WEBVTT - Beth Jones - Oct 10 - 8:30 am 0:00:00.930 --> 0:00:04.410 Hi guys, I'm Beth Jones and welcome to The Basics 0:00:04.490 --> 0:00:08.470 with Beth where learning God's Word is a joy. In 0:00:08.570 --> 0:00:11.690 every message, we will do our best to teach you 0:00:11.730 --> 0:00:15.460 the Bible basics in such a way that it strengthens 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:20.579 your faith foundation. In addition, I want to empower and 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:24.720 equip you so that you have confidence to share these 0:00:24.820 --> 0:00:28.940 Bible basics with others. So lean in and listen with 0:00:28.980 --> 0:00:32.080 your heart. If you'd like to know more about our ministry, 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:37.360 just go to thebasicswithbeth.com and get all the scoop. With 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:41.810 all of that said, now let's jump into today's message. 0:00:43.650 --> 0:00:49.309 God is good all the time. And all the people said, amen. 0:00:49.350 --> 0:00:51.850 We are in a brand new series called the good life. 0:00:52.090 --> 0:00:54.200 And so this is week one. And I'll tell you what, 0:00:54.220 --> 0:00:55.860 it's just a good thing to be in a church 0:00:55.880 --> 0:01:00.040 where they sing in English. I was in Mexico City 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.960 last weekend for my niece's graduation. And so my sister 0:01:03.980 --> 0:01:07.830 and brother-in-law pastor Rhema Bible Church, Mexico. And so we 0:01:07.870 --> 0:01:10.950 were with them last Sunday. My sister preached and the 0:01:10.990 --> 0:01:12.530 kids are on the worship team. And so it was 0:01:12.610 --> 0:01:15.429 so fun to be in another country where they're singing 0:01:15.470 --> 0:01:17.779 some of the same songs we sing, except of course 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:21.060 they're in Spanish. And so we just faked it. My 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:23.520 kids and I just faked it. You know, just moved 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:25.480 our mouth and said, Gloria a Dios every now and then. 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:29.440 And we were good. But it's nice to sing in English. 0:01:29.910 --> 0:01:32.069 Don't you love, bless you. Don't you love to worship 0:01:32.110 --> 0:01:34.510 the Lord? I tell you what, there's just nothing like 0:01:34.530 --> 0:01:38.190 the Lord's presence. There's no replacement for it. And his 0:01:38.310 --> 0:01:42.970 presence is what? Fullness of joy. And the Bible says 0:01:43.010 --> 0:01:45.730 he inhabits the praises of his people. Pastor Brad talked 0:01:45.770 --> 0:01:48.730 about that even during the offerings. God inhabits the praises 0:01:48.770 --> 0:01:52.090 of his people. When God shows up, it doesn't matter 0:01:52.750 --> 0:01:58.280 if anybody else shows up, like the preacher that is, right? 0:01:58.300 --> 0:02:01.540 Because when God shows up, he does things that only 0:02:01.580 --> 0:02:05.480 he can do. And so, you know, like Brad was sharing, 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:08.820 you know, come every week, come expecting God to touch 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:12.299 you during the worship. When you're singing songs like,' Chains 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:16.770 Be Broken,' Those aren't just nice little ditties. You receive that. Yes, God, 0:02:16.850 --> 0:02:21.810 in my life right now, chains be broken. Amen. You 0:02:21.850 --> 0:02:23.370 receive that kind of stuff. I mean, that's the whole 0:02:23.410 --> 0:02:25.500 point of worship is to get into God's presence and 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:28.519 receive the things he wants us to receive and minister 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:31.520 to him the things that he wants out of our 0:02:31.580 --> 0:02:34.160 hearts to be given to him. How many of you 0:02:34.180 --> 0:02:37.470 know God can have anything he wants? He's God. But 0:02:37.500 --> 0:02:40.290 the one thing he can't have is your worship unless 0:02:40.310 --> 0:02:42.880 you give it to him. That's why the Bible says 0:02:42.940 --> 0:02:46.560 he's seeking true worshipers because they're so rare. He can 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:48.690 have anything he wants. He's got all the planets and 0:02:48.710 --> 0:02:51.790 all the galaxies. He's got anything he wants. He lacks 0:02:51.870 --> 0:02:55.790 for nothing. But what he can't just manufacture and won't 0:02:55.830 --> 0:02:59.260 manufacture is worship. But when you give it to him 0:02:59.340 --> 0:03:02.510 freely from your heart... Man, does that bless the Lord. 0:03:02.550 --> 0:03:05.429 That's why we say, bless the Lord. Oh, my soul. 0:03:05.450 --> 0:03:07.390 I want to bless you, Lord, because you've been so 0:03:07.450 --> 0:03:09.490 good to me. And this is the one thing you 0:03:09.510 --> 0:03:11.390 can't give yourself. And I want to give it to you. 0:03:11.630 --> 0:03:13.830 I want to give you worship. And I know that 0:03:13.889 --> 0:03:18.250 you inhabit the praises of your people. And his anointing 0:03:18.290 --> 0:03:21.070 comes in and breaks yokes and breaks burdens and breaks 0:03:21.169 --> 0:03:24.960 chains and refreshes you and wakes you up. And all 0:03:24.970 --> 0:03:27.280 the things way before we ever even get to the message. 0:03:27.300 --> 0:03:30.519 You know, that's why we have worship. That's why we worship. 0:03:31.260 --> 0:03:35.300 What an offering we can give to God. Apart from 0:03:35.340 --> 0:03:37.620 our offering, apart from our money. I mean, our heart 0:03:37.660 --> 0:03:40.560 just worshiping God. So be encouraged, you know, in that. 0:03:40.660 --> 0:03:43.970 And really every week, boy, come with a heart to 0:03:44.030 --> 0:03:47.010 give God something he can't give himself. But what a 0:03:47.130 --> 0:03:49.250 gift you can give to him and then how he 0:03:49.330 --> 0:03:52.190 meets us with his goodness. And so that's what we're 0:03:52.230 --> 0:03:54.950 talking about in this series, The Good Life. God is good. 0:03:54.990 --> 0:03:56.089 So let me tell you where we're going to head 0:03:56.990 --> 0:03:59.580 next couple of weeks. We are going to head today. 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:01.400 We're going to talk about the idea that God is good. 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:03.500 And the reason we're taking some time to talk about 0:04:03.540 --> 0:04:07.100 it is because there's confusion on this subject. Sadly, there's 0:04:07.140 --> 0:04:09.660 confusion on the fact that God is good and he 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:12.720 is good all the time. And his intentions toward you 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:16.360 and towards me are always good. Week number two, we'll 0:04:16.380 --> 0:04:19.560 talk about the devil is bad. God is good. The 0:04:19.580 --> 0:04:22.700 devil is bad. And again, we're telling that we're talking 0:04:22.740 --> 0:04:25.719 about that because so many times people attribute things that 0:04:25.779 --> 0:04:29.490 the devil does to God. No, the devil is the 0:04:29.529 --> 0:04:31.550 bad one. And we're going to look at it next 0:04:31.589 --> 0:04:32.950 week a little bit. What are some of the things, 0:04:33.070 --> 0:04:36.610 the Bible says, don't be ignorant of Satan's devices. As 0:04:36.650 --> 0:04:38.870 a believer, you don't focus on the devil, obviously, but 0:04:38.890 --> 0:04:41.990 you have to be wise to his devices. We have 0:04:42.029 --> 0:04:44.670 to be aware. Listen, we have to be aware that 0:04:44.790 --> 0:04:49.670 he is endeavoring, if we're gullible and duped and ignorant, 0:04:50.010 --> 0:04:54.419 he is endeavoring to send packages to our homes. And 0:04:54.450 --> 0:04:56.219 if we don't know any better, we'll sign for him. 0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:00.330 We'll sign for packages the devil sends thinking, well, it 0:05:00.390 --> 0:05:02.909 must be from the Lord. How many of you know, 0:05:02.930 --> 0:05:05.110 a lot of us, put myself in there too, a 0:05:05.130 --> 0:05:07.410 lot of us over the years have signed for packages 0:05:08.510 --> 0:05:10.890 that didn't come from God. But it's because we didn't 0:05:10.940 --> 0:05:14.460 know the devil's bad. There is an enemy. There is 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:18.960 a personality, a demon personality called Satan, called the devil. 0:05:19.420 --> 0:05:21.700 And he's bad. And he doesn't want anything good for you. 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:24.539 God only wants good things for you. And we'll talk 0:05:24.580 --> 0:05:26.280 about that some next week. Week three, we're going to 0:05:26.339 --> 0:05:29.740 talk about reasons bad things happen. There are reasons that 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:32.880 bad things happen. It's not just arbitrary. And so we 0:05:32.900 --> 0:05:34.500 want to be wise to those things and let's avoid 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:37.659 them where we can. Let's pay attention. And then week four, 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:39.520 ways to live the good life. We'll talk about some 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:42.460 real specific ways to tap into and really walk out 0:05:42.500 --> 0:05:44.200 the good life that God has for us. And so 0:05:44.580 --> 0:05:47.400 it's kind of where we're going to go. And today 0:05:47.420 --> 0:05:49.720 we're going to talk about God is good. And sort 0:05:49.740 --> 0:05:52.550 of the subtitle is, And he wants his kids to 0:05:52.589 --> 0:05:55.110 live the good life. He's not just good and hoarding 0:05:55.130 --> 0:05:58.589 it all for himself because he's good. He gives, and 0:05:58.630 --> 0:06:01.750 he wants all of his kids to experience the good life. Now, 0:06:01.770 --> 0:06:03.109 I don't know about you, but I know for me, 0:06:03.130 --> 0:06:06.330 when I first became a Christian, I was 19 years old. 0:06:06.870 --> 0:06:10.490 And I remember looking at Christians, watching Christians. Do y'all 0:06:10.510 --> 0:06:12.990 remember doing that? Maybe some of you here, you're doing 0:06:13.010 --> 0:06:16.290 that today. You're new, you're visiting, you know, who are 0:06:16.310 --> 0:06:18.610 these people and what are they like? And, you know, 0:06:18.630 --> 0:06:21.290 you watch people. I did. And I remember there was 0:06:21.330 --> 0:06:24.810 a season I remembered watching these Christian people and I thought, 0:06:25.290 --> 0:06:28.729 I'm not like them. They're all so together and they're 0:06:28.750 --> 0:06:31.710 all so happy and they're all so blessed and they're 0:06:31.730 --> 0:06:34.430 all so goody-goody. And, you know, and I remember thinking, 0:06:34.630 --> 0:06:37.230 I'm not like them. I came out of, you know, 0:06:37.250 --> 0:06:40.590 a messed up home and I got issues and I 0:06:40.630 --> 0:06:45.890 just felt so unworthy to be blessed. I felt guilty 0:06:45.950 --> 0:06:49.599 or unworthy, you know, and I watched these people and 0:06:49.620 --> 0:06:51.780 I didn't know if it was for me. And I thought, well, maybe, 0:06:52.180 --> 0:06:53.860 maybe you just have to be born into it. You know, 0:06:53.900 --> 0:06:55.360 maybe you got to be born into a Christian home 0:06:55.380 --> 0:06:57.060 or you got to be born into a preacher's family 0:06:57.100 --> 0:07:00.180 or somehow or another, you got to be born into it, 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:02.440 but I'm not in the club. Anybody know what I'm 0:07:02.460 --> 0:07:05.300 talking about? That, that kind of sense. But here's the thing. 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:07.420 We're going to get into this today. I became, you know, 0:07:07.700 --> 0:07:09.700 over time began to realize, no, no, no, no, no. 0:07:10.020 --> 0:07:13.410 God has the good life for everybody. Everybody's in the club. 0:07:15.030 --> 0:07:18.150 so to speak. Everybody's in the club. Of course, the 0:07:18.190 --> 0:07:20.110 enemy wants you to think you're on the outside. He 0:07:20.150 --> 0:07:23.030 wants you to think you're not good enough. You're not worthy. 0:07:23.070 --> 0:07:25.330 You're not smart enough. You don't know enough Bible verses. 0:07:25.380 --> 0:07:28.880 You've had too many mistakes, too many failures. You're disqualified. 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:31.800 Oh no, you're not. God has a good life for 0:07:31.820 --> 0:07:33.040 each and every one of us. And so we want 0:07:33.060 --> 0:07:35.200 to sort of locate ourselves. Where are we at now? 0:07:36.050 --> 0:07:38.050 What does God's word tell us about the good life 0:07:38.070 --> 0:07:40.310 and how we can begin to cooperate with it? And 0:07:40.350 --> 0:07:42.410 then let's believe God, right? In these next couple weeks, 0:07:42.930 --> 0:07:46.590 let's believe God that wherever you're at, you might feel 0:07:46.610 --> 0:07:49.070 like you're at the bottom of the barrel. Well, then 0:07:49.090 --> 0:07:50.810 let's believe God you're going to take a step up 0:07:51.490 --> 0:07:54.120 in the good life. At the end of these four weeks, 0:07:54.130 --> 0:07:57.720 you'll be equipped to take some steps up in the 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:00.060 good life. Well, let's say you're on top of the barrel. 0:08:00.180 --> 0:08:03.120 You're sitting there saying, hey, my life is sweet. It's 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:07.000 all good. My life is awesome. God has blessed us. 0:08:07.180 --> 0:08:10.300 I'm living the good life. Praise God for that. Then 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:14.060 how about for you do this? Go beyond. Raise the bar, man. 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:18.300 Go beyond. Take it up a notch. Be so ridiculous 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:22.860 as to think God could take you even higher. Be 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:25.260 so ridiculous as to think God could bless you in 0:08:25.340 --> 0:08:29.200 such a way that you could be a blessing. Because 0:08:29.220 --> 0:08:30.720 how many know that's the goal of the good life? 0:08:31.730 --> 0:08:33.469 The goal of the good life, as we'll get into it, 0:08:33.830 --> 0:08:37.270 isn't just so that we're blessed and happy and it's 0:08:37.290 --> 0:08:39.890 all wonderful for us. That's a part of it. But 0:08:39.950 --> 0:08:42.290 the goal of the good life is we're blessed to 0:08:42.350 --> 0:08:45.270 be a blessing. You can't give what you don't have. 0:08:46.150 --> 0:08:48.770 If you don't have an overflow of joy, an overflow 0:08:48.809 --> 0:08:52.370 of peace, an overflow of God in your life, you 0:08:52.390 --> 0:08:54.569 can't give that to other people because you need somebody 0:08:54.590 --> 0:08:57.150 to give it to you. So the goal is let's 0:08:57.290 --> 0:09:00.630 get the good life. to the fall in an overflow 0:09:00.690 --> 0:09:02.689 fashion so that we can give it to some other 0:09:02.710 --> 0:09:04.870 people and so if you're already kind of in the 0:09:04.890 --> 0:09:07.390 good life mode yay praise God for that but then 0:09:07.429 --> 0:09:10.510 believe God what he do with you what can he 0:09:10.580 --> 0:09:12.150 do with you some of you people listen what can 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:13.820 he do with you if you got a hold of 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:17.939 the good life maybe you could buy a well for 0:09:17.980 --> 0:09:22.280 somebody in Africa maybe you could sponsor an entire orphanage 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:26.040 in Cambodia maybe you could rescue girls that are in 0:09:26.059 --> 0:09:29.770 the sex trade in four nations Maybe you could pay 0:09:29.809 --> 0:09:33.130 somebody's car off. That's what we're talking about, the good life. 0:09:33.170 --> 0:09:35.050 It's not just that my needs are met. It's like 0:09:35.110 --> 0:09:37.090 you get a vision for what this could look like, 0:09:37.170 --> 0:09:41.510 what God could use you to do to impact people, 0:09:41.650 --> 0:09:45.770 impact a planet. Amen? So that's all introductory. That's where 0:09:45.790 --> 0:09:49.290 we're heading. Okay, let's go over then to John 10.10, 0:09:49.290 --> 0:09:51.070 a verse you know. But this is out of the 0:09:51.150 --> 0:09:53.310 Amplified Bible, so if you need a Bible, raise your hands. 0:09:53.350 --> 0:09:56.270 The ushers will get you one. Look up John 10.10, 0:09:56.250 --> 0:10:00.260 and then let's pray, and we'll jump in. Father, thank 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:02.679 you so much for your word. Thank you so much 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:06.250 for the Holy Spirit's help. Lord, you're a good God. 0:10:06.290 --> 0:10:08.490 You are good all the time. You've always been good. 0:10:09.070 --> 0:10:13.030 From Genesis to Revelation, you are a good, loving Father. 0:10:13.050 --> 0:10:15.390 And I pray, Lord, today that our eyes will be 0:10:15.470 --> 0:10:18.100 open to it. I pray that blinders will come off, 0:10:18.140 --> 0:10:21.560 that you'll give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation 0:10:21.580 --> 0:10:26.120 and the knowledge of you. Lord, I thank you that deposits, 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:29.360 grace deposits of your spirit will be imparted into us. 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:31.840 And you'll help us today and over the next four 0:10:31.900 --> 0:10:34.400 weeks to get this on the inside of us in 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:38.380 our spiritual DNA. It'll become such a part of us. 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:42.420 We expect nothing less than your absolute goodness in us 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:45.050 and through us. to be a blessing. And so we 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:48.100 thank you for it in Jesus name and everybody that 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:51.980 agreed said praise the Lord. Okay. So then let's talk 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:53.780 about this. John 10, 10, you guys know the verse, 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:56.240 but this is from the amplified. It says the thief 0:10:57.340 --> 0:11:00.750 comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. Well, 0:11:00.770 --> 0:11:03.589 we know who the thief is, right? The enemy, Satan 0:11:03.650 --> 0:11:05.750 is the thief. He comes to steal, kill and destroy. 0:11:05.770 --> 0:11:08.490 We'll talk about that later. But Jesus said, I came 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:13.000 Jesus these are Jesus's words. He said I came that 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:19.040 they may have and enjoy life Have it in abundance 0:11:19.950 --> 0:11:26.510 to the full until it overflows John 10 10 Jesus 0:11:26.570 --> 0:11:29.250 said I have come. This is the reason I came 0:11:29.270 --> 0:11:33.130 I came to the planet I created I went to 0:11:33.170 --> 0:11:36.290 the cross as your substitute to die on that cross 0:11:36.330 --> 0:11:38.900 and take your place in hell and and was raised 0:11:38.980 --> 0:11:41.380 three days later, and here's why I did it. I 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:46.010 did it so that you can have and enjoy life. 0:11:47.230 --> 0:11:50.030 That's a good life. And that you can have it 0:11:50.130 --> 0:11:57.010 in abundance to the full until it overflows. The good 0:11:57.050 --> 0:12:00.189 life is the overflow life. Now, for every one of us, 0:12:00.190 --> 0:12:01.840 it's going to look different because we all have different 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:04.720 reference points. What does it look like for you? Maybe 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:06.300 get some things in your mind, you know, in your heart. 0:12:06.340 --> 0:12:08.800 What does the good life look like for you? What 0:12:08.860 --> 0:12:11.720 areas of your life? Spirit, soul, and body. Jesus said, 0:12:11.780 --> 0:12:14.680 I have come that you would have and enjoy life. 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:16.820 Do you know how many people do not enjoy life? 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:19.140 How many Christians do you know that look like they've 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:25.660 been baptized in pickle juice? Come on, bust a smile, dude. Yeah. 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:32.969 To have and enjoy life. What kind of life? Abundant life. 0:12:33.270 --> 0:12:39.000 That's excess, surplus, more than enough. To the full. Until 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:44.970 it overflows. The overflow is for others. It's not enough. 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:47.230 Somebody goes, well, I don't need the overflow life. Yes, 0:12:47.290 --> 0:12:51.030 you do. Well, I don't care about abundance. Yes, you do. 0:12:52.050 --> 0:12:55.090 You need to. Because that isn't necessarily just for you. 0:12:55.130 --> 0:12:59.689 That's for the others. It's that overflow. God infects us 0:12:59.790 --> 0:13:02.170 with an overflow so we can be contagious and give 0:13:02.190 --> 0:13:05.250 it to somebody else. Absolutely, you have to get this. 0:13:06.010 --> 0:13:07.570 You can't say, well, I don't need the good life. Yes, 0:13:07.590 --> 0:13:13.410 you do need the good life. And all the people said, yeah, 0:13:13.470 --> 0:13:16.260 you do. You need the good life. What kind of life? 0:13:16.500 --> 0:13:19.439 To have and enjoy life. Praise God for that. Just 0:13:19.460 --> 0:13:23.620 you can enjoy life. And then he gives us this 0:13:23.660 --> 0:13:25.099 description of what this looks like. And we're going to 0:13:25.140 --> 0:13:26.770 talk about it, like I say, over the next few weeks. 0:13:26.809 --> 0:13:28.510 What does this life look like then in different areas? 0:13:28.550 --> 0:13:31.610 And why is it so many people are not experiencing 0:13:31.890 --> 0:13:35.350 the good life? Go over to Hosea 4.6. Let's talk 0:13:35.370 --> 0:13:39.050 about this for just a bit. Why is it? If 0:13:39.070 --> 0:13:41.240 we ever get the revelation, and I believe we will, 0:13:41.750 --> 0:13:45.250 that God is so good, he is so generous, we 0:13:45.290 --> 0:13:48.340 have no idea how good he is. We've been taught 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:51.020 by religion. We've been taught by people's opinions. We've been 0:13:51.059 --> 0:13:54.680 taught by experience. And we've been taught by everything but 0:13:54.700 --> 0:13:58.079 the Bible about who God is and what his nature 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:00.800 is and what his character is like. The Bible says 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:05.980 God is love. That's his nature. God is love. And 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:10.640 love by nature, by definition, love gives. For God so 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:14.520 loved the world, he gave. He can't help himself. He 0:14:14.660 --> 0:14:17.319 is love. He gives. It's just what he does. He's 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:21.490 so good. He's so generous. And so many of us 0:14:21.530 --> 0:14:23.750 have not had this view of God to the degree 0:14:23.770 --> 0:14:26.030 that we need to. And there's a reason for it. 0:14:26.050 --> 0:14:28.030 So then a lot of us don't experience the good 0:14:28.070 --> 0:14:29.990 life to the degree that he intended. And here's why. 0:14:30.030 --> 0:14:34.000 This is one main reason, Hosea 4.6 says, The Lord said, 0:14:34.260 --> 0:14:42.510 my people, who? My people, believers. My people are destroyed 0:14:42.630 --> 0:14:46.430 for a lack of knowledge. My people do not know 0:14:46.830 --> 0:14:49.320 what they do not know. They don't even know what 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:51.640 belongs to them. They don't even know what's in their inheritance. 0:14:51.660 --> 0:14:54.560 They don't even know the price that Jesus paid on 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:57.220 the cross and the purpose for which he paid it. 0:14:57.970 --> 0:14:59.930 They don't even know what belongs to them in Christ. 0:15:00.350 --> 0:15:04.740 My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. They 0:15:04.770 --> 0:15:09.540 have such little bits of information. But God is trying 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:11.500 to encourage us. I believe in this series. God is 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:13.980 trying to encourage us. I want to load you up 0:15:14.060 --> 0:15:16.930 with the knowledge of my will. I want to fill 0:15:16.970 --> 0:15:20.010 your heart and fill your mind with revelation knowledge that 0:15:20.030 --> 0:15:22.210 you don't just know some tidbits in your head, but 0:15:22.230 --> 0:15:25.290 that you get an impartation of the Holy Spirit, and 0:15:25.390 --> 0:15:29.240 God's goodness becomes a part of your spiritual DNA. It 0:15:29.260 --> 0:15:31.479 becomes a part of you. You know because you know 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:33.860 because you know, and nobody can take it from you. 0:15:34.780 --> 0:15:39.910 God is not schizogod. Good one day and then bad 0:15:39.950 --> 0:15:44.230 some other days. Well, you just never know. The Lord 0:15:44.270 --> 0:15:46.370 might be trying to teach you a lesson you just 0:15:46.530 --> 0:15:49.410 never know. Yes, we do know we have the Bible. 0:15:50.770 --> 0:15:54.700 We have his word. Amen. So we need this to 0:15:54.740 --> 0:15:59.240 get in us. Because if we don't get it in us, 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:01.440 the knowledge of God's will for us concerning the good 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:05.740 life and many other things, my people perish. My people 0:16:05.780 --> 0:16:08.420 are destroyed. You say, you know, the devil's been eating 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:12.800 my lunch. Now that you mention it. Well, then get 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:19.280 the knowledge. My people's lunch is eaten because of a 0:16:19.290 --> 0:16:22.100 lack of knowledge. That's why. That's one of the number 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:23.600 one things. The best thing you all can do, and 0:16:23.620 --> 0:16:26.380 I'm glad you're here, is come to church, get your Bibles, 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:29.040 study the Word, learn the Word, get a hold of 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:30.820 the knowledge of God. So we're going to talk today 0:16:31.300 --> 0:16:33.500 about some areas that we need the knowledge of and 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:35.540 some of the areas that we don't have the knowledge of. 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:38.880 And we find ourselves destroyed in certain areas of life. 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:42.000 So let's talk about it. The first one we'll look 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:45.330 at is this. People don't know That God is good. 0:16:45.890 --> 0:16:48.710 They don't know it. We've talked about it just a tad, 0:16:48.750 --> 0:16:52.250 but people don't know it. It's amazing. It is amazing. 0:16:52.270 --> 0:16:54.230 You guys will find this if you haven't already. People 0:16:54.250 --> 0:16:57.460 will argue with you about this subject. How can you 0:16:57.530 --> 0:17:02.780 say God is good? Well, because the Bible does. How 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:05.439 about that? How can you say God is good? We 0:17:05.460 --> 0:17:07.740 had a friend. No, seriously. We had a friend that 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:13.169 worked for a Christian organization. Christian organization. Great people. Love God. Genuine, sincere, 0:17:13.190 --> 0:17:16.760 and all that. Worked for this organization, although they didn't 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:19.679 believe that God was good, which is weird to me. 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:23.220 But this fellow was asked to do a chapel at 0:17:23.260 --> 0:17:26.080 this organization, to do a chapel. And he knew that 0:17:26.100 --> 0:17:28.060 they didn't agree with him on certain things, you know, 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:30.699 about the abundant life and about being filled with the 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:33.100 Spirit and about a variety of things. He understood they 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:35.179 didn't agree with that. So he said, well, I want 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:38.590 to pick a topic that is not controversial. I just 0:17:38.609 --> 0:17:40.030 want to be a blessing. They asked me to speak 0:17:40.050 --> 0:17:41.810 at their chapel. I'll just be a blessing. He worked 0:17:41.869 --> 0:17:44.280 for this group. He said, I'll just speak at their chapel. 0:17:44.300 --> 0:17:47.640 I'll do something non-controversial. And so he said, I'll just 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:50.560 talk about God is good. Surely nobody can get upset 0:17:50.580 --> 0:17:53.490 about that. So he did a message at chapel on 0:17:53.730 --> 0:17:56.830 the goodness of God. God is good all the time. 0:17:57.470 --> 0:17:59.810 The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus came 0:17:59.830 --> 0:18:03.290 to give us abundant life. And afterwards, the next day, 0:18:03.330 --> 0:18:06.050 he got called into his boss's office and was fired 0:18:07.970 --> 0:18:11.640 because they said, you can't say God is good. So 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:15.740 people don't know God is good. And my people perish 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:19.640 for lack of knowledge. People haven't discerned that some things 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:21.560 are from God and some things are from the enemy. 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:24.920 They just put everything into one big bucket. Well, you know, 0:18:25.020 --> 0:18:28.179 God is sovereign. It must all come from God. Well, 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:38.350 then Jesus must not have known that. I think I 0:18:38.390 --> 0:18:42.080 forgot to say, that I might raise more questions today 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:44.879 than we answer. That's why you got to keep coming back. 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:47.780 Come back all four weeks. No, really, because we probably will. 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:50.379 We'll probably stir up some questions today, and that's okay. 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:52.280 We need to think about this stuff. We better know 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:54.940 what we know. We better believe what we believe, right, 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:57.540 and have the word to back us up. Otherwise, it's 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:00.820 just another person's idea. So we may raise some questions. 0:19:01.300 --> 0:19:04.020 I'm aware of that, but that's all right. So God 0:19:04.060 --> 0:19:05.520 is good. A lot of people don't know he's good. 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:09.630 Look at this verse, Psalm 34, verse 8. Oh, taste 0:19:09.869 --> 0:19:14.090 and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the 0:19:14.130 --> 0:19:19.490 man who trusts in him. Taste and see. Taste. Who knows? 0:19:19.550 --> 0:19:24.510 Taste is experiential. Is it not? Taste and see that 0:19:24.550 --> 0:19:27.369 the Lord is good. I've got a picture. I'll put 0:19:27.390 --> 0:19:32.820 it up on the screen here. Can y'all taste that? 0:19:34.420 --> 0:19:38.750 How's that taste? It's a nice picture, isn't it? Can 0:19:38.770 --> 0:19:42.390 you taste it? No, because listen, if we're just hearing 0:19:42.930 --> 0:19:44.949 some words on a page, it's good theory, but I'm 0:19:44.970 --> 0:19:48.189 not tasting it. I'm not tasting those Butterfinger. If I 0:19:48.210 --> 0:19:51.620 hear your testimony or you hear my testimony, well, that's great. 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:53.570 I'm glad for your testimony, but I didn't taste it. 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:57.240 You tasted it, but I didn't taste it. If you 0:19:57.280 --> 0:19:59.080 go on vacation and come back and show me all 0:19:59.100 --> 0:20:01.720 your pictures, I can look at your pictures and go, wow, 0:20:01.740 --> 0:20:03.950 it looks like you had a great vacation. You tasted 0:20:03.970 --> 0:20:07.399 the vacation. I got to see the pictures. Well, the 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:09.060 Lord's saying, listen, I don't want you just to look 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:11.560 at pictures. I want you all to taste this thing. 0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:14.900 I want you to taste and see that the Lord 0:20:14.970 --> 0:20:17.470 is good. You can't just look at a picture on 0:20:17.490 --> 0:20:24.650 a screen and taste. However, if you were to catch 0:20:24.690 --> 0:20:28.080 one of these, you could taste and see that a 0:20:28.100 --> 0:20:31.220 Butterfinger is good. Yeah, there's a difference, isn't there? An 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:33.320 experiential difference. I don't want to throw this bracelet off, 0:20:33.340 --> 0:20:38.780 so hold on. That could hurt somebody. All right, here 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:44.379 we go. Yeah, you can taste and see the sweetness 0:20:45.140 --> 0:20:48.420 of a Butterfinger. So you get the idea? God wants 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:51.830 us to taste and see. He wants it to be experiential. 0:20:51.850 --> 0:20:54.350 I mean, if your Christian life is just the greatest 0:20:54.369 --> 0:21:00.469 sounding theory you ever heard, well, goodbye. Really, I mean, goodbye, 0:21:00.530 --> 0:21:02.409 because who wants that? Then it's just a club. Then 0:21:02.430 --> 0:21:03.889 you just come to a little meeting. We talked about 0:21:03.910 --> 0:21:06.140 this in our pre-service prayer a little bit. God wants 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:09.390 people to experience his goodness. Otherwise he wouldn't have said 0:21:09.470 --> 0:21:13.530 taste and see that the Lord is good. And it 0:21:13.570 --> 0:21:15.110 really does start. We'll get into this in a couple 0:21:15.130 --> 0:21:16.750 of weeks, but it really does start with beginning to 0:21:16.810 --> 0:21:20.080 see it, beginning to see God's goodness in your life, 0:21:20.359 --> 0:21:23.240 beginning to imagine what would your life look like? What 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:25.639 would be different if you were living the good life 0:21:25.780 --> 0:21:28.980