Depending on our good God through trials and triumphs - David Jeremiah

a popular film critic recently reviewed all the  movies he'd seen over the course of his career and   he made a list of the films he said these films  are so bad that they're good in some movies the   plot is so weak the acting so poor the production  so flawed that the movies are worth watching just   so we can laugh at them and these movies have  created a cult following for being so laughably   bad they gather together to watch these movies  not because they're good but because they're so   bad our world has a hard time distinguishing  between good and bad our cultural values are   changing so quickly that virtues once prized  are now scorned and behavior once condemned is   now celebrated the prophet Isaiah anticipated this  when he wrote woe to those who call evil good and   good evil and put darkness for light and light  for darkness who put bitter for sweet and sweet   for bitter social scientists are scrambling to  try to redefine human goodness they have a hard   time breaking free from all the traditional  values in fact in a USA Today article are you   a good person morality experts say this is how to  find out whether you're a good person or not what   does it actually mean to be good they right social  psychologists and religious leaders say we see eye   to eye on the big stuff we believe it's good to  be kind and fair and just it's bad to cheat and   murder and steal evidence suggests we're all born  with some innate sense of morality and fairness   which makes us sensitive to the distress of  others in this postmodern age of relative   values I find this a fascinating admission even  non-religious people instinctively know there   is a moral standard somewhere in the universe  and that good and bad are objective realities   even amid shifting morals and manners we want  to be good people better people in fact over the   last two years the Marist Poll that chronicles our  New Year's resolution reports that being a better   person has now topped the perennial favorite  of losing weight everybody wants to be a better   person even more than they want to lose weight  but goodness is so much more than the secular   writers can convey goodness is an attribute of God  himself and until we see goodness as God is good   we really don't understand it at all by the way  where do you think we got the English word good   it is just God with an extra Oh one of the first  prayers we teach our children to pray when they   start to grow up in the faith is God is good god  is great and we thank him for our food well when   we say that what do we mean what do we mean when  we say that God is good the Bible presents this   truth over and over again I could spend the whole  time of my message just quoting you passages from   the Bible where we are told about the goodness  of God exodus 34:6 says the Lord the Lord God   merciful and gracious long-suffering and abounding  in goodness 1st chronicles 16 34 says oh give   thanks to the Lord for he is good some 30 4:8  says o taste and see that the Lord is good when   I say God is good I mean he is gracious I mean  he is merciful when I say that God is good I'm   talking about his perfection and his excellence  but the more I studied this word in the Bible   the more one central concept seems to jump out at  me it seems to me that God's goodness is conveyed   mostly in his generosity perhaps God's quality  of goodness means far more than his generosity   but it certainly includes his infinitely generous  attitude toward you and me by nature God longs to   bring blessing and joy to all of his creatures  and even as fallible human beings most people   feel a sense of satisfaction when we're able to  do something for someone else what's the source   of that impulse where does it come from it comes  from being made in the image of God God is the   one who creates within us and in a desire to help  somebody Matthew 7:11 says if you then being evil   know how to give good gifts to your children how  much more will your father who is in heaven give   good things to those who ask him so I want you  to think of the greatest pleasure you've ever   felt in doing something for somebody else and then  multiply it by billions and that is the heart of   God in heaven as we consider is goodness here is  how it affects us here are some derivatives from   the goodness of God for us to use in our lives  every day first of all God is good he provides   for us we experience God's generous goodness by  the way he takes care of us Daniel Defoe has a   famous novel we all know about as the novel's  called Robinson Crusoe it's about a rebellious   young man who through a series of misfortunes  ends up as the lone survivor of a shipwreck on a   deserted island among the items he savages from  the floating debris is a Bible and as he reads   this Bible marooned and desolate Robinson learns  of the goodness of God who provides forgiveness   for our sin and gives us an endless supply of  grace to meet all of our needs and the young man   joyfully trust Christ as a savior and the island  becomes sort of like a Bible College or a seminary   where he is growing in his understanding of God  through what he observes and through his Bible and   he learns that he has a God who is good but one  day Robinson receives a terrible jolt he spots a   footprint in the sand on the island and he knows  he isn't alone after all someone else is lurking   nearby he also is aware of the fact that this  is among the cannibalistic islands cannibalistic   where they eat people Robinson becomes a fearful  man he looks over his shoulder with every step   he's afraid to go to sleep at night and he  visualizes himself being captured boiled and   devoured all that former confidence in God which  was founded upon such wonderful experiences of his   goodness had now vanished as if he who had fed me  by miracles he wrote could not preserve me by his   power the provision which he had made for me by  his goodness one day Robinson came face to face   with the man who had made the footprint and in  the course of the story he shared the gospel with   him and led him to Christ and Robinson named him  Friday and the two became inseparable friends and   Robinson was strengthened in his faith to know  God's goodness is truly able to provide for all   of our needs even on a deserted island most of us  struggle with various fears we're not looking over   our shoulder wondering where the cannibals are  but many of us have anxieties and those anxieties   often represent a lack of faith in God's goodness  we just don't know if God cares and sometimes we   may even verbalize that in our prayers God are  you watching do you know what's going on do you   really care the psalmist said I would have lost  heart unless I had believed that I would see the   goodness of the Lord in the land of the living  I'm here to tell you today that no matter what   the circumstances look like behind all of the  midst of the unknown is this truth we have a God   who is good it's remarkable to think about that  but when we're in the will of God through Jesus   Christ we will never face a genuine need for which  God doesn't give us a genuine provision where they   were stranded on a desert island or we simply  feel that way the Lord will provide think about   this the one who gave us lungs created air the one  who gave us stomach supplies food and water he who   made us in His image provided companionship and he  who made us with eyes created spellbinding vistas   for us to enjoy he who made us with eternal souls  provided a pathway to heaven through our Lord   Jesus Christ whatever our need the goodness of God  provides the answer some 33:5 says the earth is   full of the goodness of the Lord at the beginning  of this message I quoted Psalm 34:8 o taste and   see that the Lord is good and we tend to interpret  that verse metaphorically and spiritually but   there's a literal truth to this sometimes we need  to taste something desirable and say this is from   God and this is good sometimes we need to behold a  gorgeous Vista and remember God is good sometimes   we need to smell a pleasing aroma and remember  that God is good he gave us five senses and his   provisions come to us through all five of those  senses to remind us of His goodness God is good   he provides for us can we say an amen to that is  God our provider amen number two God is good and   he's patient with us we see God's goodness and  generosity in his incredible patience with us   in fact in the Bible the idea of God's patience is  frequently linked to the idea of His goodness some   100 verses 4 and 5 says be thankful to him and  bless His name for the Lord is good and His mercy   is everlasting God never runs out of mercy he's a  good God the mercy of God represents his patience   all the blessings of God can be organized men and  women under two headings the grace of God and the   mercy of God the grace of God is everything God  gives you that you don't deserve and the mercy   of God is everything God with holds from you that  you do deserve how many can give a happy amen that   God is both gracious and merciful his patience his  mercy never runs out his mercy endures throughout   all generations I don't know about you but I don't  know how God puts up with us have you ever prayed   this prayer Lord it's me again and it's the same  thing again and it's no better again than it was   last time I was here and God says okay tell me  about it you know it's like your child coming up   to you after you've told them a hundred million  times not to do it and they keep doing it God   never gives up on us the Bible says when we need  his wisdom all we have to do is ask and he gives   to all who ask without abrading them or without  scolding them god never scolds us for coming to   him with our need he's a patient God the mercy of  God is endless infinite and it's an outgrowth of   God's goodness I'll give thanks to the Lord for  you is merciful if you think about it carefully   what you say in your life and in the lives of  the people you know that there is more goodness   than there is misery in the world of course  there's exceptions there's deep suffering in   some parts of the world some regions are wracked  with all kinds of pain but where most of us live   would you not say my life has more goodness than  misery isn't it interesting how we fixate on the   negative and forget the positive when Don and  I started a church back in Fort Wayne Indiana   we had some wonderful experiences there but we had  a few challenging ones too and there was a guy in   this church who I don't know how to say this any  other way he was after my head he didn't like me   he got to the place where he was resistant to what  we were doing I heard things that he was saying   now this guy was impressive because he was six  foot six and he had white hair just like mine and   whenever you walked into a crowd you could see him  what I found out I was doing is I was walking out   on the platform to preach him before I even prayed  I was looking to find out where this dude was is   he here you know and I got so convicted about that  one day I was in my study and I looked over on the   in my study and we had just produced a picture  book of all the people in the church it was really   a nice thing because you could put faces with  names and all the rest and I looked at that book   and all of a sudden it hit me I was fixating on  one man and here is a book full of the pictures of   all the faithful people of God in our church I had  the choice either to rejoice that God had blessed   us with so many wonderful supportive people or  to fix my attention on one guy who was causing   me grief and all of us have that choice do we not  we can either talk about the goodness of God or we   can commiserate which means share our misery with  each other the Bible says as a father pities his   children so the Lord pities those who fear him he  knows our frame and he remembers that we are dust   in other words God is not expecting perfection  from us God is even good to those who don't know   him did you know that he's good to those who don't  fear him he's good to those who curse him he fills   the world with common blessings we call it in  theology the common grace of God it's available   to the saved and to the unsaved it's available  to the good and the bad to the righteous and   the unrighteous you don't have to be a Christian  to know that God is good the Bible says he makes   his Sun Rise on the evil and on the good he sends  rain on the just and on the unjust God gives some   of his goodness to all of us people and all of  his goodness to some of us people and none of   us deserve any of it no matter what group were  in bottom line is none of God's people deserve   his goodness yet he is overwhelmed me with his  goodness and he's done the same for you he's a   good God his goodness comes to us in the form of  divine patience oh that men would give thanks to   the Lord for His goodness and for his wonderful  works to the children of men this Psalm is like a   song that has a number of stanzas and the chorus  keeps repeating itself and the psalmist writes   this and he talks about the struggles of his life  when he gets done talking about it here comes   the chorus all that man would give thanks to the  Lord for His goodness for his wonderful works to   the children of men and then he goes on and tells  another story and he gets done with a little story   and he comes back all that men would give thanks  to the Lord for His goodness and for his wonderful   works to the children of men for different times  he says that same thing look it up it's in verse   8 15 21 and 31 in Psalm 107 the same words oh that  man would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness   and for his wonderful works to the children of men  and what that says to me is that no matter what's   going on in our life no matter how hard it may  seem to us right now maybe you're going through a   difficult place maybe you've never been in a place  like this before but if you look you will see the   goodness of God for it's everywhere it's only  when we block it out because we put our problems   in the front of our mind and we forget how good  god is oh that men would give thanks to the Lord   for His goodness and for his wonderful works  to the children of men God is good he provides   for us and God is good he's patient with us and  God is good he protects us God is our protector   God's goodness is seen in the way he cares for us  when I was ordained as a minister to the gospel   many years ago I went through the process that  they went through then and that we do somewhat   now I had to write a paper outlining everything I  believed about doctrine and every word I wrote was   evaluated by some pastors and professors who were  on the ordination committee a number of Cedarville   faculty members sat on that ordination council at  my oral examination my father who was a pastor and   my mother were present to hear me being questioned  about my doctrinal understandings one of the men   questioning me said mr. Jeremiah there is no  statement in your paper of doctrinal positions   on the subject of guardian angels do you believe  in guardian angels and before I could answer my   mother spoke up and said if he doesn't I do I  remember that it's just jump right out I just   blurted right out of her mouth and my mother is  not the kind of person who would ever do that   it was so unusual so I mean I remember it to this  day she was thinking in her mind of all the times   God had rescued me from my foolish escapades she  would never have gotten me out of the childhood   alive apart from the program God's blessing I was  a curious child and yet the angels the guardian   angels were with me one time for example I was  staying with my uncle on his farm in Pennsylvania   he had a herd of milk cows along with all kinds  of equipment two huge silos next to his barn I was   about nine or 10 years old and one day when I was  playing around in the barn I saw a ladder attached   to the outside of one of those silos leading to  a gate or a door at the top of the silo and I   decided to climb up and walk around on the silage  in the top what fun that was gonna be so I climbed   up the ladder and I started to step into the silo  and when I looked down there was nothing in the   silo it was empty it was one long hollow tube I  was way way up in the air and my head started to   spin and I lost my nerve and I started shaking in  a grabbed hold of the ladder with all that I had   and somehow I got myself turned around and inched  back down that ladder it was so terrifying I can   still feel my heart pounding after all these  years every time I see a silo I feel a jolt in   my heart one slip and I would have plunged to  my death you see I climbed the wrong silo the   other silo was full this one wasn't when I walked  out I got him reversed and they climbed the wrong   one I'm sure my mom was thinking of a number of  such times when she blurted out the answer of my   ordination and Psalm 34 says it this way the angel  of the lord encamps all around those who fear him   and delivers them o taste and see the Lord is good  how do we know that goodness belongs to protection   because the scripture says so if you don't believe  in the goodness of God let me tell you something   the reason you don't believe in the goodness of  God is because you do not know what you do not   know if you knew what you don't know you would  see many places along the way where God by His   goodness has reached out and kept you His goodness  protects his people and only when we get to heaven   will we be able to look back over our shoulders if  we're allowed to do this and see all of the places   where God's goodness rescued us and we will praise  him because his goodness protects us and then God   is good he guides our pathways the goodness of  God guides us in life Psalm 143 verse 10 says   teach me to do your will for you are my god your  spirit is good lead me in the land of uprightness   here the psalmist connects God's goodness with  his leadership in our lives and we can connect   this with a passage in the New Testament the Lord  Jesus had something important to say about this   in the Sermon on the Mount his words are worth  pondering right here because they sort of provide   a commentary God's commands are a part of His  goodness we have misconceptions about God because   sometimes we read in the scripture that there are  prohibitions to our faith and because people do   they don't like anything that conflicts with their  idea of personal freedom sometimes the rules they   read about in the Bible are at odds with what they  think God should be his goodness but the goodness   of God is always demonstrated for us in the path  he chooses for us in life and by the guidelines   he provides for our belief listen carefully Jesus  said enter by the narrow gate for wide is the gate   and broad is the way that leads to destruction and  there are many who go in by it because narrow is   the gate and difficult is the way which leads to  life and there are few who find it if you read   through that paragraph you'll discover there are  two gates of and a narrow one there are two roads   a broad one and a difficult one there are two  groups of people the many and the few and there   are two destinations destruction and life imagine  you were untouched and untaught by the gospel and   you're trying to start out and find out which way  you should take you're standing at the crossroads   the broad way goes this way the narrow way goes  that way you have no instruction from God which   road would you choose most of us would look over  on the broad way and see there's so many people   going down that road this must be the right way  but we know that we would be wrong because that   way while it is broad the Bible says it leads to  destruction the broad way where everybody wants to   get on the road and go there leads to death only  the narrow gate the difficult road the small crowd   lead to eternal life and that's the road God  chooses for us if you're a Christian today God   put you on that road by His goodness and grace he  says to us I choose for you today this pathway I   choose the narrow gate I choose the difficult way  I choose the few companions because I understand   what's at the end of the road there has never been  a time in history when narrow gate theology as one   person put it is more out of vogue than it is  today and yet as we walk with God does not life   itself teach us that God is good and that his way  is best the broad way as we observe it today is   a lifestyle unencumbered by any moral guidelines  it is free from spiritual stop signs and ethical   speed limits you can sample the pleasures of  life you can live as you please you can do things   simply because they feel good this is the life of  saying let's eat drink and be merry for tomorrow   we shall die the narrow way has speed limits and  has guardrails and those traveling the broad way   looking over us and they say come on man get life  loosen up color outside the lines once in a while   they think those of us on the narrow road were the  weird ones we're husbands and wives who decide to   bond together for a lifetime for better or for  worse we're parents who give ourselves to our   kids and we're not just chasing dollars we're  children who are respectful of our mothers and   fathers we are families going to church trying  to serve the Lord God and doing what's right   even when it's hard it is difficult sometimes to  be on the narrow road but not to be on the narrow   road is to be headed toward destruction the broad  way is the road to death people on this road tend   to become bitter or disillusioned as they age have  you noticed they lose the vigor of youth they lose   the passion of life as they face the prospects  of the cemetery Anthony Bourdain a 61 year old   iconic figure and famous chef hanged himself in  his hotel room in France and famous designer Kate   Spade chose the same method to end her life in  New York City at the age of 55 two people at   the top of their game of his death Bourdain's  mother said she had no idea why he decided to   kill himself he had everything success beyond  his wildest dreams and money beyond his wildest   dreams and one article that followed up on both of  these suicides I read the following how powerfully   it speaks to the discrepancy between what we  see of people on the outside and what they're   experiencing on the inside between their public  faces and their private realities between their   visible Swagger and they're invisible pain these  two deaths happened in a week when newly released   government statistics revealed a staggering  increase in suicides by Americans between 1999   and 2016 it is increased by 25 percent in other  words 45,000 people took their own lives all is   not well on the broad road and so many who get  on that road with all of their vision of what's   going to be like when they get to their goal they  get to their goal and it seems empty it's not what   they thought because you see God has created  us not ever to be satisfied with anything or   anyone but him and when we get on the narrow road  sometimes it's difficult but behind it all is this   vision of knowing God and being known by God and  realizing that no matter what happens God is there   and God is good and all as well people who are  on the narrow way as they mature get closer to   God as they come to the end of their lives you see  the relationship deepened you see the confidence   in their understanding of God grow they still  bear fruit an old age and they stay fresh and   green and proclaiming so God said my friends I've  chosen this road for you it's through a narrow   gate and it's a difficult way and there aren't  as many people going that way but at the end of   the road that makes it all right this is the road  that leads to life and the piece in his book of   personal stories just for a moment I saw the light  is the title of the book John Duckworth wrote of   the difficulty of growing up in a pastor's home he  said as a child we got so tired of hearing about   the Lord's work it consumed my parents I weren't  even sure they appreciated the sacrifices which   they including us were making John made a mental  list of the sacrifices he was putting up with   cramped parsonage is not being able to afford  restaurant meals having to go to church all the   time having to move so much having visitors in the  house at all hours of the day and night and then   there were the times he and his little brother  had to sing a falsetto duet of wonderful words   of life at the nursing home one day a fire engine  screamed past the parsonage in John's dad jumped   into the truck to follow it knowing pastors were  often needed during emergencies in small towns the   fire engine stopped at the Barnett house but there  was no fire apparently mr. Barnett had decided to   dig a basement under his house and somehow a jack  or a log it slipped and the house had collapsed   on top of him no one knew whether he was dead  or alive with the fireman hollered for everyone   to stay back because they were afraid another  jack or log would give way trapping someone else   this young pastor's son said dad peered under the  building and there in the dimness he could barely   make out the figure of a man hunched over head  bent to chest Dan wasn't sure what mr. Barnett's   relationship to God was and what if he was alive  physically but not spiritually there might still   be time to win him to Christ and through one side  a volunteer firefighter was preparing to crawl   into the house to see if the man could be rescued  and Reverend Duckworth this young man's past her   father sank to his knees and it wasn't a pray he  crawled under the house and as neighbors gathered   and stood in hushed silence the two men risked  their lives and 'seeing their way until they   reached the trapped man after determining that  he was dead they crawled back out each moment   risking the collapse of the house on top of them  when they broke the sad news to the family John's   father caught one of the daughters who had fainted  at the news he stayed with them for a long time   meanwhile John said my mother was anxiously  standing by the phone waiting for updates and   finally my father Reverend Duckworth came home  and told the story in the days that followed John   watched as his dad cared for the bereaved family  conducted the funeral joined a team built that new   home for the Barnett family and after that John  said his attitude toward the Lord's work began   to change I got used to small houses I learned  a lot of good hymns by going to church all the   time I learned to spot a bargain and saw a lot of  country moving around so much and I learned that   God's work included things like crawling under  houses catching the faint waiting anxiously by   the phone and pouring concrete I saw that all of  us from preachers kids to farmers to firefighters   to moms enlisted in a vast army when we met  the commander in chief I found that we serve   not because we live in parse midges but because we  live on the frontlines a few of us get our names   on the church sign but a lot of us don't but all  of us get to have the greatest job in the world   serving the good God who loves us the most if  you want to take the goodness of God and put it   into action you have to make the journey from his  goodness to your service why do we know God is so   good cuz he so wonderfully blesses us with who  he is and what does he call us to do he calls us   to serve we shouldn't have to stand up every time  we do something around here and beg people to get   involved if we know who God is and how good he's  been to us we should be standing in line trying   to find a way to serve Him amen and for all of  you who do that for all of you who serve I'm   here to salute you today thank you for expressing  the goodness of God in the outreach of your life   don't ever stop I'm recommitted in my own life  to be a servant how can I serve my God better   today if you're here and you don't understand all  of this completely maybe it's because you're on   the wrong road there's a kind of language you  learn when you get on the narrow road it's not   understood by those on the broad way I want to  tell you something I invite you today to make the   transfer there's still time for you to get on the  narrow road you can still make it God loves you   and he sent his son to die for you and if you will  give him your heart and acknowledge him as your   Savior he'll put you on the narrow road you'll  have some challenges but you'll have the joy   of watching God work in your behalf as he always  does he's a good guy and he's worthy of your trust

Channel: David Jeremiah

Views: 198,129

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Keywords: david jeremiah, dr david jeremiah, dr. david jeremiah, turning point, david jeremiah sermons, turning point ministries david jeremiah, david jeremiah (author), david jeremiah turning point, watch turning point, dr david jeremiah sermons, good, god, good god, anxiety, love, salvation, christian, faith, Psalm 52:1, god's attributes, goodness, trials, triumphs, depending

Id: cW860YDEudY

Length: 33min 13sec (1993 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 01 2020