Obviously, we are going back to the text of Austin’s message two weeks ago and to my sermon last Sunday. I am also returning to a comment the Holy Spirit made in three recent Sunday School lessons. First, let’s consider the Lord’s introduction to His answer to the rich young ruler’s question: “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God…”
I think that the man was just trying to be polite with his “Good Master.” Jesus wasn’t denying that He WAS good, but He wanted to reach the point of saying, “Young man, no man is good, and that includes you. There is no good thing that you can do to inherit eternal life, because you are not good by nature. Let me prove it: go and sell that thou hast, and give it to poor and come and follow me.” At that the young man went away sorrowful for he had great possessions which he wasn’t willing to give up.
So what is it be “good”? Considering the Lord’s comments and exhortation, goodness describes a special relationship. Can a person be “good” in isolation from everyone else? That man may have thought so.
Let’s ask that last question from the perspective of Heaven. But first, Is Jehovah omnipotent? Of course He is. Must God display His power in order to be omnipotent? No. He is omnipotent without creating things out of nothing and without any other kind of miracles. Is God omniscient? Do we have to know that God knows all things before He can call Himself omniscient? Of course, the Lord is omniscient. All right then, is Jehovah good? Absolutely. Does God need a needy creation in order to be good? Does He need angels in order to be good? Does God require someone upon which to bestow His blessings in order to be good? Not really, but how can anyone know that God is good? We’ll never know unless He shows us. He has to show us that He is omnipotent, omniscient and good before we can really know these things. When we begin to know these things, we have a foundation upon which to worship Him. And that is what all this is about.
When the Lord was introducing Himself to Moses, He said, “I will make all my GOODNESS pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be GRACIOUS to whom I will be gracious, and will shew MERCY on whom I will shew mercy.” Then the Lord put Moses in the cleft of a rock and let him see a glimpse of His glory. And what was it that Moses saw that day? Exodus 34:5-7 – “And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, MERCIFUL and GRACIOUS, longsuffering, and abundant in GOODNESS and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” God gives evidence of His glory through mercy and grace. And He declares that mercy and grace are a part of His goodness. So while we praise the Lord for His mercy, we also need to praise Him for His goodness.
Let’s think about that “GOODNESS” of God.
Even though this is a perfectly good and proper Biblical word to use in regard to the Lord, doesn’t it seem to lack the intensity and perfection that the Lord deserves? Isn’t there some sort of superlative form of “good?” Maybe we think of it as weak, because we don’t understand it or we are using poor standards for comparison. The goodness of God refers to the perfection of His nature. I John 1:5 says, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” We might take that as our template and say, “God is GOOD, in Him is NO badness whatsoever.” There is such an absolute perfection in God’s nature that there is nothing lacking or defective in Him. Can anything be added to the Lord to make Him better?
Listen to this statement by Puritan Thomas Manton: “God is originally good, good of Himself, which nothing else is; for all creatures are good only by participation and communication from God. He is essentially good; not only good, but goodness itself; the creature’s good is a super-added quality, in God it is His essence. He is infinitely good; the creatures good is but a drop, but in God there is an infinite ocean or gathering together of good. He is eternally and immutably good, for He cannot be less good than He is; as there can be no addition made to Him, so no subtraction for Him.”
I asked the question last Sunday, “What was it that made the original creation good?” It was God who made all things good, and they were good by His own definition. I have read in many places, and Noah Webster concurs, that the original source of the English word “God” is the Anglo Saxon word “good.” God is not only the greatest of all beings, but He is the best. If there is any goodness in any creature, it has been imparted to him by the Creator. But God’s goodness, on the other hand, is underived.
Psalm 119:68 says of Jehovah, “Thou art GOOD, and doest GOOD; teach me thy statutes.” This verse brings together two things: God’s personal goodness and God’s good dealings with His creation. Was God omnipotent before He created things and proved His omnipotence. As we said, “yes.” Was God good before there were things to be good toward? Jehovah has in Himself an infinite and inexhaustible treasure of all goodness. Enough goodness to absolutely and completely bless all things. And this is because He is at His core (if we can use that word) good.
The goodness of God evidenced.
Everything that emanates from the Lord – His creation, His decrees, His laws, His providence – cannot be anything else but good. How does Genesis 1:31 summarize all that the Lord did during creation? “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was VERY good.” This reminds us that the goodness of God was first seen in creation – not just in humanity, but in creation.
Turn to Psalm 145:10-16 – “All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.” That is the goodness of God.
Now go to Psalm 33:1-11 – “Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth. He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the GOODNESS of the LORD. By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.” Psalm 31:19 – “Oh how GREAT is thy GOODNESS, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!”
We can look around us and come up with an almost infinite list of ways that God displays His goodness. But what is the greatest good thing that the Lord has ever done? Salvation from sin. We can use a hundred different words to describe that blessing – beginning with “mercy” and “grace.” But “goodness” is an equally appropriate word, even though it initially sounds kind of wimpy. God was very, very good to us when He saved us by His grace. And as I said earlier, the Bible indicates that God’s grace proceeds out of His goodness. In Psalm 25:7 David said – “Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy GOODNESS‘ sake, O LORD.” What did the angels say on the night of Jesus’ birth? “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
But what about all the bad things that happen in the world, don’t they argue against God’s goodness? No! If man sins against the goodness of God and brings down problems upon himself, he doesn’t have any right to blame the Lord. Turn to Romans 2:2-11 – “But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the RICHES of his GOODNESS and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the GOODNESS of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.” Is a parent good, who allows his kid to throw rocks at passing cars or at vicious dogs? Would God be good, if He only blessed the righteous but He didn’t punish the wicked?
What should be OUR RESPONSE to the Lord’s goodness?
“Oh that men would PRAISE the LORD for his GOODNESS, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” That is found in Psalm 107:8, 15, 21 and 31. Nahum 1:7 – “The Lord is GOOD, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in Him.” Doesn’t that tell us to lean upon Him – to lean hard upon Him?
As Spurgeon once said, “When others behave badly to us, it should only stir us up the more heartily to give thanks unto the Lord, because He is GOOD; and when we ourselves are conscious that we are far from being good, we should only the more reverently bless Him that He is good. We must never tolerate an instant’s unbelief as to the goodness of the Lord; whatever else may be questioned, this is absolutely certain, that Jehovah is GOOD; His dispensations may vary, but His nature is always the same.”
Let’s close these few thoughts this evening quoting Psalm 23 together. “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely GOODNESS and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”