly that God is good and does good. But how often do we speak of the goodness of God? How often do we praise Him and thank Him for His goodness?

God's goodness motivates me to communicate with thanksgiving and with praise to people about the greatness of my God because He is so good. And second, there needs to be a celebration.

Listen to what it says. Verse number three, or the latter part of verse number two: whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary and gathered from the lands from the east of From the west, from the north, and from the south.

Though they wandered in the wilderness in a desert region, they did not find a way to an inhabited city. They were hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried out to the Lord in the trouble, He delivered them. Out of their distress, he led them also by a straight way to go to an inhabited city. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loving kind and for his wonders to the sons of men. For he has satisfied the thirsty. Soul and the hungry soul, he has filled with what is what the text says what is good.

There needs to be a celebration. Man, I was distressed. I was wandering. I was deep in my sin. I was famished. I had no place to go. And God delivered me. And God brought me to the place. And God statues. Satisfied my soul, and he satisfied it with everything that is good because God Himself is good. There needs to be a celebration. God's goodness and motivate me to celebrate that goodness. It says in Psalm 135, verse number 3: Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good. Psalm 106, verse number 1, Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

Psalm 3 19. How great is thy goodness, which thou hast stored up for those who fear thee? In Psalm 34, verse number 8, O taste and see that the Lord is good. Have you tasted? Have you seen the goodness of God?