01. The Best things Work for Good to the Godly

The Best things Work for Good to the Godly 1. God’s attributes work for good to the godly.

(1). God’s POWER works for good. It is a glorious power (Colossians 1:11), and it is engaged for the good of the elect.

God’s power works for good, in supporting us in TROUBLE. "Underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27). What upheld Daniel in the lion’s den? What upheld Jonah in the whale’s belly? What upheld the three Hebrews in the furnace? Only the power of God! Is it not strange to see a bruised reed grow and flourish? How is a weak Christian able, not only to endure affliction—but to rejoice in it? He is upheld by the arms of the Almighty. "My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). The power of God works for us by supplying our NEEDS. God creates comforts, when means fail. He who brought food to the prophet Elijah by ravens, will bring sustenance to His people. God can preserve the "oil in the cruse" (1 Kings x7:14). The Lord made the sun on Ahaz’s dial go ten degrees backward: so when our outward comforts are declining, and the sun is almost setting, God often causes a revival, and brings the sun many degrees backward. The power of God subdues our CORRUPTIONS. "He will subdue our iniquities" (Micah 7:19). Is your sin strong? God is powerful, He will break the head of this leviathan. Is your heart hard? God will dissolve that stone in Christ’s blood. "The Almighty makes my heart soft" (Job 23:16). When we say as Jehoshaphat, "We have no might against this great army"; the Lord goes up with us, and helps us to fight our battles. He strikes off the heads of those goliath lusts which are too strong for us! The power of God conquers our ENEMIES. He stains the pride, and breaks the confidence of adversaries. "You shall break them with a rod of iron" (Psalms 2:9). There is rage in the enemy,and malice in the devil—but omnipotence in God. How easily can He rout all the forces of the wicked! "It is nothing for you, Lord, to help" (2 Chr. xiv. 11). God’s power is on the side of His church. "Happy are you, O Israel, O people saved by the Lord, who is the shield of your help, and the sword of your excellency" (Deuteronomy 33:29).

(2). The WISDOM of God works for good. God’s wisdom is our oracle to instruct us. As He is the mighty God, so also the Counselor (Isaiah 9:6). We are oftentimes in the dark, and, in intricate and doubtful matters, know not which way to take; here God comes in with light. "I will guide you with my eye" (Psalms 32:8). "Eye," there, is put for God’s wisdom. Why is it, that the saints can see further than the most quick-sighted politicians? They foresee the evil, and hide themselves; they see Satan’s sophisms. God’s wisdom is the pillar of fire to go before, and guide them.

(3). The GOODNESS of God works for good to the godly. God’s goodness is a means to make us good. "The goodness of God leads to repentance" (Romans 2:4). The goodness of God is a spiritual sunbeam to melt the heart into tears. "Oh," says the soul, "has God been so good to me? Has He reprieved me so long from hell, and shall I grieve His Spirit any more? Shall I sin against God’s goodness?" The goodness of God works for good, as it ushers in all blessings. The favors we receive, are the silver streams which flow from the fountain of God’s goodness. This divine attribute of goodness brings in two sorts of blessings. Common blessings: all partake of these, the bad as well as the good; this sweet dew falls upon the thistle as well as the rose. Crowning blessings: these only the godly partake of. "Who crowns us with loving-kindness" (Psalms 103:4). Thus the blessed attributes of God work for good to the saints.

2. The PROMISES of God work for good to the godly. The promises are God’s bank notes. The promises are the milk of the gospel; and is not the milk for the good of the infant? They are called "precious promises" (2 Peter 1:4). They are as cordials to a soul that is ready to faint. The promises are full of virtue. Are we under the guilt of sin? There is a promise, "The Lord is merciful and gracious" (Exodus 34:6), where God as it were puts on His glorious embroidery, and holds out the golden scepter, to encourage poor trembling sinners to come to Him. "The Lord is merciful and gracious." God is more willing to pardon—than to punish. Mercy does more multiply in Him, than sin in us. Mercy is His nature. The bee naturally gives honey; it stings only when it is provoked. "But," says the guilty sinner, "I cannot deserve mercy." Yet He is gracious: He shows mercy, not because we deserve mercy—but because He delights in mercy. But what is that to me? Perhaps my name is not in the pardon. "He keeps mercy for thousands!" The treasury of mercy is not exhausted. God has treasures lying by, and why should not you come in for a child’s part? Are we under the defilement of sin? There is a promise working for good. "I will heal their backslidings" (Hosea 14:4). God will not only bestow mercy—but grace. And He has made a promise of sending His Spirit (Isaiah 44:3), which for His sanctifying nature, is in Scripture compared sometimes to water—which cleanses the vessel; sometimes to the fan—which winnows corn, and purifies the air; sometimes to fire—which refines metals. Thus the Spirit of God shall cleanse and consecrate the soul, making it partake of the divine nature. Are we in great trouble? There is a promise which works for our good, "I will be with him in trouble" (Psalms 91:15). God does not bring His people into troubles, and leave them there. He will stand by them; He will hold their heads and hearts when they are fainting. And there is another promise, "He is their strength in the time of trouble" (Psalms 37:39). "Oh," says the soul, "I shall faint in the day of trial." But God will be the strength of our hearts; He will join His forces with us. Either He will make His hand lighter—or our faith stronger! Do we fear outward needs? There is a promise. "Those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing" (Psalms 34:10). If it is good for us, we shall have it; if it is not good for us, then the withholding of it is good. "I will bless your bread and your water" (Exod. 33:25). This blessing falls as the honey dew upon the leaf; it sweetens that little we possess. Let me lack the venison, so I may have the blessing. But I fear I shall not get a livelihood? Peruse that Scripture, "I have been young, and now am old—yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread" (Psalms 37:25). How must we understand this? David speaks it as his own observation; he never beheld such an eclipse, he never saw a godly man brought so low that he had not a bit of bread to put in his mouth. David never saw the righteous and their seed lacking. Though the Lord might try godly parents a while by need—yet not their seed too; the seed of the godly shall be provided for. David never saw the righteous begging bread, and forsaken. Though he might be reduced to great straits—yet not forsaken; still he is an heir of heaven, and God loves him.

Question. How do the promises work for good?

Answer. They are food for faith; and that which strengthens faith works for good. The promises are the milk of faith; faith sucks nourishment from them, as the child from the breast. "Jacob feared exceedingly" (Genesis 32:7). His spirits were ready to faint; now he goes to the promise, "Lord, you have said you will do me good" (Genesis 32:12). This promise was his food. He got so much strength from this promise, that he was able to wrestle with the Lord all night in prayer, and would not let Him go until He had blessed him. The promises also are springs of joy. There is more in the promises to comfort—than in the world to perplex. Ursin was comforted by that promise: "No man shall pluck them out of my Father’s hands" (John 10:29). The promises are cordials in a fainting fit. "Unless your word had been my delight, I had perished in my affliction" (Psalms 119:92). The promises are as cork to the net, to bear up the heart from sinking in the deep waters of distress!

3. The MERCIES of God world for good to the godly. The mercies of God humble. "Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed, "Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?" (2 Samuel 7:18). Lord, why is such honor conferred upon me, that I should be king? That I who followed the sheep, should be king over Your people? So says a gracious heart, "Lord, who am I, that it should be better with me than others? That I should drink of the fruit of the vine, when others drink, not only a cup of wormwood—but a cup of blood (or suffering to death). Who am I, that I should have those mercies which others lack, who are better than I? Lord, why is it, that with all my unworthiness, a fresh tide of mercy comes in every day?" The mercies of God make a sinner proud—but a saint humble. The mercies of God have a melting influence upon the soul; they dissolve it in love to God. God’s judgments make us fear Him—but His mercies make us love Him. How was Saul wrought upon by kindness! David had him at the advantage, and might have cut off, not only the skirt of his robe—but his head; yet he spares his life. This kindness melted Saul’s heart. "Is this your voice, my son David? and Saul lifted up his voice, and wept" (1 Samuel 24:16). Such a melting influence has God’s mercy; it makes the eyes drop with tears of love. The mercies of God make the heart fruitful. When you lay out more cost upon a field, it bears a better crop. A gracious soul honors the Lord with his substance. He does not do with his mercies, as Israel with their jewels and ear rings, make a golden calf; but, as Solomon did with the money thrown into the treasury, build a temple for the Lord. The golden showers of Gods’ mercy, cause fertility. The mercies of God make the heart thankful. "What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me? I will take the cup of salvation" (Psalms 116:12-13). David alludes to the people of Israel, who at their peace offerings used to take a cup in their hands, and give thanks to God for deliverances. Every mercy is an gift of free grace; and this enlarges the soul in gratitude. A godly Christian is not a grave to bury God’s mercies—but a temple to sing His praises. "If every bird in its kind," as Ambrose says, "chirps forth thankfulness to its Maker, much more will a sincere Christian, whose life is enriched and perfumed with mercy." The mercies of God quicken. As they are loadstones to love, so they are whetstones to obedience. "I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living" (Psalms 116:9). He who takes a review of his blessings, looks upon himself as a person engaged for God. He argues from the sweetness of mercy—to the swiftness of duty. He spends and is spent for Christ; he dedicates himself to God. Among the Romans, when one had redeemed another, he was afterwards to serve him. A soul encompassed with mercy, is zealously active in God’s service. The mercies of God work compassion to others. A Christian is a temporal Savior. He feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, and visits the widow and orphan in their distress; among them he sows the golden seeds of his charity. "A godly man shows favor, and lends" (Psalms 112:5). Charity drops from him freely, as myrrh from the tree. Thus to the godly, the mercies of God work for good; they are wings to lift them up to heaven.

SPIRITUAL mercies also work for good. The word preached works for good. It is a savor of life, it is a soul transforming word, it assimilates the heart into Christ’s likeness; it produces assurance. "Our gospel came to you not in word only—but in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance" (1 Thessalonians 1:5). It is the chariot of salvation.

Prayer works for good. Prayer is the bellows of the affections; it blows up holy desires and ardours of soul. Prayer has power with God. "Command me" (Isaiah 14:11). Prayer is a key which unlocks the treasury of God’s mercy. Prayer keeps the heart open to God—and shut to sin. Prayer assuages the swellings of lust. It was Luther’s counsel to a friend, when he perceived a temptation begin to arise, to betake himself to prayer. Prayer is the Christian’s gun, which he discharges against his enemies. Prayer is the sovereign medicine of the soul. Prayer sanctifies every mercy (1 Timothy 4:5). Prayer is the dispeller of sorrow—by venting the grief it, eases the heart. When Hannah had prayed, "she went away, and was no more sad" (1 Samuel 1:18). And if it has these rare effects, then it works for good. The Lord’s Supper works for good. It is an emblem of the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9), and a pledge of that communion we shall have with Christ in glory. It is a feast of fat things; it gives us bread from Heaven, such as preserves life, and prevents death. It has glorious effects in the hearts of the godly. It quickens their affections, strengthens their graces, mortifies their corruptions, revives their hopes, and increases their joy. Luther says, "It is as great a work to comfort a dejected soul, as to raise the dead to life"; yet this may and sometimes is done to the souls of the godly in the blessed supper.

4. The GRACES of the Spirit work for good.

Grace is to the soul, as light to the eye, as health to the body. Grace does to the soul, as a virtuous wife to her husband, "She will do him good all the days of her life" (Proverbs 31:12). How incomparably useful are the graces! Faith and fear go hand in hand. Faith keeps the heart cheerful, fear keeps the heart serious. Faith keeps the heart from sinking in despair, fear keeps it from floating in presumption. All the graces display themselves in their beauty: hope is "the helmet" (1 Thessalonians 5:8), meekness "the ornament" (1 Peter 3:4), love "the bond of perfectness" (Colossians 3:14). The saints’ graces are weapons to defend them, wings to elevate them, jewels to enrich them, spices to perfume them, stars to adorn them, cordials to refresh them. And does not all this work for good? The graces are our evidences for heaven. Is it not good to have our evidences at the hour of death?

5. The ANGELS work for the good of the Saints. The good angels are ready to do all offices of love to the people of God. "Are not all angels ministering spirits, sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14). Some of the fathers were of opinion that every believer has his guardian angel. This subject needs no hot debate. It may suffice us to know the whole hierarchy of angels is employed for the good of the saints. The good angels do service to the saints in life. The angel comforted the virgin Mary (Luke 1:28). The angels stopped the mouths of the lions—that they could not hurt Daniel (Daniel 6:22). A Christian has an invisible guard of angels about him. "He shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways" (Psalms 91:11). The angels are of the saints’ life guard, yes, the chief of the angels: "Are they not all ministering spirits?" The highest angels take care of the lowest saints. The holy angels do service at death. The angels are about the saints’ sick beds to comfort them. As God comforts by His Spirit, so by His angels. Christ in His agony was refreshed by an angel (Luke xx2:43); so are believers in the agony of death: and when the saints’ breath expires, their souls are carried up to heaven by a convoy of angels (Luke 16:22). The holy angels also do service at the day of judgment. The angels shall open the saints’ graves, and shall conduct them into the presence of Christ, when they shall be made like His glorious body. "He shall send his angels, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the one end of heaven to the other" (Matthew 26:31). The angels at the day of judgment shall rid the godly of all their enemies. Here the saints are plagued with enemies. "They are my adversaries, because I follow that which is good" (Psalms 38:20). Well, the angels will shortly give God’s people a writ of ease, and set them free from all their enemies: "The tares are the children of the wicked one, the harvest is the end of the world, the reapers are the angels; as therefore the tares are gathered and burnt in the fire, so shall it be in the end of the world: the Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things which offend, and them which do iniquity, and cast them into a furnace of fire" (Matt. 13:38 42). At the day of judgment the angels of God will take the wicked, which are the tares, and will bundle them up, and throw them into hell furnace, and then the godly will not be troubled with enemies any more: thus the good angels work for good.

See here the honor and dignity of a believer. He has God’s name written upon him (Revelation 3:12), the Holy Spirit dwelling in him (2 Timothy 1:14), and a guard of angels attending him!

6. The Communion of Saints works for good.

"We are helpers of your joy" (2 Corinthians 1:24). One Christian conversing with another is a means to confirm him. As the stones in an arch help to strengthen one another, one Christian by imparting his experience, heats and quickens another. "Let us provoke one another to love, and to good works" (Hebrews 10:24). How does grace flourish by holy conference! A Christian by good discourse drops that oil upon another, which makes the lamp of his faith burn the brighter.

7. Christ’s intercession works for good.

Christ is in heaven, as Aaron with his golden plate upon his forehead, and his precious incense; and He prays for all believers as well as He did for the apostles. "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me" (John 17:20). When a Christian is weak, and can hardly pray for himself, Jesus Christ is praying for him; and He prays for three things.

First, that the saints may be kept from sin (John 17:15). "I pray that you should keep them from the evil." We live in the world as in a pest-house; Christ prays that His saints may not be infected with the contagious evil of the times.

Second, for His people’s progress in holiness. "Sanctify them" (John 17:17). Let them have constant supplies of the Spirit, and be anointed with fresh oil.

Third, for their glorification "Father, I will that those which you have given me, be with me where I am" (John 17:24). Christ is not content until the saints are in His arms. This prayer, which He made on earth, is the copy and pattern of His prayer in heaven. What a comfort is this—when Satan is tempting, Christ is praying! This works for good.

Christ’s prayer takes away the sins of our prayers. As a child who present his father with a posy, goes into the garden, and there gathers some flowers and some weeds together—but coming to his mother, she picks out the weeds and binds the flowers, and so it is presented to the father. Just so—when we have put up our prayers, Christ comes, and picks away the weeds, the sin of our prayer, and presents nothing but flowers to His Father, which are a sweet smelling savor.

8. The prayers of Saints work for good to the godly. The saints pray for all the members of the mystical body, their prayers prevail much. They prevail for recovery from sickness "Your prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up" (James 5:15). They prevail for victory over enemies. "Lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left" (Isaiah 37:4). That night the angel of the Lord went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian troops" (Isaiah 37:36). They prevail for deliverance out of prison. "But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him. The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, chained between two soldiers, with others standing guard at the prison gate. Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel tapped him on the side to awaken him and said, "Quick! Get up!" And the chains fell off his wrists." (Acts 12:5-7). The angel fetched Peter out of prison—but it was prayer which fetched the angel. They prevail for forgiveness of sin. "My servant Job shall pray for you, for him will I accept" (Job 13:8).

Thus the prayers of the saints work for good to the mystical body. And this is no small privilege to a child of God, that he has a constant trade of prayer driven for him. When he comes into any place, he may say, "I have some prayer here, nay, all the world over I have a stock of prayer going for me. When I am indisposed, and out of tune, others are praying for me, who are quick and lively." Thus the best things work for good to the people of God.