Experiencing The Goodness Of God by Apostle Johnson Suleman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Goodness of God Is His Very Nature

God said to Moses: all you have asked — glory, grace, presence — will be summed up in one word: my goodness. The goodness of God is the essence of God. The goodness of God is the conscience of God. The goodness of God is the residence of God. The goodness of God is the resilience of God.

In Matthew 19:17, someone met Jesus and said "Good Master," and Jesus said, "Why do you call me good? There is none good except God." So if it is not good, it is not God. If it is not good, it is not God. Whatever you are going through — is it good? If it is not good, it is not God. A health challenge that is not good is not God. A financial struggle that is not good is not God. The Bible says, "This is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous." So if it is not marvellous, God did not do it.

In 1 Chronicles 17:26, the Bible says, "And now, Lord, thou art God and hast promised this goodness." The goodness of God is a promise, and God is a promise-keeper. In Romans 11:22, Paul says, "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but towards thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness." God's nature is goodness. God's character is goodness. God's disposition towards you is goodness.

In 2 Thessalonians 1:11, Paul says, "We pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power." Goodness is God's good pleasure. And someone under the sound of this voice, you become a notable partaker of the goodness of God.

The goodness of God has three elements, as revealed when God passed before Moses in Exodus 34:6-7: the Lord proclaimed himself merciful, gracious, and longsuffering. What God was saying when his goodness passed by was the full revelation of who he really is — mercy, forgiveness — all summed into one word: compassion.

First Element: Compassion

The first element of God's goodness is his compassion. God is a compassionate God. The Bible says in Hebrews 4:15, we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Verse 16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly." The reason we can come boldly is that what touches me touches God. What I feel is what God feels. What breaks me breaks him. Having that understanding, let us come boldly.

If you do not know that your God is a compassionate God, you cannot come boldly. But men do not have compassion for you — what men have is sympathy. The difference is enormous: with sympathy, they feel your pain. With compassion, God fixes your pain. He does not just feel it — he fixes it.

Are you hurt emotionally? He fixes it. Are you hurt financially? He fixes it. Anything that has caused you pain, God will fix it.

In Matthew 20:34, Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes — and immediately their eyes received sight and they followed him. In Luke 7:13, when the Lord saw the widow of Nain, he had compassion on her and said, "Weep not." He came near and touched the coffin. He touched what was breaking her. He touched what had caused her emotional pain. He does not just feel it. He fixes it.

This world is a coldblooded world. There is no compassion in men. People can film someone being harmed and not help. But God is not like that. God is not the God who only remembers where you went wrong. No matter what you have done wrong, there is something you did right. God sees you in the eyes of what is right.

In Lamentations 3:22, his compassion fails not. In Isaiah 49:15, he says, "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." The compassion of God reveals his unforgetful nature. God will not forget you.

Friends may have forgotten you. Family may forget you. Nobody reaches out to you because of how bad things are. But the God I know does not forget me. He never forgets me. He made me. He formed me. He fashioned me. The wickedness of men cannot stop the goodness of God.

The Compassion of God at the Cross

In Matthew 27:20-22, there was a contest between a man called Barabbas and Jesus. Pilate's wife had seen a dream — the man in the trial room was innocent, so she sent word to let him go. Pilate decided to bring out the worst criminal — Barabbas — thinking the crowd would choose Jesus.

Many people only know that Barabbas was a thief. But the word "Bar" means son of. Simon Bar-Jonah means son of Jonah. Barabbas means son of Abba. Abba means teacher, instructor. Barabbas was the son of a pastor — raised godly, but he strayed out of the church. He ended up not just a thief but a notorious gang leader leading a sedition. As soon as Barabbas was taken into custody, everyone heaved a sigh of relief. But the chief priests bribed the crowd: "When Pilate asks you to choose between Barabbas and Jesus, choose Barabbas."

When Jesus came, there was nothing they could say against him. They had to hire blackmailers, hire accusers. Some people just dislike you for nothing. Your presence is a threat to them. They come up with stories, and when they begin to narrate the stories they don't make sense. No wonder the Psalmist said, "They have become my enemy without a cause."

But God is not like that. God is compassionate. His compassion is what sent Jesus to stand in for Barabbas. And in standing in for Barabbas, Jesus stood in for every one of us.

Second Element: Graciousness

The second element of God's goodness is that he is gracious. To be gracious is to be remarkably kind, hospitable, elegant, pleasant. To be gracious is to have uncontrollable kindness. Graciousness is awesomeness.

This God never talks you down. He never verbally ridicules you in any form. When people talk you down, he comes to talk you up. That is why the Holy Ghost is called a Comforter.

God does not see your present state — he sees your final status. God knows that your condition is not your conclusion. When he met Gideon hiding behind a wine press, he called him a mighty man of valor. He did not say, "What a waste, are you not a man?" He never saw him hiding. He saw his final status.

In Psalm 40:17, David said, "But I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me." There are days you woke up with nothing in the kitchen, nothing at all — poor and needy — while you were looking around, you did not know God was thinking of you. Before the end of the day, how food came, you cannot remember. That is God's graciousness.

In Matthew 6:31-33, Jesus said, "Take no thought saying what shall we eat, what shall we drink, or what shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

When God is gracious to a man, he picks that person out of the crowd — not by reason of anything they qualified for. It is called the graciousness of God. When Bartimaeus cried out in Mark 10:47, the crowd told him to keep quiet. But Jesus turned. He told the very ones who had rejected Bartimaeus to go and call him. He turns your enemies to your messengers. He told those who told him to keep quiet to go and call him.

Third Element: Longsuffering

The third element of God's goodness is that God is long-suffering. The God that many preachers present is a God with anger issues. "If you do this, he will kill you." That is not the God I know. God does not have anger issues.

Can I tell you something? Sin destroys you more than it offends God. When you sin and God is not pleased, it is not because he is offended — it is because he knows it will destroy you. You take alcohol and God is not pleased because he knows your liver and kidney will suffer. What sin will you commit that will move God? He has seen things far worse than anything you could do.

God says "Do not sin" not as the beneficiary of your righteousness — what will you do that will benefit him? He says it because he knows sin will destroy you. Let people know that sin destroys your body. It destroys you. That is why God resists it.

In Genesis 3:7-8, when God said to Adam "Do not eat of that tree," it was not because God was a beneficiary of their obedience. God said, "I don't want your eyes to be open to see your nakedness, because when you see your shame, you live in fear, and once you live in fear, you are out of the garden." Even after they ate, God cast them out of the garden — not out of his presence. God never casts men out of his presence. It is men that walk away. In Genesis 4:16, it says Cain left the presence of God.

Look at the prodigal son in Luke 15:17-22. When he came to himself and decided to return, the Bible says when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him. Meaning the father was watching every day for his son — despite his error. That is longsuffering. He had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck and kissed him. And when the son began his prepared speech of confession, the father did not even let him finish. His love covered his error. The acknowledgement of the error did not matter to the father. His love covered it.

Many of you, you are carrying guilt in your heart. The devil shows you something you did years ago and you get deflated. But anytime you see accusation, recognize it: the devil is called the accuser of the brethren. Whenever you are accusing somebody, you are helping Satan fulfill his ministry. God is longsuffering — if God should mark iniquity, who can stand?

On the cross, there were two thieves. One was on the left, one on the right. One said, "If you are the Son of God, save yourself and us" — that is the accuser of the brethren. The other said, "When you get to your kingdom, remember me in paradise." But God said to them, "It is not yesterday. It is not tomorrow. Today you will be with me in paradise." He is a God of today.

God is compassionate. God is gracious. God is longsuffering. He is a good God. And the wickedness of men cannot stop the goodness of God reaching you.

In the name of Jesus, I let go and let God. Holy Spirit, roll away this heaviness from my heart. I let go. I let God. In Jesus name. Lord, may my life experience your graciousness. The pleasantness of God. The undeniable, irretrievable kindness of God. The awesomeness of God.