Divine Goodness Is More Than Just Material Blessings

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Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, June 20th. Ephesians chapter 2 reminds us that God is rich in mercy. Today, we are taking a closer look at the expressions of God’s goodness.

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How important to you is your view of God? Is it important enough that you know exactly what you believe, at least to some degree, about some aspects of God? Is it important enough that you’re able to share it with someone else? Is it important enough that you keep on pursuing your understanding and your knowledge to help you know how to relate to this God whom you serve? You see, the truth is that it affects every aspect of our life. Your view of God… is either going to strengthen your faith, or it’s going to cause you lots of uncertainty. And that’s the reason we take the time to open God’s Word and to find out what does He say about Himself. Because there are lots of people who have lots of ideas about God. But what does God say about Himself? And the best place to find that out is in His Word. So I want you to turn, if you will, to the 118th Psalm. And the first verse of this 118th Psalm is the same thing that you’ll find in the first verse of the 106th Psalm and the 107th Psalm and the 118th Psalm. They all say the same thing. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his loving kindness is everlasting. And as we think of all the attributes of God and been thinking about His greatness and who He is and how He works, I want us to think about the privilege of knowing the goodness of God. The privilege of knowing the goodness of God. Now, when we usually think about it, most people don’t think about Him just being good. They think about Him being just and omniscient, omnipresent, all the rest. But the truth is He is a good God. And when you think about what the Bible talks about when the Bible speaks of his goodness, there’s something about God that he desires to be benevolent to us. something in his character, in his makeup. He wants to be good. He wants to express good things to us. He wants to do good things for us. He wants to reveal to us the good things in life. There’s something about his very nature. And when you look at the very nature of God, remember that he is infinite in all of his attributes, that he is eternal in all of his attributes. He’s always been good. He’s good now. He’s always going to be good. And because he is infinitely and eternally good, everything God does is good. Now, you and I may look at some aspects of life and say, well, there’s nothing good about this. There’s nothing good about that. But I didn’t say that everything that happens is good. I said that God is always expressing good. And everything that God does is good because he is good by his very nature. So when we think about him, we have to think in terms of him being a good God. And as we saw in this verse, he says, give thanks to the Lord for he is good. For his loving kindness or his goodness is everlasting or from everlasting to everlasting. You say, no, wait a minute. God isn’t good to everyone. Yes, he is. God is good to everyone. Turn, if you will, to the 145th Psalm. I want you to look at three verses here. 145th Psalm, if you will, and look at the ninth verse. God is good to everyone. 145th Psalm. He says in verse 9, the Lord is good to all. Now, either He is or He is not. He’s good to all of us. And no matter what the situation or circumstance in life, the truth is all of us could see some acts or some evidences of God’s goodness in our life. He is good to all. Well, if you’ll turn to Luke chapter 6. Look in Luke chapter 6. I noticed something here because usually we don’t think in terms of God being good in this light. But Luke chapter 6 and verse 35, listen to what he says. But love your enemies and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return. And your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. Well, listen to this. For he himself that is God is kind, or the same word is good, is good to ungrateful and evil men. What? God is good to ungrateful and evil men? Yes, he is. Well, you say, well, they don’t deserve it. Well, let me ask you a question. Do we? We don’t deserve it either. And so, you know what? God’s just being good. He says He’s good to all. And He’s good in all different kinds of aspects of our life. So God is a good God. And one of the things that we need to get into our thinking is that He is not only awesome, He’s not only omnipotent and just and holy, God is just a good God. He desires to be benevolent. He desires to express that goodness to all of us in all kinds of different ways. And so the truth is that God is being good to us. And if we want the fullness of God’s goodness, we walk uprightly. We want the fullness of God’s goodness, we obey him. And so God has a pathway of goodness. And that pathway requires that we walk obediently before him, submissive to him, yielded to him. And on that pathway, all the goodness of God that he has provided for us is available to us. If I get off the path, what I’m doing is I’m saying, I think there’s a better way than God’s way. I think there’s something good over here that God is keeping me from. There’s something good that God’s depriving me of. So I’m getting off of what seems to be his will because I think there’s something good over here. That’s exactly what Adam and Eve did. And so the pathway of goodness is the pathway of obedience and uprightness before Almighty God. Somebody says, well, but there’s some things in my life that I would think would certainly be good, and they’re not there. If God were a good God, I certainly believe that there’d be some things here that God would provide for my life. And therefore, I don’t see these things in my life. And so therefore, I have a right to question God’s goodness. Well, let’s think about it for a moment. Goodness is what God says is goodness. And so sometimes people say, well, you know, I see these people with wealth and these people with good health and these people with position and so forth, and I don’t have that. And therefore, if God was good, he would give me all those things. Well, why doesn’t God treat all of us the same way? Well, everybody would like to know the answer to that probably at some time in their life. We go through situations and circumstances and say, why God? But the truth is that God in His wisdom knows what’s good for us. And sometimes what is good for us is hardship, trial, difficulty, temptation. All these things are good for us because they grow us up. They cause us to depend upon God. They teach us to trust in Him. They teach us to persevere. There’s some things that are very good for us that we wouldn’t choose. God’s pathway of goodness is the pathway of the fullness of the goodness that the wisdom of God has provided for us in light of who we are and His purposes and plans for our life. So His goodness is not going to be the same in every person’s life. Cannot be. will not be. So when you look around, you have to ask yourself the question, well, God, if you’re good to me and you’re good to them, why don’t I have what they have? Because in the wisdom of God, that may not be good for you. And I think all of us could probably think of some things that may appear on the surface to be good and we’d like to have or enjoy, but the truth is, on second thought, we know that would not be good for us. God, because He is good, He is too good. Too good… to give us purposely those things that he knows are not good for us. Now we can, listen, he will allow us to manipulate them. He will allow us to manage them. I mean, Satan’s in that pension. Satan has a world of stuff to give to people to detract them from God that they didn’t get from God. stealing, lying, cheating, manipulating, all the kind of things. People can do all kind of things to get stuff, things, opportunities, whatever it might be. They did not come from God. And so God in his goodness is good. He’s good to every single one of us. And the truth is he desires his best for every single one of us because it is his very nature to be good. He says in Psalm 34, verse 8, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. What is he saying? Try him. Get in the center of God’s will. Submit yourself to the will and purpose and plans of God for your life. Walk obediently before him and listen, he says, taste and see that the Lord is good. You will see by experience. You will experience God’s goodness if you get on God’s pathway and he will reveal just how good he can be to you. So if you don’t like what’s going on, ask yourself the question, God, am I off the path? Am I off the track? Have I decided to use some of the time and energies and finances the way I want to because I see something over here that I think is good? And so what happens? We lose some of that goodness. When we think of the goodness of God, and I have emphasized those things because I want to go in a different direction at this point. Usually we think if God is good, he will give you a new car, new house, new dress, new suit, new this, new education, more of this, more. In other words, all this is God’s goodness. I mean, you know, he helped you lose weight. He helped you gain weight. He helped you look better. In other words, if God’s good, all this is God’s goodness. You know what? I wouldn’t question whether that’s good or not because every good thing that comes their way is from God. It is good. What I want to do is I want to talk about something that are expressions of God’s goodness that are absolutely, totally beyond my help or my strength or yours to do anything about whatsoever. The goodness of God is expressed in more ways than material and physical things. Listen, the best of God’s goodness is expressed in ways that only God could express it. They’re gifts of His goodness that could only be from Almighty God. No amount of manipulation, no amount of anything that you and I could possibly do, whatever, bring this about. And so I wanted you to think about three aspects, three expressions of God’s goodness to you and me that we cannot do anything about and can’t get them unless God provides them. And He certainly has, and all of this is on the pathway of God’s goodness. One of the ways that God expresses His goodness is in His mercy. One of the expressions of God’s goodness is His mercy. Now, what is God’s mercy? God’s mercy is His tenderhearted, loving, caring concern for us. And there’s some very significant things about God’s mercy that I want us to think about because usually when we think about the mercy of God, we think only in terms of salvation. But here’s what I want you to remember. That when the Bible talks about mercy, usually it’s talking about God’s tenderhearted, loving, caring concern for people who are suffering, people who are needy or people who are in distress. So let’s take two different aspects of that. In Mark chapter 10, look there for a moment, if you will. Mark chapter 10, Jesus is coming through Jericho. He’s on his way to the cross shortly. And as he goes along, beginning in this 46th verse, he was coming along with a great multitude around him. There was a blind beggar there by the name of Bartimaeus. And the Bible says when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy upon me. And many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept on crying out all the more, Son of David, have mercy upon me. What was he saying? He was saying to the Messiah, he’s a blind man. He was saying to the Messiah, would you be so tender and compassionate? Would you be so thoughtful? Would you be so compassionate to me that you could help me? And I love this because in the King James Version it says, and Jesus stood still. What did he stand still for? He didn’t stand still for a Roman emperor. He didn’t stand still for a Pharisee or a Sadducee. He stood still for a poor, blind, helpless, poverty-stricken beggar. And he called him to him and he said, Bartimaeus, what do you want me to do for you? Bartimaeus said, Lord, that I might receive my sight. What was he asking for? He was asking for mercy. He wanted the tenderhearted, loving, caring of Jesus. What was it in Bartimaeus that deserved the mercy of the Son of God? Zero, nothing. Now, sometimes it’s very humiliating to people to have to acknowledge the fact that there’s not anything in you, anything in me that is deserving of the mercy of Almighty God. Not one thing. Mercy is God’s tenderhearted caring of us. Not because he’s motivated by something within us. He is motivated by the fact that it’s his nature to be that way. Listen, God wants to express his goodness through his mercy toward everyone. And the truth is that he does. If God were not merciful, there would not be a single lost person left on the face of this earth. If God were not merciful, most of us have been wiped out long time ago. Because listen, how God has put up with us, been patient with us. And so in his suffering, Jesus expressed God’s goodness by mercifully healing Bartimaeus. Now, turn if you will to Luke chapter 18, because here’s a whole different situation. Now Jesus is giving a parable. And here’s what he says beginning in verse 9. And he also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt. Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax gatherer. Now the Pharisees, you know, they ruled the religion. I mean, they were the holy of holies and they interpreted the law and so forth. So one of them was a Pharisee. One of them was a tax collector. Now, a tax collector, they call them publicans, they really collected tax. They were Jews, but they collected taxes for the Romans. So people hated them. They despised them. They were traitors to their own nation. Well, they go up to pray. The Pharisee stood and was praying like this to himself. God, I thank thee that I’m not as other people, swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax gatherer over here. I fast twice a week. I pay tithes of all that I get. Well, how far do you think that prayer got? It didn’t even get to the ceiling. Listen to this. But the tax gatherer, hated publican, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Did you know what? Nobody’s ever cried out to God that prayer, that God ignored it. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. How does a person get saved? They don’t come saying, Lord, I thank thee that I’ve not been too bad in life. I thank thee that I am as good as some other people. Therefore, no. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Lord, would you be compassionate and tenderhearted? Would you acknowledge my distress? and my helplessness, and my hopelessness. Here’s one man who is hopeless and helpless in his physical suffering. Here’s another man who is hopeless and helpless in his sinning. So listen, the mercy of God is poured out upon us, whether it is because of our physical suffering or because of our sinfulness, God’s mercy is poured out upon us. That’s an expression of the goodness of God. It has nothing to do with anything within us. It has to do with what He is. And you recall, for example, in that fourth chapter of Hebrews, most of you probably know that, but some of you may not. So if you have your Bible, you may want to turn to that fourth chapter of Hebrews and look at a couple of verses here that are so very important because it reminds us just how tenderhearted He is. He says in verse 15, For we do not have a high priest, speaking of Jesus, who can’t sympathize with our weaknesses, but rather we have one who does. But one who has been tempted and tried in all things, just as we are, yet he without sin. Let us therefore… Draw near to him with confidence, assurance, to the throne of grace that we may receive what? Mercy. And may find grace to help in time of need. He says the throne of grace is where we find mercy. We find God’s tenderhearted, loving, caring concern of us, he says, at the throne of God. That’s where we find mercy. And I think also when you think in terms of the mercy of God, you have to always connect it with God’s patience. And turn to 2 Peter chapter 3 for a moment and look at that ninth verse here and notice what he says. 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 9. Here is a warning to us. But he says, for example, in verse 9, the Lord is not slow about his promise. He’s not behind, as some count slowness, but is patient. Listen, he is patient toward us, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. When you think about the mercy of God, you think about, I think about people, for example, who are not saved until very late in life. Maybe they’ve been alcoholics, or maybe they’ve been on drugs, or maybe they have done all kind of things, evil, vile, wickedness. They look at themselves and say, how in the world could God possibly save me? Listen, you may be thinking that about yourself. You say, look, I’ve lived most of my life in rebellion toward God. I’ve done this, I’ve done that. And you could list the number of sins that absolutely, now at this point in your life, they are catastrophic to you. You say, well, how could this God who is so good be merciful to me? Because it is His nature to be merciful to people like you and like me. And so, how is it? that God has saved any of us out of His mercy. He says, not by works of righteousness which we’ve done, but according to His mercy He saved us. He took the initiative to reach down and express something toward us that we were undeserving of. Seeing us in our distress, in our hopelessness, in our helplessness to save ourselves, to forgive our own sins, God in His mercy reached down and has done an awesome work in our lives.

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Thank you for listening to Expressions of God’s Goodness. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.