Category: Sermon Post

ANSWER. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, GOODNESS and truth.

Psalm 34:8 “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

I. GOD IS GOOD

Q. What is goodness? A. Goodness does not mean “the opposite of badness.” Goodness does not mean the same thing as “righteous.” Goodness means kindness, mercy, patience, generosity. That God is good means God is kind, God is merciful, God is patient, God is generous.

Psalm 100:5 “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”

Exodus 33:18-19 “18 Moses said, ‘Please show me your glory.’ 19 And [The LORD] said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.’”

II. GOD DOES WHAT IS GOOD

Psalm 119:68 “You (LORD) are good and do good.”

I) God does what is good to all mankind.

Matthew 5:45 “[God] makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Acts 14:17 (Paul and Barnabas at Lystra) “[God] did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

II) God especially does what is good to His saints.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Genesis 50:20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

Psalm 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Thomas Watson: “To know that nothing hurts the godly, is a matter of comfort; but to be assured that all things…shall co-operate for their good…this may fill their hearts with joy till they run over.”

III. GOD DID HIS HIGHEST GOOD BY SENDING HIS SON TO DIE SO THAT YOU COULD HAVE ETERNAL LIFE

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Concerning the word “so” in John 3:16, Thomas Boston: “This is an inexpressible so, a so that all the angels of heaven cannot analyze. None can conceive or understand the boundless extent and dimensions of it.”

C.S. Lewis: “It cost God nothing, so far as we know, to create nice things: but to convert rebellious will cost him crucifixion.”

Q. How must you respond to God’s goodness?

IV. YOU MUST NOT PRESUME UPON GOD’S GOODNESS—IF YOU DO, YOU WILL GO TO HELL

Romans 2:3 “Do you suppose, O man…that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness (goodness) and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s  [goodness] is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”

Thomas Watson: “Knowledge without repentance will be but a torch to light men to hell.”

V. YOU MUST REPENT AND BELIEVE GOD’S GOOD NEWS—IF YOU DO, GOD WILL FORGIVE AND CLEASE YOU

Mark 1:14-15 “14 Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”

Psalm 86:5 “For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.”

Isaiah 55:2 “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.”

VI. IN CHRIST, YOU MUST IMITATE GOD IN HIS GOODNESS

Luke 6:35 “…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, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”

Martin Luther: “Good works do not make a good man — but a good man does make works good.”

VII. IN CHRIST, YOU MUST TELL OTHERS OF GOD’S GOODNESS

Psalm 145:4, 7 “4 One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. … 7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.”

VIII. IN CHRIST, YOU MUST PRAISE GOD FOR HIS GOODNESS

1 Chronicles 16:34 “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!”

Psalm 135:3 “Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant!”

Psalm 31:19 “Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!”

CONCLUSION

Thomas Boston: “Seek not your happiness in created things and enjoyments, but in an ever-bountiful God, who is the spring and source of all goodness and mercy, and who can fully satisfy all the desires of an immortal soul.”

Psalm 34:8 “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

ANSWER: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, JUSTICE, goodness and truth. (John 4:24; Ps. 147:5; Ps. 90:2; James 1:17; Rev. 4:8; Ps. 89:14; Exod. 34:6,7; 1 Tim. 1:17)

God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in justice.

I. GOD IS JUST

Deuteronomy 32:4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”

II. GOD DOES WHAT IS JUST

Genesis 18:25 “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

Psalm 111:7 “The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy”

III. GOD LOVES JUSTICE

Psalm 33:5 “He loves righteousness and justice.”

IV. GOD HATES INJUSTICE

Isaiah 61:8 “For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong.”

V. BECAUSE GOD IS JUST HE WILL PUNISH SINNERS

Ezra 9:15 “O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just… Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you…”

Nahum 1:3,6,8 “3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. . . 6 Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him….8 with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.”

VI. THE GOSPEL IS THE GOOD NEWS THAT GOD IS JUST AND THE JUSTIFIER OF THE ONE WHO HAS FAITH IN JESUS

Romans 3:25, 27 “25 God put forward [Jesus] as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. . . 27 so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

VII. IF YOU ARE IN CHRIST, YOU ARE AS SECURE AS CAN BE BECAUSE GOD IS JUST

1 John 1:8-9 “8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Nahum 1:7 “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.”

A. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. (John 4:24; Ps. 147:5; Ps. 90:2; James 1:17; Rev. 4:8; Ps. 89:14; Exod. 34:6,7; 1 Tim. 1:17)

God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in holiness.

I. LET US UNDERSTAND THE HOLINESS OF GOD

I) God is Holy

1 John 1:5 “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

John MacArthur: “God’s holiness is His inherent and absolute greatness, in which He is perfectly distinct above everything outside Himself and is absolutely morally separate from sin.”

Isaiah 6:3 “And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’”

Revelation 4:8 “Day and night [the angels] never cease to say, ’Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’”

God the Father is Holy
Jesus, in John 17:11: “Holy Father.”

God the Spirit is Holy
Again, Jesus ,in John 14:26: “The Holy Spirit.”

God the Son is Holy
Paul, in Acts 13:35 (quoting Psalm 16:10): “You will not let your Holy One see corruption.”

II) God’s Works are Holy

Exodus‬ ‭15:11‬ “Who is like [the LORD], majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?”

Psalm 145:17 “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.”

III) God’s written Word is Holy

Romans 1:2 “[Jesus was] promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,”

IV) God’s Commands are Holy

Romans 7:12 “So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”

V) God’s Promises are Holy

Psalm 105:42 “For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant.”

VI) God’s Covenant is Holy

John the Baptist’s father Zechariah calls God’s covenant, “his holy covenant” in Luke 1:72.

II. LET US APPLY GOD’S HOLINESS

I) You will not be accepted by God unless you are perfectly holy

Habakkuk 1:13 “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?”

II) You will not escape God’s wrath if you stand before Him in your unholiness (sin, wickedness)

Nahum 1:3-5 “3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; . . .5 The mountains quake before him; the hills melt.”

III) You must go to Christ in faith so that God will count you holy

Colossians 1:21-23 “21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel…”

IV) In Christ, you must sanctify God as Holy

Leviticus 10:3 “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’”

V) In Christ, you must be Holy

Leviticus 14:44-45 “44 For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. . . 45 For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” (The Apostle Peter repeats this in 1 Peter 1:16)

VI) In Christ, you must worship God in Holiness

1 Chronicles 16:29 “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.”

VII) In Christ, you must be motivated toward holiness by God’s promises

2 Corinthians 7:1 “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”

A. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, POWER, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. (John 4:24; Ps. 147:5; Ps. 90:2; James 1:17; Rev. 4:8; Ps. 89:14; Exod. 34:6,7; 1 Tim. 1:17)

GOD IS…INFINITE, ETERNAL, AND UNCHANGEABLE…IN POWER

PSALM 147:5 “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power.”

JEREMIAH 32:17 “Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.”

THE SCRIPTURES SPEAK OF GOD’S POWER IN THREE WAYS: 

1) POSITIVELY: Genesis 17:1 “I am God Almighty.”

2) NEGATIVELY: Luke 1:37 “Nothing is impossible with God.”

3) COMPARATIVELY: Matthew 19:26 “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

God’s infinite, eternal, and unchangeable power is clearly set forth in at least 5 ways: His I) Creating, II) Preserving, III) Governing, IV) Redeeming, and V) Judging.

I. CREATING POWER

Psalm 33:9 “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”

Romans 1:20 “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

He breathed out planets and stars; he spoke oceans and mountains into existence; He exhaled man, beasts, and birds!

II. PRESERVING POWER

Hebrews 1:3 “[Jesus] upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

III. GOVERNING POWER

1) Elements

Deuteronomy 4:36-38 “And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power.”

Mark 4:37-41 “37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’ 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’”

2) Men

Proverbs 16:9 “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.”

Exodus 9:16 “But for this purpose I have raised you up (Pharoah), to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”

3) Demons

Matthew 8:31 “And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.”

4) Wicked men

Isaiah 37:29 “Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.’”

Daniel 4:35 “all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

IV. REDEEMING POWER

I) The virgin birth of Jesus Christ

Luke 1:35 “And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.’” 

II) Jesus’ resurrection from the dead

Romans 1:4 “[Jesus Christ our Lord] was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead”

III) Taking dead sinners and converting them to living saints through the preaching of the gospel

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”

1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

IV) Empowering Christians to be witnesses for Jesus

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

V) Guarding Christians through faith

1 Peter 1:5 “who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

VI) In giving His saints resurrected bodies

1 Corinthians 6:14 “And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.”

Philippians 3:20-21 “20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

V. JUDGING POWER

I) In judging unrepentant sinners

Romans 9:22 “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction.”

Romans 2:4-5 “4 …do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”