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SCRIPTURE – Matt 19:7 MARCH, 2014 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. SUBJECT – GOD IS GOOD!!! God is good all the time!! And, all the time God is Good!! For as long as I can remember, this phrase has been used to describe just how Good, our God is. From the man in the pulpit, to the least in the congregation, whenever someone utters the phrase, 'God is Good', the response from the listener is, 'all the time!' No truer words can be spoken. When we consider all of the things that God has done for mankind, through His Mercy, and Grace, and most of all sacrificing His only begotten Son, so that we, no matter who we are, where we come from, or how evil we have been, we can still be the recipients of all His blessings, then truly, God is Good!!! However, this description, is not quite the way I would feel comfortable describing Him, because, it leaves the door open for many to believe, He is so Good, that He will overlook our sins, whether we repent, or not. For too many of us, there is this idea that God is so good, that He will completely ignore every thing that we are doing that, in the old testament, He destroyed men, and nations for. We rebel against Him continuously, without giving Him a second thought. When told that what we are doing is sin, [1Jn 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law], we respond with the notion that God is neutral on our actions, and, that we don't want to hear anything that makes us feel like we are doing something wrong. Doing so, tells God, that we don't want to stop doing what is giving us pleasure [People do what they do, usually because of the pleasure they derive from it. Take away the pleasure, and people will mostly abandon it.] When people care more about their pleasure, than what God has to say about it, then, they are placing themselves above God. To them, God is only Good, if He remains silent, and speaks only when spoken to, you know, the way some parents tell their children to be. So essentially they want to treat Him, like a child. And, in their minds, because He is sooooooo Good, and starving for us to like Him, He will continue to bless us. Quite frankly, they are thinking He is a chump!! This is why I said that I am uncomfortable with the notion of, God is Good, all the time. Even though it is a true statement, there needs to be some qualifiers attached to it, so that God isn't presented in a light, that makes it seem that He is giving us a wide open door to say and do whatever we feel like doing, without having to suffer any repercussions. A more fitting statement for describing Him is, 'God is Just all the time, and all the time, God is Just!!' When we take in the totality of the bible, in describing Him, we get a picture that most of the people don't see. In fact, it is an image that they don't want to see. You see, to those that have put their total faith and trust in Him, talking about the righteous, He is truly Good all the time, because He is Just all the time. However, to those that put the faith and trust in their own image of Him, He is a nightmare!!! If we look at the term, 'good', it carries with it the idea that it is pleasing, either to the taste, touch, feeling, sight, or in hearing, because it brings a person a sense of pleasure, relief, or some other euphoric state of being. Most of us, pick our friends based on what our qualifications of just what a friend should be. We pick people that agree with us, or are of like mind. You have heard the saying, birds of a feather, flock together!! This means people that think alike, are usually attracted to each other. In our way of thinking, we don't want anyone around us that is consistently saying or doing things we don't like or agree with. We especially don't want them around us, if they are going to constantly, as many put it, stab us in the back, or be disloyal to us. If a person wasn't a family member, we would call them the enemy. In fact, in some cases, family members have been treated as the enemy because of what some individuals consider as crossing the line when it comes to how they make them feel. Gangs, with all the negative images they present, have the same type of criteria for being a member, and that is, you have to act and think the same way they do. Go against them, and you are going to be in trouble. Yet, within their circle, they consider themselves as being good. So, as you can see, good, is a relative term. You can be the most wicked person there is, but, to someone that thinks the same way you do, you are 'good.' This is why, people that engage in sexual sin, homosexuality, idolatry, murders, stealing and such, can hang out with each other and see themselves as being good, because they all have a like mind, and that is, they hate God. They may not come right out and say it, but, when a person refuses to abide by what God says is right and wrong, then, that person, hates Him. Ever notice their reaction to someone promoting the idea of sin, and punishment for it?? They want to attack the person, or at least stay as far away from them as possible. If they do acknowledge God, it is a god, that has long since changed his view of their behaviour. Ever hear them say, 'this is the 21st century!!' What they are saying is the idea of what they like doing today, is no longer sin. God has changed the way He looks at things. He has mellowed. After all, doesn't He see how many of them there are?? He is too good to send that many of them to hell, if hell was real!! He is too good, to cause so many of them to suffer. My response to that is, they are right, a 'good' god wouldn't, but a 'Just God' would!!! One of the main attributes of God, is that above all things, He is 'Just.' What this means is that He deals with everyone the exact same way, irregardless of race, creed, color, national origin, or any other criteria we might want to consider, including time. That means, He reacts to sin today, the exact same way He did back in the old testament times. Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not;...... The only difference between then and now is that He has made it a whole lot easier for us to be able to be righteous, in His sight. Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death;.....[suffering and hell]. Just because God doesn't strike you down immediately, does not mean you are 'home free.' To the contrary, as He did back then, by sending people to those that were about to suffer for something they were doing wrong, He does the same thing today. And, as those that choose to reject the warning, then, He proceeds to bring them to their knees with pain, suffering and death. The pain and suffering, are means He uses to get us to see the Light of our situation before we die. Why?? Because if we die in that state, we will most assuredly, be headed for eternal damnation. Usually, when people are suffering, they will begin to be more accepting to what God has to say about their behaviour, and be willing to make a change. If God were 'good' without being 'just', then He would be totally unfair to all those in the past, that He destroyed, and are now suffering in hell because they lived in a time when He reacted differently than He does today!! If God were like many people think and hope He is, then He would have to go back and resurrect every person He destroyed because of their sins, heal all those that died of illnesses, that He brought on them, that ended their lives because of their rebellion against Him, and take every soul out of hell, and allow them in to Heaven. If He were to do that, then He would have to apologize to them for all the torment they suffered in hell. But, there is another problem. How could He make up to them for all the suffering in hell they did prior to Him taking them out?? In a sense, He would also have to pardon the Devil and his angels[demons] because the people were following their directions. Think about this. In this nation, we have institutions that are supposed to be where you go to get justice. They are called courts. Each courtroom, is presided over by a man, or woman, that is known as a judge. Each of these judges, is supposed to be impartial, in that they are not to be influenced by how things appear, but, by the facts, that can be proven by the evidence. However, unfortunately for many of us, that may not be the case, because some judges, can be influenced in their decisions, and punishments, because of money, popularity, influence, or personal opinions about the person that stands before them, either as the accused, or even as the plaintiff. Justice requires a fair verdict in every situation, regardless of who the person is, even if it is a friend, or family member, as to what punishment should be rendered. If there is a bias in that process, then, justice is not served. Well, with men, this is just about impossible. However, with God, He is the only One who is not swayed by who the person is, or how many of them there are, or the position they hold in the community or government. God is the epitome of equal opportunity, in Justice!! All mankind has to do is obey His commandments and statutes and be blessed. Or, disobey them and be cursed. It can't be any more simpler than that!!! Yet, today, in the 21st century, there are those that are not happy with it being like that because, once again, it spoils their fun, and they don't like it. Instead of them abiding by His rules, they want Him to abide by theirs. This is one of the main reasons we have so much suffering, sickness, crime and death in this nation. No respect for God and His laws. We tend to think we know more than God knows. There isn't one commandment that God has given us, that we, or rather those that have that rebellious mindset, totally agree with, especially if it interferes with their pleasure. They will either corrupt it, by finding a way to make it appear to support what they are doing, or they will reject it, outright. To show you just how far they can get from what the bible says, on the one hand, and embrace it on the other hand, in talking with a friend of mine at a union meeting one day, she was complaining about how the GOP, were the enemies of the union, and how supportive of the unions in this nation the Democrats are. She wanted to know, why I support the GOP, over the Democrats. My response to her was that I don't support the Democratic party because if you consider every thing they stand for, or what their platform is, it is antichrist, and God. Abortion, gay rights, affirmative action, separation of church and state, and just about every thing else they stand for and support, directly goes against what God says. Now let me say this, no party is perfect, yet, when it comes down to which one is the most offensive to God, the Democratic party wins, hands down. Her response to me was, 'Man wrote the bible!!' So, what she was saying is because I was using the bible, to point out the wrong the party that she loves and supports was guilty of, she rejects it, totally. However, I have heard this same woman quote bible scriptures, when talking about how we are to love one another, and help the poor and needy. If you will notice, she will quote the bible to satisfy what she wants to believe, but reject the exact same bible, when it convicts her of doing something wrong. You can't have it[God] both ways. It is either all, or nothing. You have to take God as He is, and not as you want Him to be!! God is Good, but He is also Just, and that goes first!!! *********************************************************************** TRACT LIST NEWSLETTERS TAPE LIST HOME PAGE |