So we are in the second part of kind of sovereignty, the title law and grace for
the sermon today. We ended last week on the idea of God's providence, right?
We were at Lord's Day 12 talking about how God made everything, including you and I,
and how he, as we talked about, sovereign Lord over everything. Just in control,
always. And whether we like that or not, it is true. Just because you're
uncomfortable with that doesn't make God less sovereign. So now we're going to
turn because there were a handful of prompts, and I knew that I knew that I
knew that this was going to happen when we kind of put this out. This idea of
being a good God. I remember as a pastor, even as a youth pastor when I was
younger, we would get these questions all the time. And it was even from people in
church. People that were in church all the time. I remember now I wasn't in
school then, but people, or I wasn't a youth pastor working in the church then,
but I remember like people would still come up to me and say, if God's so good,
then why did Katrina happen? And I'm like 22 years old looking at them like, what?
What are you talking about? Katrina who? And they, and you know, and I remember
going to one of my mentors going, you didn't train us for that. When people
come and make those kind of claims, even people that have been in church all their
life, if God is so good, then why this? And I'll always remember Dave Sanders.
Some of you have met him. They came, they stopped by a couple years ago, and I'm
sure you all remember. He said that God was in the church. That when times like
that happen, God shows up in God's people. That the church elevates. The church
should be more of a witness, even though we should be a witness all the time, but
when tragedy strikes, the church should act. The church should respond. And as
like a 22 year old, I'm like, okay, that's great. That's a good one to have in the
chamber, right? That, you know, that is, that's a great response. So I hope that
the next time someone comes in and, you know, Jim, if God is so good, then why
Katrina? God shows up in the church. And then I run away. No one's asked me since
that. Okay, so it was, I'm glad that I knew that, but we and a lot of you, well
actually four of you, that submitted prompts, this word good really, really
bugs you. And if I'm honest, it bugs me too because of all the junk that is in
the world. If God is so good, then why does, and then insert whatever here.
We're going to talk about that today. And I'm going to start with, I've only got
to meet him once, years and years ago. The Lord called him home six, seven years
ago now, but it was someone that though I never studied under him, I felt like he
was a professor of mine. His name was R.C. Sproul. Ligonier Ministries, he was a
professor for years. He was a pastor. He writes this about God's providence, excuse
me, and God's goodness. One way in which the secular mindset has made inroads into
the Christian community is through the worldview that assumes that everything
happens according to a fixed natural causes and God, if he's actually there, is
above and beyond it all. He is just a spectator in heaven looking down, perhaps
cheering us on, but exercising no immediate control over what happens on
earth. Historically, however, Christians have had an acute sense that this is our
father's world, great song, and that the affairs of men and nations in the final
analysis are in his hands. That is what Paul is expressing in Romans 8 28, a sure
knowledge of divine providence. And we know that for those who love God, all
things work together for good for those who are called to his purposes. Leave
that one up. We love that verse. Romans 8, I hear it all the time. We use it
sometimes as a trump card. We use it sometimes as like an escape clause to get
out of a conversation because we don't know the answers, but we love that verse.
But I think we love it when it's convenient. Let's talk about maybe times
that it's not convenient. I'm trying to look for it. She's right there. Sarah,
would you use this verse? You rooted for Against Michigan every game, and they went
15 and 0. They're national champions, by the way, to the point where you bought
t-shirts for every team that they faced, which now is wasted dollars. But would
you use this verse? That, you know, God is good for all those that have called to
his goodness. I don't think you would. I really don't think you would because she
plans on doing it next year as well. Or how about when you get a speeding ticket?
When you're really in a hurry and you were only going like nine over and, you
know, the police officer cuts you that ticket? Do you say, thanks, officer. God
works all things together for good. I'll see you in court. No, we don't say that.
Or maybe even when it's harder or more awkward, when you go through the
funeral line, where's Bill? Bill's up there usually, right? Did anyone come to
you during the funeral and say, I'm sorry, God works all things out for good for
those who love him and call him to his purposes? I can't see you. No, they
probably don't because it's not something we actually use when it's hard.
Or maybe you know someone that has gone through a divorce or something maybe like
a miscarriage or a stillbirth. I mean, when my sister died a couple years ago,
no one, thank God no one said it because I don't think it would have come off the
same way that they would have sit with me, give me a cup of coffee, put their
arm around me and say, you know, God works all things out for good. Sorry about
your sister. We don't do that. We love to do it when good things happen. You get a
promotion, God works all things for good. Thank the Lord. I got that promotion. You
get engaged. You have a kid. Something. The good and positive things. We love
this verse. But is it not true in the opposite? Is it not true through grief? Is
it not true through mourning? It's tough. But this verse is true no matter the
circumstance we find ourselves in. That God is always good. But that word good, if
we're being honest, we don't like it. God is good when it's negative 15 degrees
outside. I didn't feel that way this morning when Annie and I are running
around my neighborhood. That wind hurt, but God's still good. Yet we struggle
with that. So let's kind of find this definition of good, right? This, this, this,
it's, we get uncomfortable with this word, but we're gonna throw a definition. Good
as an adjective, to be desired or approve of a good quality of life, having the
qualities required for a particular role. The schools here are good. Then we also
see good as a noun. That which is morally right. Righteousness, a mystery, a
mysterious balance of good and evil. Good is a benefit or an advantage to
someone or something. He convinces his father to use his genius for the good of
mankind. That is my quote. No it's not. But we use that. We love that. We use good
in the positive, but when it comes to the negative, we struggle is God still good?
So the conversation that we need to have today, mainly because four of you asked
for it, is the fact that God is good regardless of circumstances. And if a
sovereign and divine and providential God is good, then things in our perspective
should be good. Even in the midst of struggle, there is goodness. But we
struggle with that. Dare I say we might think that God's not good, depending on
what we're going through. But we love this church saying, right, God is good.
This side knows it. We'll work on this side. God is good all the time. But we
don't believe that. We love to say it. 80% of you knew what I was doing, but we
don't really believe it all the time. But then the question really that I got is,
if God is so good, then why is there sin? If God is so good, then why is there sin?
Why do bad things happen? Why are there bad people? Why do tragedies occur? All of
these things. Why do bad things happen? Why is there sin? Why can't the white
socks be good? All of these things that we throw out there, right, if God is good,
then in our estimation, in my lens of life, life should be good. But I don't
experience that all the time. So there's a paradox. I could easily say, well, it
takes faith. But that doesn't always suffice. We don't always, we're not okay
with that all the time. Let's go a step further. It's called the good news of the
gospel. We believe that about the gospel. We call that the good news. It's
attractive. We hope and pray that people around us that don't know Jesus want the
good news because it's good even in the midst of bad. It's good even in the midst
of evil. It's good even in the midst of sin, yours and mine. How attractive would
it be if we shared the okay news of Jesus? Hey, Kyle, I want to share with you the
mundane news of Christ. No one would want that. That doesn't mean anything
because we engage it then in ourselves. Jim, I've been hurt. I've been wronged.
I've been betrayed. There is sin. There is death. There's destruction. There's
evil in the world and in us. How is God good? And we just don't get it or we don't
want to get it or there are seasons that we get it and seasons that we don't.
Rarely do I have people ask for a meeting or a cup of coffee when life is going
very well. No to all of us. It's a great way to encourage your pastor is to talk
and give testimony to where God is good in your life always. But normal times I
get the email, the text or the phone call, can we meet? I'm struggling with this.
My marriage is struggling with this. I have a wayward child and I need to talk
about it. I don't know what I'm doing with life. Who should I vote for?
All of those things I get. I will answer all, I will help with all of those but
the last one. It would be very easy but it might not be the best pastoral
counseling if in the midst of grief or hardship I say, but just know God's good.
Figure it out. That's not very compassionate. That's not trying to work
through it and walk along with you. One of the greatest aspects of my job is that
I get to walk and hurt and work with you in these things and you do with me.
I give testimony to it all the time. The summer that my sister died, it was an
amazing summer to have all of you and I kind of walk through it together.
You barely knew me. I was here maybe a year, not even. And it was amazing how you
uplifted me in a terrible time in such a beautiful way. But if we're going to
build off last week and God is sovereign, God is good, God is Lord, God is D, all
the above, then the bad that we want to project on God, friends, it's not on God.
It's on us. Now I could have just said, God is good, you are bad. See you next
week. Though it's true and I would say I'm bad too, it's part of our depravity.
It is in our nature. And part of God's goodness, as we talked about last week,
God is sovereign and God is merciful. God doesn't enjoy hurt and pain.
God's not a masochist nor is God, as R.C. Sprouls put it, the way the world wants
to see it. God's not just a giant jerk with a magnifying glass and worthy ants.
The world loves to see God that way because they can put God in this negative
box and do nothing with it and not want it in their life at all. But if we are
called to this, if we are called and recognize Jesus as Lord, that not only is
God good and God is sovereign, God is good and sovereign over your sin, over
my sin, that is very prevalent. But the struggle that was prompted is what do we
do and do we really believe this as believers when bad things happen that
God is still good? When bad things happen or, maybe I'll give us the benefit of the
doubt, maybe kind of a series of bad things happen, I look out and I go,
I think we're strong enough and mature enough that if one bad thing happens,
we can probably rest on God's faithfulness, sing the song and be good.
But what about when bad things happen like every other day for a week where it
just seems like the world's piling on, the people around you are piling on you,
your job, maybe your church, all of these things. You're looking out at nothing
good in the world, yet we are to say God is still good. You said it all the time
and all the time God is good. So now we have to look at our sin then.
And I think one of the reasons why I got these prompts is because we're
uncomfortable with our sin because we love it so much. Yes, I said that the right
way. There are times we love our sin. This isn't the first time I said it.
It probably won't be the last because sin is attractive. More times than not,
sin feels good because that's the tool of the devil. The tool of the devil wants
you to sin obviously. He's the great tempter. He wants you to fall because
ultimately he's going to say, you do it enough, God's not going to love you.
At some point, God's goodness on your life will run out and you'll be toast.
That's a tool of Satan all day, every day. He would love for us to believe that.
But when we look at our sin, we get really uncomfortable and if we're being
honest, we love to look at other people's sin. It's real easy. Oh, I'll call sin out
all day on other people. Some people, they put it right there on their Facebook.
It's easy to point out sin. All I'm going to do is I'm going to put a mad emoji
face and there, I got them. They're now judged. We have to reconcile our sin.
Right? Create in me a clean heart, oh God. Renewal right spirit within me.
Though we love to pray, Lord, create in them a clean heart, oh God,
so they are more like me. That's judgmental. That's hypocritical.
And there seems to be doubt that God is in control when we sin.
But that is what we have to look at. That is what we have to work through.
That is what we have to reconcile. Because here's the thing, God's not
surprised by your sin. God doesn't wake up and roll the dice. All of a sudden,
you fall, you sin. God doesn't go, oh, I didn't see that coming.
And if we're honest, we should take comfort in that. I liken it to being a
parent. And maybe one day, I'll liken it to being a grandparent and a lot of you
that are grandparents, you can tell me those stories. But there are going to be
times and there are times where I'm watching my son do something and I know
where it's going. Now, some would say, well, why aren't you going to intervene?
And 50% of the times, I try to. Because sometimes they have to learn.
Sometimes that is part of the ups and downs of life. Now, we're not talking
about anything like life threatening. They're not like on the roof going,
I'm going to jump. But if you've seen our roof, that's not a fatal fall.
Understand that there are times that we see that and we allow our children to go
through stuff. And if I put that on God as Father, we don't like that at all.
Because it's all good, all providential, all sovereign God, blah, blah, blah,
blah. He knows that I'm going to do this. He's not surprised by this.
Then why doesn't God stop me from sinning? Let me turn that around.
Do you want Him to? Well, maybe you can just shoot me an email.
Right? Maybe I don't want that direct correction from the Lord, though myself
and a lot of you have felt that, that God wants us to recognize Him in all things
and cling to Him in all things. But He knows what you're going to do.
But if God is so good, then why would He allow me to do bad things?
Because in order to understand the good news of the gospel, not the okay news,
not the mundane news, is you have to understand the bad news of your sin.
My good friend, Cam Scott, last week came and made his profession of faith with the
elders. And when you come and make profession of faith, especially one that
has grown up in the church, they're really good at pointing out the good news of
Jesus. Cam was able to, he preached to the elders last Monday night about what
Jesus meant to him and why he wants to live for Jesus and all of these things.
But it's not a profession unless he knows the bad news of his sin.
And he was able to articulate that. Because in order to recognize Jesus as
Lord, Jesus as Savior, you need to recognize what you're being saved from.
And he did a fantastic job and we can't wait in a month or so for him to do it
publicly. It's the best night for elders is when someone comes and makes
profession. But understanding the bad news of sin makes the good news of the
gospel of salvation that much stronger, that much more impactful in our lives.
A profession is, I think Jesus died for my sin, but I don't know what kind of
sinner I am. That's not a profession. That's a wondering. That's a thought.
A profession is I am a sinner saved by grace by my Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. John Piper writes this about Acts 4, 27 and 28. For truly in this
city they were gathered together against your Holy Servant Jesus whom you
anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate along with the Gentiles and the peoples
of Israel to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
This is one of the most controversial scriptures pretty much in all of the New
Testament. And Piper goes on and says, so Herod did what God predestined to take
place. Pilate did what God predestined to take place. The shouting crowds
crucify him, crucify him, did what God predestined to take place. And the
Gentile soldiers who drove the nails did what God had predestined to take place.
The sovereign will of God was accomplished at nine o'clock on Friday
morning and it was all sin. Pilate's expediency, Herod's mockery, the soldiers
gambling for his clothes, the hatred of the mob stirred up by the Pharisees,
crucify him, that was all sin, all predestined by God. How does that sit
with you? I had to reread that. There was a part of me that's like, and John Piper
was still a pastor after that? He did. This was years ago when he said it. I
don't know if I've ever engaged it that way. I think because of John Piper I'm
gonna look at Holy Week very, very different this week or this year. And he
continues, so that's why in the text he writes that this is a light on the
theological jungle of problems. The idea of if God is good why do bad things
happen. You are saying that God's sovereign will that always comes to
pass includes sin? Let me ask that question again. Or what John Piper is
saying. You are saying that God's sovereign will that always comes to pass,
God never swings and misses, we still don't like that, that's another sermon,
includes sin? He emphatically says yes. If God cannot plan the murder of his son,
we could not be saved. It is not like Jesus just jumped up on the cross and
died and God said, well I didn't know what was going on, but I will use it to
save people, that's heresy. God planned it for you, God planned it for me, and it
could not happen without sin. You don't kill the Son of God without sin. So when
I say that the sovereign will of God means that God ordains all things that
come to pass, I really mean that it includes everything. And there were at
least three of you that are very uncomfortable with that statement and I
think I join you. That God predestines sin? Yeah. You look at the story of the
Passion Week, so if God is sovereign over sin and salvation comes because of God's
use of sin, God himself never sins, God is holy, we are the sinners, then I think
we need to really pay attention to our sin, not other people's sin. Yet we are
not good at that. We love to judge other people's sin, we love to call it
rebuking or correcting, which believe me, the Bible does say to do that. He does, he
says the Bible is used for teaching, correcting, and rebuking, but there are a
lot of people who love the rebuking side. No wonder Jesus said make sure your eye
is clean before you look at the speck in somebody else. And I'm not saying we're
not called to rebuke, I'm not saying we're not called to correct, we are
totally called to do that. Paul instructs Timothy for the church, but remember,
this is the same Paul that a couple, actually probably 30 years prior, wrote
to the city in Corinth that we must do this in love. And the world today
believes that love means acceptance, it doesn't. But if somebody has air in their
lungs and a heart that beats, I think Paul, and I'm gonna trump Paul, put Jesus,
is calling us to love them, even in the midst of sin. Yet the church has really
confused itself and said, well, if loving, that means I need to accept their life.
Nope. But you still are called to love them. The woman caught in the act of
adultery, if it were me, those rocks would have hit. But that's not how the
story goes. Jesus takes all of the recognition, puts it on himself, stands
up and says, those without sin cast the first stone. And notice, nobody throws a
stone. We are all sinners saved by grace. We talked about this last week. While we
were still sinning, Christ died for us. We've said it many times here at Munster
Church, a stance over somebody is not a stance of Christ. Yet we confuse
ourselves and say, well then if I don't rebuke them, that means that I agree
with them. I have argued with a bunch of you. You don't believe that. I don't
believe that. And just because you rebuke somebody doesn't mean they're any
different. That when Paul is talking to Timothy about rebuking, guess who he's
talking about? Timothy is a young pastor in a church. He is talking about rebuking
fellow believers. Because I'm gonna put it in the scenario of the world like R.C.
Sprouls did. You know somebody who is not, they're not born again, right? They
do not recognize Jesus as Lord and they're living a life that the Bible
might say is sinful, right? Or does say is sinful and we want to go, we want to
whack them with the Bible. We want to throw the stones of rebuke. We want to
correct. If they don't recognize Jesus as Lord and Savior, what does your
correction mean to them? I hate to say it but next to nothing. Well, pastor,
that's how I'm gonna evangelize. I'm gonna evangelize by throwing stones. I'm
gonna evangelize by rebuking people who don't follow this book. Okay? Everything
is permissible but not everything is beneficial. And just because you don't
rebuke them, you don't correct them in a way of standing of judgment, it doesn't
mean you agree with them. It doesn't mean you affirm them. It doesn't mean that
you go, how you're living is fine. No. That Christ has revealed himself to all
of us and we are to follow his word. We are to follow the call of walking
alongside sinners. Because guess what? You are one too. I am one too. That we are
all working on this together. But if they don't claim Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior, the correction kind of falls on deaf ears, doesn't it? And if you're gonna
say that by correcting and rebuking is the way that you're gonna share Christ, I
don't, I struggle with that because I know the messages I'm gonna get this
afternoon. Jesus says he will know that you're my disciples by how you punch
people in the face. No. Okay. That was a little extreme. He will know that you are
my disciples by how you judge their sin in private or with other people. Nope. So
we're gonna miss. He will know that you are, the world will know that you are my
disciples by your love for one another. Parents in the room, in the last month as
one of your kids made you upset. Okay. How many of you stopped loving them? One. I
have office hours on Tuesday. Is that not our response for the world? But I don't
love the world the way that I love, I don't love people the way I love my kids.
Fair. I get that. But are they not deserved of your love? Are they not
deserved of your example? Are they deserved of your rebuke? I'm gonna say
sure. Everything is permissible. You are, you are more than welcome to wear your
sandwich board, ring your bell, go through downtown Chicago and say everybody that
doesn't believe in Jesus is going to hell. Guess what? There are groups that do
that. There's signage that does it. I-65 South, heaven or hell is real. Every time
I drive by that I just shake my head and I go where's the conversation? Where's
the relationship? Understanding it is not our job to condemn people to hell because
if that was our job then it's our job to save them to heaven. I love doing the
first one. I'm bad at doing the second one. And stop doing it altogether. Walking
alongside people with the truth is the way that we're called to live. That is
how God is sovereign over sin. Where is God in Katrina? He's in the church. Where
is God when someone falls? He's in the church. Where is God when this pastor
makes a mistake? He's in the church. Where is God when insert whatever you want?
He's in the church. It's his bride. He has given us what our marching orders are
supposed to be. Yet while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We
understand that the wages of sin is death. But the way of life is the love of
God and the love of people. Psalm 11, 5 and 6 says, the Lord tests the righteous
but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain down
coals on the wicked. Excuse me, fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the
portion of their cup. Leave that up. For some of us, for some of us we call this
evangelism. It's not. This is a rebuke in the Psalms of what God thinks about sin.
This is what God thinks about the one who steals money to the one who is the
abuser. This is the one who, this is what God thinks about the person that does the
hit and run and the person that lied about getting out of whatever. There are
some of you that struggle with the scale of sin. Come on. Is stealing candy in
fourth grade the same as killing someone? It's not. Worldly, you're right.
Heavenly, it's all sin and sin is the absence of God. God is not with you in
that moment of sin, right? Though he's with you always, he's not encouraging you
for that just like he's not there with the murderer. That this is how God feels
about sin and there are over 300 other verses about how God feels about sin and
how the sin of the sinners will be judged. But that doesn't sound good. Let
him rain coals on the wicked. Fire and sulfur in the scorching wind shall be
the portion of their cup. Thank God for his grace. Thank God he is sovereign.
Thank God he will punish the wicked. The wicked will get theirs and we love that.
Understand, you and I are wicked. Wickedness is in our DNA and there is the
paradox. Well, pastor, I've been saved. I've made my profession of faith. Cam,
where are you? Right there. Wasn't that... Thank you, Peyton. I know that that's him.
Didn't you get encouraged by the elders last Monday? And wasn't there an elder
that said there's somebody that doesn't like what's going on right now? And who
was he referring to? Satan. It's one of the reasons why we pray a hedge of
protection around anyone that comes and makes a profession of faith. Because Cam
just made Satan and the world's job a lot harder. Friends, until we're in glory,
there is always going to be that tension. You can be on the side of judgment. You
can take God's job and you can throw the coals and you can throw the fire and you
can throw the sulfur and you can blow the wind and you can throw a cup at
everybody and that's how you can live out your life. And if you call it
evangelism, I will rebuke you because it's not. It's a recognition, I am wicked
but God is good. I am a sinner but God is good. In my weakness, God is good. When
life is going well, God is good. Though we blame God when life's going bad and we
love ourselves when life's going right. It doesn't work that way. And you know
why it doesn't work that way? Because if God is sovereign, if God is good, then
it's not about us because we are not our own then. That if God died for you and me,
then it's not about me. It's not about us. It is about this and never forget that
we are not our own but we belong both body and soul in life and in death to our
faithful Savior Jesus Christ. Friends, He has fully paid for your sins with His
precious blood and my sins. He has set us free from the tyranny of the devil. He
also watches over us in such a way that not a hair can fall from our head
without the will of Him in heaven, our Father in heaven. In fact, all things
must work together for our salvation. All things of Christ, not us. But here's the
assurance and the faithfulness of God. But because we belong to Him, Christ by
His Holy Spirit assures me, assures you of eternal life and makes us
wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him. Jesus loves you.
You have been given life from the life giver. And next week we're gonna talk
about what that means. But until that time, let us be ever on our lips. Great is
thy faithfulness.