What We Believe and Why We Believe It, Part 7

Welcome to the Word of the Lord, the weekly television

broadcast of Living Word Christian Church, proclaiming

the good news of the gospel of the Lord Jesus

Christ. Pastor Mark Clements, in -depth, relevant

biblical teachings will help you in life and

living in today's world. Now, let's join Pastor

Clements in the service already in progress.

Hallelujah. We have a sheet available. from actually

two weeks ago, two weeks ago, in our study of

what we believe and why we believe it. What we

believe and why we believe it. And you can find

our statement of faith and our 12 guiding principles,

which are displayed in the sanctuary, two engraved

walnut plaques right there at the back wall.

Stop there every now and again and review those.

Those are the principles that govern and guide

this particular local church, 12 of them. And

then our statement of faith, again, copies are

available at our information station and on our

church's website. God bless every one of you

streaming with us. Good morning and welcome.

Sure glad that you're here with us. Praise God.

These are available for you as well on our website.

If you don't have access to that, call our church

office this week. 9 a .m. to 2 p .m., 608 -787

-5922. If that was too quick, 608 -787 -5922.

Call in. We'll send you one. We'll send you this

particular list that Jesus is the only way. Only

way to God. Only way to heaven. Only way to eternal

life. There are not, I've got written in my notes,

there are not two ways. It's not Jesus plus.

It says not Jesus plus. There is only one name.

Acts 4. There's no salvation in any other. There's

only salvation in one name. And that's the name

of Jesus. No salvation in any other. There's

no other name under heaven given among men whereby

we must be saved. God so loved the world, He

didn't send three plans. He sent His only begotten

Son, John 3 .16. Whosoever believeth in him.

And so there is only one way. We didn't exhaust

the Bible. There were other verses and scriptures,

but these verses and scriptures are listed out

here for you. You can study those. Our ushers

have them right now. You can go ahead and be

seated. Lift your hand up high and wave it at

them if you'd like one. And then they'll be on

the information station out in the entryway.

going forward. But we just wanted to have them

available in service. So wave your hand if you'd

like. When you want to give them to some friends

or relatives, neighbors, people that you know,

go ahead and take more than one. And let's open

our Bibles again to the 106th Psalm. Psalm 106.

Amen. We do love the word. We are doers of it.

Praise God. And Lord, help us. Help our minds

to be alert and attentive, our hearts to be open

and receptive. And grace our ears to be hearing

ears, to hear everything that your spirit says

here in this service and in this church. Grace

everyone watching and viewing and streaming and

virtually joining us, each and everyone here

in this sanctuary this morning. Everyone who

will see this broadcast at a later moment, later

time, later date. And help us. Help us to see

you, Lord, as you really are. In your name, Lord

Jesus, I pray and ask it. Amen. Thank you. When

I was a senior in high school, I remember that

in the high school I attended, there were two

floors. And there was two sets of stairs, one

at either end of the building, that you would

walk up. And it was a wide set of stairs. My

guess is probably about half as wide as this

section of our front platform, all stairs. It

was wide enough that three people could walk

up and three people would walk down at the same

time. And so when that bell went off, it was

a herd. It was a herd. And the library was on

the second floor, so you could have anyone from

grades 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 going up those stairs

at any one time or coming down those stairs.

And the lunchroom was on the ground floor, so

there could be a real herd coming down. But no

matter what class it was, there were always a

lot of people on those stairs. I remember one

particular day that stands out in my mind because

I got beat up on the stairs. And it was not my

fault. I just want you to know it was not my

fault. My friend, who will go unnamed except

for the fact that his name is Terry, was on my

right. Terry B. was on my right. And he was like

on the railing and I was kind of in the middle

and we were hustling up those steps. I mean,

you got a minute and a half to get to your class.

You remember those days. Anybody have nightmares?

You can't get your locker open? Can't remember

that you have that drink? Can't remember that?

What's God trying to tell me? He's not. That's

just a horror in your life. I can't remember

my combination. And so we're going up those stairs.

And Terry's on my right. And we're visiting and

we're talking. And there's a girl. She's a junior

in high school. And she's right in the middle.

And she's got her books in her hand. She's right

in the middle. And she's going up those stairs

like this. Well, we're guys. I mean, we leap

those stairs like three at a time. And up those

stairs we go. So I'm in the middle. She's right

here. Her name is Carla. And she's right here.

Real sweet, real sweet gal. And she's right here.

And I go by. And he's right here. Well, my friend,

Terry, as we go by her, reaches around behind

me and pinches her. Did I make it clear enough

where he pinched her? Because he's on the rail.

He's like right here. Somebody help me. And so

we're here. He's close to the rail and we're

right here. And so, you know, we're talking and

visiting, and he just reaches his hand around

and pinches her like right down here. And we're

just running up there, and all of a sudden, thank

you. She's assaulting me. I mean, those books

that were in her hand have now become a weapon.

And she is crashing her books into my shoulder

and my head and my back. And I couldn't figure

out what on earth had angered her in such a heart.

All I did was walk by. And then I saw he'd made

it to the top of the stairs and he was snickering.

And he was laughing and I put two and two together.

And then I went on the assault. The devil has

done that very thing to many, many, many believers

over all the generations to cause them some sort

of embarrassment, to cause them some sort of

pain, to cause something in their life that's

hurtful to them. And they blame God for doing

it. When it was really the devil. And he catches

the blame for a lot of things that are disruptive

and destructive and hurtful and abusive and harmful

and terrible. And people blame God when God had

nothing to do with it. And the devil reached

around and caused them pain and embarrassment.

And they're angry at God. They're disappointed

with God. They're never going to pray again.

They're ready to quit, give up. And even if they

don't quit, give up, they just kind of go through

the motions. But I don't know why God did that

to me. I don't know. And see, even our society

helps that. Our society embeds that into people

by calling destructive events an act of God.

And we recently had, it was a terrible tragedy.

We've actually identified that we have a connection

with one of the churches in Washington, D .C.

that is a real primary responder to the people

involved in that horrible aircraft tragedy. Just

a few weeks ago, when a passenger jet coming

in for a landing in the evening collided with

an Army Black Hawk helicopter, and everyone on

board both aircraft were killed. And we have

well -meaning but very misinformed people saying,

just quit the investigation, just quit the fact

-finding, we don't need to know, it was an act

of God. It was an act of God. Not our God. Not

the God of the Bible. Not the God of the Bible.

And see, that's why we started this whole series

of what we believe and why we believe it. And

if you'll go on this series with you, it will

change you. As a matter of fact, if you will

adopt the belief that... The Bible is God's word.

And it reveals God to us. Nowhere are we told

that our experiences reveal God to us. Nowhere.

Or anyone else's experience. Nowhere are we told

that. And see, I've said it before and I'm going

to say it again. You can tell just as much about

truth. By what the Bible doesn't say. And see,

give me an example for that. Okay. The Bible

doesn't say that God is bad. Not even one time.

But over and over and over and over, it says

God is good. Never, not even one time does it

say God is bad. Wouldn't you think if he's just

a little bit bad, there'd be some verse that

talks about his badness. God isn't crazy. Our

God is not crazy. He's not one way one day. He's

identically the same all the time. Completely

consistent. Whenever you hear anybody ascribe

to God human behavior, that's their lack of understanding

of God. Our God never changes. Malachi 3 .6,

our God changes. I am the Lord. I never change.

Hebrews 13, 8, Jesus Christ, who is the same

yesterday, today, and forever. Never changes.

James 1 and verse 17, there's not even a shadow

of turning. No variableness. No variableness.

We live in a climate. There's variableness. There's

going to be real variableness this week. It's

going to be below zero every day. Wait till July

around here. See, the temperature changes. The

political climate and landscape changes. Our

bodies change. Our appetites change. I don't

have much of one right now. Wait till service

is over. There's no change in God. There's no

change in God. Absolute consistency. Absolute

faithfulness. Absolute holiness. He doesn't have

bad days. People say, well, I just felt like

that my worship today made God smile. Well, that

infers that he frowned before. No, he doesn't

change. Not even a shadow of turning in God.

Those are all human traits, and you're used to

from babyhood, you're used to people changing.

James chapter 1 addresses that for us. Hebrews

James 1 · chapter mention Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 says that the earth itself will get

old like a garment and have to be folded up and

put away. But you are the same. You remain unchanged.

Speaking of our God. Now if the Bible says, and

we can see right here in Psalm 106 verse 1, Praise

Psalms 106:1

ye the Lord, O give thanks to the Lord, for he

is the Bible. We wouldn't need any other verse.

But I hope your pen is ready for service this

morning because there are more than one that

say the same thing here, for the Lord is good

and his mercy endures forever. Now, one of the

verses we looked at last week in the first part

of this message was John 14, verse 9. You can

John 14:9

just hold right there in Psalm and we'll look

at it up on the screen. Thank you for our AV

department helping us with all these Bible verses.

Jesus said, and this was in response to Philip,

Jesus said, how long have I been with you? And

you've known me, Philip. He that has seen me

has what? Has seen the Father. And why do you

say, then show us the Father? That was his request.

Just reveal the Father to us. He said, if you've

seen me, you've seen the Father. And so when

you think of tragedy, how much do you think of

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and Jesus being

the originator of it, being the author of it,

being the reason for it? How many times in Matthew,

Mark, Luke, and John did you see Jesus saying,

wow, I love these people. They're good people.

They love my word. They attend services and assemble

with other believers in my house. But I just,

I don't know. I just got this urge. I'm just

going to go to their house and I'm going to just

light their house on fire. Or at least clog up

their pipes. Make their furnace quit. Freeze

everything up. Kill their pets. How many times

do you remember Jesus doing anything like that?

How many? Not even one? Hmm. Well, if you've

seen Jesus, you've seen the Father. How many

times did Jesus go up to a perfectly healthy

person and say, put his hands on him, spit on

him, blow on him, make mud, rub it on their perfect

eyesight and make them blind? Ever? Ever? Not

even once? How many times did Jesus just walk

up and wave his hand over a person and depress

them? Or oppress them? How many pregnant young

ladies did Jesus walk up to and just lick his

finger and touch the end of their nose and say,

I want to bless you with a miscarriage? Well,

if Jesus didn't do those things... Why do we

blame those on God? Why do we say God is the

source of that? How many times in the Bible do

you ever see anyone on their donkey or horse

or riding in their ox cart and Jesus saying,

hey, Peter, James, John, come on, we're going

to teach this guy a lesson. We're going to take

out some of the road right before the bridge.

So his wheel falls in there, and he caves off,

and his oxen falls down in the river, and his

whole cart, I mean his four -wheel drive truck,

is busted all up. If Jesus didn't do it, then

God doesn't do it. Because if you've seen Jesus,

you've seen the Father. He's the perfect, Colossians

says, he is the perfect representation of God

in bodily form. Perfect representation of God

in bodily form is Jesus. And Jesus, Acts 10 .38,

went about doing good and healing all who were

oppressed of the devil, for God was with him.

We learn about Jesus and we learn about God from

our Bible. Not from well -meaning people who

didn't mean to steer you wrong and get you angry

at God. But it wasn't God that pinched you. It

wasn't our God that pinched you. And it wasn't

our God that did things that are destructive

and that steal and rob you. Of your health and

of your sanity and of your emotional stability

and of your marriage. It's not God who steals.

Did we get Acts 10 .38 again? Learn this. Learn

this. Live in the light of this. How God anointed

Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with

power who went about doing bad. Well, at least

sometimes. You can't even find once. You can't

even find once. He went about all their cities

and villages preaching the gospel of the kingdom,

teaching in their synagogues, and healing all

manner of sickness and all manner of disease

among the people. That's Matthew 9 and Matthew

4. It says it twice. Healing, A -L -L, all. Not

even one single person ever came to Him. For

healing, that he turned away and said, no, it's

not my will. Not one! Not even one. Not once!

And if that's some basic doctrine of the church,

my question is, why? What verse in God's Word

do you base that on? It's not found in your Bible

anywhere that he made even one person sick. Made

one person deaf. Never made one person blind.

Never had one person maimed that came to him

and said, no, stay that way. Not one. Well, pastor,

is it that way in your life? That's your problem.

Your life is not the standard. You're not the

one we, and I'm not what we look to teach that.

We look to this word, God's word, the Bible.

And our faith rests in nothing less. It cometh

by hearing, Romans 10, 17, and hearing by the

word of God. That's what our faith rests in.

John 10, 10. Jesus is speaking all through John

10 here. He's speaking. And these are words in

red. If you have a red letter edition of your

Bible, and it says that I, Am come. And he tells

you why he's come. But he also precedes that

by telling you about the thief. The thief. The

evil one. Your spiritual enemy. 1 Peter chapter

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

5 calls him. Your adversary, the devil. Walks

about. 1 Peter 5. Who walks about as a roaring

lion seeking whom he may. Devour. God's not the

devourer. Our God's not the devourer. Jesus isn't

the devourer. The Holy Spirit's not the devourer.

Your enemy, your adversary, the devil, walks

about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

He's the source of rebellion. He's the source

of misery. He's the source of pride. He's the

source of agony. He's the source of pain. He's

the source of death. You want to know the will

of God? You want to see the will of God? Well,

let's cover here John 10 .10, and then we'll

look at our God and His will and His plan. The

thief cometh not, three reasons, three things,

and you can identify the Lord Jesus, and you

can identify, therefore, God, because if you've

seen Jesus, you've seen the Father, and so you

can identify, well, that's not God. It says right

here, the thief cometh not, but for three reasons.

Help me. Two. Steal, kill, and destroy. Steal,

kill, and destroy. Steal, kill, and destroy.

Steal, kill, and destroy. I am come that they

might have life and have it more abundantly.

Now, I want to tackle, just because this is kind

of like hot off the press, but there's this doctrine.

I almost made a tragic mistake and said Bible

doctrine. This is not a Bible doctrine. This

is a church doctrine. This is a church doctrine.

And see, what's the big deal, Pastor? What's

so bad about the church just preaching a little

bit of misunderstanding? Let me show you. Turn

to the book of Mark. Turn to the book of Mark.

Mark 7 · chapter mention

Chapter 7. The book of Mark, chapter 7. And verse

Mark 7 · chapter mention

9 says you reject the word of God so that you

can keep your traditions. There are a lot of

things that are church traditions. And you have

to reject God's word if you're going to keep

that tradition. Like God killed that person because

he was angry with him. Like God made that person

sick. Because they did something wrong. Notice

verse 13. It gets even worse than that. Mark

Mark 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7, that was verse 9. You reject God's

word so that you can keep your own traditions.

And verse 13, you make God's word totally powerless.

It says in the margin of my Bible, useless. Powerless,

useless. You make the word of God ineffective.

Without effect. Of no effect. The word of God

has no effect when the traditions of men are

accepted. You make God's word of no effect through

your traditions. Traditions are, I mean, this

isn't talking about, you know, you having barbecued

turkey breast for Christmas. You know, that's,

okay, you know, that's your tradition. Have at

it. This tradition is something that is countering

what God's Word really reveals, what God's Word

really says. God's Word says we are children

of God through what? Faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians

3 .26. Faith in Christ Jesus is the only way

to salvation. The only way to the family of God.

The only way to being accepted into the beloved.

The only way into being adopted into his family.

Faith in Christ Jesus. And when we add things

to that, that's tradition. When we add anything

to faith in Christ Jesus, I don't care what it

is. It's another person, another entity, another

class, another exercise. We can say, well, faith

in Christ Jesus plus this. It's not what your

Bible says. Your Bible says we are all children

of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Faith in

Christ Jesus. Not some exercise that I take,

whether it's water baptism or christening or

catechism or confirmation, none of which I'm

against. I'm against the tradition that says

that's what saves you. That's a tradition of

man that makes God's word then of no effect.

According to my Bible. And yours. And yours.

Oh, the thief comes. The thief comes to steal,

to kill, and to destroy. I've come that you might

have life and have it more abundantly. Quit blaming

God. He doesn't need me to defend him. Some people

immediately think that, well, you're trying to

make excuses for him and say, well, it wasn't

me that pinched you. No, he doesn't need my defense.

And he doesn't need you to believe right. You

need that. You need to get that straight and

keep that straight. Now, this week, Monday, you

all know, I didn't try to keep it a secret. Hard

to keep it a secret when you can't see out of

your left eye. And you're seeing double and triple.

And because there's a blood clot up in a sinus

venous area of your brain, and it's cutting off

all of the nerve, and your eye, instead of looking

straight forward, is looking way over here. And

it's not getting any blood supply, so it just

looks dead. How are you going to hide that? When

you're stumbling, you've got to use it. Can't

even stand up out of bed without falling over

and being nauseous. Hide that. Why hide it? Why

hide it? Why not fight it? But in the church

world, I know I live in it. So do you. In the

church world, then you get, then you get, harangued

and accused, and you get notes that say, well,

you know, there's got to be some secret, some

sin in your life, you know, that caused this

to happen. And so everything that happens in

a person's life negative, that kills, that steals,

that destroys, then that's got to be your fault.

And that's God punishing you. I told you that

society helps you with that, right? You're probably

not old enough to remember this. Neither am I.

But way back, when rock music, they tell me,

first started, there was this little jingle that

said, God's going to get you for that. Oh, God's

going to get you for that. That permeates the

church. That God somehow... I know. I believe

this. I grew up in church. I grew up in Sunday

school, youth group. He had like a 2x4 with a

nail in it. You ever watch somebody hunt flies?

You ought to be in our house when there's a fly

around if you never have. Because, man, I get

that fly swatter, and I go on the stalk. And

if he's stupid enough to land anywhere, and they

always are, I'm going to get you. And then he

might fly away. Go ahead and fly away. I'm going

to get you. sooner or later, and people have

that idea of God, that God's walking around with

a stick, just searching to and fro, just looking

for somebody that did something wrong so he can

get them. That's not what the Bible says. The

Bible says in 2 Chronicles, his eyes are looking

to and fro across the face of the earth to show

himself strong on behalf of those people whose

hearts are perfect toward him. Not drop agony

and destructiveness and death into their lives.

And so this past Monday, I had my final dye infusion

CT scan. That's when they put dye in your body

and then they take a, I mean, it's, can you?

I just can't hardly believe the technology that

we have and the age that we live in. Appreciate

it all. And so they did a head scan. They started

right here, and they ended up right here. And

with that scan, in that distance, they take about

800 slides, and it takes about three minutes.

I mean, it starts right here, and they go, and

every 100th of an inch, there's a slide. So they

can tell everything that's going on in there.

So I got the report. It said you have a fractured

right eye socket. This one? Fractured? They said,

well, just think back. You know, it was probably

either a car accident or a baseball. I said,

yeah, when I was seven, I got hit in the right

eye. I mean, it took me, and everything got black.

And they said, that was it? And you found that?

Say, yeah, it's right there. Well, I can press

right there. There's a little bump right there.

It hasn't ever caused me any issues, no struggle.

So that one's explainable. That one's explainable.

And then the second one was what they were really

looking for. And they said the, see if I can

remember right. The flow of blood in the sinus

venus is patent. So I looked up patent, and all

I could get was the United States Patent Office.

So when I went in, I said, what does patent mean?

She said, no, it's pronounced patent, Pastor.

I said, spell patent. And the computer thinks

it's patent. She said, well, it's patent. It

means it's flowing through there freely. There's

no clot. And then the third thing they told me

was, on the report, and it says, and you have

a fenestrated basal artery. How many of you know

what that is? Except for the two people that

I told this article. How many of you know what

a fenestrated basal artery is? That sounds to

me like something I'd order at Olive Garden.

Don't you? Fenestrated basal, you know, I wouldn't

even be shocked if I just look at the picture

and say, anybody know what that is? Bunch of

medical people in here. Anybody? Nobody's hardly

ever heard of it. Except when I say it, I'm probably

going to get some email and say, well, that's

because you probably sinned. Really? Is that

how you get a fenestrated basal artery? Listen,

to your brain, there's several blood sources.

Two of them are your carotid arteries. They go

up beside your neck. One of them is your basal

artery. It goes right up the back of your head,

right out of your spine, and right up in the

back of your head, right about in here, that's

where the basal artery is. Right in the back

of your head. And then it branches off everywhere.

And in about two and a half percent of all people,

there's a fenestration, which is a hole. And

she said, the only way I can explain it is it's

like a tree trunk. And if you just drill a hole

right in the middle of the tree trunk, eventually

it would just grow shut. And it wouldn't impact

the tree at all. And most people, it just doesn't

have any impact on them at all. They watched

that area for aneurysms and strokes, but she

said, if you're going to have them, it's going

to be in your mid to late 40s. You're well past

that. I said, amen. She said, don't worry about

it. Fenestrated basal artery. And they found

it not even looking for it, just like the eye

socket. It's kind of like going to your workbench

in the garage, and you're trying to find that

number three Phillips screwdriver, and you're

tossing, and you know it's got to be there somewhere,

and then you go, oh, there's that putty knife

that I was looking for. So they're not even looking

for that, but they find it. And just as sure

as I'm standing here telling you, okay, they

found this thing in my body, somebody's going

to say, because of their... Church tradition,

not world tradition, but it is in the world too.

I mean, even insurance companies. Yes. I've had

experience with it. And they say, well, that

was an act of God. We're going to look just in

a moment and we're going to find out if it really

was an act of God. You know, when a fenestrated

basal artery develops, I just want to help your

doctrine for, you know, somebody just. It might

save me an email. You know when it develops?

I do. The fifth week of embryonic development.

If I had to just stop and thought about it, well,

of course, it's all got to be developed before,

it's all a process of nine months of that development,

and it just happens. Well, are you going to believe

God? I'm not going to do anything. If it's been

there for 65 years and hasn't caused me any problems,

let it be. It's not going to hurt anything. But

see, some people's doctrine is that everything

is a result of... And see, in John chapter 9,

John 9 · chapter mention

if you remember your Bible, there were people

that had that doctrine in Jesus' day. His own

disciples. How about that? The church folk. Who

did sin that this man was born with this condition?

Him or his parents? Really? You think I committed

some heinous sin in the fifth week of embryonic

development? That's pretty tough. You have to

explain that to me. Use little words because

I'm going to have a hard time understanding whatever

you say. That in the fifth week of embryonic

development, that's barely out of the first month.

In the first trimester, all of your arteries

are developing. And one of them, it's like a

river, the main channel of the river going around

an island. And all the water goes around both

sides and then goes on. And so 50 % goes over

here and 50 % goes over there. And there's no

problem. There's no issue. But if you think...

five -week -old embryo can commit a sin, and

that's why that happened in their life? We probably

got a lot of other discussions we need to have

with you, too. Jesus went about doing good and

healing all who were oppressed of the devil,

for God was with him. Jesus said the thief comes

to steal, kill, and destroy. I've come that you

might have life and have it more abundantly.

God is good and his mercy endures forever. Now

turn back to Genesis and let's look at just a

couple other verses here. In Genesis. Now, who

did the creating in Genesis? And don't say a

chimpanzee. Okay, let's get our Bible doctrine

straight. Verse 1. In the beginning, God. All

right, in the beginning, God created the heavens

and the earth. The earth was without form. The

Hebrew says in chaos, void. Darkness was upon

the face of the deep. The Spirit of God moved

on the face of the waters. And God said, let

there be light, and there was light. And there

was evening and morning. In verse 6, God said,

let there be a firmament in the midst of the

waters and divide the waters. Evening and morning,

the second day. Verse 9, God said, let the waters

under heaven be gathered together in one place.

It appeared and it was so. And verse 10, God

called the dry land earth and gathered together

the waters of the seas and God saw that it was

bad. Say again. Oh, God saw that it was good.

Okay, God saw that it was good. Can we just save

some time? Look at verse 12. And the earth broke

forth grass and herb -yielding seed. And God

saw that it was good. Excuse me? God saw that

it was good. Verse 18, to rule over the day and

over the night and divide the light from the

darkness. And God saw that it was good. In verse

21, God created whales and every living thing

that moves and brought forth abundantly and every

winged fowl. And God saw that it was good. Verse

25, and God made the beasts of the field after

its kind, cattle after their kind, everything

that creeps on the earth after its kind. And

God saw that it was good. Wow. God saw that it

was good. In verse 31, and God saw everything

that he had made. Let me rephrase this. God saw

all of what He'd made. God saw everything. Tolos.

Total. Everything. All things that He had made.

And behold, it was very good. And there was evening

and morning the sixth day. God only does good.

God is good. See, we asked the question last

week, is God bad? If God's not good, then what

is He? Is He bad? Is He evil? Is He mean? Is

God vicious? Is He nasty, horrible, terrible?

Is He ill -willed, cranky, antagonistic, hateful?

Is He unfair, unjust, abusive, or destructive?

What is God? If he's not good, we have to find

some verses that establish that at least something

he does is bad, brings pain, brings hurt, brings

embarrassment, makes things difficult or challenging.

Again, if God isn't good, is he bad, evil, mean,

vicious, nasty, horrible, terrible, ill -willed,

cranky, antagonistic, hateful, unfair, unjust,

abusive, or destructive? What is he? God is good.

Your Bible declares that God is good. Now, he's

gotten the rap for a lot of things that weren't.

He's gotten blamed for a lot of things that weren't,

that would easily fit anywhere on that particular

list, or in the first part of John 10, 10, where

it says that the thief comes to steal, kill,

and destroy. or in 1 Peter 5, verse 8, that says

1 Peter 5:8

it's the enemy that's trying to devour. But according

to the Bible, everything that our God did right

there in the beginning was good. Now in chapter

2, he creates man and woman. Oh, I wish I had

time to do this. I wish I had time to teach that

whole lesson from there and Romans 8, but I don't.

We'll have to come up to that at a different

time. But before, listen, before there was sin,

everything was what? No, very good. Very good.

Everything was perfect in the garden until sin.

Once sin came, everything went south. Everything

went to pot. Now you're going to have to work

hard, and it's going to be sweat. Now there's

going to be pain. See, pain is a result of sin.

Not a sin that you committed, but God looked

right at that woman and said, in pain you will

conceive and bear four children. And you, you're

going to work, and by the sweat of your brow,

and you're going to do your best, but it's going

to produce nettles and weeds, and until you go

back to the ground from whence you were taken.

Sin made everything difficult. Sin stained and

stenched everything. Can we see that anywhere

else? Turn to the end of the book. We just read

the beginning of the book. Turn right back to

the end of the book. What's the last book of

the Bible? Book of Revelation. Praise God. From

whom all blessings flow. Amen. You there? All

right. The book of Revelation. Now, from the

time that the serpent slithered into the garden

and presented the first temptation that we're

aware of, and that temptation deceived the woman,

1 Timothy chapter 2. And she sinned. From that

1 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

moment forward, everything in the human race

and in creation itself has been adversely impacted.

Before that, it was good. It was very good. Before

that, there was perfection. After sin came, Now

there's all manner of hurt and destructiveness

and killing and viciousness and even creation

itself. You know what's going to happen when

sin gets booted off planet Earth? Let's read

it. Revelation chapter 20. Now this is at the

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

end of the book of Revelation. This is after

the catching away of the church. What do we call

that? We call that the rapture, the catching

away, the catching up into heaven. And that takes

place in this book at the end of chapter 14.

And in 15, there's worship taking place in heaven.

And in 16, all the seven worst vials of the judgment

of God will be poured out on the earth without

any righteous person here. Already been taken

out. And that takes place in 17, 18, and at the

end of 19. And right into chapter 20, an angel

comes down from heaven. This is after Jesus returns

then. He's coming back. He's going to catch up

the saints first, but he's coming back on a white

horse. And he's taking over. That's in chapter

19. And chapter 20 is just a continuation. The

angel comes down having the key to the bottomless

pit and a great chain in his hand. and lays hold

on the dragon, that old serpent, the devil, Satan,

binds him for a thousand years and casts him

into the bottomless pit and shuts him up, sets

a seal on him, and he should not deceive the

nations anymore till a thousand years shall be

fulfilled. Then he's loosed for a small season.

Wonder what it's going to be like on earth without

a devil. We've never known it. You and I have

never known it. Our parents and grandparents,

the founders of this nation, didn't know it.

The Israelites didn't know it. The Greeks and

Persians didn't know it. No, this earth has never

known a moment where there hasn't been a Lucifer

on this planet earth. But after the catching

away and after the final judgment, which we call

the tribulation, after that, that angel's coming

down and Satan's going to get thrown in the pit.

What's it going to be like then? What's it going

to be like? The book of Isaiah. The book of Isaiah

gives us just a little bit of a glimpse. The

book of Isaiah. Oh, chapter 65. Isaiah 65, verse

Isaiah 65:24

24. And it shall come to pass that before they

call, I will answer. And while they're yet speaking,

I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed

together. See, there won't even be any violence

in the animal kingdom. It'll be like it was before

and right during the flood. There'll be peace

on earth. There'll be peace on earth. Goodwill

toward men. See, the angels, when they came down,

they weren't giving us a Christmas hymn. They

came down on a starry night over the city of

Bethlehem, and that great glorious light shined

all through the sky. And those shepherds looked

up and said, wow. And great fear came upon them.

And they said, we came to bring you good tidings

of great joy. Today is born unto you in the city

of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord. And

this is what they said. They said, glory to God

in the highest and on earth peace. And on earth

peace. Because this Savior is born, there's coming

a time on earth when there'll be peace. We haven't

seen it yet. But because this Savior came. And

because this Savior died and rose again, and

because this Savior is coming back again, and

he will plant his feet on this planet Earth,

there will finally be peace. But not until this

Satan is tossed for a thousand years. And then

the little kid goat and the wolf will lie down

together. There won't even be any murder. There

won't be any robbery. There won't even be any

death in the human race. But not just that, in

all of creation. Romans chapter 8. I wish I had

Romans 8 · chapter mention

time. I don't. Romans chapter 8 says all of creation

Romans 8 · chapter mention

is groaning together to be released. To be released.

Everything about this planet is skewed. The weather.

Everything about it. Now notice what's going

to happen after this. Right here. Right here.

The wolf and the lion, I mean Isaiah 65 -25,

will lie down. The wolf and the lamb will lie

down and feed together. And the lion will eat

straw like the bull. And the dust shall be the

serpent's meal. They shall not hurt. Listen to

this. They shall not hurt or destroy in all of

my holy mountains, saith the Lord. See, this

is what it's going to be like when sin leaves.

Nothing that destroys. Nothing that hurts. Turn

back to chapter 11. Same book, Isaiah, chapter

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

11. And it starts in, I told you we've got just

a couple glimpses. Verse 6 through 9. The wolf

shall dwell with the lamb. The leopard will lie

down with the baby goat. The calf and the young

lion and the fatling together. And the young

child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear

shall feed together. Their young ones will lie

down together. The lion will eat straw like an

ox. The suckling child will play on the hole

of the poisonous viper. and the weaned child

shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall

not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,

for the earth shall be full of the knowledge

of the Lord, as the waters shall cover the sea.

In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which

shall stand for a sign of the people, and to

it the Gentiles shall seek, and his rest shall

be glorious. There's going to be a day of rest.

There's going to be a day of peace. There's going

to be a day of goodwill. There'll be no more

wars. There'll be no more calamities, no more

tragedies, no more catastrophes for a thousand

years. And then what happens? Satan is loosed

at the end of that thousand years, right at the

end of Revelation chapter 20. And what do we

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

have again? Hatred, war, rebellion. Until that's

all put down. And once that's all put down at

the end of the thousand year reign, I'm in Revelation

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20. Once that's all put down, verse 14,

death and hell cast into the lake of fire. That's

the second death. Whoever's not written in the

book of life is cast into the lake of fire. What's

the first word of chapter 21? And, and I saw

a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven

and the first earth were passed away and there

were no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,

the new Jerusalem, coming from God out of heaven,

prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and

he will dwell among them, and they will be his

people, and God himself shall be with them and

be their God. And God will say, Cry those tears,

you sinner. And there will be death for those

who defy him. And there will be much sorrow and

manifold crying and much pain for the former

things are still upon us to that day. Oh, did

I read that wrong? I did. Well, we better go

back to verse 3 and read it right. See, when

you get to God created the heavens and the earth,

and there was darkness and chaos, and we understand

that to be because of the rebellion of Satan.

And that was the impact of sin. And God came

and said, let there be light. There had been

enough of this darkness, and let there be light.

And there was light, and everything was good.

And he created and recreated, and he said at

the end, everything is very good. You want to

see what God is like? You want to see his character,

his heart, his nature? Look at the world before

sin. Then there was sin, and now everything we've

had for about 6 ,000 years of human history.

But at the end of this chapter, there's going

to come a thousand -year reign where Jesus is

honored on planet Earth, and the knowledge of

God is going to cover this earth, and it's going

to be righteousness, and there'll be nothing

that hurts or destroys. Nothing. Not in the animal

kingdom. Nothing. Somebody tried to convince

me, a particular quote -unquote movement. And

in that particular movement, it was called the

Kingdom Now, they said, well, Jesus came back,

you know, probably before Columbus waded ashore

here, and we're really in the millennium right

now. I said, is that right? You believe that?

They said, well, yeah, why don't you? I said,

well, I'll believe it if you just do one thing

for me. You take a lamb. Just go find yourself

a baby lamb. Just go up to some farmer who's

got a little baby sheep out in the field and

say, hey, can I borrow one of them? No, no, no,

you better not do that. You better buy it. Because

borrowing furs, you're going to give it back.

So just go buy this little sheep and go up to

the Cuomo Park Zoo up in Minneapolis and throw

him into the lion cage and see if they lie down

together. We're not in the millennium yet. No

sense you being concerned about, you know, why

is this happening? Why is that happening? Why

is the other? I'm trying to live right. I tie.

I read my Bible. I'm a good Christian. Your Bible

says in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 13,

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

no temptation takes you, but such is common unto

all mankind. Well, why does God bring that? Whoa,

whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. There is no temptation

taking you, but such is common unto man. You

think temptation comes from God? You need to

read your Bible. Again, we need to get our doctrine

from the book. And the book says in James chapter

James 1 · chapter mention

1 and verse 13, that no man say when he is tempted,

I'm tempted of God. God cannot be tempted with

evil, neither tempteth he any man. Temptation

doesn't come from our God. Read Matthew 4 and

Luke 4, and you'll see that when Jesus was come

in the wilderness, it says, and when the tempter

came to him, when the tempter came to him, he

said, if you be the son of God, what? Know your

Bible well enough? Go back to Matthew 4, if not.

Matthew 4. See, before there was sin, everything

was very good. When sin is tossed off the earth

for a thousand years, there'll be nothing that

hurts or kills or steals or destroys. There'll

be none of that on earth. And when finally the

new heavens and the new earth are created and

heaven comes down, there'll be no more death.

There'll be no more pain. There'll be no more

sorrow. All the former things have passed away.

That's where you and I are headed. Because God

is good. You don't have to go through eternity

with a God you think is nasty and immoral and

ill -willed and antagonistic and hurtful and

abusive and destructive and vicious and mean

and evil. That is not your God. That's not our

God. Our God can be seen in His Son, and His

Son went about doing good and healing all who

were oppressed of the devil, for God was with

Him. Notice the temptation in Matthew chapter

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

4. Jesus is being tempted. It's not a sin to

be tempted. It may be a sin to yield to it, but

it's not a sin to be tempted. Here he's tempted

of the devil. Matthew chapter 4, of the devil.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

The devil's the tempter. It says in verse 3,

and the tempter came to him and said, well, how

do you know that's the devil? Read verse 5, and

the devil took him. That's who it is. And verse

8, and the devil took him. Now see, if you analyze

these three temptations, self is at the center

of all three of them. All three of them. The

first one is self -centeredness. Use your anointing

and use your power to cause this stone to be

made bread. If Jesus would have done that, he'd

have put himself above the will of God. He'd

have said, yes, I need to use my prayer anointing.

I need to use my intercessory prayer ability.

I need to use my anointing to bless myself. What

do you think he'd have done then in the Garden

of Gethsemane? Because he didn't want to go there.

He said, if there's any way that this cup can

pass for me, nevertheless, not my will but yours

be done. It's not about me. It's not about what

I want. It's not about my needs. It's not about

what I crave and what I long for. So many people

who have tried to build their faith for themselves

because they want to get something. That's the

very first temptation that Jesus faced. Use your

power. If you're the son of God, use that ability

to do this for yourself. It self -centered us.

The second one here that he says, throw yourself

off the pinnacle of the temple. That's self -destructiveness.

That's self -destructiveness. That's the devil,

ladies and gentlemen. Well, life is hard, and

I'm going through so much turmoil, and I just

don't think I can stand the pain. I think I just

should end my life. No, you should believe God.

You should allow Him to come as the deliverer,

the rescuer, the one to set you up, the one to

help you, the one to deliver you. But He'll say,

well, that'll end all of your pain. You know

that for a fact. There is a level of pain that

no human being has ever experienced awaiting

those who violate God and who turn from Him.

And it's eternal. Self -destructiveness. The

third temptation here, the third temptation is

just bow down and worship me. And I'll give you

all of this. Just bow down and worship me. It's

self -exaltation. It's self -exaltation. I deserve

to be recognized. I deserve to be attended to.

I deserve to be worshipped. No, the tempter,

ladies and gentlemen, is not our God. James 1

.13. The tempter is not our God. The tempter

is the evil one tempting you, tempting you to

disobey God, tempting you to cool off, tempting

you to sin, tempting you to displease God, tempting

you to be lazy and slothful, tempting you to

worry and to fear. Oh, pastor, I don't know if

I would have wanted to know that. I mean, there's

something wrong in the back of your head. Oh,

how are you going to live with that? I'm going

to eat breakfast. I'm going to eat lunch. I'm

going to eat dinner. I'm going to go to sleep.

I'm going to watch football. I'm going to go

fishing. 1 Corinthians 10, 13, we didn't finish.

Let no man say... No, that was James 1, 13. Let

no man say of his temptations to God. This is

no temptation taking you, but such is common

unto all men. But God... But God... But God...

But God... But God... I'm in 1 Corinthians 10,

13. Thank you. Thank you. There's no temptation

taking you, but such is... Common unto, how many?

Yeah, common to man. But God, come on, help me

now. But God is faithful who will not allow you

to be tempted above that which you're able to

withstand, but with every temptation will make

a way for you to get out of it. A way of escape

so that you may be able to bear up. God's not

the one that brings temptation. He's the one

that gives you a way out. He is not the one that

brings temptation. He's the one that gives you

a way out. Now let's start going through some

verses real quick because I'm just about out

of time. Last week we looked at these verses,

John 1, 1 -4, that Jesus in him is life. 1 John

1 John 5:12

5, verse 12, there is no life in any other. Life,

not death, life. 1 John 4, verse 9. We looked

1 John 4:9

at John 3, 16 and 17 that says, For God so loved

the world, He gave His only Son, whosoever believeth

in Him should not perish, but have everlasting

life. God doesn't want anybody to perish, but

to have everlasting life. Verse 17, a great verse,

a powerful verse, a pivotal verse in your Bible.

Jesus, John 3, 17, did not come to condemn the

world. He didn't come to condemn you. He came

that the world through him might be saved. Now,

you want to hang on before we get done, because

we're going to give you a verse out of the book

of Luke. It'll just become just a life verse

for you, just a powerhouse verse for you. We

looked at Romans 6, 23, that the wages of sin,

and remember, sin didn't come from God. Sin came

as a result of the serpent in the garden and

temptation that was yielded to. That's when sin

entered the planet. And when sin entered the

planet, everything's been kooky and crosswise

and mixed up and a mess ever since. But the mess

will cease when Jesus comes and sin is thrown

out. And then for some reason, I don't understand,

but we don't understand, after that thousand

years, Satan's going to be loosed again and it'll

get to be a mess for a couple of days. Or a week

or a little while. We don't know how long. But

then once that's taken care of and sin is totally

eradicated, then there'll be no more death, no

more sorrow, no more hurt, no more harm, no more

destructiveness, no more viciousness. Everything

will be peace on earth, goodwill toward men.

Everything. Everything. Just like it is in heaven

right now. That's the will of God. You want to

see the will of God? Look at Eden before the

fall. You want to see the will of God? Look at

heaven. You want to see the will of God? Look

at Jesus. That's what God's heart is, and that's

what God's will is. We looked at the 23rd Psalm.

Isn't that good? Because the Lord is my shepherd,

I have all sorts of issues and struggles and

problems. I don't know why I ever got saved in

the first place. No, the Lord is my shepherd,

therefore I have no wants. I mean, turn and look

at it with me. We're going to look at the Psalm.

Come on, come on, come on. Psalm 23. The Lord

is my shepherd, so I don't have any wants. All

my needs are met. He makes me to lie down in

brown pastures, burnt off, crisp, nothing growing

there, desert, famished. No, he makes me lie

down in green pastures, leaves me beside the

still waters. He does what to my soul? He oppresses

my soul. No, he restores my soul. He leads me

in the right paths. He doesn't get up and change

the sign in the road, make me think I'm going

the right direction and really I'm going the

wrong direction. Oh, no, no, he leads me in the

paths that are right. Yea, though I walk through

the valley of the shadow of death, he snickers

and said, deal with it. No, no, no, no, no. Though

I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I'll fear no evil for he's with me. His rod and

staff, they comfort me. He prepares a table before

me, a banqueting feast in the presence of mine

enemies. He anoints my head with oil, my cup

runs over. Surely, goodness and mercy follow

me all the days of my life and I'll dwell in

the house of the Lord forever. Now, why is it

that goodness and mercy follow me? Because God

is good and his mercy endures forever. Look ahead

again at Psalm 106. Verse one, for the Lord is

good and his judgment, anger, no, no, for his

mercy endures forever. His what? His mercy endures

forever. Look at Psalm 107. Verse 1, O give thanks

unto the Lord, for he is nasty, evil, harsh,

mean, bad, horrible, cranky, antagonistic, abusive,

destructive. No, no, no, no. No, for the Lord

is good, and his mercy endures forever. Let the

redeemed of the Lord say so, who is redeemed

from the hand of the enemy. Now, he goes all

the way down through this. Please read Psalm

107 in its entirety this afternoon or this evening

sometime. Please do that. Please do that. I'd

love to read every verse, but I'm short on time.

So I'm just going to have to go to verse 8. And

it says, Oh, that men would praise the Lord for

His goodness and His wonderful works for the

children of men. And then it goes down to verse

15 and it says, Oh, that men would praise the

Lord for His goodness and His wonderful works

toward the children of men. And then it goes

down to verse 21 and it says, Go on, help me

preach. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for

His goodness and His wonderful works to the children

of men. And then it goes down to verse 31 and

it says, Oh, that men would praise the Lord for

His goodness and His wonderful works to the children.

You think that God wants people to praise Him

for His goodness? Did you get that out of that

psalm? It's like slap, slap, slap, slap. Get

this, will you? I want you to pay attention here.

I want you to see. So I'm going to say it four

times in this one psalm. I wish that people would

praise me for my goodness instead of blaming

me for pinching them. Women would praise God

for His goodness. Oh, that children would praise

God for His goodness. Oh, that preachers would

praise God for His goodness. Oh, that people

at home would praise God for His goodness. Oh,

that people in church would praise God for His

goodness. Oh, that men would praise God for His

goodness. And His wonderful works to the children

of men. Turn back to Psalm 121. Just keep turning

in your Bible. Psalm 121. What verses? Let's

read them all. I will lift up my eyes to the

hills from whence cometh all of my trouble. From

where my help comes from. From where my help

comes from. God's not your enemy. He's not your

adversary. He's not the one holding you back.

He's not the one pushing you down. That's where

your help comes from. My help comes from the

Lord who made heaven and earth. He'll not allow

my foot to be moved. He that keepeth me, he's

the one that keeps you. Will not slumber. Behold,

he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber

or sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is

your shade by your right hand. The sun will not

smite you by day or the moon by night. The Lord

shall preserve you from all evil. The Lord shall

preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your

going out and coming in from this time forth

even forevermore. This is God. This is the God

whom we serve. This is the Lord of all. Psalm

46, 1 -3. The 46th Psalm. And the first three

verses. God is our source of trouble. He's the

one that brings tribulation and trial. He's the

tempter. He's the one who brings destruction.

No, none of that in our Bible. God is our refuge

and our fortress, our very present help in time

of trouble. You think God causes trouble and

then he comes and helps you out of it? You think

he's bored? He's just going to cause you misery

and then deliver you out of it? He's going to

discomfort you so that he can come and be the

comforter. No, we've got an enemy and he comes

and he's our very present help. Our refuge and

our strength in times of trouble. Therefore we

will not fear, though the earth be removed, though

the mountains be carried into the sea, though

the waters roar and be troubled, or the mountains

shake and a swelling thereof. Psalm 33. Psalm

33. Verse 18 and 19. Behold, the eye of the Lord

is upon those that fear Him, upon them that hope

in His mercy. Hope in His mercy. Hope in God's

mercy. It endures forever. Hope in His mercy.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that

fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy to

deliver their soul from death and keep them alive

in famine. Psalm 34, verse 17, the righteous

Psalms 34:17

cry and the Lord hears and says, go ahead and

cry, you deserve it. No, no, the righteous cry

and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all

their trouble. The Lord is near them of a broken

heart and saves those of a contrite spirit. Many,

how many? Again, a little louder. A lot louder.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but

God caused them so he lets them just wallow in

them. No, a thousand times no. Many are the afflictions

of the righteous, but God delivers them out of

them all. Say it, out of them all. Again. Many

are the afflictions of the righteous, but God

delivers them out of them all. He sends His angels.

Verse 7. And they encamp round about them that

fear God, and they deliver them. Another assignment

for later today. Read Psalm 91. Again, in its

entirety. Psalm 35 and verse 27. Let them shout

for joy and be glad that favor my righteous cause.

Let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified

who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servants.

That's your God. And that's the nature of your

God. 3 John 2 says His desire, His will for you

is that you would prosper and that you would

be in health even as your soul prospers. Psalm

84. Psalm 84. Hope you're enjoying church this

morning. And verse 11 says, For the Lord God

is a sun and a shield. The Lord will give grace

and glory. Not tribulation and bitterness. Not

wretchedness and need. The Lord will give grace

and glory. No good thing will He withhold from

them who walk uprightly. He's not the one holding

back. He's not the one withholding. No good thing.

No good thing will He withhold from them who

walk uprightly. Proverbs 10 .22 says, The blessing

of the Lord maketh rich and adds a ton of sorrow

with it. No, see, he's not schizophrenic. He's

not like, over here, I'm going to cause blessing

and delight in your blessing, and then I want

you to sorrow. No, I want you to be blessed,

and there be no sorrow. He doesn't add sorrow.

He's not the one that adds sorrow. He's the one

that brings blessing. Blessing. All right, we're

winding down. We're winding down. 1 Corinthians

chapter, I'm sorry, 2 Corinthians chapter 1.

2 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

We might have looked at this previous. I know

I mentioned it, not by verse, but I know I did

mention it here. It says in 2 Corinthians 1,

2 Corinthians 1:3

verses 3 and 4. See, this is a revelation of

what God is like and who God is and His character

and His nature. Verse 3, Blessed be God, even

the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father

of mercies. He's good in His mercy. Endures forever.

Hope in His mercy. The Father of mercy is the

God of all comfort. The God of what? My God is

the God of all comfort. Who comforts us in our

tribulation. He doesn't bring tribulation. He

comforts us in the middle of it. So that we may

be able to comfort others who are in trouble.

By the comfort which we ourselves have received

in being comforted by God. Chapter 7 in this

book and verse 6 says, Nevertheless, God who

comforts those who are cast down. See, it's not

God that brings trouble. It's not God that brings

tribulation. And it's not God that pushes you

down. It says right there, He's the one that

helps you up. He's the one that helps you up.

He's the one that brings comfort. All right?

Oh, I kind of wanted to save this one for last.

it's hard enough to find that you better start

looking. Nahum. You better start looking right

now. Nahum. If you go to the back of the Old

Testament and find Malachi, just turn and left.

Zechariah, Haggai, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, and then

you'll come to Nahum. I'll give you just a moment.

I'll give you a moment. Then I can say we're

late because you took so long. Come on. Nahum

Nahum 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1. Nahum chapter 1. Ready? I mean, this

Nahum 1 · chapter mention

is our second to the last verse. Take a deep

breath. Take a deep breath. We're almost there.

We're in the final stretch. We're pressing towards

the mark. We're stretching out for the tape.

We're almost there. We're almost there. Almost.

Are you ready? Tell me you found it if you found

Nahum. All right, that's enough. Nahum chapter

Nahum 1 · chapter mention

1. What are the first four words of verse 7?

I can't hear you. I want to hear it louder. The

Lord is good. That's it. That's what the Bible

says. It doesn't say sometimes, most of the time.

It doesn't say if you are. The Lord is good.

Keep reading. A stronghold in the day of trouble,

and He knows those who trust in Him. A stronghold

in the day of trouble, and He knows those who

trust in Him. Well, I have to admit that I did

have to skip over just a couple of verses. I

had to. I had to. We're over time right now.

But can we suffice it to say the Lord is good?

His mercy endures forever. He's not the source

of trouble. He's the one who is a stronghold

in the day of trouble. He's not the one that

brings destruction and destroys. The thief comes

to steal and to kill and to destroy. To look

at Jesus, you see God, and He went about doing

good. Good and healing all who are oppressed

of the devil. My God, your God, our God is a

delivering God. A delivering God. A just God.

A faithful God. He's a good God. And He loved

the world so much that He sent His only begotten

Son so that whosoever would believe in Him, Jesus,

they'd never perish. They'd have everlasting

life. And He did not come into the world so that

the world would be condemned by Him. He came

into the world so that the world would be saved

by Him. Now turn to Luke chapter 9 and look at

Luke 9 · chapter mention

another brand new favorite verse of ours. Right

here. Verse 56. Luke 9, 56. For the Son of Man

is not come to destroy men's lives. He's not

the destroyer. He did not come to destroy men's

lives, but to save them. That's why Jesus came.

Jesus didn't come to make your life more difficult.

Jesus didn't come to make it harder for you.

Well, it seems pretty hard to live this Christian

life the way you present it, Pastor. Excuse me.

I'll just hold the Bible out to you. And it is

not difficult. To live according to your Bible.

It's not hard. The Bible says this. The way of

the transgressor is hard. That's what's hard.

Fighting against God. And living contrary to

Him. And thinking contrary to Him. And speaking

contrary. That's hard. There's no help there.

There's no deliverer there. God won't help you

disobey Him. God will not help you sin. But He'll

help you obey Him. He'll help you walk uprightly.

He'll help you love other people. He'll help

you forgive. He'll grace your life to serve.

He'll grace your life to put others before yourself.

He'll grace your life to sacrifice. He'll grace

your life powerfully to give. He'll grace your

life to be diligent. He'll grace your life to

be consistent. He'll grace your life to be faithful.

He'll grace your life to be thankful. He won't

grace your life to pout. He won't grace your

life to complain. He's not going to help you

one bit with that. He'll grace your life to be

godly in Christ Jesus and to emulate and imitate

and mimic His Son, who is our example. He'll

help you come to church. He'll help you lift

your hands. He'll help you worship Him in His

great name and lift Him up. He'll help you stand.

He'll even give you His armor. Put on the armor

of God that you'll be able to stand in the evil

day. Having done all to stand, stand. Stand.

He'll help you in every aspect of life. But this

Christian life, this isn't hard. This isn't hard.

You've got God. You've got the Spirit of the

living God with you. You've got angels encamped

around about you. You'll still have temptation.

You'll still have trial. You'll still have difficulty.

I mean, look at Jesus. You're not doing anything

wrong because somebody resists you, because you

have some tragedy or calamity take place in your

life, because you face death. It's appointed

unto every man once to die. It's graduation day

for the Christian. After that, the judgment.

Thank God for it. What we believe and why we

believe it. We believe it because it's in the

Bible from cover to cover. We believe it because,

yes, there is judgment that comes from the just

God, but not on his children, not those who are

walking uprightly. He withholds no good thing

from them that walk uprightly. That trouble and

that agonizing pain and that difficulty, that

didn't come from God. I gave you two chapters

already to look at. Psalm 107, if you forgot

them already. Psalm 91. And now Deuteronomy chapter

Deuteronomy 28 · chapter mention

28. Deuteronomy chapter 28 and the first 15 verses

Deuteronomy 28 · chapter mention

tell you exactly what's going to take place and

happen and God's going to see to it in the life

of those who are submitted to him and seek his

word. Doesn't mean there won't be trial. Doesn't

mean there won't be pain. Doesn't mean there

may be... There might be death. There might be

trouble. There might be trauma. Don't blame God

for that. Don't get angry at God for that. It'll

hurt your life. It'll hurt your faith. It'll

hurt your walk. If you don't understand it, say,

I don't understand it. I don't know why a tree

fell on our house. I don't know why the storm

blew it away. I don't know why it burned to the

ground. I don't know why Mrs. Clemens had a flat

tire. Well, I do know why. She ran over a nail.

The devil had nothing to do with it. She ran

over a nail. We had two deer run into us one

year after we were first married. I mean, I didn't

even get to hit them. They hit me. And I mean,

the first one was a massive buck. He hit that

little chevette so hard it turned us 90 degrees

and we were sliding up the gravel and all I was

saying was, get the knife, get the knife, get

the knife. The knife of my... Glove box. He just

got up, shook himself, and ran away. Big old

buck. I was mad because I didn't get him. Crunched

our car. Car had to go in the shop. Paula's driving

our other car. It was a beater. They both were

beaters. The heater didn't work. We had a week

like we're expecting here coming up. Way below

zero. We didn't have enough money to buy her

a mitten. She had socks on her hands. No heater.

Window fogging up. Had to roll the window down.

And she's driving with that beater number two.

With socks on her hands. No heater. Window rolled

down. Cold all bundled up in that little car.

And what happens? A deer hits her! And I'm going

to say before God, my bride and I did not get

angry at God. He's not out raising deer up out

of their beds and pushing them out into the highway,

just perfectly timing it to run into us to make

our life more miserable than it already is. We

didn't rashly blame God, get mad at Him, get

angry with Him. A deer hit our car. The first

one, I mean, it smashed both windows in on this

side, glass all over us, and totaled the car.

And the second one, I don't even remember, but,

I mean, didn't we pull that car by home with

a tractor? You put it in the ditch. We all have

temptations. We all have trials. We all have

agonizing moments in life. You don't have to

have the explanation to everything. You never

will. But through it all, love God. And know

that He's good. And our God is only good. Thank

you for watching The Word of the Lord, a weekly

television broadcast of Living Word Christian

Church. Living Word Christian Church welcomes

you to join us at 2015 Ward Avenue in La Crosse,

Wisconsin, Sunday mornings at 830 and Wednesday

evenings at 7. For more information on Living

Word Christian Church, visit us on the web. at

LWCCLAX .com.