The Lord Is Good Pt. 1

[Music] [Music] turn with me in your Bibles to the book of nahom chapter number one and verse number 7 that would be right after the Book of Micah book of nahom we do not read that book often so turn to the table of contents it's in the Old Testament if you're in the New Testament you made a wrong turn nahom chapter number one and verse number seven in your hearing that verse reads the Lord is good he a stronghold in the day of trouble and he knoweth them thank you Lord that trust in him thank you you may be seated thank you Lord the grass withers and the flower Fades than but the word of our God shall stand forever the Lord is good that's that's what I want to preach about this morning lord is [Applause] good the Lord is [Applause] good the Lord is [Music] [Applause] good the Lord is good the Lord is [Applause] [Music] good the Lord is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] good the Lord is good oh God oh God oh God [Music] D come on y'all let me I let me I'm going to get to the [Music] [Applause] text there is um there's no more beautiful verse in all the Bible and it is as [Music] true as it is beautiful we who live after Bethlehem and after Gethsemane after Calvary and and after the empty tomb we who are familiar with the exceeding Grace of the Lord should have no doubt that the Lord is good the book of nahom is not a book which deals either with Israel or with Judah it has no direct reference to the chosen people it has no concern with Israel's Worth or with judah's promise it is concerned from the first verse to the last verse with the fate of Nineveh the proud capital of Assyria 200 years earlier Jonah has been God's messenger of Grace nahom is now God's messenger of judgment to the same city of Nineveh the name Nom means consolation it is a shortened form of the name Nehemiah the city of capernum where Jesus walked is named after Nahum all right you remember that God sent Jonah to Nineveh to speak to them of their corruption and Jonah refused to go to Nineveh because he knew that if they heard the word they would repent and God would show mercy so he leaves and goes in another Direction and God has him swallowed up by a great fish and in mercy God has the fish to spit Jonah up and Jonah goes and preaches to Nineveh and they repent and God saves the entire city but their repentance is shortlived because if you're not long on God you're are short on repentance and now their unrighteousness has reached God's nostrils and God sends nahom in judgment just like he sent Jonah in Mercy while nahum's message is one of judgment and wrath there is one bright spot in the midst of all of the words of anger and doom and Calamity verse seven stands out like a shining Sentinel of Hope on a dark and dismal night that no matter how calamitous your situation the Lord is good no matter how dark your circumstance no matter how brooding your situation no matter how broken your heart is the Lord is good it may look bad for you now but the Lord is good it may seem that things are not going going to turn around but the Lord is good it may look like your enemies have the upper hand but the Lord is good it may seem like you won't ever smile again but the Lord is good it may look like you won't ever stop crying but the Lord is good it may seem that you take two steps forward and three steps back but the Lord is good cancer but the Lord is good high blood pressure but the Lord is good your son is in prison but the Lord is good your daughter won't come home at night but the Lord is good you don't have any money to pay your bills but the Lord is good you can't find shelter in the time of your storm but the Lord is good no matter no matter what the night no matter what the day the Lord is [Applause] cool we have in this in this one verse three things I see in this one verse and uh I'm only going to have time to get to the Lord is good that's enough that's that's Divine Assurance uh I'm I'm look like I'm going to have to stay right there and and and warm up for the 11:00 hour at the 11:00 hour I want to talk about Divine assistance and a Divine acquaintance but this morning we have a Divine assurance that no matter what the devil throws at us the Lord is good no matter how bad they lie on us the Lord is good there's trouble in my family but the Lord is good the doctor say I got to come back for him to read the test results but the Lord is good the economy is in a mess but the Lord is good our politicians don't have any answers for us but the Lord is good everything that happens in our lives the Lord is still good come on say that to yourself the Lord is is good say it to your neighbor now the Lord is good somebody behind you might just need to hear your voice tell them the Lord is is good now tell them ain't he good he good you know from your own experience you know from your own breakthrough you know from your own Deliverance you know from your own rescue the Lord is good [Applause] um our our nation these United States like the ancient Assyrians has wandered far away from God the Assyrians were the vest meanest people of that era but they were no more vile and no more evil than America is [Applause] today we have reviled God's law we have ignored God's word and we have found countless ways to cut God out of our life the turmoil in our society the upheaval in our economy and the deadly decline in our morality can all be traced to our abandonment of God but even in the midst of judgment the Lord is good when we talk about God's goodness we are not to understand here the Divine Purity or Holiness of God as awesome as that is but when we talk about the goodness of the Lord we're talking about the benevolence the kindness and the graciousness of the Lord the goodness of God is that Perfection of his nature which inclines him to deal generously with his creatures the goodness of God like every other Perfection of his nature is infinite it cannot be added to it could not be greater this goodness requires nothing in us to call it into exercise towards us it requires nothing whatever out of God to bring it into operation it is not the cross and the resurrection that makes God good it is not the cross and the resurrection that makes God gracious towards us sinners he was good and gracious before the cross he was good and gracious before the resurrection for God has commended his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly you going to help me preach this weren't you God didn't wait for me to get it together for him to be good he was good when I didn't even know his name God didn't wait for me to get baptized and to join the church before he got good God lets his son shine on the just as well as the unjust he's good to the drug dealer he's good to the homosexual he's good to the adulterer he's good I wish I had a witness here he's good to those who even sit in his presence and act like they don't know he's good because the very Every Breath You need not to praise him got to come from [Applause] him um I I want to say to somebody who is who is prodigal in this church who is walking away from God there's a word for you in this text this morning the Lord is good that boy in Luke chapter 15 who wants to leave his father's protecting presence in order for him to afford to take that Journey he's got to get the money from the one he wants to leave somebody ought to help me preacher in order for him to afford to take the journey to get away from the one he wants to leave yeah he's got to get the money from the one he just disrespected somebody ought help me preach this morning the very breath you need to refuse to follow God's law God's got to give it to you yes sir yes sir but he's so merciful yes sir he's so gracious he's so kind that he lets you walk away but he keeps the light burning hoping that you come to your sens and anybody in here who can testify that the Lord is good one day you had to come to your senses cuz there was a time when he was good and you didn't know it but now that you know how good he's been you don't have to wait for Sunday to roll around for you to start praising his name you don't have to be in ly Grove Sanctuary to start praising his name when you driving in your car God is [Applause] good in spite of disease in spite of floods and droughts in spite of earthquakes and fires in spite of wars and acts of violence in spite of Terror terrorism whatever the catastrophe sir be it manmade or act of God whatever the Calamity the Lord is good yes sir right right the story of Job reminds us of God's goodness amen because God never gives job a reason for what he's going through he just admonishes job when job gets too big for his Brites you you will remember job in chapter 4 and 5 says let the day be wiped off the calendar when it was said that a Manchild was conceived may my birthday never be remembered read it when you get home job said I wish I had been still born I should have died in my mother's womb because of all of the calamities that befell job but in all of his troubles the Bible says job never charged God foolishly even Mrs Joe said you ought to curse God and die job said to her you talk like a foolish woman oh we don't just receive good at God's hand and then when Calamity strikes we turn our backs on God job said naked came I from my mother's womb wish I had a Bible reading and naked I shall return the Lord gives and the Lord Lord has taken away blessed be the name of the Lord God is always on our side job lost his finances he lost his Fitness he lost his family he lost his friends but he never lost his faith cuz job says though he slay me yet will I put my trust in him job said all the days of my appointed time I'm going to wait until my change come and you know the story job railed on God for a number of chapters but then around the end of The Book of Job God says to him job I hear you've been looking for me [Applause] cuz around chapter 23 job said I I'm not scared of him I just don't know where he is if I could find him I would rise and bring my case before him I would I would challenge him but I don't know where he is God says job here I am I understand you've been looking for me he says but put some clothes on uh uh dress yourself up like a man and stand up in my presence and before you open your mouth I've got some questions for [Music] [Applause] you where were you when the morning stars dance with the evening star where were you when the sons of God shouted for Joy job your questions for me is like like Einstein trying to explain m equal mc² to a Little Neck [Applause] clam me trying to give you answers is Einstein trying to explain the theory of relativity to a crowd he'll never get it and so stop asking why when you know who because God never Reveals His plans he reveals himself and I would rather have God than the plan I wish I had a witness I'd rather have God than the answer I'd rather have God than the solving of my dilemma cuz if I if I got God I can go through my problem yes somebody ought to help me preach it if I got God I can stand up against my haters if I got God I can make it through my situation if I got God I can go through any trial I don't need an answer when I got [Applause] God yeah though I walk yeah through the valley yeah of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for God is with me let me let me let me see one or two more things about this Lord who is good when you get to the end of job's Story the Bible says God gave him back more than he took away that's what trouble will do for you that's what walking with trials will do for you it may seem like you won't ever turn the corner but because of God's goodness because of God's kindness because God is so gracious towards us he will always make a way have I got a witness here as I heard to the close brothers and sisters you you have you have driven around in Houston or perhaps you have gone to this place yourself there are some places in Houston called recycling centers a recycling center is bringing what is used and discarded to a place where it can be recycled it can be used again old clothes old cans old bottles old old stuff trash stuff that's been thrown away can be brought to recycling centers and some use can still be gotten from them they were thrown away discarded trash looked as scon at by others but these recycling centers have a way of taking what's been thrown out and making it reusable the church is a recycling center there's some folk in here this morning who's been thrown out who've been looked down on people thought you'd never be anything but you made your way to the recycling center and God God somehow has a way of taking what is broken in you and redeeming it for his purposes have I got a witness here not only folk who can shout now of folk who've been redeemed folk who have been recycled I wish I had one or two more witnesses here say the Lord led me to that word redeem uh every word in the English language that has the prefix re re e in front of it has to do with going back to its original state except the word redeem I see I see somebody should have shouted right there I'm I'm going to tell you when it's time to shout it's time to shout right now every word in the English language that has the prefix re in front of it has to do with taking something back to what it used to be except the word redeem rehab refurbish go goe redo all has to do with bringing something back to what it used to be but redeemed has nothing to do with bringing me back to what I was redeem has to do with god making me into something else for my future I've been redeemed I'm not what I used to be I don't walk the way I used to walk I don't talk the way I used to talk I don't act the way I used to act I've been redeemed there's nothing about me now that's what I used to [Applause] be every Christian in here this morning ought to thank God for Redemption because that has to do with the fact that the Lord is good he could have left us just like we were have I got a witness here but he loves us so much that he won't leave us like he found us come on help me preach a minute I said the Lord is good he'll step in your trials with you the the Lord is good he'll get in your misery with you the Lord is good he'll get in your setbacks with you Hinduism and Shintoism is about getting it straight and then come join that religion not so with Jesus Christ the Hindus and the Muslims say once you get yourself together come over here and meet us and then you can join join this religion not so Christianity and Jesus Christ Jesus doesn't wait for us to get it together as a matter of fact if we are in the ditch he doesn't even wait for us to get out he just gets in the ditch with us and lifts us to where he wants us to be is there anybody here know from your own personal life experience that the Lord is good I said is there anybody here who's had some bad yesterdays you've had some mess in your past but the Lord is so good the Lord is so kind the Lord is so gracious that she's given you another opportunity and I don't want you to squander the opportunity to talk about how good God has been it's not because you went to TS you or a prayer review that you are making it right now cuz a whole lot of people got college degrees who can't find a job this morning the Lord is good it has nothing to do with you going to the doctor and taking your blood pressure medication cuz there are some people who never smoked a day in their life got lung cancer this morning the Lord's been good to you is there anybody here no it's not because you've been careful it's not because you've been so holy it's not because you've kept the Lord's commandments so closely you shouting this morning because the Lord is good I wish I had one or two more witnesses when you trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge Him He will direct your path I need somebody to help me close now when you put your trust in the Lord he will always leave some room between your back and the wall let me say that one more time when you trust in the Lord he will always leave some room between your back and the wall maybe you'll get it if I say it a third time when you trust in the Lord he will always leave some room between your back and the wall look like your back is almost against the wall and then God shows up to work a miracle in your life is there anybody here almost had your back against the wall but then the Lord came through and made a way out of nowhere he paid your bills for you you didn't work for an entire year but you never missed a meal you never missed a car payment you never missed a house payment because the Lord is good there are some people you were grown up with some people you were raised with who were better off than you were when y'all were coming up as children but look where the Lord has brought you from look at where you are right now look at how much God has prospered you look at how good God has been to you don't you dare sit in this church and act like you made it it by yourself don't you dare listen to me preach and try to pretend that you're smart enough you're cute enough you are young enough you are goodlooking enough it was nobody nobody nobody Mama couldn't do it Daddy couldn't do it nobody but Jesus why don't you grab somebody tell them that the Lord is good the Lord is good the Lord he is good he's a rock in a weary land he's a shelter in a time of storm he's a friend when you're friendless bread when you're hungry water when you're thiry y'all know him don't you he's Adam's Redeemer he's Abel's Vindicator he's Abraham's sacrifice he's Noah's Ark he's Moses Bush on fire y'all know him don't you he's Joshua's battle ax he's Gideon's fleece he's Samson's power he's David's music he's Solomon's wisdom he's Jeremiah's bomb in Gilead he's ezekiel's wheel in the middle of a wheel y'all know him don't you he's distinctive in Supernatural capacity superlative in Sovereign Majesty exclusive in spiritual Beauty radiant in Eternal Splendor matchless in superal deity he's the god of gods he's the prince of princes he's the firest of 10,000 he's the bright and The Morning Star the lily of the valley the rose of Sheron he died didn't he die but bright Sunday morning he got up because the Lord is good I said the Lord is good if you got food on your table the Lord is good if you got a house to live in the Lord is good if you got a job tomorrow the Lord is good if you got your health and strength the Lord is good if you got somebody to love you the Lord is good why don't you grab somebody and tell them friend the Lord is good want you tell somebody else neighbor the Lord is good come on preach to him a while the Lord is good the Lord is good the Lord is good the Lord is good the Lord is good the Lord is good the Lord is good I know he's all [Applause] [Music] right [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] if if I lose everything I have the Lord is still [Applause] good if I wake up in the morning and can't turn myself over the the Lord is still good habc said though there be no fruit on the vine though there be no cattle in the storm the Lord is good David said the Lord is good his Mercy is Everlasting and his truth endures to all generations he says oh taste and see Hallelujah that the Lord is not was not will be but right now in my present Circumstance the Lord [Music] is good [Music] [Music] are to youri call join

Channel: Lilly Grove Missionary Baptist Church

Views: 139,778

Keywords: Reverend Terry Anderson Pastor Lilly Grove Missionary Baptist Church Houston Texas

Id: dApBjXmag7w

Length: 38min 18sec (2298 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 14 2015