The Character of God #1

Welcome to the Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hello, I'm Bill Wright. Thanks for joining us as we continue teaching God's people God's Word. Don begins a new message today, so without further delay, let's join him right now in the Truth Pulpit. On January 7th, 1855, Charles Spurgeon opened his morning sermon with these words. He said, "...the highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his father. It is a subject so vast that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity, so deep that our pride is drowned in its infinity. No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind than thoughts of God. But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He who often thinks of God will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe. The most excellent study for expanding the soul is the science of Christ and him crucified and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the deity. Would you lose your sorrow?

Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead's deepest sea. Be lost in his immensity and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul, so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief, so speak to the winds of trial as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.

It is to that subject that I invite you this morning." And it's to that subject that I invite you here this evening in this message as we continue our study on the attributes of God. Let me remind you that we are in the midst of an ongoing study in systematic theology that we started a couple of months ago. Starting with the premise that God has revealed himself in his word and established his authority, made his authority known in the Scriptures. And the most important thing that God has done in that revelation is he has made himself known. He has told us what he is like. And that is where we all must begin, that is where all of our thinking must concentrate, is to go to the Word of God and establish our worldview, establish our thinking, establish the parameters of human thought based on what God has revealed in his word and specifically what he has revealed about himself in his word.

Everything else is trivial by comparison. As we study the character of God, as we looked at that over the past couple of weeks, we realized that we saw something of the immensity of God, that he is an infinite God of independence, he is self-existent, that he is a God of omniscience, that he is wise, that he is unchanging, and that he is powerful, powerful in the sense that he can do anything that he wants to do. Nothing hinders the will of God.

He has the absolute power and ability to do anything that he wants. That's why we call him sovereign over all of creation. Those are lofty thoughts of God in the language that Spurgeon used. We've seen the greatness of God in the studies that we've had so far. What we're going to do this evening is take a look at the moral character of God. What is God like? What is he like in his nature, in his moral nature, what is he like? Yet as we go from the mind of God to the power of God and now to the character of God, beloved, what I would want you to see, what I would be eager for you to grasp and to comprehend is that as we look at his moral character, we're simply displaying another aspect of his greatness. God is great, and he is good in his greatness, you might say. That's what we said last time, that as we consider the power and the omnipotence of God is to realize that that is a place of rest for our souls because his omnipotence is never arbitrary.

He always exercises it in consistency with his other attributes. That's so essential for us to understand. Today what we're going to see is what those attributes are that inform what God does, the character of God that shapes who he is and the things that he does. And we're going to look at five aspects of the character of God tonight.

These are not exhaustive. We're kind of following the sequence in the book that we've been using as a bit of an outline by Louis Berkhoff, a summary of Christian doctrine. We're going to follow this and it's going to go far too quickly. I promise you it's going to go far too quickly for you because what we're doing here tonight is we're stepping in a sense out of the, this is a very bad way to say it, but we're moving from those things that make God great, his omniscience, and those things that make him transcendent over us. And now we move into the character that allows us to trust him, to know him, to approach his throne with a sense of confidence that he will receive us in our Lord Jesus Christ.

And this is just so very wonderful. You know, I think we all probably, certainly in the past, maybe as a new Christian, before you were Christian, you know, it's easy to, in one sense, when you don't know God, it's easy to question him and to wonder, you know, is he really good? Is he really loving? And, you know, if he's loving, why is there all these bad things that happen in the world?

Questions like that. Well, beloved, what we want to do is we want to step out of those shadows and those kinds of questions about the character of God and enter into who he really is. And when you see who God really is, you cannot help but love him immensely and deeply and profoundly and honor him for the sheer goodness of who he is.

You know, in Reformed circles, there's no doubt in my mind, I couldn't document this and prove it, this is just observations over, you know, a few years of pastoral ministry. We're quick to talk about the sovereignty of God and that kind of stuff, and we would defend that and we would run to defend that when that's attacked, but we're less certain of the things that should equally inform our view of God. We're less certain of his goodness, that's why you doubt him when things go wrong.

We're less certain of his love, that's why you question it when things aren't going your way or when life brings sorrow or changes that are difficult to you and you sink down in the quicksand of that. Beloved, what you should realize after we're done tonight is that all of that's entirely unnecessary and that there should be a yearning for your soul after this God whose character we're going to expound for you now. Five things about the character of God, the moral character of God, and the first one is this, for those of you that are taking notes, which is all of you, right?

Good. Number one, God is good. God is good. And when we use these simple adjectives about the character of God, it's very important for us to define what we mean by them because, you know, words get so familiar that they almost lose their sense of meaning from familiarity.

Well, we're going to try to take just a moment to define these adjectives that we're using here tonight as we draw the rose, the magnificent rose of God's character to us that we would breathe in the sweet aroma of who He is, understanding that these attributes mean something. When we say that God is good, what do we mean? God is good in the sense that He does well to others. He acts kindly toward others, toward His creation. Berkhof says, and I quote, God's goodness is that perfection which prompts Him to deal kindly and bountifully with all His creatures. God is the creator of heaven and earth. God is the sustainer of heaven and earth.

It is in God that all creatures and all men live and move and have their being. And what you and I should understand and what God has declared to be true about Himself is that with all of His creation, He deals with it kindly, bountifully, overflowing in His goodness and generosity to those who are dependent upon Him for their existence. Goodness is a universal trait of how God deals with creation and with His people.

And mark this, beloved, and mark it well. Goodness is a mark of how God deals even with His enemies. Scripture leaves no doubt about that. Let's turn to some Scriptures just to give us an all too brief perspective on this.

Psalm 145, as you're turning to Psalm 145, let me say this. It's my hope that somewhere in the future of our pulpit ministry that there's an extended series on the attributes of God where these things where we're covering four and five times a pop in one message would each one become a topic of an individual message. The goodness of God is certainly one that deserves an independent treatment. So we would magnify Him.

You know, you should have it in your mind. You should be so convinced of this that you think this way. When people start to speak badly about God and start to question Him and make accusations against Him, there would be a sense of moral repugnance in your heart toward that that says, no, God is not like that at all. God is good. And that you would know these things and be so persuaded of them that you would have a reflexive reaction against accusations against His goodness.

And you would rise up in your heart and defend Him because of the absolute goodness which is intrinsic to His being. Psalm 145 verses 8 and 9. Psalm 145 verses 8 and 9. In what way is the Lord good? Well, in verse 8, the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and great in loving kindness.

That word that means loyal love. The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works. As a result, verse 10, all your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and your godly ones shall bless you. Why is it that we ascribe praise to God?

In part, it's because He is so magnificently good. And He is so generous with His creation, so generous with His people. Look down at verse 14, for example. The Lord sustains all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you and you give them their food in due time.

You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. Beloved, do you see it?

Does your heart not just melt before the warmth of the burning goodness of God? That He is like this to all of His creation? That He is like this to dumb animals? That He is like that with you and with me? Aren't you here and most of you are here?

You have a full stomach because you were able to eat before He came in. You've got a warm home to go to. Those of you that are Christians, the blessing that is ours in our Lord Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sin, because that wonderful God incarnate went to Calvary, shed His blood in order that your sins could be forgiven, and that He might graciously, freely give you the gift of eternal life if you would believe in Him. And all of your guilt, all of your anger, all of your rebellion against God, your failure to love Him with all of your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and the goodness of God, and the salvation that He's provided for us in Christ, God says, I'll wipe all of those things off of your slate and receive you into full fellowship with Me.

I will gladly own you as My own child so that you can rightly call Me Father. And we could look up into heaven as it were and see Christ at His right hand and say, There is My brother in heaven. Do you realize what unspeakably great goodness that is? That goodness is infinite.

There is no end to that kind of goodness. And God just continues to deal with us well even when we just take it for granted. And you go days without even giving Him thanks for the simplest of blessings. God keeps being good to you nonetheless. That unmerited goodness, that unmerited favor, that generosity flows from nothing that's in you and Me.

You must see that. The reason that God is good to us is not because we have it coming to us. God's goodness flows from that which is intrinsic to His essence. That's why He's good to us.

He's good to you because He's good Himself. And God isn't stingy about it. As we say, He gives to those who do not even give Him thanks. Look at Matthew chapter 5 for another aspect of this. Matthew chapter 5 in verse 45.

And you know, there's just a sense of privilege that we should have to even be able to look into these things just to be able to comprehend them and study them with our minds. What a blessing it is just to contemplate the goodness of God, let alone be on the receiving end of it. But in verse 45 of Matthew chapter 5, Jesus, having told us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us, He says, here's why you do that.

It's so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He causes His Son to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. God showers upon His people the rains that are necessary for life. He brings up the sun day after day after day on His people.

But you know what? He shows that same blessing, that same goodness on those who are His enemies, who defy His name, who break His law, who curse the name of Christ, who have no intention of ever repenting of their sin. God shows them that same goodness.

Why does He do that? Because He's good. He is so good that He even shows this kind of kindness and blessing on those who shake their fist at Him. Now, having said that, it's important for us to understand that God is good to all, but He does make distinctions in His goodness, which is evident enough and obvious enough. God is good to animals in a particular kind of way, but He's been good to the human race in a way that is distinct from animals.

The passage that Andrew read at the beginning of our service, Psalm 8, said that God has made man just a little lower than the heavenly beings and has put man over the animal kingdom. And so God is good to the animal kingdom, but He's been good to the human race in a way that is distinct and different. He doesn't have to treat everybody equally well for Him to be good to all. And going even further to His people, to the elect, God has shown a goodness that He does not share with the non-elect. Those who will never know Christ in a saving way are still on the receiving end of His goodness, and yet we should be the ones, we who are in Christ, should be at the front lines most loudly proclaiming the goodness of God because He has saved our souls, He is good to us through life, His character is impeccable, and we love Him for it. So that we could say it this way, God is absolutely free in His goodness. He is free to determine how He wants to be good to any individual, even within the church. Some He gives, the Spirit gives different measures of giftedness as it pleases Him.

Some of us enjoy long life, some of us will have a shorter life. Some of us have abundant prosperity, some of us live on the edge. But in all of that, we should all be able to look and see God is being good to me. And He's free in His goodness in the sense that He's under no obligation to share the same goodness with everyone without exception. But as we look around us, we see that all of creation benefits from the goodness of God.

Even the nameless flapping sparrow somewhere in northern Michigan that will never be seen by a human eye is on the receiving end of the goodness of God. His goodness, beloved, should make you thankful. And not just thankful, oh, beloved, learn this.

Learn this deeply in your heart, would you? Learn to be thankful, learn to be thankful not simply for the gifts. Learn to be preeminently thankful for the giver. To be thankful to the one who dispenses those gifts. So that when the gifts are removed, when good health in the youth is removed and now you're teetering on a cane in older age, when you're laying ill, perhaps on your deathbed, that your heart and your mouth would be so conditioned to still breathe out thanks to the goodness of God. So that your thanks to God are not dependent upon your outward circumstances, that it is rooted in the goodness of God Himself and there is an eternal, ever-flowing fountain from which you can drink in order to express your gratitude. God is good.

That's intrinsic to His character. Secondly, God is love. God is love, as 1 John 4, verses 7 and 8 tell us. But brothers and sisters in Christ, as we think about the love of God, again, we need to define our terms.

We need to think carefully about this so that we would think rightly about it. You should not think about the love of God in sentimental, emotional terms, in terms of feelings that come and go. That's not the sense in which God loves us at all. Love means, when we say that God is love, God's love means that He sacrificially gives of Himself to others.

There is in love an active giving that flows out, that is so contrary to the way the world speaks about love and silly, sappy, emotional, so-called love songs that are only speaking of transient feelings that are doomed to ebb with the flow of time. God's love is not, that's not what we're talking about at all. Turn, I could quote this verse, but I would rather you see it with your own eyes. John 3 16, John 3 16. We'll look at a couple of these.

As I tempt the clock with my tangents here. God is love. And in John chapter 3 verse 16, oh beloved, you must be, you must, if you have any ounce of regeneration in your soul, which is a horribly bad theological way to speak, but if you have any ounce of the character of God, if you have any ounce of the Spirit dwelling within you, your heart must be flaming up in response to these things. John 3 16, God so loved the world, what did he do? He so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. In 1 John 4 10, it says, in this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. What did the love of Christ do?

How did that manifest itself? An ultimate act of self-sacrifice for the salvation of your soul. You who had no claim on him, had no claim, no title deed to his blood, Christ comes and gives it sacrificially, gives it voluntarily, gladly and in full obedience to his father, lays down his life, why?

Because he has love for his people, because he had love for us, that he had love for you by name, that it was by name that he suffered for you on the cross, that as he was undergoing the torments of eternal judgment and feeling the weight and the pain of eternal judgment for you and me, in love, as J. Gresham Machen put it so beautifully, he thought even of me on the cross, thinking not of himself but giving of himself on the cross in a way that worked to your benefit. My friend, I want to let you know of a special ministry that we have at thetruthpulpit.com that's very near to my heart. We have a ministry to those who are in prison.

And in the nature of life, sometimes we have loved ones that go astray and find themselves behind bars and spending significant time in incarceration. Well, we have a ministry to them. We send them transcripts of messages that I've preached from the pulpit of Truth Community Church. We do it on a weekly basis.

They get mail every week. If you have a loved one in prison that you would like to have us reach out to in that way, do me a favor. Go to our website, thetruthpulpit.com. That's thetruthpulpit.com. Click on the link that says About, and you'll see a drop-down menu that will take you to our prison ministry. You can fill out the form, and we'll be happy to respond and then join in with you in ministering to that one who is outside the normal course of society. So that's thetruthpulpit.com, the About link for our prison ministry.

That will do it for today. We'll see you next time on The Truth Pulpit. That's Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Thank you so much for listening to The Truth Pulpit. Join us next time for more as we continue teaching God's people God's Word.