From the Desk of Pastor Toby Powers
Truth Baptist Church
Hwy 78
Bremen, GA
It Is Good For You
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11, 6:12
Intro: Many people today seem to believe themselves to have great knowledge as to what is good for you. Everybody else can tell you how to do the things in your life which seem to develop into such a conundrum to you. Others know how that you should eat, where you should work, and how to raise your children (they’ve done a miserable job with their children, but they know how to raise your kids!). Others seem with ease to be able to tell you what is good for your house, your furniture, your clothes, your car, and your pets. It seems sometimes that EVERYBODY is an EXPERT on EVERYTHING until they have to do ANYTHING! If you want to know how to lasso the moon, it seems, just ask a man who has never tried it and he will have a plethora of ideas! The problem is that it seems the so-called “experts” seem to change their story daily. One day it is good for you eat more meat, the next you should cut back. One day fat in your diet is bad, the next it is not harmful at all. One day Chevy has the best new truck, but before 2006 ever gets here the 2007 models will be introduced and all that will change. Just as soon as you get on the cutting edge of technology in your business, you will find yourself on the bleeding edge of financial instability. NO, MOST OF US REALLY DON’T KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR US. Solomon was the wisest man of his time. He was more powerful than any man of his day. He was the richest man of his day, but when he examined all of his wealth, accomplishments, wisdom, and pleasures, he was still uncertain what was good for man (v.3). After scientifically observing all things done on the earth (under the sun), he was so frustrated by the search for that which is good for man that he said, “Who knoweth what is good for man in this life?” (6:12). He came to the conclusion in chapter 12:13-14, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” I want to show you today some things that are good for you. It is good for you:
I. To Become a Disciplined Servant of Christ in your youth, Lamentations 3:27 “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.” To “bear the yoke in his youth” makes reference to creating early habits, profitable habits, good habits that when created in youth and practiced throughout life become an abundant blessing and a fruitful field. You may seek to sow wild oats, but of them you will reap thorns that you must forever attempt to weed out of the garden of your life, but if you will with discipline serve God and sow good seed, you can reap a bountiful and blessed harvest in the years of life to come and eternity following. This is why Solomon said in Ecc 12:1, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.” I would encourage you to be:
A. Anointed in Youth as David: I Samuel 16:12-13, Samuel anointed David to become king over Israel though he was but a boy and the “Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.” He was twice more anointed (II Sam 2 by the men of Judah and II Sam 5 by all Israel). God would have never promoted him had he not been anointed. You do not have to be an old man to be anointed, but you must be a disciplined servant of Christ.
B. Available in Youth as Jeremiah: Jer 1:5-9, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.” Jeremiah understood his limited experience might be frowned upon by man, but he made himself available to God anyway, and God touched him. You can serve God even in your youth in this wicked and untoward generation, if you will but make yourself available to God.
II. To Bask in the Presence of the Lord, Mark 9:5 “And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.” He said this according to verse six, because he did not know what else to say, but surely he was right. It is good for us to be in the presence of the Lord.
Ps 122:1 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
Ps 84:10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Ps 27:4 6 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
Ps 26:12 My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the LORD.
Ps 133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
Ps 134 Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD. The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.
Ps 135:1 3 Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the LORD. Ye that stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God, Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.
III. To Be Afflicted, Psalms 119:71 “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I may learn thy statutes.” He says this because of verse 67, “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy Word.” Many have been humbled under affliction, and taught to know themselves and humble themselves before God. Many without this affliction could have never been saved; after this they have been serious and faithful. Affliction, sanctified, is a great blessing; unsanctified it is a bitter curse. It is up to us which it will be. Will we accept the afflictions and trials of this life that God may work in them and through them, or will we bitterly be soured by the afflictions of life? Some can not say, “This trial has been good for me.” Others, however may well say, “Were it not for the trials, I would not be the Christian that I am today.”
• You may complain about the heat, or you may beg God to refine you in the fire that you may shine forth as gold.
• Know this: Disability is often the platform on which Displays his grace! Trouble is often the ground where God sows his most beautiful flowers! Persecution is often the body which God uses to robe us with his power! Heartache is often the place where God builds his fountain of Love!
• What if you ask God to remove the affliction, and he just says, “My grace is sufficient?” When God says no, it does not mean you are forgotten, but it means that you must be delivered another route! And your deliverance will only be sweeter after your suffering. He is trying to show you more of his glory!
Psalms 30:5 Joy comes AFTER a night of weeping
Psalms 41:3 Strength comes AFTER a bed of sickness
Isaiah 43:2 God’s Presence comes AFTER the flood and the fire
II Corinthians 4:17 Glory comes AFTER a light affliction
I Peter 4:12 Rejoicing comes AFTER the fiery trial
Revelation 7:13-14 Robes come AFTER tribulation is passed
Revelation 21:4 God wipes away all our tears AFTER the former things are passed away
God may be saying no now to get you to something bigger later on!
• You can ask God for ESCAPING FAITH, which is easy for anyone to have. Escaping Faith: says keep me from the furnace- I want it easy, want to be healed, I want prosperity, I want a solution, I want a good answer!!! We have no problem handling escaping faith
• You may ask God for ENDURING FAITH, which begs him to help you get through it but does not really help you learn from the experience. When the trial is done, you will still get bitter that you had to face it.
• We all should rather ask God for ENLISTING FAITH. Enlisting Faith says if the affliction is the place of growth and progress in the Lord, keep me while I’m in the furnace of affliction. I’d rather have it easy, but if your will is a fiery trial, keep me through the fire! I’m willing to enlist in whatever God believes is best for my life! HAVE THINE OWN WAY, LORD!
IV. To Be Drawn Near To God, Psalms 73 Asaph was afflicted and discouraged. His feet were nigh unto slipping. He had almost given up on living for God altogether. But he understood the end of those who rejected God. Even in his hardest time he came to understand, “it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.” (v. 28).
CONCLUSION: I don’t know everything about what you need in life, but I do know that these things are good for you. Psalms 84:11-12 says, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: NO GOOD THING will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.” What is GOOD FOR YOU, you can get from God today. Would you come seek his face and his will for your life?
