PSALM 19:9 "IS GOD FAIR?"
A) One time or another in life, we have wondered about this question! * The Psalmist said .......
* "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." * Is this true?
B) Then what about babies who are born with physical deformities?
* What about two mothers who pray for their sons? * It often seems that the prayer of one is
answered while the other goes unheard!
* What says the farmer who lost everything because of a draught while refreshing rains fell on
the land of another?
C) Why does a good man die at the age of 37 while one who is a menace to society enjoys good
health? * Why would a fair God permit a cunning scoundrel to become rich & live in luxury,
* While some honest good man meets defeat at every turn?
D) How about a Christian marriage that is ending in divorce while ungodly people .......?
* If God were put on trial, it would be easy to make a case against His fairness!
* If I were the attorney for the defense, I’d begin with the evidence from God’s own Word!
* And in my defense of the fairness of God, I would make four points!
(1) MAN’S DISOBEDIENCE! * In the first chapter of the Bible you’ll see that God made a perfect
world, and that sin, trouble, pain and death came into this world against His will!
A) God gave man, when He created him, the ability to think, to determine his own life,
* The right to choose, or what we call, "a free will." * It meant that man could choose evil
instead of good, he could obey God or disobey Him, rebel and do his own thing!
B) Then we read of man’s tragic disobedience which was the beginning of all his troubles!
* God could have safe-guarded man by denying him freedom, but then He’d have to settle for
less than a man. * The blame for man’s troubles comes because he’s chosen evil instead of good.
C) And so blame must be put on man himself! * The phrase, "The devil made me do it" is a lie!
* Once a little boy pushed his friend in the ditch, hit him with a rock & then spit in his face.
* His mother scolded him & said that he shouldn’t let Satan cause him to treat his friends that way.
* The boy replied, "Satan told me to push him in the ditch, but it was my idea to hit him with the
rock and spit in his face." * Well, wasn’t it all the boy’s idea?
* And through the centuries, haven’t most of man’s troubles come because of his disobedience?
* Gal.6:7-8 "Be not ....... For he that soweth ... flesh ......."
D) A child is run over by a car & someone says it was the will of God!
* But was it? * It’s comforting to believe that God wanted that child!
* But it’s bad to comfort ourselves at the expense of God’s character!
E) There are three things that involve God’s will!
* One: "God’s intentional will." * Two: "God’s circumstantial will."
* And three: "God’s ultimate will." * Let’s look at these for a moment!
F) First, God’s intentional will! * This is what God intends to happen in your life!
* For example, the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ! * 1 Pet.4:12-16 Turn to & read!
* 2nd, His circumstantial will! * This means-He must allow some things to happen in which,
* He did not intend to happen! * Example, death of David’s baby & sword of judgment! * Job
G) 3rd, we can be sure of God’s final victory! * Nothing can defeat His ultimate will!
* Example: Job, God gave him twice as much as he had before! * The devil’s future .......
* Paul said 1Cor.13:12 "We see through a glass darkly" and much happens in that dark glass
that we just don’t understand! * "But then face to face, now I know in part; but then shall ......."
* In considering whether or not God is fair, a 2nd point to keep in mind is:
(2) THAT JUSTICE TRIUMPHS MORE OFTEN THAN WE THINK!
* There are rewards for right and punishment for wrong!
* Though the mills of God grind slowly, they do grind!
A) One trouble with us is that we measure the justice & fairness of God by the wrong things!
* Living in a fine home, having money in the bank, high honors and even good health are not in
themselves blessings! * One can have all these and much more,
* And still have an uneasy conscience and a restless heart!
B) Justice has a way of always coming out on top!
* God made this world to work so that a man gets what’s coming to him!
* God causes righteousness to prevail! * Col.3:25 "But he that doeth wrong shall ......."
* Man must be rewarded for right and good and punished for wrong and bad!
* And rest assured, nothing gets by God! * He knows everything!
(3) IN DEFENCE OF GOD’S FAIRNESS: LET US NOT FORGET HIS TENDER MERCY!
* In Ps.136, there are 26 verses & everyone of them ends with, "for His mercy endureth ......."
A) Example: Put two sheets of paper before you!
* On one, write everything you have done which is good, and on the other, everything you can
remember wrong! * Your deeds, your words, and even your thoughts!
* Study your own list well, and they will lead you to fall on your face before God and pray,
"Father, forgive me of my sins!" * Story of the prodigal son .......
* Luke 15:20 "And he arose & came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off ......."
B) These words describe a father’s action toward his son coming home!
* Jesus said that God was like that! * 1Jn.1:9 "If we ......." * 1Jn.2:1 "My little ......."
* Finally, and most important when deciding whether God is fair or not:
(4) LOOK AT JESUS! * He was born about 2,000 years ago,
* Crucified at about the age of 33 and was buried in a tomb.
A) In three days He was up and living again, visiting and talking with His friends!
* Then He left them and no one has seen His physical body since!
* The record of Jesus’ life on earth is the only real proof of God’s love!
B) You can’t find such a beautiful picture in nature!
* True, there are beautiful flowers, majestic mountain peaks & gentle rains from heaven!
* But there’s also fierce storms, withering heat of the sun & the dreadful disease of cancer!
C) But we can understand this God Who came to this earth to seek and to save!
* He came on a mission, and to accomplish it, He gave Himself a ransom for many - Mt.20:28
* The cross will forever stand as our supreme evidence of a loving, suffering, forgiving God!
CLOSE
A) I know a lot of questions are going through your mind!
* Someone said, "I had a thousand questions to ask God, until I met Him!"
* You’ll continue to wonder why this or that happened the way it did.
B) But as you come to have faith in Him, you’ll gladly trust your life in His hands!
* Then nothing can destroy your peace!
C) God is a good God and He’ll always do what’s right!
* Rom.8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them ......."
D) Is God fair? * Yes, He is! * "But why Preacher is this happening in my life?"
* Where was God when all this was happening, or where is He right now?
* Right where He was when His Son was hanging on a cross, dying in your place!
