Proclaiming His Goodness, Part 4

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Author and Pastor David Helm said that what we do with Jesus will mean everything to our standing and identity before God. Christ is the cornerstone. You cannot be indifferent about Jesus Christ. You will eventually stumble over Him or in submitting to Him, find the foundation on which to build your life. In this message titled Proclaiming His Goodness, Rich unpacks 1 Peter 2, 4-10.

Today is the final part of the message, first preached on September 11, 2022. 1 Peter 2, 3. Have you tasted that the Lord is good? We are not talking about a good restaurant. We're not talking about a good book. We're talking about the perfect person, the infinite being, the creator, redeemer who is good.

There's never a time that he's not good. He knows me deeply, intimately, absolutely. And you know what?

He loves me. How many of you can say that of each other? So many of us have are keeping up these appearances because we know if people really knew what I was like, they wouldn't like us at all. Others of us just lay it all out there. We don't care.

But no, what we normally do is we keep up these appearances because we're really afraid if people really knew us for what we are, they would not love us. That is diametrically opposed to the grace of God. Doesn't belong in the church.

He knows me and he loves me. Want to see a good picture of this of somebody who tasted the goodness of God? Look in John's Gospel, the Samaritan woman, she goes to the well to draw water at a time when other women are not there. And there's a man sitting there and this man who is a Jew asks her for water. And she says, why are you, a Jewish man, talking to me, a Samaritan woman? And then he talks about water that she can drink from which she would never thirst again. And at the end of it, after her encounter with Jesus, what does she do?

She runs into town and she says, you need to come see this man who told me everything I've ever done. And he was hospitable to me. She tasted the goodness of God. Have you tasted the goodness of God? His perfections, have you tasted them? His perfections are this. And this is what I'm going to challenge you to do.

This is the challenge I want you to leave with today. And that is to be able to articulate the goodness of God. When we talk about the goodness of God, can you articulate the goodness of God?

Now, here's what I fear happens for most people, particularly in our Western culture. If I were to come to you and ask you, articulate to me the goodness of God, the first place your mind is going to go to is to your material and physical comforts. In my prayer for you, dear church, is this, that God would rescue you from that idolatry. Because your physical and material comfort does not equal the goodness of God. God is good. We live in a broken, fallen world. We have death. We have disappointments.

We have discouragements. But God is good. And that never changes. Can you articulate the goodness of God? His perfections, that He is unfailing good, that He is infinite, that He is a transcendent being, that His love is infinite, that His understanding is infinite, that He knows me infinitely, and that He loves me yet and deeply, that He is perfectly just, that He is holy, absolutely. In Him there is no darkness. There is no injustice in Him, that He is sovereign, and He is absolutely trustworthy, and His purposes will stand. You know, that's why the book of Job is in Scripture.

No one here has or ever will suffer at the level that Job suffered. And Job proved one thing. God is worthy of my worship. That's why Job is in Scripture.

Because that's what the adversary was testing. His accusation was God bribes people for their worship. And you know what?

In our humanness, we tend to believe that. God, I will worship you if you do this for me. God, if you do this for me, then I will serve you. That, loved ones, is pagan.

Don't go there. That's not grace. Can you articulate the goodness of God? That His grace is that He condescended to us. He came to us. He gave Himself to us. His redemption, His resurrection, the reconciliation, the regeneration that He makes us new. That we have been rescued from darkness and transferred in darkness and despair and transferred into the kingdom of His Son, the kingdom of light and love. Can you articulate His goodness? The pinnacle of devotion, says Edmund Clowney, the pinnacle of devotion is to rejoice in God Himself. Not the things He does for you, but to rejoice in God Himself. Have you tasted that the Lord is good? And when you articulate the goodness of God, it's not by pointing to material and physical comforts of life, but it's because you feed and delight at His banquet table.

Do you? I pray that for you. I desire that for you. He desires that for you. He is your highest good and your deepest satisfaction. He is not what He does for you. He is. What makes heaven, heaven is God.

It's not the streets of gold. It's God. So I end with some questions today, pointed questions.

This is take home value, right? It's one thing to be thinking about this today at just after 11 o'clock. It's one thing entirely to be thinking about this Tuesday at 3 o'clock. Does my relationship with my spouse make known the excellencies of God? Does the way I train my children make known the excellencies of God? Is my concern for them that they know God, or is it more my concern for them that they get the highest possible education and make the most possible money?

Does the way I train my children reflect and make known the excellencies of God? Does my work ethic make known the excellencies of God? Does my relation with my neighbors and my colleagues make known the excellencies of God that He is our highest good and our deepest satisfaction? Does my leisure and entertainment make known the excellencies of God that I indeed have tasted that the Lord is good? Do my ambitions make known the excellencies of God that He is my highest good and my deepest satisfaction? You see, I'm not asking you to go out.

I am not asking you to go out and put up more appearances. Your testimony is not paramount here. That's a different kind of church that will teach that. God wants your heart. He wants you to taste His goodness so that all of these aspects of your life will make known the excellencies of God. He invites you to feast at His banquet table. Are you feasting?

Have you tasted that the Lord is good? Return to His banquet table and feed on His goodness. You are free to do that in Christ. And then live in the outflow. You see, that's how grace works.

Live in the outflow of that. I end today by quoting John Piper. He says, the whole duty of the Christian can be summed up in this. Feel, think, and act in a way that will make God look as great as He really is. He's contrasting the difference between a microscope and a telescope. A microscope will make something very small look bigger than it is. That's not what we do. We gaze at something that is majestically awesome. And we put up the telescope to magnify its beauty and awesomeness. Loved ones, you and I are that telescope.

That's us. That we may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness and light. Be a telescope for the world of the infinite starry wealth of the glory of God. The second characteristic of a people who are free is that they proclaim His goodness. Let's do this. Let's be a people who are free. If you are not free in Christ today, I invite you to visit with me. I'd love to visit with you. We can do so right after the service, straight down the hall, corner on the left, there's a round table. Look for that round table.

I'll meet you there. You need Jesus Christ. You need Jesus Christ.

If you're not in Jesus Christ, you will stumble over Him. You are not free. Loved ones, if you are in Christ, recognize that you are free. You are free to feast at His banquet, so eat away and proclaim the goodness of God because you've tasted His goodness. Father, it is a good thing to sing praises, to give thanks to you, to worship you, to humbly bow and adore you, because you alone are worthy.

There is none like you. So, Father, grant us this morning two things. Rescue from a small view of you. Rescue from our idolatry. And grant us, Father, a taste afresh of your goodness as we recognize this grace in which we stand. Father, may your excellencies be known. We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, 7 Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. 7 Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace, weekdays at 10 a.m.