1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,240 All right, OK, good morning and welcome back. 2 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:07,880 And if you're watching online this morning, grateful that you 3 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:12,120 were here with us, whether it's live with us at 11:18 on Sunday 4 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:15,000 morning or sometime in the near future, grateful that you are 5 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:16,400 here. All right, if you have your 6 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,320 Bibles, please take them and turn to Psalm chapter 34. 7 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:22,360 And I think they we ran out of notes again. 8 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,600 And so they are being printed and you can have them in a 9 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,480 moment. And when Brad heads back in, all 10 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:31,960 right, if you're watching online, also want to let you 11 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:36,320 know that you are invited to come be with us in person at 115 12 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:40,080 E Main St. and we would love to see you sometime soon. 13 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:44,160 Our services are at 9:00 and 10:30 on Sunday mornings. 14 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:47,280 All right, so notes again, you can grab those on the back 15 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:49,640 table. And I'm going to start with 16 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:53,320 Psalm chapter 34. And we will be reading from 17 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:59,360 verse 8. The Psalmist writes, oh, taste 18 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:05,680 and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes 19 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:11,520 refuge in him. Taste and see that the Lord is 20 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:13,720 good. This morning I want to talk to 21 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:18,000 you about the goodness of God and why it is so important. 22 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:21,480 The goodness of God and why it's so important. 23 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:28,080 Let me pray for us, God, on this beautiful sunny day. 24 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:33,200 We've chosen to be here and worship together to honor you 25 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:35,880 and to exalt you again in fellowship and in song and in 26 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:38,440 giving. And now our heart is to honor 27 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:43,360 you with attention to your Word and openness and heart and mind 28 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,280 to grow in our understanding about Your goodness and why a 29 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:50,880 belief in Your goodness is so vital and so important in the 30 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:55,800 life of a follower of Jesus. So show us, stretch our thinking 31 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:58,440 and reveal yourself to us. We pray in Jesus name. 32 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:04,080 And everyone said, hey man. Now, some of you might have 33 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,120 grown up in a tradition of Christianity or maybe you're new 34 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:10,520 to Christianity, but I must sadly say that many traditions 35 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:14,400 with this in Christianity do not paint God as good. 36 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:18,400 Some paint God in this way where where he's painted is like this 37 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:21,880 ogre of sorts and a throne in heaven with maybe a big staff or 38 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,200 something and he's watching for opportunities to smash you like 39 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,600 an Ant, right? Or maybe you came from a a 40 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:32,120 tradition where where the wrath of God, and certainly God has 41 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:33,640 wrath. And we'll even show you some 42 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:36,360 occasions today in the context of the goodness of God where he 43 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,960 also has wrath and judgment. But if you were from a tradition 44 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:41,880 of Christianity where they painted God is just this 45 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:47,680 constant figure, God who is has wrath and anger and rage, then 46 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:51,600 you will have missed who God is. And it's so foundational to our 47 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,800 faith to get this simple truth. God is good. 48 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:57,760 Because if you get your head around it and you lean into it 49 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:00,880 well, then it will shape the way that you follow and chase and 50 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:04,120 pursue Jesus and the way that you love him and serve him. 51 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,440 If you serve him as a result of the goodness of God, then it 52 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,200 will look differently than you serving God out of fear or 53 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,360 anxiety or the likes. So this morning, my hope is to 54 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,840 increase within you a great understanding and appreciation 55 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:22,160 and an awe for the goodness of God. 56 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:24,840 And what I want to show you is that the theme of the goodness 57 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:26,880 of God is throughout Scripture, OK? 58 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,240 It's a tapestry that's weaved from Genesis all the way to the 59 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:32,720 end, the goodness of God. You're going to see how often 60 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:35,000 it's mentioned, OK? Now, when you think about the 61 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,080 attributes of the characteristics of God, maybe 62 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:40,000 you think about things like the holiness of God. 63 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:43,280 And certainly the holiness of God is so important when we 64 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:45,520 think about God. And what's interesting about the 65 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,080 holiness of God is that in Isaiah and in Revelation, when 66 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:53,400 God is, when there's this vision of heaven and the heavenly 67 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:55,160 creatures that are around the throne of God. 68 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,760 Isaiah and John in Revelation, they say that the heavenly 69 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:01,560 creatures are crying continually around the throne. 70 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:05,200 Holy, holy, holy. This is where the hymn comes 71 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,640 from, right? Holy, holy, holy Lord God 72 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,440 Almighty. It's not just holy, it's the 73 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:12,600 Lord God Almighty. It's holy, holy, holy. 74 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,040 Why? The songwriter of the hymn is 75 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:19,040 leaning into Isaiah and John's revelation of what the heavenly 76 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,920 creatures are calling God. And if it, if they're 77 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:24,640 continually saying holy, then wouldn't it sound like 78 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:27,720 continually saying holy, holy, holy, right? 79 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:30,840 You're continually saying it. But John and Isaiah want you to 80 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:36,840 know that God is not just holy, but he's holy, holy, holy. 81 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:39,240 So holiness certainly an attribute of God. 82 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:41,760 God is all powerful. There's nothing that he cannot 83 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:45,240 accomplish or do. God is loving and God is 84 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:48,000 omnipresent, meaning he's everywhere. 85 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:51,840 We just finished the series on the Holy Spirit and we learned 86 00:04:51,840 --> 00:04:54,440 that yes, the Spirit, the presence of God is everywhere. 87 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,680 And then additionally, God chooses to reveal himself in 88 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:00,320 these unique ways. He manifests his presence at 89 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:03,840 particular places and people and things sometimes, right? 90 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:05,680 And he certainly did that in the Old Testament. 91 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,000 You saw him manifesting his presence in in the in the tent 92 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,080 and then in the Tabernacle and then in the temple and in his 93 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,720 people in the New Testament. Now we now the Holy Spirit, we 94 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,040 are the temple that the Holy Spirit abides in. 95 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:20,440 So thinking about attributes of God, He's omnipresent, he's 96 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:24,080 everywhere and then he chooses to manifest himself in certain 97 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:26,080 moments and then God is all knowing. 98 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,040 So a knowledge of these attributes of God, yes, we 99 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,760 should know these, but I will tell you that the goodness of 100 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,320 God is one of the most mentioned attributes in all Scripture. 101 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,480 It's a reoccurring theme. It becomes over and over and 102 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:40,640 over again. And depending on what 103 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:42,560 translation you have, I'm teaching this morning out of the 104 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,200 English standard version. But depending on whether you 105 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:49,680 have New Living Translation or King James or NIV, just in the 106 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:53,680 Psalms alone, the goodness of God is mentioned 63 times. 107 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:56,040 And depending on your translation, the goodness of God 108 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,120 is mentioned hundreds of times in Scripture. 109 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:01,080 And sometimes it's called kindness. 110 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:04,360 There are other words that that mean likely the same much as 111 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:08,720 goodness, but I want you to know that the theme of the goodness 112 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:11,400 of God is there from the beginning in Genesis. 113 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,640 We'll get there in a minute and goes all the way through the New 114 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:18,040 Testament over and over again. Now, I love that the psalmist 115 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:21,040 that we read at the beginning, Psalm 34, verse 8, he says this. 116 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:23,240 He doesn't just say taste and see that the Lord is good. 117 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:28,840 He says, oh, there's that. OH, oh, taste and see that the 118 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:31,320 Lord is good. It reminds me, we have some 119 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:33,520 friends in town from the Grand Rapids area and they were in the 120 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:37,080 first service with Jace. And yesterday we drove from our 121 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:39,560 home, which is about 1/2 hour. So we drove over to Petoskey to 122 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:41,800 Happy Tacos. Anybody been to Happy Tacos in 123 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:44,120 Petoskey? Happy Tacos man way. 124 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:45,360 Even if you've been doing Happy Tacos? 125 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:46,920 OK, a couple of you. It's amazing. 126 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:49,960 I love happy tacos. I mean, we got tacos in Gaylord. 127 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:53,880 We have Taco Bell and every so often, if I'm in a hurry, Taco 128 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:56,680 Bell suffices, right? But I've never said about taste. 129 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:00,040 I've never said about Taco Bell. It's like, oh, taste and see 130 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:02,040 about Taco Bell. But when it comes to happy 131 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:04,680 tacos, we took our friends here yesterday and especially Jay, 132 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:09,480 she was like, oh, taste and see how good these tacos are, right? 133 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:12,920 So when the song is and Jason loves to sell, like if you know, 134 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:16,560 if she has a movie she likes or product that she likes or food, 135 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:18,760 that's like she's going to tell you about it and she wants to 136 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:20,640 convert you. And this is true of her faith in 137 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:22,680 Jesus, right? So we converted some people 138 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:26,520 yesterday to happy tacos, OK? And they taste and they saw, 139 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:28,440 they taste it and they saw that they're good. 140 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:30,680 So the psalmist, that's what he's saying he's it's an 141 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:32,760 invitation. Taste and see. 142 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:36,960 Lean in and be open to how good God is. 143 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:41,600 That's his cry. So a belief in the goodness of 144 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:44,080 God is arguably the most important belief that you can 145 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:46,560 have about God because you won't even come, Let's say you come 146 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:49,880 into salvation with him, but you're not unaware of his 147 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:52,160 goodness and you see him. You can be saved. 148 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:55,680 You can, but, but if you missed his goodness, then you will. 149 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:57,840 You can live a pretty pathetic Christian life. 150 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:03,320 You can exist, but as far as living in victory and relate in 151 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,960 beautiful relationship with God, you can miss it without an 152 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,360 awareness of God's goodness. So it's important. 153 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:13,200 Now I want to show you that the original sin, the original lie 154 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:17,200 of Satan is the lie, or at least the questioning of God's 155 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,720 goodness. We can go to Genesis chapter 3 156 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:22,280 in your notes or on the screens or in your Bible, your device, 157 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:24,720 wherever you want to read from. And I want you to see this. 158 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:28,200 This is the story of Adam and Eve in the garden. 159 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:31,640 Remember, in Genesis 1, God creates the heavens and the 160 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:34,280 earth, and it's good, but man's really good. 161 00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:37,159 And then he creates Eve and they're in the garden. 162 00:08:37,159 --> 00:08:39,280 They have a relationship with God in Eden. 163 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:41,520 OK? So watch what happens. 164 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,240 You know the story, you've read it in your children's Bible, 165 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,360 maybe growing up or in last year's Genesis, starting in 166 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:51,120 verse 1, chapter 3. Now the serpent was more crafty 167 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,520 than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had 168 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,440 made. And he said to the woman, Did 169 00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:02,160 God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden? 170 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:05,000 And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit 171 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:08,080 of the trees in the garden. But God said, You shall not eat 172 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:10,320 of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, 173 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:12,800 neither shall you touch it, lest you die. 174 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,320 Now God had their best interest in mind. 175 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:21,840 He is a good father. And yet the serpent leads Eve to 176 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:24,480 questioning God's intent and his goodness. 177 00:09:24,680 --> 00:09:29,080 Did God really say is gotten in a way he's saying, is God really 178 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:30,560 good? Or maybe God's trying to hold 179 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:32,800 something back from you. Maybe there's more to it than 180 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:36,560 the God is letting be known. He was protecting them. 181 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:38,120 God was. But watch what the serpent does 182 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:40,040 in verse 4. But the serpent said to the 183 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:44,400 woman, you will not surely die. He's questioning the honesty of 184 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,680 God, the goodness of God. In verse 5, he says, for God 185 00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:51,120 knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and 186 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:54,760 you'll be like God, knowing good and evil. 187 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:56,760 And that was a problem with the tree they were going to eat 188 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:58,000 from. It was going to twist them up 189 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,520 because they'd only known good. But now they're going to know 190 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:05,280 the knowledge of good and evil. And the disobedience of God 191 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:09,160 comes as a result of Satan the serpent tricking Eve into 192 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,880 questioning is God really good? Is he truthful? 193 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:15,960 Was he restricting them? Was he not generous? 194 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,440 Was he withholding? No, God was trying to protect 195 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,440 them. So the story goes in verse 6. 196 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,160 So when the woman saw that the tree was good, now watch this, 197 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:27,520 she questions the goodness of God, but she calls the tree good 198 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:29,400 God. She's not sure he's good 199 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:31,760 anymore. The tree though, she sees as 200 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,960 good, good for food. And it was a delight to the eyes 201 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:37,600 and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise. 202 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:41,280 So she took of its fruit and she ate, and she also gave some to 203 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:44,440 her husband who was with her, and he ate. 204 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:49,160 So the original sin in this occasion, it might not be that 205 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:51,680 she ate from the tree. I mean, it's a disobedience, but 206 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:54,520 what led to the disobedience of eating from this tree? 207 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:58,120 That goddess said not to eat of the sin initially was missing 208 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:01,960 the goodness of God, questioning God's motives, God's intentions, 209 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:06,480 God's heart as a father. This is how Satan tricks Eve. 210 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,120 So what I want to say to you is that the early in Scripture, 211 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:13,200 right there in Genesis 3, the original way that the enemy 212 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:21,120 trips us up is by throwing smoke into a belief in the goodness of 213 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:23,520 God. And when we don't walk in 214 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:25,960 genuine awe, the goodness of God, we fail to trust, we fail 215 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:28,800 to serve, we fail to worship and obey and follow. 216 00:11:29,560 --> 00:11:31,800 And This is why throughout the Bible, the goodness of God is 217 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:34,760 such a dominant theme. It's there over and over and 218 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:36,240 over again. I'll show you some of them. 219 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:38,640 I don't have time this morning to show you all of them, but I 220 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,400 just want to show you some of them so that you get, yes, it is 221 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,840 there throughout Scripture. It's a major theme that the 222 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:49,280 Bible wants us to get. Now Jesus talks about this 223 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:52,560 serpent, the enemy, the thief in John chapter 10 verse 10. 224 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:56,840 And he says this, the thief comes only to steal and kill and 225 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:58,960 destroy. And he says I came that you may 226 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:01,600 have life and have it abundantly. 227 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:06,040 And this is what the serpent, the Satan did in Genesis chapter 228 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:08,480 3. He stole away the relationship 229 00:12:08,680 --> 00:12:11,240 that Adam and Eve had with God. They used to walk with him in 230 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:15,360 the garden in the cool of the day because of their sin that as 231 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:18,040 a result of them questioning the goodness of God, he's stolen 232 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:20,360 from them. So Jesus is saying, listen, I've 233 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:23,000 come not to steal from you, but that you might have life. 234 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:27,200 And this occasion, the Greek word for life here is Zoe, and 235 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:28,800 that's become a popular girl's name. 236 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:30,640 And what does Zoe mean? Well, it's a Greek word for 237 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:32,720 life. And this occasion it's not just 238 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:36,160 talking about like a biological life, like breathing. 239 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,880 No, on this occasion it's like God, like life, purpose and 240 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:41,600 meaning. This is the life that Jesus 241 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:45,880 wants us to have, not just again living, but having a richness of 242 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:47,920 life that comes from being in Christ. 243 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:51,880 Jesus says that's what I came to give you, but the enemy has come 244 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:55,040 to steal it away. So the first time that the enemy 245 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:59,560 steals from us again is in Genesis chapter 3, and he steals 246 00:12:59,560 --> 00:13:02,440 away Adam and Eve's relationship with God. 247 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:07,080 Now when I doubt God's goodness, often what it looks like is that 248 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:10,120 I need to be in control. I need to be the Lord of my 249 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:11,600 life. And when you become a Christian, 250 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:15,640 you surrender your life to Jesus being your king and your Lord. 251 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:18,280 But when you question and you're not confident, sure of the 252 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:22,640 goodness of God, then it can lead to a time in your life 253 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:25,960 where you will miss out on this Zoe type of life that God wants 254 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:28,400 you to have. Now let me show you another 255 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:30,160 occasion where the goodness of God is referenced. 256 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:32,000 And this is an Exodus chapter 33. 257 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:34,560 And this is when Moses and the children of Israel have been 258 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:36,880 wandering for these 40 years and the wilderness. 259 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,000 And finally God says to them, OK, it's time for you to get up 260 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:41,920 and move. It's time for you to go on, 261 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:43,080 right? So they're going to pack up the 262 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:46,520 tent that God abides in. And God's like, OK, it's time. 263 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:48,840 I want you to move on. Now watch what happens in verse 264 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:50,720 15. And he said to him, this is 265 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:53,320 Moses speaking to God. And he said, if your presence 266 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:57,000 will not go with me, do not bring us up from here, which is 267 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,040 a wonderful prayer. God, if you don't go with me, I 268 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:02,400 just want to stay where I am. For how shall it be known that I 269 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:05,360 found favor in your sight, I and your people? 270 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:09,480 Is it not in your going with us so that we are distinct, I and 271 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:12,360 your people from every other people on the face of the earth? 272 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:14,400 So this is Moses's request of God. 273 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:17,160 God, if we move from here, we want you to go with us and watch 274 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:19,520 how God responds to his request. It's going to get around to the 275 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:22,640 goodness of God. And verse 17 and the Lord said 276 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,920 to Moses, this very thing that you've spoken, I will do. 277 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:27,480 He'd spoken. God, go with us. 278 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:30,360 God says, I will. For you have found favor in my 279 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:35,280 sight, and I know you by name. And Moses said, watch, this is 280 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:38,480 so profound to me. Moses said, please show me your 281 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,200 glory. Please show me your glory and 282 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,920 watch how God answers. And he said, meaning God, I will 283 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:48,200 make all my goodness pass before you. 284 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:51,480 Moses says, show me your glory. And God says, I'll show you my 285 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:53,960 goodness because my goodness is my glory. 286 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:58,920 God's goodness equals his glory. And God says, and we'll proclaim 287 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:02,680 before you my name, the Lord, and I will be gracious to whom I 288 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,120 will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show 289 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:08,480 mercy. God answers when he says, show 290 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:10,600 me your glory. God says, I'll show you my 291 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:13,160 goodness. God doesn't say His Holiness. 292 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:15,680 He doesn't stray his strength. He doesn't say his glory or his 293 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:18,960 might, but his goodness. He's going to put it on parade 294 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:23,360 for Moses to experience. God's glory is his goodness. 295 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:25,080 So watch what happens. This is so beautiful. 296 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,520 Verse 21 And the Lord said, behold, there was a place by me 297 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:29,800 where you shall stand on the rock. 298 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:31,760 So God's presence is there, the Holy Spirit. 299 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:34,120 And God says there's a place in the rock. 300 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:36,120 I'm going to put you there. It's going to be called a cleft. 301 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:40,080 And then he says, And while my glory passes by, I will put you 302 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:42,760 in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand 303 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:45,440 until I've passed by. And then I will take away my 304 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:48,760 hand and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen, 305 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:51,240 because if he sees the face of God, it will overwhelm him. 306 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:53,720 It'll be too much. So God's like I'm going to cover 307 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:57,000 your face in the cleft of the rock and you ask for glory, but 308 00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:57,920 I'm going to show you my goodness. 309 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:01,520 And my goodness means while I'm coming away from you so I don't 310 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:03,600 overwhelm you, I will show you my back. 311 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,600 He says So out of his goodness. He protects Moses when he 312 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:12,840 reveals his goodness. King David also promoted a 313 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:16,040 belief in the goodness of God over and over and over again. 314 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,640 And I love this recent resurgence in the telling of 315 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:20,640 David's story. Like on Amazon, I know they have 316 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:24,200 a series about David and the David movie that Angel Studios 317 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:25,760 put out. We had a night here to watch it 318 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:27,760 at the church. And it's so I think these are 319 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:29,840 wonderful, the retelling of his story. 320 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:32,600 So, so David's become a popular figure again. 321 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:35,960 And in Psalm 23, he mentions the goodness of God. 322 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:38,680 And maybe you know this song because it's David's most famous 323 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:41,200 Psalm, but he, it's the Lord is my shepherd, right? 324 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:43,160 So he's painting God as a shepherd. 325 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:44,920 And watch what he says in verse 5. 326 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:47,920 He says it's only 6 verses. This is a great song to 327 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:50,600 memorize. He says, you prepare a table 328 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:54,360 before me in the presence of my enemies, and you anoint my head 329 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:58,800 with oil, and my cup overflows. And then David says, surely 330 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:04,040 goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and 331 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:06,800 I shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever. 332 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:09,400 Watch this. David is saying, God, your, 333 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:11,880 your, your goodness is going to follow me. 334 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:15,359 It's going to chase after me. And David had spent years 335 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:17,319 running from King Saul who was trying to kill him. 336 00:17:17,319 --> 00:17:20,839 So David was used to like something following him, chasing 337 00:17:20,839 --> 00:17:23,599 him, but in this occasion, King Saul again wanted to take him 338 00:17:23,599 --> 00:17:25,680 out. And so David is using the same 339 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:29,600 language like God chases after me with his goodness and it will 340 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:32,200 follow me all the days of my life. 341 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,000 I think this is a worthy Psalm to memorize again. 342 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:37,640 And when you get to that part, we say, and surely goodness will 343 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,640 follow me. Remind yourself in the 23rd 344 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:45,720 Psalm about the goodness of God that David references. 345 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:48,400 It's an easy one to memorize. Another one of David's 346 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,400 confessions about the goodness of God is in Psalm 27, starting 347 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:53,760 in verse one. Now verse 1 is going to start 348 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:55,600 the setup for the whole Psalm. I'm not going to read the whole 349 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:58,520 Psalm to you for time, but I'm going to read verse 1 and 13. 350 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:02,440 But the setup for this Psalm is David referencing the fact again 351 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:04,280 that he's been running for his life. 352 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:08,120 So in verse one it says the Lord is my light and my salvation. 353 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:10,880 Whom shall I fear? The Lord is a stronghold of my 354 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:12,880 life. Of whom shall I be afraid? 355 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:17,520 He had enemies, the Philistines and King Saul and the 356 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:19,840 Amalekites. I mean, he had enemies. 357 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:23,080 But in this occasion he's saying God is my stronghold, He's my 358 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,520 salvation. OK, so watch when you get to the 359 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:27,160 1st 13. This is what he says. 360 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:33,000 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the 361 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,600 land of the living. He's he's an enemy territory, 362 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:39,640 often running, hiding for his life. 363 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:42,360 And in this occasion he's just makes his confession. 364 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:44,920 I believe I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord and the 365 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:46,920 land of the living. These are wonderful confessions 366 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:48,680 for you to make. Maybe there's a time in your 367 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:52,520 life where you feel defeated, you feel anxious, you feel like 368 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:54,320 enemies and adversaries are around you. 369 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:56,960 Well, you can confess like David, you can remind your heart 370 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:01,120 about the goodness of God that is found in the land of the 371 00:19:01,120 --> 00:19:03,800 living, even in the midst of difficulty. 372 00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:07,400 Now there's another Psalm. This is Psalm 73, verse one and 373 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:09,360 two. And this is a Psalm of ASAP, one 374 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:11,520 of the other familiar songwriters in the Psalms. 375 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:14,200 And here's what he says. Now watch, this is really 376 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:16,360 wonderful what he's saying here, verse 1. 377 00:19:16,360 --> 00:19:21,080 He says truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in 378 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,120 heart. But watch what he confesses 379 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:25,360 here, he says, But As for like he's saying, God is good, but 380 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:28,440 it's for me. My feet had almost stumbled, my 381 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:32,040 steps had nearly slipped, for I was envious of the arrogant when 382 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:34,440 I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 383 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,040 Watch here. He's saying God is good to 384 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:38,760 Israel. But I took my focus off of it 385 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:43,080 and I grew anxious when I saw that the wicked were perishing, 386 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:44,720 not perishing. They were prospering. 387 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:48,080 The wicked were prospering. That's funny that I'd say 388 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:49,440 perishing. There's another song where it 389 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:51,400 says when the righteous prosper, the city rejoices. 390 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:53,400 When the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy. 391 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,480 Ever forget what Solomon is? But I used to play get family 392 00:19:56,480 --> 00:19:59,000 games and when I would win in the family games, like I was 393 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,040 beating like in Settlers of Catan or something, I used to 394 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:02,520 sing this to a particular relative. 395 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,840 I'll be like when the righteous prosper, the city rejoices. 396 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:08,800 When the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy. 397 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:10,640 You'd have to been there to see how funny it was. 398 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:16,600 But so no, ASAP was not saying he's not saying that the the 399 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:18,400 wicked were perishing. No, on this occasion he's saying 400 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,440 the wicked were prospering and he takes his eyes off of the 401 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:25,960 goodness of God. And his focus becomes the 402 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:30,080 prosperity of the wicked. Now, I must say that this is 403 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:34,040 easy to do now in the era of social media, right? 404 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:39,040 I mean, you can go online and just see wickedness and evil and 405 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,800 the arrogant painting themselves as so prosperous. 406 00:20:43,120 --> 00:20:45,520 And of course they put it through filters and, and you 407 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,440 know, it's staged a lot of times, but it'd be easy to see 408 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:50,920 the wickedness in the world and to take your eyes off the 409 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:53,000 goodness of God. And that's what Asaph is saying. 410 00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:56,360 He's like God is good to Israel. But it's for me, my feet almost 411 00:20:56,360 --> 00:21:00,080 stumbled when I took my focus off the goodness of God and put 412 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,960 it on the prosperity of the wicked. 413 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:04,840 So my encouragement to you is make sure that you keep your 414 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:09,040 focus on the goodness of God. Another case in where the 415 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:12,560 goodness of God shows up in Scripture is in Lamentations. 416 00:21:13,120 --> 00:21:15,680 And my guess is that maybe you've never read Lamentations 417 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:17,120 before. It's an obscure book in the Old 418 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:19,800 Testament written by, we believe, the prophet Jeremiah. 419 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:23,480 And it's written it's, it's a long lament. 420 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:27,200 And what is a lament? A lament is like a sad song. 421 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:31,720 It's a song of sorrow. And what is Jeremiah's sorrowful 422 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:33,560 for? He's sorrowful about the 423 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:37,080 destruction of Jerusalem. And you might remember in the 424 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:39,400 era of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, that the 425 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:41,920 Syrians had first come in and conquered the northern Kingdom. 426 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:45,520 And then 70 years later, some years later, the Babylonians 427 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:46,920 came and conquered the southern Kingdom. 428 00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:48,520 OK. And they're going to go into 429 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:51,800 captivity. And it's a time when Jerusalem 430 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:54,000 is just destroyed and people are starving. 431 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:56,800 And why are they in this place? Because they've been disobedient 432 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:58,920 to God. God had warned them over and 433 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:01,080 over and over again through the prophets, but they disregarded 434 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:03,440 God's warnings. And now they're in a situation 435 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:05,200 where there's this devastation around them. 436 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,800 So watch even in the midst of great punishment and 437 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,640 devastation, watch what Jeremiah says. 438 00:22:13,120 --> 00:22:15,160 And this is in the middle. And maybe you know this passage, 439 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:16,680 but you didn't realize that this is where it lands. 440 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:18,280 Maybe you didn't know it was in Lamentations. 441 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:21,520 He says, remember, he's speaking to God. 442 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:25,520 Remember my flex affliction and my wanderings, the Wormwood in 443 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:29,520 the gall, My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down 444 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:33,760 within me. But this I I call to mind and 445 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:36,280 therefore I have hope. Now this is a chapter 3. 446 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:40,040 So up to this point, he's just expressing sorrow and heartache 447 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:41,920 and he's like, go read lamentations. 448 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:45,320 It's like it really paints a picture of utter destruction and 449 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:47,440 horror. OK, so in the midst of this 450 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:52,080 horror and destruction, he says, but this I call to mind in verse 451 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,520 22, The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. 452 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,840 His mercies never come to an end, but they are new every 453 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:00,920 morning. Great is your faithfulness. 454 00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:02,800 The Lord is my portion, says my soul. 455 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,440 Therefore I will hope in him. And here's where he gets to the 456 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:08,160 goodness of God. He says the Lord is good to 457 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:13,000 those who wait for him. The soul seeks him, the soul who 458 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:14,680 seeks him. It is good that one should wait 459 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:18,000 quietly for the salvation of the Lord. 460 00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:21,400 In the midst of great horror and destruction, He's reminding his 461 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,280 heart that God is good, and He's particularly good to those who 462 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:28,800 wait on him and pray and follow after him, believing. 463 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:30,440 I believe in the goodness of God. 464 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:35,040 So it's wonderful to see that even in Lamentations when God 465 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,320 has allowed such destruction, that Jeremiah is reminding 466 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:42,480 himself of the goodness of God in spite of the situation that 467 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:45,960 he finds himself in. Now an additional time where 468 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:49,400 there's judgment and God is referenced as being good as a 469 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:51,600 Nahum. And again, Nahum is an obscure 470 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:55,760 Old Testament prophet that's much later in the Old Testament. 471 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:58,480 And you'll find that the in the Old Testament, like Jeremiah, 472 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,360 Isaiah and Jeremiah, their prophecies and books of prophecy 473 00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:03,680 are much longer and more content. 474 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:05,640 So they're they're kind of the beginning of the prophetic 475 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:07,640 books. And then those who have smaller 476 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:10,360 books, will they come later? OK, so Nahum his, his book is 477 00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:13,040 quite short. And who is name writing to? 478 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:16,760 Well, he tells you who's writing to and Nahum 11, and he says 479 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:20,880 this is an Oracle concerning Nineveh, the book of the vision 480 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:23,600 of Nahum and Alkash. What was Nineveh? 481 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:27,800 Nineveh was the city that God told Jonah to go to, to preach 482 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:31,040 that they should repent, right? And if you remember the story, 483 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,880 I've been to the place in Israel where Jonah would have left 484 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:36,720 from. There's like a fish statue maybe 485 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:39,640 6 or 8 feet tall there that you can stand next to. 486 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:42,240 And it's what they think at the port that he would have ran from 487 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:43,480 God. So remember, God says go to 488 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:44,760 Nineveh. He goes the opposite way. 489 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:47,240 And what happens? God, he gets swallowed up by 490 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:49,680 fish and the fish takes him to Nineveh and spits him out. 491 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:51,240 OK, this is in the Bible. I love it. 492 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:54,000 And remember Jonah, Why? Why doesn't he want to go to 493 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:55,400 Nineveh? He's mad at God. 494 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:57,760 And why is he mad at God? He's mad at God because he says 495 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:00,520 to God, God, if I go to Nineveh, I'll preach and they'll just 496 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:03,040 repent and you'll forgive them, right? 497 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,400 Isn't that crazy? You know, And so I know that 498 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:07,160 some parents are naming their kids Jonah. 499 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:08,400 I have friends. Your friends are naming their 500 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:09,640 kids Jonah. I'm like Jonah. 501 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:13,480 I don't know, man. He wasn't a hero because he 502 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:14,960 disobeys God. He goes the opposite way. 503 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:16,440 And then when he gets there, he's mad at God. 504 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,800 And then so watch this. Then when when Jonah, he 505 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:23,000 preaches and they repent like the king and everybody and 506 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:24,800 Nineveh, they repent. And so then what happens? 507 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:28,840 He goes up and he pouts like under this tree, he and that's 508 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:32,320 how the book of Jonah ends. He's mad at God because God 509 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:35,320 forgave the Ninevites. OK, That's the story of Jonah. 510 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:38,880 OK, So watch this 100 years later, Nahum now is writing to 511 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,600 the Ninevites. And in those hundred years, in 512 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:44,480 the century now that Ninevites have become very wicked and evil 513 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:50,240 again, and God is gracious, He's given them time to turn to him 514 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:55,240 again and they don't. So Nahum prophecies this in 515 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:56,480 verse. Well, he's going to prophecy the 516 00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:59,520 destruction, but watch what he says about God to the Ninevites, 517 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:03,080 verse 7. He says the Lord is good, a 518 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:04,520 stronghold in the day of trouble. 519 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:06,720 He knows those who take refuge in him. 520 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:10,040 But with an overflowing flood, flood, he will make a complete 521 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:13,720 end of the adversaries and will pursue his enemies Into 522 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:18,080 Darkness. So name is saying that God will 523 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:21,080 and his goodness, because he's good, He will chase after his 524 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:22,840 adversaries. He will chase after the wicked 525 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,400 and the evil. And he's going to do that in the 526 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:29,000 city of Nineveh 100 years after Jonah has preached. 527 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:34,120 Repent so even Nahum obscure Old Testament prophet writing to the 528 00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:36,000 invites. He talks about the goodness of 529 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,600 God. Now Jesus talks about the 530 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,320 goodness of God and he he does it in a very interesting way. 531 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:43,400 You remember last week. If you missed the message, you 532 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:47,520 can go get it online at YouTube or wherever you podcast last 533 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:52,120 week in response to President Trump's AI photo of himself 534 00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:54,960 where he was in the white outfit and with the red sash and some 535 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,360 people thought he was trying to appear as Jesus and he said he 536 00:26:57,360 --> 00:26:58,640 was trying to appear as a physician. 537 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:02,000 I don't know which it is, but anyways, I from that freak the 538 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:03,880 message on how we should view self. 539 00:27:04,360 --> 00:27:05,880 How should I view? What should I think about 540 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:08,240 myself? OK, and you can get mad at 541 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:10,080 President Trump for it. And what was interesting is both 542 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:11,880 sides were upset about this, the left and the right. 543 00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:14,600 Rare is it that the left and right are both upset about the 544 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:16,440 same thing, but they were in this occasion. 545 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:18,360 OK. So I don't want to talk at 546 00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:20,160 length about that. That wasn't the point, but I 547 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:24,680 wanted to talk about how how I should view myself. 548 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:27,280 OK, so so go get that message. But in in the midst of that 549 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:30,160 message, I also brought up the fact that some of the media was 550 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,240 saying Jesus never claimed to be God. 551 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:35,920 He never claimed to be God. And I'm like, that's not true. 552 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:38,520 He claimed to be God over and over and over and over again, 553 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:39,960 right? And this is one of those 554 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:41,960 occasions. OK, so Jesus did not shy away 555 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:43,520 from calling him God. Watch how he does it on this 556 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:45,840 occasion. It goes to the context of God 557 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:48,360 being good. Mark 10 verse 17. 558 00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:52,160 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt 559 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:56,080 before him and asked him, Good teacher, what must I do to 560 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:59,680 inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, Why do 561 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:03,080 you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 562 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:05,880 So in this moment, Jesus is implying once again that he's 563 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:09,000 God and that he is good. So when the young rich ruler 564 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,320 says a good teacher, he's like, you can only, I mean, who do you 565 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:13,920 call good? God's the only one you call 566 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:16,040 good. And in this occasion, he's 567 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,280 referencing his own goodness and that he is God. 568 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:22,840 And sadly, the young rich ruler does not follow Jesus because 569 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:24,920 Jesus says to him, OK, if you want to follow me, sell 570 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:28,040 everything you have and give it away, and then come follow me. 571 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:31,120 And he's not able to do that because he loves his things more 572 00:28:31,120 --> 00:28:35,480 than he loves the goodness of the teacher, the good teachers, 573 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,720 he calls them. OK, Now Jesus also talks about 574 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:41,160 the goodness of God in his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 575 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:44,280 Chapter 7. OK, so in this occasion I'm 576 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:47,120 going to give you again the context of it because again, a 577 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:49,640 lot of times you'll memorize the verse and you won't forget 578 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:52,440 what's around it. OK, so Jesus is going to talk 579 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,520 about the goodness of God the Father, but watch what it's 580 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:59,720 around. Verse 7 it says ask and it will 581 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:05,040 be given to you and seek and you will find and knock and it will 582 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:07,560 be open to you for everyone who asks receives and the one who 583 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,640 seeks finds and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 584 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:15,880 Or which one of you, if his son ask him for bread, we'll give 585 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:19,400 him a stone. Or if he asked for a fish, we'll 586 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:22,280 give him a serpent. And remember, who was it that 587 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:26,600 tripped up Eve in the garden? Well, it was the serpent and 588 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:29,520 Jesus is referencing the serpent and he's saying, OK, if you ask 589 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:31,880 the Father for bread, he's not going to give you a stone. 590 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:36,080 And so that belief that tripped up Eve in the garden that that 591 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,200 that the serpent skewed the goodness of God. 592 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:41,640 On this occasion, Jesus is reminding them to believe that 593 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:43,040 God is good. When you ask for bread, he 594 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:45,520 doesn't give you a stone. You ask for a fish, he doesn't 595 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:47,280 give you a serpent. And he says this. 596 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:48,920 And when he says this, I don't think it's a slam. 597 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:51,280 I think that Jesus sometimes use comedy in a way. 598 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:55,640 He says if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to 599 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:57,440 your children. And when he's saying this, I 600 00:29:57,440 --> 00:29:58,760 don't think he's like you're evil. 601 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:00,160 I don't think he's like slamming them. 602 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:02,920 I think it's kind of a tongue in cheek thing like you people who 603 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:06,080 are evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. 604 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:09,920 How much more will your father who is in heaven give good 605 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:15,760 things to those who ask him? Jesus is painting God is good 606 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:18,680 and not only is he good, but he gives good things. 607 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:22,040 And it's in a sermon on the mount connected next to asking 608 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:24,400 and receiving and knocking in the door being opened. 609 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:27,320 And when you ask God for something, he doesn't give you 610 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,400 evil in return. No, he's good and he gives good 611 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,520 gifts. This is how Jesus paints him. 612 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:37,560 And finally James, towards the end of your Bible, James, the 613 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:39,760 pastor at the church in Jerusalem, we think the brother 614 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:45,360 of Jesus, the half brother, he says this and James one verses 615 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,080 16 through 17 similar, he's echoing what Jesus said. 616 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:52,880 Do not be deceived by the serpent, by the liar, by the 617 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:56,200 thief. My beloved brothers, every good 618 00:30:56,200 --> 00:31:00,960 gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the 619 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:05,080 Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to 620 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:07,600 change. It's society that God blesses 621 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:10,840 his children and again, not with an easy life, not with lack of 622 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,920 no suffering, no, it's that in the midst of our devastations, 623 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:18,520 our difficulties, our sorrows, God's goodness can show up in 624 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:22,560 those moments and give good gifts even there. 625 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:26,480 And when you carry a revelation of the goodness of God, you'll 626 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:30,040 be able to trust and love God even when you don't understand 627 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:33,760 his ways. And I'm, I mean, I must admit, 628 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:36,320 man, this is this has been a challenge for in my life. 629 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:38,600 There moments where I'm like Jesus, I don't understand. 630 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:41,840 I remember my late 20s and early 30s, I was praying for something 631 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:45,960 and a lot of sorrow wrapped around this prayer that we had. 632 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:49,040 And there were times where I would pray, Jesus, this would be 633 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:51,560 so easy for you. This would be nothing for you. 634 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:53,960 Nothing. It was so easy and I didn't 635 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:56,680 understand his timing. I didn't understand his ways at 636 00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:59,160 the time, but I've grown to understand them more so when 637 00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:00,240 you. I love the saying, when you 638 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:02,960 can't trust the hand of God, trust the heart of God. 639 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:06,000 When you don't see how God is working, just trust the goodness 640 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,400 and the heart of God, even when you get news you weren't hoping 641 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:10,360 for. Recently I got news about my 642 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:12,040 shoulder that was not what I was hoping for. 643 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:14,880 I prayed for something else and the news I wanted is not the 644 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:16,800 news I got. So I'm navigating through that. 645 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:20,680 God, I believe in your goodness in the midst of it, so reveal it 646 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,960 to me. Know that the thief who comes to 647 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:26,760 steal and destroy is telling the same lie that he told in Eden. 648 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:31,440 Maybe God is not as good as you thought and you have to fight 649 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:34,600 against that. I love what AW Tozer says. 650 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:37,440 He says what comes into our minds, but when we think about 651 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:39,560 God is the most important thing about us. 652 00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:42,280 Tozer was a pastor in the Chicago area in like the 50s and 653 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:45,120 60s and wrote some wonderful books, The Pursuit of God. 654 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:47,760 And he says this in The Knowledge of the Holy. 655 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:51,320 He writes this your view and what you think about God is so 656 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:53,960 important to who you become. And when you have a revelation 657 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,480 and a knowledge and an appreciation of God's goodness, 658 00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:00,800 then it will shape who you are. And then CS Lewis, of course, if 659 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:04,560 you know the Narnia stories, I love that the Aslan the Lion 660 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:06,800 character, when they're searching for the lion, the 661 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:10,600 question is asked, is he safe? And the answer is, he isn't 662 00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:14,320 safe, but he's good, which is so wonderful, right? 663 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:18,400 And as Lewis is trying to in that way, kind of paint a 664 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:21,400 picture of who Jesus is, if you're looking for safe and 665 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:25,360 mamby pamby, whatever boring, then you're not going to find it 666 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:28,080 in God or find it in Christ. Is he safe? 667 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:33,080 No, but he's good, and an awareness and appreciation of 668 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,160 his goodness will shape the way that you live. 669 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:39,840 Let me close with this. This is Psalm 119, the longest 670 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:44,720 Psalm in the Bible, and it says profound things about the 671 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,320 goodness of God. The psalmist writes, You've 672 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:50,480 dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word, 673 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:53,280 teach me good judgment and knowledge. 674 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:56,680 I believe in your commandments. Before I was afflicted, I want 675 00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:58,120 to stray, but now I keep your word. 676 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:03,000 You are good and you do good. Teach me your statutes. 677 00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:04,280 This would be a wonderful prayer. 678 00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:06,520 Take your notes home. Then maybe this week you want to 679 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:09,960 just maybe once or twice a day, maybe take the notes out and 680 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:12,280 read through these scriptures and even the simple confession. 681 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:15,080 God, you are good and you do good. 682 00:34:15,679 --> 00:34:17,960 Just you can confess that over and over and in prayer. 683 00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:19,480 God, you are good and you do good. 684 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:21,920 Help me to see it when it's hard to see it. 685 00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:25,679 Show it to me God. It will shape and change the way 686 00:34:25,679 --> 00:34:31,040 that you chase after God. So application, let me just wind 687 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:33,000 down with this. I want to encourage you to 688 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:36,560 confess in prayers and songs the goodness of God and I love that 689 00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:39,600 we sing here. The all want to see all my life 690 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:45,080 you have been faithful and all my life you have been so so 691 00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:48,840 good. With every breath that I am 692 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:53,520 able, I will sing of the goodness of God. 693 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:56,920 We need more songs about the goodness of God. 694 00:34:57,240 --> 00:34:59,040 We need more prayers to talk about the goodness of God 695 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:02,840 because we leak and we forget. And singing about it, praying 696 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:04,760 about it, reading about it helps. 697 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:08,240 And then my expectation is to you is be aware of the ploy of 698 00:35:08,240 --> 00:35:10,800 the enemy to tear down your belief in the goodness of God. 699 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:13,720 The lie that he gave to Eve and Eden, He still wants to give to 700 00:35:13,720 --> 00:35:15,840 you. Be aware of it when it comes. 701 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:18,800 And then I encourage you to be intentional in the midst of 702 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:21,840 seasons great and seasons difficult to again declare. 703 00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:26,440 Speak it out, believe it. The goodness of God is never 704 00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:29,080 ending. Let me pray for us. 705 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:37,280 God, I thank you for your goodness. 706 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:42,760 And I pray there's a church that we would be a church that sings 707 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:46,640 about, praise about, speaks about, teaches about. 708 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:51,080 We want to teach our children about your goodness God and it 709 00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:54,520 is a theme that is throughout scripture, not just one or two 710 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:58,080 occasions, but it is you've gone to great lengths and inspiring 711 00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:02,080 this the writers of the Bible through your Holy Spirit to put 712 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:04,800 this theme in there over and over again. 713 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:09,480 So help us have great appreciation and revelation 714 00:36:09,520 --> 00:36:13,160 about it and help us shape the way that we follow and love you 715 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:16,280 in Jesus name and everyone said Amen. 716 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:19,680 Before we leave, I just want to take a brief moment and give you 717 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:21,240 an opportunity. If you're here this morning and 718 00:36:21,240 --> 00:36:23,760 you've never surrendered your life to Jesus, you've never said 719 00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:25,840 Jesus, I want to follow you. I want you to be the Lord of my 720 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:28,120 life. That's that's the point at which 721 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:29,880 you become a Christian. You don't have to understand all 722 00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:33,160 the doctrines and all of the creeds, although they're 723 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:35,080 valuable. And eventually we do want you to 724 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:37,480 grow in those. But but initially it's just a 725 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:40,720 surrendering of your life to the Lordship of Christ. 726 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:44,080 The Bible says if you believe in your heart and confess with your 727 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:46,960 mouth that Jesus is Lord, then you shall be saved. 728 00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:49,080 And so that's the point of salvation. 729 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:52,480 Jesus said in John three that you must be born again, like you 730 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:56,560 were born initially in water from your mother's womb. 731 00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:59,200 And now Jesus says you're born of the Spirit. 732 00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:01,440 And when you're born again, we believe that you become 733 00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:06,160 spiritually alive through the through Jesus and the sacrifice 734 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:09,160 that he made for us. So I want to pray and if you're 735 00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:12,560 new and you want to become a Christian or maybe you've been 736 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:14,360 away from the Lord for many years and you want to just re 737 00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:17,720 establish your relationship with the Lord, then you can echo this 738 00:37:17,720 --> 00:37:20,480 prayer with me and you can pray like this. 739 00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:24,280 Heavenly Father, I come to you in Jesus name and Jesus I invite 740 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:26,720 you to become the Lord of my life. 741 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,400 I believe in my heart and I confess with my mouth that you 742 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:32,960 are Lord and I need your forgiveness. 743 00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:37,240 So I turn for my own sinful ways and I turn towards you and I say 744 00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:40,160 come and be the Lord of my life and forgive me and renew me. 745 00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:42,480 I want to be born again, born of the Spirit in you. 746 00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:46,840 Now I say teach me your ways, you are good and you do good 747 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:49,640 things. So help me follow after you well 748 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:54,880 and grow in an understanding of your principles and your heart 749 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:59,160 for us and your truths. So come and be the Lord of my 750 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:00,480 life. I surrender myself to you in 751 00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:03,080 Jesus name. And everyone said Amen. 752 00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:05,600 If you pray to receive Christ, I'd love to hear from you. 753 00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:08,440 You can e-mail me at kurt@nlifechurch.org or tell a 754 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:10,320 friend that you made this decision. 755 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:12,840 And then I have a Bible for you and I have a little white book 756 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:15,560 that it's talks about your new life in Christ. 757 00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:17,760 You can find me after service or e-mail me and I'll make sure 758 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:20,320 that I get those too. And we as a church want to 759 00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:22,640 encourage you and your pursuit of Jesus. 760 00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:27,160 So keep coming back and we encourage you to get involved in 761 00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:31,160 small groups and other areas and see what unfolds for you. 762 00:38:31,720 --> 00:38:33,160 All right, let's all stand together. 763 00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:36,640 And before you go, I do want to say a blessing over you. 764 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:40,400 So if you will prepare your heart to receive this blessing 765 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:45,800 now before you go. And now may the Lord bless you 766 00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:50,320 and keep you, and may he make his face to shine upon you. 767 00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:53,920 And may the joy of the Lord that is unspeakable and full of 768 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:57,720 glory, may it abound to you. And may the peace of God that 769 00:38:57,720 --> 00:39:01,240 passes all understanding, may it surprise you in the midst of all 770 00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:03,600 of the challenges that life brings. 771 00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:06,280 And then may the mercies of the Lord, in other words, the 772 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:08,760 forgiveness of God, that's new every morning. 773 00:39:08,760 --> 00:39:12,240 May it be especially new to you and your mornings to come. 774 00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:15,560 And now may the Lord Jesus Christ guard your heart and your 775 00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:18,800 mind. You are salt and your light. 776 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:21,520 Go now and be salt and light unto the world. 777 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:24,040 You are blessed. We'll see you again soon.