It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, for, Lord, that could not be. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niver. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Mattawar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. I'm going to read a passage of
scripture from Nahum, one of the Old Testament prophets. The
Bible is made of the New Testament and the Old Testament. And quite
often people look at the Old Testament as different from the
New Testament in the sense that it's no longer relevant. And
the God of the Old Testament is presented as a wrathful, Vengeful,
indignant God, full of fury. And the New Testament God is
different. He's much more mild and merciful and forgiving and
gracious and so on. Now, that view is foolishness. The God of the New Testament
is the God of the Old Testament. And the God of the Old Testament
is the God of the New Testament. I'm going to read a passage of
scripture from Nahum, as I already said, that people think, well,
here's the God of the Old Testament, the God of vengeance and fury.
But I want to show how this is the God of the New Testament,
and it's wrong to look at his attributes in a negative light
like that. Now, listen carefully as I read
this passage of scripture. I've entitled this message, The
Lord is Good. The Lord is good. We read in verse 2 of the book
of Nahum, God is jealous and the Lord revengeth. The Lord
revengeth and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance
on his adversaries and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The Lord
is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit
the wicked. The Lord hath his way in the
whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his
feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh
it dry, and dryeth up all the rivers. Bashan languisheth, and
Carmel and the flower of Lebanon languisheth The mountains quake
at Him, and the hills melt at the earth. It is burned in His
presence, yea, the world and all that dwell therein. Who can
stand before His indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness
of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are thrown down by Him. The Lord is good. a stronghold in the day of trouble,
and he knoweth them that trust in him." Now, is this seventh
verse, the Lord is good, is it contrary to the Lord is jealous
and the Lord taketh vengeance and the Lord is furious? No. Now, to the natural man, contradictions appear in this
passage of Scripture. He's slow to anger and furious.
He's good and vengeful. How can both of those things
be at the same time? Now, the reason men cannot appreciate
God, and the natural man has no appreciation of the living
God, and the reason they cannot see the harmony and the oneness
of all of his excellent attributes is because our sinful nature,
the sinful nature of man renders him unable to see the beauty
of God. Here's some illustrations. Some
people may look at a piece of art that's a beautiful piece
of art and they're unmoved. They see no beauty in it. They don't see any difference
between that and something they'd see in the funny pages. They
don't have a taste. There's somebody else who can
be moved by that piece of art. The other doesn't have the taste
to see. What about a beautiful piece
of music? Someone sees it as a beautiful
piece of music and is moved by it. Somebody else thinks it's
just noise and they don't have any appreciation of it. Or a
beautiful poem. A beautiful poem is a waste upon
someone who can't hear or who can't understand the language.
I have to be given some kind of something in order to appreciate
those things. Now, the natural man has no appreciation
of the character of God. He can't see the beauty, the
excellency of God because he has No nature that can appreciate
the attributes of God. So here's what a natural man
does. And by natural man, I'm talking about a man who has not
been born of the Spirit. I'm talking about a man who is
just what he is. Not born again, not saved, not
truly regenerate, just a natural man. Here's what he does when
he hears of the attributes of God. He has no appreciation for
them. So he either attempts to explain
them away to make them more suitable to the corrupt tastes of man,
or he finds fault with God's attributes. Why it's wrong for
him to be furious. It's wrong for him to be vengeful. These attributes I don't agree
with. I don't think God should be this way. That's a wrong view
of God. And so, he proves that he has
no true appreciation of who the living God is. Now, in this passage
of Scripture, I just read, seven attributes of God are mentioned. His jealousy, His wrath, His
slowness to anger, His power, His justice, His sovereignty
and His goodness. And they're all good. The Lord
is good, independently good, immutably good, eternally good. And all of His attributes are
good. His jealousy is of good jealousy. It's the only good jealousy there
is. His wrath is of good wrath. His slowness to anger is a good
slowness to anger. His power is a good power. His justice is a good justice. His sovereignty is a good sovereignty
because He is good. He is essentially good. He is independently good. He
is immutably good. The Lord is good. When Moses made the request in
Exodus chapter 33 verse 18, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Now
Moses had seen a lot, but he said, I haven't seen your glory. He'd seen the ten plagues. He'd
seen the parting of the Red Sea. He'd seen the manna come down
from heaven. He'd seen water come out of the rock. Oh, the
things that he'd seen. But yet he says, I've not seen
your glory. So God answers his request and
says, I'll make all my goodness to pass before thee. The Lord's
glory is his goodness. Now, let's look at each one of
these attributes of God. And this is who God is. This
is the living God. Any God contrary to this is a
false God, is an idol. This is the true and the living
God. And that's the God I want to
know. That's the God I want to preach. That's the only God who
can save me, is the true and the living God. Now, let's look
at each of these attributes that are given to us concerning God
and see that they're all good. Now, first, he says God is jealous. And only God's jealousy is a
good jealousy. Now, jealousy is an intolerance
for rivals. That's what jealousy is. Jealousy
demands all my affection and will not let me be affectionate
towards somebody over him. God is jealous. You look at the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt have no other gods
before me, because He's jealous. He says in the commandment regarding
idolatry, why it's forbidden, because He says, I'm a jealous
God. I will not tolerate rivals. I will not tolerate false gods. God is jealous. He's jealous
of His own glory. And He will not share His glory
with another. He said that. My glory. I will
not share with another." God is jealous. And He should be
jealous because He's God. Anything that rivals Him has
got to be put down. God is jealous and those who
love Him are jealous of His glory. And those who love Him hate anything
that's contrary to Him because they love Him. Ye that love the
Lord hate evil. God is jealous. He's a jealous. As a matter of
fact, he says jealous is his name. And here's the second thing
that we read about God. The Lord revengeth. The Lord
revengeth. He's a God of vengeance. The
Lord revengeth and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance
on his adversaries and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The Lord revengeth, and this
is part of his wrath and his indignation. He is furious toward
his adversaries and toward his enemies. That's who he is. Now, I read somewhere one time
when the strongest human emotion that anyone can ever experience
is the desire for revenge. Now, there was a time when I
didn't understand that, but I had something happen to a loved one.
They were mistreated terribly in a criminal way. And I know
at that time how I desired revenge. It was my daughter. What happened
to her? And all I could think about,
I couldn't get it out of my mind. All I could think about was vengeance. Right or wrong, that's the way
I was feeling. But I do know from that experience that the
most powerful emotion I've ever experienced is the desire for
revenge when my loved one was wronged. Now, when we think of
God's desire for revenge, and we almost think, The God of the
Old Testament, that's wrong. When we think something like
that, we show how ignorant we are of God's character and of
the sinfulness of sin. Now, God's desire for revenge
is because sin is against Him. Now, God gave His Son and men
put Him to death. The one-time men were allowed
to do what they want. Now this was all part of God's
purpose and plan to save His people. I realize that. But you
think about this. When God sent His beloved Son
and let men do what they wanted to do with Him, what did they
do? They nailed Him to a cross. Now that's how sinful you and
I are. If God left us to ourselves,
now believe this, whether you feel it or not, believe this.
If God left me and you to ourselves, we would nail his son to a cross. Now, if someone nailed your child
to a cross, would you want vengeance? Sure you would. God is revengeth
and is furious. There is such a thing as the
wrath of God. Hell tells us that there is a place called Hell,
where God is going to put everybody who refuses to bow the knee to
His Son. who does not believe on his Son.
God is a God of vengeance, and hell will be the eternal vengeance
against all who do not love God. Now, His vengeance is a good
vengeance. It ought to be that way, because
God is holy, and it's evil for men to not love this glorious
God. And His wrath is going to go
against all those who are enemies and adversaries to His Son. The
Lord is good. And His wrath is a good wrath. But look what it says next. It
says the Lord is slow to anger. This God of wrath and this God
of indignation is slow to anger. Slow, long-suffering, abundant
in goodness and in truth. Now, the fact that I'm not in
hell right now tells me that God's slow to anger. The fact
that the Lord has not returned yet means God is slow to anger. He
is giving men space for repentance. The fact that God was pleased
to give His Son as a sacrifice for sinners, as a substitute
for sinners. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have eternal life. That tells us that God
is slow to anger. And then next, he says, the Lord
is great in power. Now, this is part of his goodness. His wrath is part of his goodness.
His slowness to anger is part of his goodness. His power is
part of his goodness. Oh, how we see his goodness in
his power. Now, let's think about the power
of the Lord. First, the power of the Lord is seen in creation.
When he brought into existence something from nothing. There
was a time when there was nothing but God, and He willed it, and
all the universe was brought into existence. What mighty power
that He could create something from nothing. His power is seen
in creation. His power is seen in providence. His will is always being done. He controls every event. So much so that the Lord Jesus
said concerning His Father, there's not a sparrow that falls to the
ground without your Father. He controls everything. The King's
heart, Proverbs 21 says, is in the hand of the Lord. As the
rivers of water, He turneth it whithersoever He will. He controls
everything. He's the first cause behind everything. and what power He has that enables
Him to control everything in providence. And most especially,
His power is seen in salvation. He took a nothing and made it
something. He took me, who am nothing but
sin, this is true of all His people, and made me the very
righteousness of God. And he took something, my sin,
and made it not to be. It's gone. Oh, how his power
is seen in salvation. He's great in power. And isn't
his power good? Oh, everything about the Lord
is good. His power is a good power. And next it speaks of
his justice. It says, And he will not at all
acquit the wicked. He is just. He will never, never,
never let the guilty go free. If I have guilt, I will be punished. He will not at all acquit the
wicked." Now somebody says, how can that be? How is it that He
can forgive sin and yet not acquit the wicked? And this is very
important, this concept, this thought. What if we had a judge
who would just let the guilty go free and let them back out
on society commit the crimes that they've already committed
once again. Why, we wouldn't get rid of a judge like that,
wouldn't we? A judge must be just, and God is the judge of
the earth. He's absolutely just, and He
will not at all acquit the wicked. I was talking to a man recently,
and I said, let me ask you a question. I said, how in the world can
a God who's absolutely just and absolutely holy and will not
at all acquit the wicked, how can he have anything to do with
somebody like me or you?" And I loved the man's answer. He
said, I had no idea. Good answer. I had no idea. And then I proceeded to tell
him, here is how God can acquit, how He's not going to acquit
the wicked and yet justify a sinner. The sins of God's elect were
placed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scripture says in 2 Corinthians
5.21, For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. All the sins of
all his people were placed upon Christ and they became his. And
when God's wrath came down upon him, it's because he will not
acquit the wicked. My sins became his, he became
guilty of them, and God poured his wrath on him. But here's
the blessed other side of that truth, that perfect righteousness
of the Lord Jesus, His sinlessness, His perfect character, He never
sinned. He is the very righteousness
of God. That righteousness is given to every believer. So every
believer stands before God just. Oh, thank God for Him who justifieth
the ungodly. I think of that poor publican
beating on his breast. in the back of the temple saying,
God, be merciful to me, the sinner. You know what the Lord said regarding
that man? He said, I tell you, that man went down to his house
justified, not merely forgiven, not merely pardoned, but justified,
not guilty. Somebody says, can God do that?
He did. He did. Everybody Christ died
for is justified. And when God says, You're just,
it's because they are just. Every believer is the very righteousness
of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Aren't you thankful for the justice
of God? He will not at all acquit the
wicked. He's a just God and a Savior. Now, the next thing that the
prophet speaks of is the sovereignty of God. Look what it says in
verse 3. It says, The Lord hath His way
in the whirlwind. And in the storm, whatever's
taking place, is the Lord having his way. I've heard preachers
say, won't you let Jesus have his way? Listen, you don't let
him have his way. He has his way. His will is always done. He has his way in the whirlwind
and in the storm. And the scripture says the clouds
are the dust of His feet. You see, He's moving. And He's
stirring up dust. The clouds, the clouds are recovering.
You can't see through the clouds. And, you know, we really don't
know what the Lord's doing, but He does. He does, and we trust
Him. He knows what He's doing. I may
not understand it, but that's okay. He does. I can't see through
the clouds, but I know this. They're the dust of His feet,
and He is having His way. I think of Joseph sitting in
that prison. He has done right. He's been
falsely accused. And there he is, rotting in that
prison. And he must be thinking, what's
the Lord doing? Why is the Lord allowing this
to happen? I mean, this is wrong. This is
unjust. And there he sits. He didn't
know that the Lord's purpose was to send him there to save
the nation of Israel. Remember when he said to his
brothers, his brothers were scared to death, he said, you meant
it for evil when you sold me into slavery. You meant it for
evil, but God meant it for good. God moves in a mysterious way,
his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea and rides upon the storm. You fearful saints, fresh courage
take, the clouds you so much dread. are big with mercy and
shall break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence,
he hides a smiling face. Blind unbelief is sure to err
and scan his works in vain. God is his own interpreter, and
he will make it plain. has His way in the whirlwind
and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. The Lord has His way, and then
he says in verse 7, the Lord is good. This one, this one who
is jealous, this one who revenges, this one who is slow to anger,
This One who is great in power. This One who is absolutely just. This One who is immutably sovereign. He's good. He's good. He's always good. He's essentially
good. He's independently good. The
Lord is good. Everything He does is good. Romans
8.28 says all things. work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose,
and His salvation is a display of His goodness. Now, here's
the most important thing I'm going to say this morning. You
in your mind eye picture the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, the Son of the Blessed, the only holy man to ever live,
the Creator of the universe. You look at Him nailed. to a
cross. You know why? Because God is
good. God delights in saving sinners. God is good. The Lord is good and a stronghold
in the day of trouble. And he knoweth them that trust
in him. Now, He's a stronghold in the
day of trouble. I don't care if it's a day in
time or that day of judgment. He's a stronghold. He's a safe
place in the day of trouble. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. The righteous run into it and
are safe. Now, see where it says, He knoweth
them that trust Him? That word trust has something
to do with abiding under the wings. abiding under the wings. That's what it means. Now, there's
a songwriter who tells the story. It was Charles Wesley. He was
up on a bell tower, and he was watching a hawk chase a little
sparrow, and that sparrow could not get away from that hawk.
They were going all over the place, and he was just waiting
for the hawk to get the sparrow and kill it. And all of a sudden,
he said, that sparrow darted into my breast. It knew it couldn't
defeat the hawk, And it darted into my breast to find safety
and security. And he said, I would not let
that hawk have it. That little sparrow knew the
only place of safety was with me, and I was not going to let
him down. And then he went out and wrote
the hymn, Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly. While the nearer waters roll,
while the tempest still is high, hide me, O my Savior, hide, till
the storms of life be past, safe into the haven guide, O receive
my soul at last. He knows those who put their
trust in Him. Now, if you fly to Christ the
way that little bird did, He will receive you. He's good. And He said, Him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. I'd like to invite you to
services at Todd's Road Grace Church. This morning, the worship
service begins at 1030 and we also have Sunday evening services.
If you can't come this morning, our evening service begins at
6 o'clock and as usual, we have this message on cassette tape,
DVD or CD. If you call the church or write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Divert, praying
that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com
or you may write or call the church at the information provided
on the screen.