Sermon Tone Analysis

Psalm 145:8-16

What God is Like

 

The LORD is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger and rich in love.

The LORD is good to all;

he has compassion on all he has made.

All you have made will praise you, O LORD;

your saints will extol you.

They will tell of the glory of your kingdom

and speak of your might,

so that all men may know of your mighty acts

and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

and your dominion endures through all generations.

The LORD is faithful to all his promises

and loving toward all he has made.

The LORD upholds all those who fall

and lifts up all who are bowed down.

The eyes of all look to you,

and you give them their food at the proper time.

You open your hand

and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

God occupies virtually everyone’s thoughts today.

At least one would suppose this to be true from the easy manner with which members of our society invoke His Name.

“Oh, God,” has become the epithet of choice for modern people.

It is the means by which even those who should know God best register disgust or joy or surprise.

We casually speak of Him and we no longer hesitate to openly pray that He would condemn both our fellowman and the inventions which have blessed us in our world.

Should a computer malfunction, it is not uncommon to hear a plea that God would condemn the contrivance.

Should we be angered, God is often implored to condemn the one who angered us.

Of course, for all the light-hearted awareness that the Name of God is on our lips, most of those in our society don’t really know God.

Long years ago a servant of God wrote of people’s failure to know God.

In fact, he said that people did not want to know God!  Listen to his words.

“There is no one righteous, not even one;

there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.

All have turned away, they have together become worthless;

there is no one who does good, not even one.”

“Their throats are open graves;

their tongues practice deceit.”

“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”

“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

ruin and misery mark their ways,

and the way of peace they do not know.”

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

[*Romans 3:10-18*]

Who, then, is God?

What is He like?

Why wouldn’t people want to know Him?  Perhaps the reason many don’t seek God is that they have accepted a caricature of God.

Who wants to know a cosmic bully?

Who would want to know a God so remote that He was unconcerned for our welfare or a God so powerless that He was unable to ensure that good prevailed in our lives?

Again, maybe the point is that people do know what God is like and they are fearful that if they acknowledge Him He will expose them.

If we are to know God, let’s admit that we can only know Him through His own self-revelation.

If it were possible to know God through our own efforts, then we would be at least as great as God.

On the other hand, if God wishes to be known, then we are dependent upon Him to inform us of His nature and of His character.

Of course, that is precisely what God has done through the written Word of God.

Here in the book is a portrait of God.

I invite your careful attention as together we examine what God is like.

*The Face of God* — Gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love… good to all.

When you think of God, who do you see?  What is your vision of God?

If you are focused exclusively on yourself and on your own self-interests, God must seem distant at best.

If that is how you think of God your thoughts are in the context of a threat.

Among the reflections of a man who had witnessed the judgement of God was this gem.

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

[*Lamentations 3:22,23*]

 

The best of us are wicked when compared to the perfect standard of God’s character.

Perhaps we have never killed anyone, but can we say that we have never been angry without reason?

Perhaps we have never committed adultery nor even engaged in extramarital sexual affairs, but is it true that we have never permitted our mind to linger overly long on the delicious thought of what life would be if only that certain someone were ours?

Perhaps we have never stolen from another, but have we not longed to possess what another has?

Throughout the Word of God the perfect standard is set, and none of us has ever achieved, much less maintained, that perfection.

Our anger flares and we are reminded by the Master that our unrighteous anger ascends before God as though it were the sin of murder.

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, “Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgement.”

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement.

Again, anyone who says to his brother, “Raca,” is answerable to the Sanhedrin.

But anyone who says, “You fool!” will be in danger of the fire of hell [*Matthew 5:21,22*].

Our passions stir and we are reminded by the words of Jesus that such lingering, longing, lustful looks lead to adultery.

You have heard that it was said, “Do not commit adultery.”

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart [*Matthew 5:27,28*].

We are unsatisfied with what we have or what we are, but instead of permitting our dissatisfaction to impel us to excel we covet.

Of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient [*Ephesians 5:5,6*].

These are areas of sin tragically common in each of our lives at one time or another.

Consider this question and carefully weigh your answer.

Are you a sinner because you sin?  Or do you sin because you are a sinner?

Of course, we sin because we are sinners before God.

Despite our sinful nature God does not destroy us, but instead He shows us mercy and kindness and reveals His grace to us.

This is the message of life which churches deliver not only to their communities, but also to the whole of mankind.

God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.

Our God is good to all.

The evidence that this is true is witnessed in the fact that God does not immediately judge us because we are sinful, but instead He provides a means by which sin may both be forgiven and sin’s penalty set aside.

Were withholding immediate judgement all that God did it would be evidence of His gracious character, but He actively pursues us and calls us to life, all the while showering us with gifts.

No one is a Christian because they are born such.

The Bible is very clear in presenting the truth that we must be born from above into the Kingdom of God.

No one is a Christian because they go to church or because they are a member of a church.

Living in a garage does not make you a Mercedes Benz and being born in a bagel factory does not make you Jewish.

Just so, being born to Christian parents or being born in Canada does not make one Christian, for God has no grandchildren.

Instead, we learn that God loves us and ardently pursues us with His offer of life.

There is a reason why this new life is spoken of as *eternal life*.