Good or God?

You know, to open up this message on good or God, let me just say this.

Today in our society, and this mentality has even crept into the church, we assume that if something is good, if we see something is good, we automatically assume it's of God.

In other words, we've almost made good and God synonymous.

Because after all, aren't we born with the inherent knowledge of what is right and wrong?

But now let me say this.

If good is so obvious, why then does the book of Hebrews tell us that we have to have discernment to recognize the difference between good and evil?

Why does King Solomon cry out at the dawn of his reign, God, give your servant an understanding heart that I might be able to discern between good and evil?

Look at the context of this.

Solomon is just about to take the throne.

God appears to him, which is mind-blowing.

And God says, Ask me anything you want.

And what he asked for is the ability to tell the difference between right and wrong.

I don't think good is as obvious as we think it is.

I mean, you would think it is a good idea to preserve the life of your friend.

Yet Peter does this with Jesus, and Jesus sharply corrects him and says, You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's point of view.

If you remember the rich young ruler, he comes running up to Jesus and he cries out, Good teacher, what do I do to inherit eternal life?

And before Jesus even answers this all-important question of how to be saved, Jesus said, Why do you call me good?

Nobody's good but God.

Now, is Jesus not good?

No, he is perfect good.

But what Jesus is saying is, you have a reference point for what is good.

God has a reference point for what is good.

The two are not one and the same.

Don't put me in your category.

See, good is all about a reference point.

You can have two families moving into identical homes, three-bedroom, two-bath homes.

For one family, it's a good move.

For one family, it's a bad move.

The family, it's a good move, they just moved out of a trailer.

Family, it's a bad move, they just moved out of a two-million dollar estate.

I remember when God really made this clear to me.

I had traveled to Stockholm, Sweden to speak to 6,000 leaders from over 60 nations, mostly Eastern Europe.

And I remember I had all day in my room to pray, and I was praying about a situation, and I had judged this situation to be good.

And the Holy Spirit very sternly in my hotel room said, No, son, this is not good.

And I remember getting in a little argument with the Holy Spirit in that hotel room, and finally I kind of put my foot down and I said, But God, all the good that's come out of this situation.

Then the Lord said this to me, and this is what impacted my life forever.

He said, Son, it wasn't the evil side of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that Eve was attracted to.

It was the good side.

And when he said that to me, there's my Bible laying on the bed, I flew over to Genesis.

And when I read the words, when the woman saw the tree was good, and the word good leapt up off the page, that it was desirable, that it was pleasant, that it would make her wise, she partook.

And I'm standing there in shock, and all of a sudden the Lord says this to me son, there is a good that will lead people away from me.

And I remember in that hotel room, I thought all of a sudden, I thought, that's how the elect, if possible, are going to be deceived.

You know, whenever people ask Jesus about our day, the very first thing he says is, be careful that you are not deceived.

And he said the deception would be so powerful in our day that if possible, the elect would be deceived.

And it used to bother me.

I thought, how can Christians be deceived?

And then I realized in that hotel room, Christians won't be deceived by satanic rock concerts, by drug-infested parties, by sexual orgies.

Christians, if possible, will be deceived with evil that is masked with good.

Proverbs 14, 12 says, there is a way, there is a method, there is wisdom that seems right.

It seems good, it seems acceptable, it seems pleasant, it seems desirable, it seems profitable to a man, but its end, where it takes you, is a place that you don't want to find yourself.

It's called the way of death.

The apostle Paul, in speaking to the church, these are believers, these are spirit-filled believers.

He says to them, listen to what he says in this corn church, he says, but I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted.

Look at the word corrupt.

Just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.

And I remember when I saw this after that incident in Sweden, I thought, wow, that's the exact example the Holy Spirit used with me.

So I thought maybe there's more to this garden situation than what I've seen.

So I started praying about it, and the first thing I thought of was this.

This is what really amazed me.

I thought Eve was never gossiped about.

Some of you'll get that in a few hours.

She was never raped.

She was never lied to, stolen from, spoken to harshly by a man.

She lived in a perfect environment.

And let's to make matters a little bit more complex, she lived in an environment that was permeated with the presence of God.

How does the enemy get her corrupted, deceived in that perfect environment?

Because if we can understand how he can do that with her in that perfect environment, we can understand how he could do it with the elect, if possible, in a corrupt environment.

And so God creates the heavens and the earth and he plants this garden and he creates this man and he says to this man in the garden, he said, You can freely eat from any tree.

Now look at those words.

That's his goodness.

Now, most Christians don't see that as goodness.

You want to know why they think there's just two trees in this garden?

I got news for you.

Horticulturists tell us there are over 2,500 different fruit-bearing trees on the planet.

You know what I have to believe?

At least one of each of those is represented in that garden.

You know what God is basically saying to this guy?

You can freely eat from 2,499 trees.

Now that's his goodness.

I mean, have you ever thought about all that God's given you?

Did you wake up this morning?

Is the sun shining?

Did you have a covers over you?

Did you have a nice soft mattress?

Did you have a roof above your head?

Did you eat good food?

Did you drink clean water?

I mean, some of you should go on the mission field with me.

Are you understanding?

I mean, we have so much that he's given us, right?

But then God, you know, one of the reasons why I love coming here is because, you know, Robert really likes me.

I mean, he sent me this long text this morning, love you so much, bro.

And I'm like, man, nobody paid him to have me come here.

He actually really likes me.

He wants to have dinner with me tomorrow night.

You know, we as human beings, we like it when people like us.

And that's who we want to hang out with.

Well, you know, God's no different.

We were creating his image.

God doesn't want a guy that's forced to be in relationship with him.

So God says, okay, except for the tree, it's in the midst of the garden, that one tree, eat that, and you're saying to me, I don't want a relationship anymore.

Okay, you die.

Now the serpent, and don't get shocked by a talking snake, because I personally believe animals talked in the garden.

Why Balaam's donkey talked and he wasn't shocked, and Eve wasn't shocked.

So anyway, the serpent approaches Eve, and there's a reason he picks her and not Adam.

And I have that, that's chapter two.

I'm not gonna go through that.

You can read it in the book, okay?

And it's not because the woman's weaker.

Anybody ever tells you a woman's weaker than a man?

Okay, don't even listen to them.

Now, physically, they can't bench press as much as us, but you know, that's all it's talking about in the Bible, all right?

We are heirs together.

But anyway, he he targets her.

And then he has a four-step strategy.

Everybody say four-step to corrupt her.

Now, you gotta see this strategy.

Step number one, phase number one of his strategy, he looks at her and he says this one simple statement.

So you can't eat from every tree, can you?

What has he just done with that one statement?

He's gotten her eyes off of all the 2,499 she can eat from unto the one tree that's restrained.

This is exactly what he wants to do with you.

He wants to get your eyes off of all that God has given you unto the one or two things that you think are restrained or are restrained.

Boy, it's your is quiet in this Methodist church right now.

Are you still here?

Okay, so she quickly responds, and then he goes to phase two.

Everybody say phase two.

What's phase two?

He negates the word.

He looks at her and says, You're not gonna die.

Now, how often does the enemy do this with us?

Young man meets a young woman in church, they fall deeply in love, they want to get married, but they can't get married for a couple years.

One day he looks at her and goes, You know what?

You pay rent, I pay rent.

You pay utilities, I pay utilities, you pay cable TV, I pay direct TV.

Let's move in together and save money.

Now, what has he done?

Because he looks at him and says, We'll build for our future, we'll save so much money, we'll be able to give more at church.

What has he done?

He's negated Ephesians 5 that says, Let not sexual immorality once be named among you.

He's negated 1 Thessalonians 5 that says, Avoid the very appearance of evil.

He's negated Hebrews 13, 2, which says the marriage bed is undefiled, but sexual but adulterers and and and sexual immorals, God will judge.

He's negated it for what is beneficial for their future, what is acceptable to our society.

Are you still with me?

Well, then he goes to phase three.

Everybody say phase three.

Phase three.

This is the one where he's gonna kill her.

He starts it out with for God knows.

What is he saying by for God knows?

He says, God knows something you don't.

In other words, God's hiding something from you, Eve.

For God knows the day you eat of it, your eyes will be open, you'll be just like God, knowing the difference between good and evil.

Now, wait a minute.

What has he just done?

He's got her attention off the 2499 onto the one.

And you gotta remember, this tree is good.

And she's looking at this tree, her focus is on it.

God's hiding something, and all of a sudden her thoughts go down the road.

Wait a minute, there is something good in that tree for my husband and I, and God is keeping it back from us.

What has he just done with that statement?

He's just twisted the character of God, he's perverted the character of God in her eyes and made God look like a taker instead of the giver that he is.

The moment he does that, she turns on God.

How often does this happen with us?

We've been praying for our daughter for three months.

This other family prayed for their daughter because she got healed the same week.

God's withholding from us.

Man, it's quiet in here.

You just like to listen, right?

Okay.

Step four, phase four, it's a piece of cake.

He offers her the good that God has withheld from her.

This is why James comes along.

And the New Testament says this.

He says, Do not be deceived.

Now it sounds like a command, but it's not, it's a promise.

You know what James is saying here?

He's saying, if you get this truth, you will be deceived proof.

Now, I don't know about you, but in a day where Jesus tells me the deception will be so rampant, so powerful, that if possible, the elect will be deceived.

I want to know how to be deceived proof.

Anybody in here join me with that?

Let me see a show of hands if you agree with that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, what's James saying?

He's saying, if you get this truth, you'll be deceived-proof.

What's the truth?

Every good and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of lights, whom there's no variation or shadow of turning.

What's James saying here?

James saying, if you get this truth in you, you'll never be deceived.

I'm gonna simplify what he just said.

Here's what he said there is nothing good for you outside of God.

Okay, there that is so powerful.

I hope you just wrote that statement down.

I don't care how good it looks, how beneficial it seems, how profitable it appears, how acceptable it is to society, how sweet she talks to you, and how rude your wife has been to you.

If it is contrary to the written word of God, it will ultimately bring you to a destination you don't want to find yourself.

Good place to say amen.

So, what is our standard?

What's a reference point?

Remember, I said good is all about a reference point?

Apostle Paul tells us.

These are some of the final words he wrote on earth.

He said, All scripture, everybody say all scripture is inspired by God and useful to teach us what is true, what is good, and to make us realize what is wrong, bad in our lives.

It corrects us.

Somebody says, I don't like correction.

Well then you're stupid.

I mean, come on, if I got Siri and I want to go to I-35 North to see my friend Craig Rochelle, I want to go up to Tulsa.

But you know, high this this city's a plethora of highways.

Let's say I inadvertently get on I-20 going east.

I'm gonna end up in Shreveport four hours later.

But there's this woman in my life, it's the only other woman Lisa permits me to have, and it's fine by me.

Her name is Siri.

And you know what Siri says?

Hey, stupid, you're on the wrong road.

You know what Ciri just did?

She just saved me eight hours of driving.

I don't know why people don't like correction.

Correction, if you're on the wrong road, get you on the right road.

And if you're on the right road, it keeps you on the right road, so you end up in the destination you want to find yourself.

Amen, John.

Good preaching.

Thanks so much.

Come on, you can last.

I'm gonna suggest to Pastor Robert to have IVs of caffeine out there for you guys.

Are you with me?

So, what is our reference point?

It's the scripture.

Everybody say scripture.

Listen to this.

Listen to what the Encyclopedia Biblical Word says about the scripture.

It says only because God has shared his evaluation of good in his word are we who rely on him able to affirm with confidence that a certain thing, quality, or course of action is beneficial.

It's all about the scripture.

Can I talk about the scripture for just a few minutes?

Everybody say the scripture.

66 books in the Bible, right?

66 books written over 1,500 years.

I mean, would you go back 1,500 years?

If you go back 1,500 years, you're at 516 AD.

Do you understand the British Empire hadn't even been thought of?

You're only 200 years after Constantine of Rome.

That's a long time ago.

66 books written over 1,500 years by over 40 writers from three different continents in three different languages.

Many of these writers didn't even live in the same generation.

And many of them didn't even know what the other guy wrote.

You put it all together after 1,500 years, and you get this perfectly harmonized book called the Bible?

Come on.

What are the chances of that?

I mean, that's like going back in 516 AD, say to a guy, write a chapter, then go 100 years, 616, say to another guy, write another chapter, and do this over 1500 years and put it together and tell me you got a book that makes any sense.

But then to make matters even more amazing, more amazing.

If you look at the Old Testament, everybody say Old Testament, 39 books written over 1100 years, with the last book of the Old Testament written 400 years before Jesus was even born.

Would you go back 400 years?

You have no cowboys.

I mean, you don't even have United States.

I mean, the pilgrims just got on the boat, for goodness sakes.

That's a long time.

The last book is written 40 years before Jesus comes along.

And you know what these Old Testament writers did?

Many of them lived in different generations, don't even know what the other guy said.

They made predictions about the coming Messiah, predictions like he'd be born in Bethlehem, he'd be called out of Egypt, he'd ride in Jerusalem on a donkey, he'd be betrayed by a friend, he'd be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver.

That 30 pieces of silver would buy a Potter's field.

He'd be crucified, he'd be buried in a brand new tomb.

There's 300 of these predictions that these guys made in all these different books.

Do you know Jesus came along and fulfilled every single one of those 300 predictions?

What are the chances?

So there's this scientist that lived in the 20th century.

His name is Dr.

Peter Stoner.

He was an expert in probability.

Do you know what probability is?

Simple probability.

If I got a five-gallon paint bucket and I got nine white tennis balls, one yellow tennis ball, I shake the whole thing up, I blindfold somebody, say, pick one ball out.

The chance of picking out the one yellow tennis ball is one in ten.

That's simple probability.

Well, this guy's an expert.

But he doesn't do the research alone.

He employs 600 science students from 12 different classes.

They go on a massive research of what is the probability of any human being fulfilling these prophecies?

A third party, the National American Scientific Council, reviewed their findings and said, not only was it accurate, it was conservative.

So what I'm about to share with you is conservative.

So Dr.

Stoner and his 600 science students said, What are the chances that any human being from the time of Christ to the end of the second millennium, 2,000 years, could fulfill eight of these prophecies?

What are the eight that they chose?

Number one, Christ to be born in Bethlehem.

Micah writes that.

Number two, Christ to be preceded by a messenger, Malachi and Isaiah in a different generation write that.

Christ entered Jerusalem on a donkey, Zechariah in a totally different generation writes that.

Christ to be betrayed by a friend.

The psalmist in a completely different generation writes that.

And then here's the other eight.

So they did hours of calculations.

What are the chances that any human being could fulfill these on earth over 2,000 years?

And this is the answer.

You ready?

The chances are one in 10 to the 17th power.

You say, what's 10 to the 17th?

That is a one with 17 zeros behind it.

Does anybody even know what that number is?

It's not bazillion cajillion.

I got news for you, okay?

I don't even know it, but I can illustrate it.

If I have that many silver dollars, I have no place to store them on earth.

I just got to spread them out across the ground.

If I have that many silver dollars, I will cover the entire state of Texas two feet deep with silver dollars.

Now gather all those silver dollars.

Mark one of them, redistribute them over the entire state of Texas two feet deep.

Blindfold the guy in Oklahoma.

Put him on a helicopter, start flying over Texas.

At any point he can say, let down.

He gets out of the helicopter, still blindfolded, picks one silver dollar.

The chances of picking out that one silver dollar that's marked is the chances that any human being over 2,000 years could have fulfilled eight of those prophecies that Jesus fulfilled every single one of them.

That's where you clap.

So Dr.

Stoner and his scientists said, What about 16 prophecies?

So they do hours and hours of calculation.

Remember, this is conservative.

You know what the chances of any human being over 2,000 years fulfilling 16 is?

Here it is.

One in 10 to the 45th.

That's a one with 45 zeros behind it.

If I have that many silver dollars, I can't store them on the earth.

I gotta just make a big ball of silver dollars.

You know how big that sphere of silver dollars would be?

The diameter of that sphere would be 60 times the distance of the earth to the sun.

If you want mileage, 5.5 billion miles.

Now, mark one of those silver dollars, shuffle them all up, blindfold the guy, put them on a jet plane.

It would take 400 years to fly around that ball non-stop on a jet plane.

At any point in time, he could say, let down.

He's still blindfolded.

He might have to dig to the center because the mark one might be at the center, so he might have to dig 2.75 billion miles blindfolded.

The chances of picking out our one mark silver dollar is a chance that any human being could have fulfilled 16 of those prophecies, yet Jesus fulfilled all 16.

Can I blow your mind?

Can I blow your mind?

Dr.

Stoner and his 600 scientists said, What well, what about 48 prophecies?

So they took 48 after hours of calculations.

This is what they determined.

Remember, this is conservative.

Chance of any human being fulfilling is one in 10 to the 157th power.

Now I can't illustrate that with a silver dollar, it's too big.

I gotta go to a smaller item.

I gotta go down to an electron.

Do you know how small an electron is?

If I have a one-inch straight line of electrons and I start counting them right now, okay?

And I count 250 per minute and I don't go to sleep, it will take me 19 million years to count that one-inch line of electrons.

Now, if I have that many electrons, I gotta make a big ball of electrons, solid ball.

You know how big that ball would be?

It would be the radius of it, it would be as far as man has ever seen into space with the Hubble telescope.

13 billion light years.

Now mark one of those electrons.

Blindfold a guy, put him in Cape Canaveral, send him up in the space shuttle.

At any point in time, he can say stop.

He gets out blindfolded.

Picks out one electron.

Chances of picking out that one marked electron, the chances that any human being could have fulfilled 48 of those prophecies.

Yet Jesus not only fulfilled the 48, he fulfilled all 300.

Now, can I review what I've just said?

Okay, you've got 39 books that contain over 300 predictions, prophecies.

Last ones written 400 years before Jesus comes.

They're written by many different writers who lived in different generations, don't even know what the other guy wrote.

And Jesus comes along and fulfills all 300.

And you tell me the Bible doesn't apply to today?

You're stupid.

This is why the writer of Hebrews says this.

Hebrews chapter 12, or Hebrews chapter 2.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

I want you to look at these words.

This is written to Christians.

We must, not we should, we must.

Look at the word must.

Listen, not just carefully, very carefully, to the truth we've heard.

Or we may drift away from it.

You know, drifting doesn't happen consciously, it happens unconsciously.

When I was a boy, I loved fishing.

I remember one time I was in my boat and I forgot to anchor, I was so excited about fishing.

And I'm fishing away, and 30 minutes later, I look up, I don't even recognize the shoreline.

I drifted so far from where I started.

And I didn't even know it because drifting doesn't happen knowingly.

See, can I ask you a question?

If somebody said you have to cross a landmine field, 10 miles long, 10 miles wide, there's thousands of landmines buried, you step on one of them, you're dead.

They give you a map that shows you where every landmine is.

How do you handle the map?

You just throw it in your backpack and say, Gotta gosh, I gotta make this journey.

If I got time, I'll read it.

Do you kind of just glance at it and say, I got it?

Put it in your backpack and go.

You do either of those, they carry you out in a body bag.

Let me tell you what you do.

You study that thing like crazy, and then you put it in a place easier to reach in your water bottle, and you pull it out constantly, making reference.

Let me tell you something.

We're walking across a landmine field, and that's why the word of God tells us thy word is a lamp under my feet and it's a light under my path.

You know, I had I had three international leaders look at me.

These are highly respected men, three different occasions.

So, John Bevere, I mean, I've written 19 books, they're in 93 languages, they're pushing 10 million copies.

And I remember they said to me, This is the most important message God has given you the body of Christ to date.

And I remember, and I've only got chapter one out to you, okay?

And I remember I went to prayer after the third guy, and I said, okay, God, why is this message so important?

And the Holy Spirit said this so, so clearly to me.

He said, It's a calibration message.

I thought, calibration, calibrate a machine, you get accurate readings.

But I thought, I gotta, I gotta research more this more.

So I found out in my research, because I have a scientific background, calibration is most frequently used.

Now, listen carefully to me, it's most frequently used in regard to gas detectors that are put in chemical factories.

Our federal law requires every room in a chemical factory to have a gas detector in it because a little toxicity in the air can damage a person, their employees for life, or kill people.

So I found out the number one manufacturer is Honeywell.

And I went to Honeywell's website and I went to the page that tells me how to calibrate their gas detectors.

And when I get to that page, you know what it said in bold letters on top?

We strongly recommend, as the manufacturer, that you calibrate these gas detectors every day.

And they give the reason because the atmosphere will corrupt the sensors eventually.

So you know how they calibrate them?

I'm gonna simplify it.

They take these machines down, bring them into a clean air room, clean off the sensors, re-zero out the machine, put it back out so they know they're gonna get accurate readings.

Well, let me tell you something.

Our heart is our sensor.

We live in a corrupt environment.

It's called the world, right?

Every day we should be going into a clean air environment.

It's called the Word of God and the presence of God.

What does that do?

It washes us, it cleans our sensor so that we go back out into the world.

We're not conformed to it.

But we prove, you see, it's not a formula.

What is good and perfect and acceptable will of God for our lives?

Let me tell you something.

Calibration is so important.

Why?

Because we're the only Jesus the world's ever gonna see.

And if we're uncalibrated, it'd be kind of like trying to reach a radio station that's 88.9, but you're at 90.1.

You're never gonna hear it, you're never gonna see it, you're never gonna experience it.

And the other real reason calibration is so important, is because it's all about intimacy with God.

I don't know about you, but the most important, and I think I do know about you.

I know enough to know if you are a Christian, the number one thing you desire from God is intimacy.

We want to know his heart, we want to know his desires.

And when you're out of calibration, you again, just like a wrong radio station, can't pick up what he's saying.

That's why so many are frustrated.

We're out of calibration.

That's why we want it.

We want intimacy with God, every head bowed, every eye closed.

Father, in the name of Jesus, I preach what you've commanded me to preach.

Thank you for helping me.

If you're sitting in here today and you'd say, you know, John, truth be told, God just really spoke to me.

I feel like I am out of calibration.

I just want you to put your hands up high because I want to pray for you this morning.

Just put them up really high.

Wow, look at all the hands.

I love your honesty.

That's why you're such a great church.

Just put them up high.

Don't be ashamed.

Now, can all of us, about 40% of the people, maybe 30%, raise their hands.

Just put your hands back down.

Can all of us pray this with those 30%?

Say this to me, God in heaven, thank you for sending Jesus.

Lord, I'm asking today that my heart would be calibrated correctly with your word.

It begins by declaring Jesus to be my Lord.

Thank you, Jesus.

My life is yours.

As I open your word, reveal to me your heart.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.