God IS Good
Introduction: Matthew Henry said “As He is good to all, so he does good – He is good to all his creatures, from the highest angel to the meanest worm, to all but devils and damned sinners, that have shut themselves out from his goodness. All his creatures receive the fruit of his merciful care and bounty.” Steven Cole said “There is no such thing as luck or pure chance. If we have a bad day. It is because the LORD ordained it for our benefit.”
Jehovah Jireh means The LORD who provides. And that is just one of many ways that God is good. I have many stories for you this morning and I hope they don't wear you out by them, but they are just a tip of the ice berg to demonstrate God's goodness. It was no accident that I talked with an old friend by way of email that I haven't seen or talked with in years.
He shared with me that when his mom and dad were ministers in their first church they were making like 30 dollars a week. They were low on food and didn't know how they were going to feed the family. So they went to the kitchen table and prayed for help. (God answers the prayers of married couples) They went about their morning, and Zelma said to Charles “Charles you know what I would like to have?” “what?” he said. She said “Some green onions” Almost on cue, there was a knock at the door. A delivery boy from the local grocery store bought a bunch of groceries. Charles said “there must be some mistake, you went to the wrong house.” He said “nope, this is the right house and the groceries have already been paid for.” He told them the man's name who paid for them. And he was a sinful man no doubt, but his wife attended their church faithfully, and God put it on his heart to buy groceries for them, so he did. And at the bottom of the grocery sack, guess what they found..... green onions! God is good!
The same friend had a praying grandmother, we would call a prayer warrior. He called her “Grandma Prewitt”. And ol' grandma Prewitt needed to sew up grandpa's pants so he could go to work, but she didn't have was a sewing needle. Something so small, but even small things are hard to get when you are very poor. She did what she always did, when something is needed. She got on her knees and prayed. She received a strange answer, to get a potato from the garden. She did, and sure enough there was a sewing needle inside the potato. Before you scoff. If you say you believe Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever.” then you will remember in Matthew 17:27 when Jesus told Peter to cast out his net and take the first fish and open its mouth and he would find a coin and he obeyed and he found a coin, just as Jesus said he would. If he would provide a coin why wouldn't he provide a needle? God IS good!
Scripture: “The LORD is good to all, and his mercies are over all his works.” -Psalm 145:9
Transition: I want to share with you how God is good in his divine protection, divine providence, and through divine participation.
God is good in his divine protection
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father, And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” -Matthew 10:29-31
A sparrow is worth less than a penny, and yet there is not one piece of corn on the ground that God didn't place there for them to eat. In Leviticus 14 we read how two sparrows were used to cleanse a leper. One was killed and the other was let go. It seems like random chance which one died, but God decided and determined which, from the very beginning. Even the smallest things never escape his attention. The point is, if God feeds the sparrows, He won't starve his saints. If he watches over and cares for the smallest creatures, why would he not watch over and care for you who are made in his image?
It's amazing how God protects those who believe in him.
Ill. During the French and Indian war, a young Colonel Washington reassured his mother, before he left for war, “The God [Jesus Christ] to whom you commended me madam, when I set out upon a more perilous errand, defended me from harm, and I trust He will do so now. Do you not?”
Then He was off to assist an arrogant Gen. Braddock who refused his warning of the Indian guerrilla strategy. While on the way to fort Duquesne ('Dew-cane'), a French and Indian ambush caught Gen. Braddock's 1000 men army by surprise, they were hiding in the woods and shooting them down like fish in a barrel. Braddock's men were dropping like flies, wearing bright red coats in the American woods, made them easy targets for Indian marksmen. As they began to retreat, they ran into George Washington and his 300 Virginia men, who was riding to their aide. It was chaos! The musket balls kept flying, but since Washington knew how to fight this kind of war, they hid behind trees and fired back when the enemy was visible. Washington had two horses shot out from underneath him and shrapnel in his hair, he walked back in forth in plain sight ordering troops here and there. One soldier that observed Washington said “I expected at any moment to see him fall. Nothing but the superintending care of providence could have saved him.”
714 British soldiers were killed, 37 wounded. Only 30 of the enemy's were killed. It was the biggest lopsided loss in American history. But Washington survived and later wrote his brother: "As I have heard since my arrival at this place [Fort Cumberland], a circumstantial account of my death and dying speech, I take this early opportunity of contradicting the first, and of assuring you that I have not as yet composed the latter. But, by the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullet holes through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!" God is Good!
“No weapon formed against thee shall prosper...” -Isaiah 54:17 God will protect his children every time! No matter how powerful the weapon is, God will not allow it to prosper against his church. Jesus said that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. If all evil and every devil was let loose on it, the church will still stand and still stand strong, every time!
God is good in his divine providence
Providence is described as a wheel in Ezekiel 1:15-19 As it goes along one part of it is up top and the next moment the same part of the wheel is down in the dirt, soon it will be halfway to the apex, after reaching it, it will be halfway back to the bottom. Sometimes we struggle – not knowing how we are going to make it, the next moment we are enjoying the comforts of prosperity. We are brought low but the page will turn.
But even as the wheel revolves around and around – There is one part that doesn't revolve, - the Axle. God is the axle that never rises or falls with the circumstances. Those revolve around him. We are exalted one moment and then depressed the next. But through it all God never changes. God is compared to a rock 59 times in scripture. Psalm 18:2 says “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” God is unmovable, unbreakable, unshakeable - He is the foundation of the church (Eph 2:20) Even in dark times, you can trust him. Just as the sun goes down in the evening, you can be sure it will rise again in the morning. God is good
“If you, then, thou you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” -Mt.7:11
The word says “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, and since we are inherently evil by nature and we know how to give good gifts to our children, How much more will a good God give good gifts to those who ask him.
Ill. Charles Swindoll shared a story of how He and his wife Cynthia were in seminary at Dallas in 1959. It was hot that summer and they needed an air conditioner. And since they didn't have one in the little apartment they were living in, Charles said to Cynthia, “I'll tell you what let's do. Let's not tell anybody about our need; let's just pray.” They were determined to trust God and they made an agreement that they would not say anything to anybody.
Winter passed. Spring came. And they just kept praying. He said they went for a quick visit to Houston to visit his wife's family. And while they were there, out of the clear blue, a phone call came from a guy who lived across town who had known them years before. He said, “Chuck, we've got an air conditioner. It's almost new. Could you use it?” Is it really impossible? That's the way God operates.
He brought it to them, put it in the car trunk and they took it back to Dallas, stuck it in the window and it worked all four years they were there. Impossible situation that God met in an impossible way.
God is good.
“For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” -Psalm 84:11
We pray for things that we think are good and when we don't receive it, we get discouraged but if they are truly good for us, then it won't be denied us. God will give it! And He will give it every time!
We sometimes ask for something we think is good but God knows it isn't. As Ruth Graham once pointed out that, 'If God answered every prayer, she would have been married to the wrong man several times.' Every time she must have thought she was asking for something good, but God knew she was wrong, he had someone better in mind. God knows what is good and what isn't, because God is good.
William McDonald said “Providence is ground for thankfulness.”
One of my favorite examples of providence is a story from the book “when God winks” by Squire Rushnell; he has a book full of amazing true stories of God's miraculous providence, one of which is about - Ken Gaub who was going through a period of uncertainty with his ministry. In the 1980's his family did an entertainment ministry that they would take to churches, schools, and the back roads of America traveling fifty-thousand miles a year. On one trip, a couple of his sons were driving. They kept in touch between the cars with a CB radio. One son told the other to stop at an exit.
While his family went to a diner, Ken decided to take a walk. He walked by a gas station and an empty phone booth. The phone began to ring. Ken stopped and looked around, but the phone kept ringing. He thought it might be for the attendant. Because he thought it may be an emergency, he picked up the phone. An operator on the line said it was a person to person call for him, Ken Gaub!
He thought it was a joke, but continued. The operator repeated that the call was for him. Ken went ahead with the call. On the other end of the phone was a woman named Millie who had once seen his ministry on The 700 club. She remembered his name and wrote it in the suicide note she was writing. When Ken asked her how she got the number, she said it just came to mind while she was writing her suicide note. Ken explained where he was, but then explained how God was watching over her, that her worries were temporary, and God was the only answer and she would find peace through Jesus. She didn't commit suicide, in fact, a few years later, Ken met Millie face to face performing on the road. Today, Ken is still on the road, knowing God is using him and his ministry.
Ken needed Millie just as much as Millie needed Ken. Ken needed reassurance of his ministry and Millie needed reassurance of God's providence. Nothing is impossible for God. God is good!
God is good in his divine participation
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” -Romans 8:28 God makes all things to participate for his childrens' good.
Joseph's life is an excellent example of this. Joseph could have kept his dream of seeing his brothers sheaves of wheat bowing down to his sheaf of wheat, to himself but he shared them with his brothers, perhaps not realizing it was prophetic.
And later, Jacob didn't have to send Joseph out with the sheep that day, after all he was the favorite, but he did. Joseph could have went anywhere but went to Shechem. And his brothers could have gone anywhere, but went to Dothan. And Joseph just happened to run into a man who knew where his brothers were, and happen to catch Joseph wondering around in the fields. And once Joseph found his brothers, in their jealousy, they could have followed through on killing him, but there happened to be one brother, Reuben that wanted to spare his life and throw him into a cistern.
And have you ever noticed that had the caravan of Ishmaelites, come one moment sooner or later, the brothers would have surely killed Joseph, but instead they sold him into slavery. Which is even more mysterious, because what if the caravan didn't want slaves that day, after all they had spices, balm, and myrrh, why did they buy Joseph? And it was no accident that the caravan went to Egypt, and it was no coincidence that He was sold to Potiphar who had a lustful wife. He did nothing wrong and was thrown into prison for telling the truth. And by providence his fellow inmates happen to be the cup bearer of the Pharaoh, who happen to have a dream that was interpreted correctly by Joseph, who forgot all about him, that is until Pharaoh had a dream and asked for an interpreter and then Joseph came to the cup bearers' mind. (God is good.)
And Joseph accurately interprets the Pharaoh’s dream and then the man who was a slave, accused rapist, and a prisoner is now made 2nd in command in all of Egypt. The best part is that later his brothers would bow before him fulfilling the dream in which he was sold into slavery in the first place! Amazing!! God IS Good!!
If any piece of this was out of place it may ruin the whole plan. One broken link, ruins the whole chain. When Joseph was thrown into a cistern he could have despaired his life, or once he was sold into slavery, He might have been bitter and blamed God for it. One can only imagine what his thoughts were when He was in prison. An innocent young man in prison for being favored by his father and telling the truth. But God was working 'all things together for the good!'
Jonah being caught in a storm was no accident, and him being thrown overboard was no accident, and him being swallowed by the great fish was no accident. After all it lead to him preaching to the Ninevites who repented and received God's forgiveness.
If you take one act of God by itself, you may not see it for what it is, but when they are in connection to one another, you can look back and see how God was working all things together for your good. Think of physics – if you take one element or another, it may be poison, but if a skilful doctor mixes them together with others and with the right amounts they can come up with a great medicine.
It makes you wonder why anyone would want to be on their own, when God works all things together for the good - if you belong to him. What seems to be a setback, is really a stepping stone for your joy.
Ill. When I was 16 years old I took 2 of my friends to school on a beautiful spring day, We jumped into my old Ford pick up truck and took off. I decided to take, what I thought was a short cut that morning on a nearby dirt road, and as a driver in front of me was kicking huge plumes of dust, I decided to show out a bit and pass the car in front of me, but as soon as I veered left – BOOM! All I remember is the awful sound of crunching metal and the sharp pain that felt like a ball bat struck me in the head, and as intense as the pain was, it could never match the adrenaline that panic was pushing through my veins.
I had crashed into a young lady and her brother that morning who were doing nothing more than going to school themselves. I later learned from acquaintances that the accident left her scarred and very bitter. A few weeks later a friend of mine who had been invited to a small obscure country church and didn't want to go alone asked me to go with him, so I did. And guess who was there that one Wednesday night? You guessed it, the girl from the accident. And wouldn't you know it, the preacher was preaching on forgiveness. She asked to speak with me and I relented. She let me know that she had made peace with the situation and had granted me forgiveness. God IS good! “In all things God works for the GOOD, of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” God knew that she needed to grant forgiveness just as much as I needed to hear it. God is good.
You can probably name something similar that happened to you. It might have seemed like a strange coincidence, but was really divine providence, God's divine plan from the beginning. God is good.
Conclusion: God is good in his forgiveness. Forgiveness is something no one finds easy and yet it is something none of us can live without. God offers an unconditional forgiveness if you are sincere in desiring it, then why would he deny you of it?
“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of his glory blameless with great joy.” -Jude 1:24
God is just as willing as he is able to keep us from falling. He protects us from our sentence to hell.
He took our place on the cross and makes a way to stand before him absolutely blameless. While on the cross, Jesus cried out “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” God is good!
2 questions you have to ask yourself. Is God able? & Do I believe?
