Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell. pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can learn a lot about the character of God. Through what he does. In this message titled, You Have Lacked Nothing, Pastor Rich unpacks Deuteronomy 2, shedding light on the narrative.
we can see God's necessary justice and His abundant goodness. This is part four of a message first preached on April 21st, 2024. And so it would be with these, you know, and if they were to leave some of the women and their women then would become servants or even some of them would become their wives because we know men are weak. We know that. And they would influence the men.
And some of the children would grow up to be vengeful. of their people. And exact vengeance on Israel. We find that in the story of Esther, where Haman, you remember Haman who hated Mordecai? Heyman was An agagite, an agaging agag was of the Amalekites, and they were a people that God said they need to be gone.
And because they were not, and Israel disobeyed. Here is Haman. Years centuries later, hating the Jews and planning as a powerful man planning the extermination of the Jews. This is why.
So it is God's justice. Against an unimaginably wicked people. and wicked practices. All of this is anchored in God's Goodness. I want you to think about something here.
This is kind of a philosophical thought here. If God did not oppose evil, he would not be good.
Okay, we got that. Let me just put it this way. Is this a problem for you? then the here's the here's the whole point. If God was not good, this whole scenario would be utterly.
meaningless. Meaningless. You watch YouTube videos, don't you? National Geographic of the African Safari. And you watch animals chasing and eating animals.
Right? Is that immoral? No. They're doing what animals do. You and I don't do that.
We chase and eat animals, but we don't chase and eat each other. At least I hope not.
Some of that might be going on in Haiti a little bit. We really need to pray for that country. There's a lot of wickedness down there. But see, we don't do that because we were made as moral beings. Why?
Because we bear God's image.
So all of this ultimately points back to the goodness of God. He is good, and because he is good, he opposes evil. Keep that in mind. The next point is point number five: the forbearance of God. The forbearance of God.
We might think, well, God, He just got mad, and on a whim, He just, oh, and just wipe him out. You see, that's an example of us making God in our image. We think He's like us. They did something I don't like, so I'm just gonna wipe them out. I think of other drivers like that sometimes, you know, but, you know, but see, God's not like that.
He's not like that at all. He's a very forbearing God. You want to know how forbearing he he is? Look at Genesis chapter 15 and verse 16. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.
Who's he talking to? He's talking to Abraham. This was almost 600 years earlier. Yeah. And he's saying, the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.
God gave the Amorites. Centuries. to change their ways. They knew about Jehovah. They had encountered Abraham.
They knew probably about Joseph. Jacob and Joseph And do you remember the prophet Jonah and God sent Jonah to, who did he send him to? The Ninevites, a wicked people, and he said, In 40 days, unless you repent, 40 days, destruction's going to come. And they did. We forget about the forbearance of God.
And here we're talking almost six centuries of forbearance. Six centuries. God waited centuries while the Amorites slowly filled up their own cups of condemnation by their sinful, barbaric behavior. God never acted impulsively against them. His grace and mercy waited to see if they would repent and turn from their headlong plummet into self-destruction.
The forbearance of God. And then the last point here that we need to consider.
Well, let me back up here for a second. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 16. The Gentiles, that they might be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins, but wrath has come upon them at last, to fill up the measure of their sins. You see, God is a forbearing God. It comes down to this.
Here's a point, a very important point I want you to remember: God's hope. Holiness necessarily limits His forbearance. God's holiness necessarily limits his is forbearance. In other words, man can go on and continue being very and more and more and more sinful. And get to the point where there's absolutely no concern for life among them, and every man is utterly consumed with himself, and he will do whatever he wants to any other human for his own pleasure and gratification.
And eventually, that goes on long enough, and eventually, God will say, enough. Away with you. Because he is holy. Because he is good. And he is just.
Lastly, I want us to consider God's election, the election of God. We're speaking of his chosen people Israel here. Let's look at his steadfast love, the steadfast love for his people. Because remember, he has a purpose for them. Election is not arbitrary, but it's with design and purpose and privileges, as we've already considered.
He made a promise to them and to their fathers, and we've already established God is a promise-keeping God. And he promised them this land. I will bring you into this land. I will give you this land. Why?
Because there is a purpose. There's a purpose in all of this. Because you, my people, will be, are called to be a light to the Gentiles. And it is in this land, and through this people, you, Israel, my people, through you, Messiah will come. to redeem mankind, to reconcile man to God, and to make all things new.
And because of that, they were under God's protection. It's a big part of what it means to be chosen. That's what Romans 8 is all about. that we are under the protection of God. That God prevents the corruption of his people.
The last illustration today, surgeon.
Sometimes surgeons have to remove limbs. If a limb dies and it becomes full of gangrene. And the surgeon will not hesitate to remove that limb, lest it infect the rest of the body. This is what's going on. This is what's going on.
Well, Rich, this has been nice. I want to leave you with just a few thoughts today. I want to bring it home.
Okay, let's bring this home. Number one, I want you to evaluate. Yeah. We are not going to evaluate God. God's word is to be brought to bear upon our lives.
Here's what I want you to evaluate. What is the starting point? And the object of my faith. Is it Myself. Or Is it the infinite, sovereign, transcendent?
Holy and good creator. Is he the starting point of my faith? As he has revealed himself. Or am I the starting point of my faith? Because it's my faith, and I'm going to choose the kind of God I'm going to believe in.
Are you ready to evaluate that? We must know God. in the way that he has made himself known. Lest we worship a God of our imagination. And we will.
Next, I want you to. Afresh. appreciate Three things. Number one, the holiness of God. God is Holy.
Number two, I want you to appreciate the destructiveness of sin. And that is something that every one of us battles with, and we should be so thankful. That the Lamb of God came. To do what? to take away the sin of the world.
Thirdly, I want you to appreciate on that note. the amazingness of grace. You've been listening to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. To hear this message and others, check out www.delightinggrace.com. to discover how to live by grace.
Tune in with us on weekdays at 10 a.m.
