Knowing God's Goodness

And we will now be hearing for the second of the sermons we'll be hearing for you, Mario Sigli. It is entitled, Knowing God's Goodness. It all starts there. All right, you have the title. So now, I'm one of God's attributes, which really, looking back, I never had a sermon, particularly about this topic, which has to do with God's goodness, the goodness of God. And that is one of the fruits of God's Spirit that is mentioned in Galatians 5. It is something that God has. He has perfect goodness. No human being, no angel has it. Just God the Father and Jesus Christ have perfect goodness. And so, we're going to look also at this word, because there's one word in the Old Testament that's used for good, or goodness. And two Greek words in the New Testament is called, tob, T-O-B. And when God mentions in Genesis 1, 31, after his creation was completed, he looked at it, good. Well, the term is tob. And by the way, that's where the name Tobias comes from, which means praise to the goodness of God. Praise us. So anything that has a tob on it, you're going to have the relationship of God is good. And it's such an important concept. Sometimes we take for granted, or we think we understand it fully. But sometimes it's fine, but actually it hasn't really been experienced in your heart. And that's very important to realize. We can remember Job's wife, after all the calamities they went through, just in a very short time, they lost it all. They had all their children killed, just lost all of their business. Let's go to Job real quickly. Job. And I just want to go to chapter 2.

And so after Job, his daughters and sons were drinking, and it mentions here that the Sabeans came and killed the servants, and then fire from heaven. This just caused a huge fire, and it killed the sheep and the servants.

Then he says there were the Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away, and killed all the servants. And he says, one, I alone have escaped.

Well, and here I want to say, verse 18 is the one that talks about the sons and daughters. They weren't killed here with the first part, when it talks about the Oxen and the Sabeans. Suddenly a great wind came. So that's what I recall. It's just like a tornado that came and struck the four corners of the house and fell on the young people, and they're all dead. So you can imagine the shock of all of this. And yet Job said in verse 21, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord be the name of the Lord. And in all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. And of course, that's the natural tendency to immediately blame God for what has happened. But he knew things can happen, tragedies can happen. And so then, now he is physically assaulted here. Satan had been involved in this other piece, and now he was struck with this horrible disease. It says in verse 7 of chapter 2, So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a pot-shirt with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. So just terribly, the itching, the hurt. And then his wife said to him in verse 9, Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die. So Job's wife basically had given up on God. And she just said, Go ahead, blame him, and then just die. But Job wasn't that way. And he said to her, verse 10, You speak as one of those foolish women speaks. From God, the word tob is there. And shall we not accept adversity? In all this, Job did not sin with his lips. Job was patient. He never gave up on God. He certainly had a lot of questions. Why this? Why that? But eventually God explained and showed Job that God was far greater than he imagined. And then God restored his riches. He had children. He had everything he lost and gained even more after that lesson was learned. So Job believed in that promise in Romans 8, verse 28, All things work for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Now that doesn't mean everything that happens is going to be good. We're going to have misfortunes. We're going to go through ups and downs. And sometimes it's not a happy experience. Yet, good can come disguised as adversity or hardship. And God can use it in these trials for us spiritually.

Notice in James chapter 5, verse 11, this is a summary of Job's experience. Now, many centuries later, James chapter 5, verse 11, it talks about the trials that Job went through.

It says, God had a plan. He was working that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. He still is good. The Spillin' World, where all kinds of things are topsy-turvy. And also, we got a curse of mankind. It has become violent. The animals are violent. And tragedies occur. But God has the end result in mind. He knows how far we can be tested. And so let's look at five attributes of God's goodness. Five attributes of God's goodness. Attributes means qualities, things that God possesses. Romans chapter 2, verse 4.

God's goodness can lead to repentance. Romans chapter 2, verse 4. It says, goodness. Some people do. They don't think God knows what he's doing with the things that happen. He says, despite the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance. So God, many times, is more concerned, not about how comfortable our lives are. He's concerned about what kind of spiritual character are we building in our lives. Because he has a short time on this earth to teach us important lessons and how to follow his will.

So we need to see ourselves, not as we see ourselves, but as God sees ourselves. Is he happy with what he sees? Are we showing goodness and mercy and speaking with goodness in our mind and hearts?

So the second attribute is that it is a gift from God. I'm not talking about, he's just such a nice person. We see that all the time because that natural goodness is imperfect and it's a mixture still of good and bad. Now we're talking about the perfect goodness of God. He doesn't have any flaws. He doesn't make mistakes like you do. And so we're talking about the goodness that comes as a gift from God.

Notice in Galatians 5 verse 22.

Galatians 5 verse 22. It says, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness. Now here's the word in the Greek that I wanted to introduce here. It's agathos. A-G-A-T-H-O-S. And actually the name agatha means goodness. So some people's names are that way. But that's one way to remember agatha christie. Remember? Well her first name means goodness. And the second word is callos. K-A-L-O-S. And it means what is beautiful, useful, desirable, and morally right.

Now in Ephesians chapter 2, in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 through 10, it talks about this gift that he can give to us. Ephesians 2, 8 through 10. It says, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Nobody deserves to have. He says, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

So what does he give us? His goodness? It's not to keep it for ourselves and just cultivate it in ourselves. No, it's to share with others. It's to show that goodness with good works. It's interesting what the new Bible dictionary mentions about that term good, especially as it says, Good works are good from three standpoints. Number one, in accordance with a right standard, which is the biblical law.

And you can see some of these, they talk about going against the law, and yet here he's saying, well, the true goodness that comes from God is through his biblical law. So it just contradicts what they try to do sometimes. And it says here, it's the right standard. Number two, it says it comes from a right motive. The love and gratitude for its calling and redeeming us.

So it's not only the right standard, we have to have the right motive of thankfulness, as it says here, love and gratitude. And thirdly, with the right goal or aim. So it's first, the standard, the motives have to be there and the end result. For what purpose is that goodness being given to us? It mentions here that the truly righteous man or woman keeps the spirit as well as the letter of the law, as the truly good does too. So you see, righteousness and the goodness, they go together. They're both not just doing the letter as it was brought out in the first message, that things just from the letter, they lack the spirit.

You have to worship God in spirit and in truth. And so righteousness and goodness, that's the Christian is defined by not just keeping the letter of the law, but by the spirit. That's again using the biblical principles, right motives and the result. That's why we're going to the feast, because it's a way of pleasing God, of sharing His goodness with others and rejoicing at the feast. It's a wonderful opportunity.

And so, the third principle here is that God's goodness has to be experienced. It's not enough to read about it. You have to experience the goodness of God. Notice what it says in Psalm 34, in verse 8. Psalm 34, verse 8, it says, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him. So a person has to experience God's goodness personally, that faith that he has.

And so it's not enough to just intellectually acknowledge it. Have you seen God's goodness? And see the results and see some concrete evidence of it? I'll give you my experience, although I'm nobody and nothing, but I want to share at least. The time I came to the church, of course, I was very young, 17 years old. I went to the Feast of Trumpets the first time ever, and I said to myself after services, Wow, these people really want to learn about God from their Bibles.

I wasn't used to that as a Catholic. How many Catholics read their Bibles while you go to Mass? No. They're staring at this droning on that's going on with the rituals and things like this. And then you go on, and I learned about getting anointed for a sickness. And so the first time I asked the church, and I thought, well, you know, I'm short-sighted. Myopia, right? So I asked the minister, can I get anointed for myopia? And he did. And you know what?

God's because I still am nearsighted. And so you learn, okay, that's something that I presented to God. And God, this is an essential. The second time I went to Him, I had what's called a planter wart. Anybody ever had a planter wart? They're awful, aren't they? It was in the first year of Ambassador College, and I could barely walk. And I had to walk all the way that long length, about half a mile, to classes, and I couldn't do sports. And so I said, well, this time I really need that intervention.

And so I asked the minister to anoint me. He anointed me. And when I woke up in the morning, I looked at my foot, nothing appeared. Absolute, like baby skin, all that thing. Just completely healed. And then I asked A.I., can you actually have a planter's wart disappear from one day to the next? And this is what it said, no. A planter wart cannot disappear overnight, because these warts are thick, rooted deep in the skin, and driven inward by the weeks, weeks, months, or even years. And yet mine was overnight. And so what a blessing to see that God's power is there, but He has the last word, not a getting our way every time.

He even told Christ, no, when Christ said, no, save me. And Father helped me with this, and God said, I'm sorry. And that's an example. Sometimes we have to go through pain and suffering. And so we go to the fourth principle.

God's goodness is something just for the self, but it is to give to others as well. This is what Jesus Christ did. Notice this summary in Acts 10, verse 38.

Peter is speaking here. And this is what he says, Acts 10.

In verse 38, it says, how God anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing what? Good. That's the word there, agathas. And healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. So doing good. He did good in so many ways. He got up in the morning. After prayer, he came back, and what was his mission? Doing good. Seeing who was needed. Helping out in whatever way he could. And this applies to men and women. Proverbs 31, let's go to Proverbs 31, as you know. Proverbs 31 has to do with the wise and woman of God, the virtuous wife. Verse 10, it says, who can find a virtuous wife, for her worth is far above rubies, the heart of her husband's, so he will have no lack of gain. They work as a team. They both focus on their different areas of expertise, and they work, and one doesn't have to be worried about the other ones. It says, she does him good. What's that word? Tab. He does him good and not evil all the days of her life. 20, it says, she extends her hand to the poor. Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy. And so that's part of the goodness of God in a person. There was a famine that was going to happen in Israel during the book of Acts, that had been talking about this great famine that was going to happen. Notice in Acts 11, verse 28, Acts 11, verse 28, it says, then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in Caesar. So Luke was giving indications. And sure enough, during that period, around 48, 50 AD, there was of Israel a very bad drought. There were other places, and there was even Roman papyrus, which are the letters of those times, talking about people and the relief they needed from the famines in the Bible.

And so it says, then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling, this they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. And so sometimes God will say there's some need, let's see what can be done about it, just like they did at this time. In Proverbs 11, verse 24, it says, There is one who scatters, yet increases more, and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. The generous soul who waters will also be watered himself. The people will curse him who withholds grain, but blessings will be on the head of him who sells. And so there's a principle of being generous, of doing what you can. Sometimes, maybe not monetarily, but with your time, with your service, there's so many ways to be generous. It doesn't have to be with money, but yours. And then finally, the fifth attribute is to thank God every day for his goodness, because every good and perfect gift comes from above. In verse 17, James chapter 1, verse 17, it says, Every good... Yes, that's a word there for good hagatos. Every good gift and every perfect gift. So here you have two. One is that it provides positively. He gives us the rain in due season. He protects us. He guides us. He gives us his Holy Spirit, which we ask every day. Give us more of your Holy Spirit. And then it's not only good, but perfect from telius, which is the term of complete. It's just what we needed, even if we don't know it. And comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. God will always be good. That's his essence. And so he's never going to... of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. So knowing God's goodness there, in that word goodness, and how we can develop it in our own lives. Now we're going to end with him based on God's goodness. That's Psalm 107, page 66. And I hope you remember about the goodness of God.