I have found a friend in Jesus, he's everything to me, he's the sparest of ten thousand to my soul. The lily of the valley, in him alone I see, all I need to cleanse and make me fully whole. In sorrow He's my comfort, in trouble He's my safe, He tells me every care on Him to roll. He's the lily of the valley, the bright and morning star, He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul. He all my griefs has taken, and all my sorrows borne, In temptation He's my strong and mighty tower. I have all for Him forsaken, and all my idols torn, From my corner now He keeps me by His power. All the world forsake me and Satan tempt me sore Through Jesus I shall safely reach the goal He's the lily on the valley, the bright and morning star He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul He will never, never leave me, nor yet forsake me here, while I live by faith and do His blessed will. O wall of fire, about me I'm nothing now to fear, with this man, Ahim, my hungry soul shall fill. In sweeping after glory to see His blessed face Where rivers of delight shall ever roll He's the lily of the valley, the bright and morning star He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul Come, every soul by sin oppressed, there's mercy with the Lord, and He will surely give you rest by trusting in His Word. Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him. He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now. For Jesus shed His precious blood, rich blessings to bestow. Plunge now into the crimson flood that washes white as snow. Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now. He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now. Yes, Jesus is the truth, the way that leads you into rest. Believe in Him without delay and you are fully blessed. Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now. He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now. Come then and join this holy band, and on to glory go, to dwell in that celestial land where joy's immortal flow. Only trust Him, only trust Him, He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now. When darkness was aimless, life filled with sin I wouldn't let my dear Savior in Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night Praise the Lord, I saw the light I saw the light, I saw the light No more darkness, no more night Now I'm so happy, no sorrow inside Praise the Lord, I saw the light I saw the light. I saw the light, I saw the light No more darkness, no more night Now I'm so happy, no sorrow inside Praise the Lord, I saw the light I saw the light. I saw the light, I saw the light No more darkness, no more night How I'm so happy, no sorrow inside Praise the Lord, I saw the light Folks, we're blessed people, aren't we? That's for sure. We're blessed. Mr. Beam. Put your light on here a little bit. Brought things up here for us here. Tonight we're going to just spend a few minutes here on a thought I always love to go back in God's word and just reminisce. I don't know if anybody here do any reminiscence or not. I do. I like to go back in time and just go through these words and just see how God's goodness is to us is so numerous. And all through the ages, you know, man has acknowledged the goodness of God. show us through His Word how that even today we as God's people, they show us through His Word that God's goodness is great. And it's an awesome thing to think about tonight, and how God's blessed us. We just went through another year, and Brother John reflected on that this morning, and then we're coming into a new one. Let's pray God's goodness will continue to flow. And it will flow. If we say we're God's, requires us to be and be in His will, we'll get God's goodness, He promised to us. Brother John, he asked me this morning, I told him I'll do it, and I thought, you know, Times like these, you just got to pick up the slack. So I pray for me as I take up this responsibility. It's a big responsibility, folks. I mean, it's a thing we can't just take lightly. It's a big responsibility to get up here and say what God's laid on our hearts, and pray it does come out the right way, and pray it would be a blessing and help others. I remember when my granddad, years ago, I would haul him to these old fellowship meetings back in the 60s after I got my driver's license. And I'd take him along. He'd tell me a story one time about, you know, every now and then in preaching, he'd say for somebody to chalk for him. You know, he wanted us to pray for him, you know, chalk for him. That was an old word. And I thought about it. He'd tell about how it had come about, him and somebody years ago, they used to do a lot of cross-tie hewing down these hollers here. And they would take them to Greenup, and the only way they would go is go up this hill over here, go around Laurel Ridge and down Clay Lick, come down Route 1 to Greenup to that little crosstown. And he talked about one of those grades on it. They come over that hill with them tires, and he had to chalk for the driver of the wagon. because it started pushing the team, you know, the load. And he said, I had a chalk for him. And that's where he came up with that, you know, y'all chalk for me tonight. And he said it wasn't that. That wagon started pushing the team. He had had a big pole with a wedge on it. He'd stick it on the wheel and stop it. And they'd rest up. They'd back up a little bit and pull. And he said, I chalked for him down the hill. So that's the way it is. We just chalk for each other. And we'll get through this tonight. I want to just look at this for a night. This is an awesome topic. I spoke some on this one before, maybe two times in time. I want to reflect tonight on this thought tonight, God's goodness. And so we done went through another year, and I tell you what, we cannot deny the fact that God has shown His goodness to us. I mean, we know that, and He has promised many things, and through that promise we can endure. You know, we just can't quit. It's sad to say there are a lot of people quitting today, but what they are realizing is that they have actually turned their back on God's goodness. It's the best place in the world today tonight, folks. We're here where God said He'd be with us. Now I'd like to go to Psalms chapter 52. A lot of scriptures end in 52, or Psalms rather, and many of them are here in chapter 52 verse 1. We'll start with this one. It's very important. We look at these and see how truly we are blessed. He says, Why boasteth thyself in mischief, O mighty man? When you come into the house of the Lord, there's no time for foolishness, folks. This is serious. We need to be serious about this. He said here, why boast of thyself amidst this almighty man? The goodness of God endures continually. And the psalmist here, he brought these to our attention. It's a very blessed fact to realize how great God is. I sit back there and look up here and see seven grandsons that are singing. God's been good to me and my family. I know that. He's been good to all of us. I'd like to be thankful for it, folks. I'll tell you that. Let's have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, I'm thankful for another Lord's Day service You've given us to be in. Again, thank You, Lord, for the opportunity to be here tonight. Lord, help me to bring forth what You live in my heart. And Lord, may it be a blessing to us and to me. In the meantime, look over your great verses and study them and just see how great You are to us and all Your goodness that You've been giving to me, Lord, through my life. Lord, we just can't thank you enough. Lord, go with us through this night. Bless those who are not able to be here. Our pastor, Lord, just bless him and give him what he was standing in need of tonight. Pray everything would be well with him. Lord, he'd be back with us Wednesday night. And pray for others who are not able to be here. Lord, be with them and bring healing. Be it those that are brokenhearted, I thank you, my cousin, Tiny, hard on their family. Just be with them and comfort them throughout these days ahead. And others, Lord, we know are brokenhearted as well. I do pray for Brother Superall. Lord, You'll be with that family in the situation they're in. They're training their dad. We know. You know all about it. Lord, Your grace would be sufficient, I know. And Lord, we pray You'll bless up all of them. Lord, for going through this night, Lord, bless us and bless us throughout the week. And when we leave here on the weekend, truth be said, it has been good to be in Your house. And Lord, forgive me what I've said against You, Lord. And Lord, again, help me to bring these words and words of encouragement, words of help, and words to show where many times we may even come short. Forgiveness in our sin, Lord, and our failures. In Jesus' name I pray, and amen. We go back on over to Psalm chapter 107, and I've thought about this many times, that the goodness of God must have been something that the psalmist thought was very important to talk about. Because you know here in this one chapter, he wrote these same verses. Oh, that man would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. I said, this must have been a word that was laid hard on his heart because he knows he wrote that four times in that one chapter, these very same words. Verse 15, 21, and 31. The writer of this psalm, he repeatedly wanted people to realize how goodness of God was, how great it was. A lot of times we go over things many times just to get the emphasis across. I think that's what he did here. He said it's enough to show folks the goodness of God is great. And he kept going over goodness of God repeatedly to get his point across. And I think he sure did a good job of it. When you read his old chapter and see how that God has blessed his good and has been poured out upon God's people, the Israelite nation, and his family heritage. And so God's goodness, I believe, is something that should be expressed more, even in our own daily life as well. In things, you know, we talk about, I've made it a habit. I don't know if it helps or not. I do make some phone calls through the weeks, and most generally, every time I talk to someone, I always say, Lord's been good to us. You know, and a man just up the road, or not too up the road, he's usually the one you miss, and in the event of God, He'd turn you off quick, just like that. I talked to him here just before Christmas, and he told me he was going to be 81 years old when I leave April. And I said, well, God's been good to you. He said, you know, I guess he has, you know. So you just put these words out, you know, get people thinking of how God is good. And see, the thing noted in God's word is there's an abundant supply of goodness. It doesn't run out, folks. It's not a shortage of God's goodness. It's been always back in the beginning up to our present time. There's always been an abundant supply of God's goodness upon mankind. And it's expressed even, if I go back even to the book of Exodus in chapter 34, we'll just go all the way back to Moses. And just look at this as well. Exodus chapter 34. And verse 6 and 7, this is where Moses went back, you know, the first time he made the Ten Commandments. And when he came up the mountain and saw that the idols and things that the God's people were doing, he broke that first set of the law. And so now God has called him back upon Sinai and he is now prepared to letter another of these commandments on the rock. that Moses had brought forth. And it says here, verse 4, it said, He hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and rose up early in the morning, and went up on the Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone, And the Lord ascended in a cloud and stood before him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. Now you've got to go back a little earlier and you'll see that he was in that cloud because no man could look upon God and live. And so he was in this cloud and he came down and he was inside that cloud speaking to Moses directly. And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, and proclaimed He says here, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth. There it is. It's all through God's Word like that. Here he told Moses that his goodness is in abundance. Don't think there's going to be any running out. Ever since, he stood before him and we see that it has been testified. I go to several scriptures and see where many of the prophets and many others have said the same thing about Moses did. That God's goodness was an unexplorable thing. It never ceased to be. And I believe that we can all today testify to the fact that God is true, because He's with us here even today. And it's truly never-ending. How many of us can say there's been a time that the goodness of God has not been poured out to us? I don't know over time. I don't know over time. We've got to realize that, you know, we can't say God has never blessed us. His goodness has always been with us. And He's always will be. Here's where God's love comes in. Even when you didn't deserve it. It's God's goodness still pouring out to us. Over Psalm 31 and 19. Psalm 31 and 19. It says here, O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men. We the chosen of God, folks, can testify of the fact that an act of mercy on His part have been bestowed upon us. It's something more precious than all the gold in the world. There's no doubt about it. He said in verse 20, He said, Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy presence. From the pride of man Thou shalt keep them secretly in the pavilion He says here from the Strife of Tongues. Blessed be the Lord, for you showed him marvelous kindness in a strong city. For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eye, nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplication when I cried unto thee. O love the Lord, all ye his saints, for the Lord preserveth the faithful and plentiful and rewardeth the proud doer. He said, Be a good cheerer, and he shall strengthen your heart. All you hope in the Lord. Don't ever think that God's goodness is not with you, folks. Even in the darkest hour, God's with us. Back in Psalm 65, let's go on over a little farther. Verse 4. Psalm 65 and verse 4. Blessed is the man. Read these verses real carefully. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee. Those are very important statements that are made. That he may dwell in thy courts, we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. The psalmist here is making it very plain that we who are chosen of God, we are of those that He calls to approach Him. Think about that. Blessed the man whom Thou choosest and causest to approach unto Thee. He brings in to the other part of this, your goodness, His Holy Spirit. His Spirit hovers over us, draws us unto Him, causes us to approach Him and seek forgiveness of our sins. As we see in this as well, He talks about Another thing, I'm just going to get here in a minute. But I'm thankful that God has put me here. I'm thankful that he put me here at his court. That's what the Psalms refer to it as. And he talks about here that they may dwell in thy courts. That chorus has to do with the Lord's house, folks. We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. We were drawn unto Him, or we approached Him through the drawing of the Holy Spirit. He sought us before we sought Him. A lot of the people today has it otherwise. I'm thankful that God reached down and touched my heart with the gospel one night. So I'm thankful that God placed me here in one of his courts. That's what this is. A place where I can come and fellowship and worship in a church that God planted here. That's what this is. It's a planting. It was planted from another church over across the hill. This is a church plant. I'm thankful, but I can truthfully say it's been a great blessing to be here and work together with the church family and work in unity and bond of love and peace that this world doesn't have. We're blessed, folks. We're blessed with the goodness of God, of being a part of the Lord's church. No wonder David said, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. He knew the goodness of God. I'll be honest about it, I do too. I know it. I know we all say we know his goodness. It's revealed to us every day, every hour, every minute of our lives. How can we not consider this great privilege to be here? When we were chosen here, when we've been drawn here, when we've been planted here in this court. It should be considered a great honor to be in the Lord's house where we can come and worship and sing praises. Folks, these people in our world today don't have this. God's goodness is poured out upon them, but they're suffering. Many places tonight, they don't have what we have. God's been good to us to give us a good, warm, comfortable place to be in and be here in this little community. And we take so much for granted. It's good to be here in this house where we can come and sing praises unto God's holy name and for His goodness and even place us here. That's something to think about. You know, I'm thankful that God put me here. I don't know where any other place could be. That's why we should be satisfied As he said in verse 65, we shall be satisfied with the goodness of his house. I always hear many times, if you've been an old man, I know that he always had a word, he'd praise and he'd say, if you came here expecting a blessing, you'll get one. And on the other side, if you don't come expecting a blessing, you're not going to get one. You're going to leave it empty. If we come here expecting a blessing, we'll get one, folks, because of God's goodness. We come here, we need to come in the right frame of mind, too. If we don't come in the right frame of mind, folks, it's just saying that you're not satisfied with God's goodness. not coming here to worship, and not coming here to be a part of this work and to have a place in this service. He talked about this, you know, that our frame of mind is very important when we come here to worship. It should be focused up on one thing, God. And to be not satisfied with God's goodness It's a sad thing to think about. When we come in these doors, we should be glad to be here, be satisfied. Appreciate the opportunity. It shouldn't be a dreadful thing. A lot of places go, there's no reverential fear of God, it seems like. It seemed like there was something that was just not there anymore. I was talking to Brother King Jason that night, and we were standing back, and he said, you know, Brother Jim, it's not what it used to be. It's not what it used to be. It don't be that way, folks. Where there's no love toward God and His house, where He promised to meet with us, that He would turn you back on God's goodness. That's just for sure. We have many spiritual blessings, folks. But so many of them are forfeited. Because it says in Psalm 31 and 19, Again I'll read, O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men. I read that again for one reason. Our light should be shining before the sons of men out in our neighborhood. Our light should be shining to the world out around us. Our trust and our thankfulness for his goodness should express itself in our actions and attitudes as we go through his life. Sadly, many people proclaim to know God, rob themselves of the joy of salvation when they don't do this. The worship of God It's very important. It's more than just being here, too, to be honest about it. A lot of people get the idea, you know, I just go to church Saturday or Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, that's all there are to it. Well, what we're saying is, you might think it's a good way to live, but I tell you what, it's not a good way to die. You're going to miss a lot of blessings and a lot of reward one day. See, the worship of our God is more than just being here. It's something we need to be a part of. You don't hear it emphasized anymore. You go to so many churches and sing one song and get a priest and sing one song and go home and no invitations and folks, people are being robbed. of God's blessings, being robbed of God's goodness. And a lot of people rob themselves of not being part of the service, being prayer warriors and being helping and keeping things in this church going and taking care of everything. Because it says in 145 of Psalms, This whole 145th Psalm is the whole thing we can read. And it has a lot to do with the goodness of God. And yeah, He has blessed us. And He says here in verse 1, I will extol Thee, my God, O King, and I will bless Thy name forever and ever. He said every day I'll bless Thee. And I'll praise Thy name forever and ever. Praise the Lord and greatness to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another and shall declare thy mighty acts. We look at our day, we're in. We've got some generations out there that don't know what we're taught by here tonight. Never been in a church service like this. Had no clue what it's all about. They have been denied this because of failure to parents. He said, I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts. He said, and I will declare thy greatness. Yeah, there's some ifs and buts out there, aren't there? What if this, or I don't think that. You hear a lot of that. But the psalmist David, he said, I will declare the greatness, not God's greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness. That's just memory. That's what he utters. And sing of thy righteousness. The Lord is gracious. full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works. And all thy works shall praise thee, O Lord, thy saints shall bless thee." And then he says, they shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom and the talk of thy power. He says, to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts and the glories of the majesty of his kingdom. Folks, we have a lot to talk about, but we need to talk in a way that expresses God's goodness toward us. He said, Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy dominion, He says, shall endure forever through all generations. And the Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raises up all those that be bowed down, The eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thy hand, and satisfyest the desire of every living. He says here thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him. He will also hear their cry and save them. The Lord preserves all them that love him. But the wicked will he destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever." This whole psalm deals with the goodness of God, folks. To every one of us. To mankind, even. God's even good to the lost world out there. He gives them breath to breathe. Gives everything that's about them, you know, to keep them going. So today, these are some things I wanted to bring to your attention. And I'm going to show here for just a few minutes in Romans chapter 11, verse 22. Paul is speaking here to the church at Rome, a Gentile church just like we are here at Emmanuel Baptist Church, a Gentile group of people. And he goes to this thought in chapter 11 of Romans and verse 22. Where it says, 11-22, Behold, therefore, the goodness and the severity of God. There are two things you've got to realize here. He talks about behold, therefore, the goodness and also the severity of God. That's a two-fold thought here. Behold, therefore, the goodness of God, and then it says, Behold the severity of God. And on them, he says here, Behold, therefore, the goodness and the severity of God, on them which fail, severity. But toward thee, goodness. Goodness. Then he says, if. There's a little responsibility here involved in this too, folks. He says, if thou continue in His goodness. There's a thing we've got to realize that this is not an off and on thing to be a part of the Lord's church. It's a continual thing. It can't come as you want and go as you want, come as it pleases and go as it pleases. He said it, but toward they goodness, if thou continue in His goodness, Otherwise, they'll shut me cut off. There's some things you've got to pay attention here in this. There's some things we've got to realize that there's a responsibility. And there's a responsibility to this family right here. There's a responsibility to us that are born again, who are saved by God's grace. See, in salvation, we experience His goodness. If we're advised grace through faith, we're saved. We hear that much, don't we? It is God's goodness toward us, something we may never forget. Folks, we can't step aside and forget God's goodness. We've got to just keep on proclaiming it. We've got to keep on living it. We've got to stay where God wants to be. There's another group here, but those who have not believed on the Lord, Jesus Christ, are condemned unto severity. The severity of God's wrath because of their unbelief. So we look at the equation, folks. Who are we? We're people saved by God's grace. We experience God's goodness. But if you're here at Lost Tonight, you don't know what we're talking about. You've never experienced it yet. And that's something we've got to proclaim, folks. People need to experience the goodness of God. The only way they can do it is by faith, through faith in God's Word and by grace. Come to Him. Be drawn unto Him through the Holy Spirit. See, that's another thing we have here at God's people in the Lord's house. Through this goodness, through this goodness, we have the promise of His Spirit be here with us. I was talking to Brother Underwood one night, we were sitting there talking, and I said, Brother Tim, do you ever think about what kind of situation we would have in our church if we didn't have the Holy Spirit with us? If the Holy Spirit, He did not send it, and we had to be here on our own, it would be chaotic, wouldn't it? See, the Holy Spirit is part of the goodness of God to us. He left Him to be a comforter. If you didn't have the Holy Spirit, it would be a miserable world for God's people. But one of these days, when the Lord takes His people home, that Holy Spirit goes. Brother John mentioned about that one this morning. If you don't trust Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, you're going to see what this world is really going to be like without the Holy Spirit. Romans chapter 2 explains just what I said. Chapter 4. Chapter 2 rather, verse 4. Folks, it's a dangerous thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. Because he said, O despiseth thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. Brother John said many times, I just pray people get a hold of that. It's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. and His forbearance, His long-suffering toward us. We can't get the idea that God owes us anything. We owe Him. We owe Him our service and our gratitude for His goodness. Let's read on. He says, after thy hardness and impotent heart treasures up thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. These are speaking to those that have turned their back upon the goodness of God, that have not come in repentance and faith unto salvation. God's righteous judgments are going to come one day. And He said in verse 6, He will render to every man according to his deeds, and to them who by patience He says, continue in well-doing. He says, seek for glory and honor in immortality, eternal life. But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation, and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jews first and also unto the Gentiles. But glory and honor and peace, he says here, to every man that worketh good, to the Jews first and also to the Gentiles. Then he goes, for there is no respected person with God. What we see here is, it's evident. It is evident. that God's goodness will be poured out upon His people. But it is also evident that His judgment will be poured out upon those that reject His goodness. So today, I want to just be reminded of one thing. No one will ever know the goodness of God until the Lord is their shepherd. And when He is, it's only then they can truly say, I shall not want. For its goodness and mercy doth continue forever, and it will continue until thy cup runneth over. And when we leave this place, we can say, my cup runneth over. We've really been blessed because of His goodness. Folks, you can't get away from the goodness of God. It's real. You can't get away from the goodness of God because it's a promise that we will have it. And I'm thankful for the great promise of God. We sang old songs, Standing on the Promises. Folks, we've got something to stand on. We've got a foundation. We've got something to think about and to be thankful for. I'm thankful for God's goodness and thankful for what He's done for me down through my life. I don't stand back and say I don't. I do. And thank God for my family, the church family, everything God's done for me. It's not because of anything I deserve. It's because of God's goodness. I think where it all comes from. All right, Bojard. Oh, how I love Jesus! Oh, how I love Jesus! How I love Jesus! Because He works for me. He tells me how to sing His joy. He guides me, set me free. He tells me how it's precious. Oh Oh And certainly the beginning of that love, the beginning, you know, we're going to be thankful for it. You know, God even chose us, but also makes a part of a body where we can sing those songs, you know. And as we talked about this evening, youth group, you know, a common salvation, you know, something we have amongst us as believers, You didn't arrive at it in a different way than I did. It came to you through the work of the Holy Spirit this day. It's just God's made me. Let it again be a prayer for each other. We hope that the week that people will be raised up, they'll be able to be out with us again this week. And I pray for Pastor, he'll be better as well. At this time, Brother Donnie, would you dismiss the prayer, please?