On Eagles' Wings Pt 106 — Don Courville

Well, I'm glad to be back with you again today on Eagles wings. I want to tell you that I appreciate you folks. I appreciate it when you write in and I appreciate it when you pray. Would you especially pray for us?

Would you pray for me my family every day if we need anything? We need your prayers on this program. We're trying to share revival truth the truths of the cross those truths that will set you free from bondage and sin.

The Goodness of God and the Work of the Holy Spirit

God has met us in a special way and God is working in our lives. And he's working in in the lives of many folks that we know we have a ministry for people. We're really not program oriented we're people oriented and many times we find that we end up in places where we can minister to people and What we we really don't need a lot of preaching anymore today.

What we need is the living we need. Less sermons probably on on being like Jesus and more on just being like Jesus. And the only way that's going to happen is if we're filled with the Spirit. Well, you know, I've been sharing with you the last three weeks on the goodness of God.

Back when I was preaching down in Louisiana several weeks ago. Well a couple months ago. Maybe just about a month and a half ago or so. I don't know time gets away from me sometime. But one morning I get up and I said Lord, would you teach me something about yourself?

I said Lord I want to know something about you and the Holy Spirit led me to the subject of the goodness of God. I haven't got over it. I was before that learning about how God controls Circumstances looking at at how he does that in the my I was just thrilled to see God was in control of everything.

Learning his sovereignty and his love for me and then when he taught me that he was good in connection with that. It's been a powerful thing and I'd like to take today and go over this with you one more time just a few more things on the goodness of God and I thought I would take in and Review with you some of the things we've shared and then close up with some new things a few more new things on the goodness of God and then you be praying as as the Lord leads in.

The next direction we go. I have a burning desire in my heart to share with you on the Holy Spirit. Do you know that the Holy Spirit is right here present? Do you recognize his presence? You know Jesus talked about abiding in him.

Abiding in Christ and Doing Nothing Apart from Him

He said without me you can do nothing. Without me you can do nothing and and a couple weeks ago. I was asking the Lord to teach me about abiding in him and Doing without him I could do nothing. I said Lord.

What do you mean that without? Me I can do nothing and he says I in my spirit. He knew I wanted to learn that and one day he taught me that. And how I was doing it. I was I was I love to do carpenter work to me.

That's relaxation and fun unless I get into something I don't know what I'm doing. But I was putting up some sheetrock one day and and I was asking God that day about that verse. Meditating on it where Jesus said without me you can do nothing and I had a t-square and I was cutting a piece of Sheetrock and I and as I was holding that I run my blade right down there and I cut off the end of my thumb.

Now I know you'd like to hear that some of you ladies and cringe. My wife didn't like to hear that. Well, I didn't cut off much. I just cut off to you know, it's a little old slice. Off of there and it didn't even bleed.

That's how little it was at first and about 15 seconds later a little red spot come out and and then it started bleeding. And about 30 seconds. I had a drop of blood and I was cut and the first thing I did I said now Lord, why did I do that?

And he says because without me you can do nothing. He said did you ask me to help you cut that piece of sheetrock? I said well no Lord I've cut a lot of pieces of sheetrock. He said you're asking me to teach you and I understand he's talking in my spirit.

The Holy Spirit will talk to us like that. He'll minister to us in our spirit. He wasn't talking to me audibly, but he says you're wanting to learn that without me you can do nothing. This is what I'm trying to tell you that without me.

You can't even cut a piece of sheetrock without cutting off the tip of your thumb well. The rest of the day I wasn't too good a shape with my thumb there I had to. I found a band-aid and I put it on there.

But you know the amazing thing about that was every time I picked up that t-square laid it on a piece of sheetrock. I immediately remember the Lord if I wasn't thinking about him. I Immediately remembered the presence of the Lord.

What a lesson what a lesson without me you can do nothing. Do you realize that he meant that? He said I'm the vine you the branches he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth. Much fruit or without me you can do nothing.

One of the reasons that we don't have much fruit in our lives is that we're trying to do things without him. Actually, he wants to be the one doing the doing. Do you know that in in Romans 12? Romans 12 and we may get in our rambler this morning and just take on off.

May never get back to the goodness of God here. The Holy Spirit's leading me to share some things with you. I hadn't even thought about but he's been burning him in my heart. You know Romans 12 and verse 1 and 2 where Paul wrote I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice Holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and Acceptable and perfect will of God, you know, we've been talking to you about the fact that God is good.

Hey, listen, this verse says that the will of God is good for you. You know what in this verse? He tells us to present our bodies to him as a living sacrifice. Who are you gonna present your body to the Lord Jesus?

I don't think so. Because he already has a body. You're gonna present it to God the Father. I don't think so. God is the Spirit. He doesn't need your body. Who are you to present your body to you're to present your body to the Holy Spirit.

The Body as the Temple of the Holy Spirit

Have you ever? Okay. Now, let me share this with you in 1st Corinthians in chapter 6 and verse 13 Says now the body is not for fornication. Back when I was preaching down in Louisiana a young young man black man and black woman come up to me.

Well, they didn't really come up to me. I talked to him in the meeting. But they said they had troubles had troubles in their relationship for me to pray with them and they didn't tell me what the troubles were.

So I prayed for them and I prayed that they would be holy that they would do what God wanted them to do. And I found out later that they were living together and they wasn't married. Now. The body is not for fornication.

That's what the Bible says the by the body is not for sin. If you're using your body for sin, if you're gluttonous, then you're using your body for sin. If you're if you're doing things with your body Sexually that you should not be doing then that is sin.

If you're putting your mind in places putting things into your eyes Ears that you're not supposed to be doing that's in the body is not for sin. The body is for the Lord and the Lord for the body. Now listen the Bible says in verse 15 of 1st Corinthians 6 15 know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ.

Did you know that? Listen, the body is for the Lord. Back over over in verse 19. What know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost the Holy of Holies.

Your body is the Holy of Holies for the Holy Ghost. Which is in you which you have of God and you're not your own for you're bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's.

Many of us get in trouble with God the Holy Spirit because we do not present our body to him. We present our bodies to other things other places other people that we have no right to. He bought our body.

When we receive Christ as our Savior, we were not our own anymore. We do not have any rights with this body anymore. We gave up our rights at the cross part of the redemption is Jesus Christ redeemed our body also along with our soul.

Don't you understand that and if you and I do things with our body? We will not enjoy the goodness of God if I was to try to get back on my subject for today. But we need to be careful because God is good does not mean that we can get away with sin.

Because God is good. He will chasten you and me in our sin. For whom he loves he chastens all my friend. We've got to get to the goodness of God. Let me just share a few things and in review quickly. Then I want to share some a few more new things on the goodness of God but we started out by telling you a little bit about Joseph all the trials he went through.

God Brings Good from Trials

Joseph was a goodly person and well-favored and and he had this testimony that he was he was a godly man among people and He went through all that he did and at the end of it. You know the end of the story how when his father died his brothers thought that he tried to get even for him.

And he said but it's for you. You thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people life. I don't know what you're going through, but I know that you're probably going through a trial.

Most everybody I know is going through some kind of trial or another. Let me tell you God is up to something good. Let him have his way with you matter of fact. We ought to pay attention to the things we sing a lot of us shouldn't sing some of the songs we sing because we don't Mean it.

But let him have his way with you. He's putting things together in your life. You know Everything he does in my life and yours is good. God is good. God is love. So the only thing he does is good and everything he does comes out of love.

You know the scripture said in Acts 1038 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power who went about? Doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with him.

You know if you and I will be filled with the Holy Spirit will go about doing good will go about. Doing that which is good helping people not hurting will be sensitive to what they're saying since they wish to what's going on in their Life, you know that scripture teaches so much on the goodness of God.

I think it's important for us to know him. It's important for us to understand that he is good. There's a couple thoughts I'd shared with you. One was that when God reveals himself. It is in a way that we can understand him and know him and when we do understand him.

We'll worship him and we'll want him to go among us. You remember how shared with you about Moses. He said Lord show me your glory and God showed him his hind parts and actually what he showed him in the scriptures.

He said he showed him his goodness and when Moses saw God He worshipped him in Exodus 33 verse 8. He worshipped him and then he says oh. We want you to go among us when you get to know him. You want him to go with you?

You don't want to go your own way anymore. God's presence is good. Also. Oh give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth forever. We went through the Chronicles. It is good for us to be here.

You remember the disciples said that when they were there in the presence of God and Elijah and Moses showed up. They said it's good for us to be here. And then they said something they shouldn't do and they got in trouble with God, but he's good.

You know, the blessings of life are because of his goodness. Matthew 7 11 if you then be an evil know how to give give good gifts unto your children. How much more shall your father give that which is in heaven give good gifts are good things to them that ask him.

God is good. His blessings are good. And then last week I shared with you that God's goodness is the ground of our expectation. God's goodness is the ground of our expectation. What are you looking to?

What are you expecting? You expecting your Social Security check to make you happy. That's a pretty sad thing to live for all your life a Lot in my generation don't believe there's anything gonna be there by the time we get there for it.

What are you looking for? Learn to look to God for all your needs. Learn to look at him and then we went through the Psalms and I shared many Psalms with you on the goodness of God. And I like to pick up today on the Psalms and I want I like to take you back over to Psalms 107.

Psalm 107: Giving Thanks and Proclaiming Redemption

Psalms 107 a Wonderful Psalm on the goodness of God. So if you get your Bible, we'll get back over there in Psalms 107. Let's see what God has for us there. I know he's got some good things. We'll start off about in verse 1.

Oh Give thanks unto the Lord. Why would you want to give thanks unto the Lord for he is good and one of the reasons that sometimes we don't give thanks to him is because we have not accepted the fact that he is good and Everything that he does in our life is for our good.

So the psalmist says Oh give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth forever. Then how about verse 2? Let's chew on this one a little bit. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.

Let me ask you a question. No. You can answer it sort of softly in case you don't want somebody else to hear it. But I'll put my ear up to the mic real close and and see if I can hear you answer. But let me ask you this.

Who have you told about who have you talked about this week. About Jesus who have you shared Jesus Christ with this week? How many people did you talk about? With Jesus Christ. I mean you just said friend.

Let me talk to you about Jesus. Have you been born again? I like to ask people that have you been born again? I get a pretty honest answer most of the time most people say no, I haven't Used to ask him.

Have you received Christ and I get I answer all the time. Oh, yeah, I've received Christ. But when I use the term the biblical term, have you been born again? That brings her right down to either, you know, you have been born again, or you haven't.

Did you know that if you have not been born again, you will not talk about Jesus Christ. You will not love Jesus Christ. He will not be the center of your life. You will not be interested in the things he's interested in.

The Bible says let the redeemed of the Lord say. So whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy enemy my friend if you've been a prisoner. In a in a in a prison for 25 years and you get out whoever lets you out.

They're gonna be high on your list. You're gonna talk about that one that rescued you from that prison that set you free that Negotiated your freedom. You're gonna appreciate them. You're gonna love them.

You're gonna realize you owe your life to them. Jesus Christ set me free from the prison of self and sin and I want to tell you he set me free. I am glad to be free. I want to tell you about him. I want to tell you how much he loved you.

I want to tell you about how he died on the cross for me my sins how he died on the cross for you. Your sins how he rose again the third day. I want to know him. I want to know more about him. No wonder the Apostle Paul said that I might know him in the power of his resurrection the fellowship of his sufferings.

Do you know him let the redeemed of the Lord say so could it be? That the reason I didn't hear anything when I put my ear up close to the mic. Was that you didn't say anything? You see God's listening, you know, I'm not going to be able to hear you through the mic.

But God is listening to your heart. The Holy Spirit is talking to you right now. Think about your conversation this last week. Did you go through a whole week and not talk about Jesus Christ? You know, the Apostle Paul came to the Corinthians at the end of the chapter and he says Examine yourselves to see whether you're in the faith even he even said it to the Galatians.

He says I'm afraid of you lest. I've bestowed upon you laboring in vain my friend just because you've been in church. Just because you're religious just because you read your Bible go to church. Maybe even been baptized and I don't care if you're if your father your grandfather was a Baptist preacher.

I hear that one a lot. It don't matter. Have you been born again? All those other things you're fine. They're great. But unless you've been born again. You're not going to see the kingdom of God. Have you been born again?

Praising God for His Goodness and Wonderful Works

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so well, let's go on down to that Psalms a little bit more in verse 8 oh. That men would praise the Lord for his goodness. Do you praise him is your life a life of praise and appreciation and gratitude.

Because of what God has done for you. Oh that men would praise the Lord. Why for his goodness. Do you recognize he's good. One of the reasons maybe that we don't have praise in our church and our church is deader in a donut.

It's because we don't recognize the goodness of God. We're not excited about God. It's hard to find a place where people are really excited about Jesus. Oh. We're excited about our program. We're excited about our pastor.

We're excited about our church. We're excited about our new parking lot. We're excited about this and that and that but who's excited about Jesus. I want to hear How the Lord Jesus Christ is working in your life.

I like to hear that. I like to hear your testimonies. I appreciate it when you write me and tell me what God's doing in your life. I pray for you. Some of you write in from time to time and share your deep burdens and some of you going through hard trials very serious trials, but I Look in that letter for the spirit of understanding God's goodness.

One of our friends who we visited the last time we was down there in Joplin dear Marie's got cancer and Being treated for it, but she's free. She understands that God is good that God's working out all things together for his goodness.

I believe many times that we can be freed of our diseases and illnesses and sicknesses. When we get hooked on the goodness of God and we start praising him and giving him. Thanks, you know. The devil can defeat you and drag you down into a ditch if you don't understand that God is good.

Verse 9. Psalms 107 9. For he satisfied the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Are you hungry? Are you hungry for some spiritual meat? Are you hungry go to God go to his word ask him to feed you and to give you that which is good.

Verse 15. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Why verse 16 for it broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron in sunder? Fools because of their transgression and because of their iniquities are Afflicted.

Their soul abhorred all manner of meat and they draw near into the gates of death. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble and he saveth them out of their distresses. He sent the word and he healed them and delivered them from their Destructions.

Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works for the children of men. Remember everything God does for us. He does out of his goodness. Slip down to verse 31. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men.

Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders. Oh. That men would praise the Lord verse 31 again for his goodness for his wonderful works to the children of men.

What do you see? The is all that you see. The the dark around you. I had a friend over the other day I mean his wife and their children they came over for dinner and they were getting ready to leave and and they come out in the in an old pickup of that that they had because The car needed license and the other one didn't have it the other pickup didn't have enough gas so they took this other old pickup that they normally don't use very much and.

And when they got ready to leave the wife made mentioned something about hoping they make it back to town. We live out in the country a few miles because the that one tire is so bad that the tube was just there and they ran on the tube and.

And I made a comment. Well boy. You're not focusing on that one bad spot. Think of all the other part of the tire. That's good. Look at the good part of it and her husband is really he liked that idea.

Look at the good. He's a real positive person. Look at the good, you know you may have one ball spot on the tire of your life and The devil's got you looking at that and that's all you see. My friend that one dark spot can develop into a thunderstorm over your life that will just continually bring a Drizzle and a dreariness into your life.

You look at God you keep looking at him and You'll get excited and you'll be you'll be like the redeemed of the Lord saying so you'll be rejoicing in him. Don't give up on God. Let me share something else from that passage who so is wise Verse 43 and who and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord.

You get hooked on Jesus you learn his love. Let me take you over to Jeremiah 9 24 if I can get over there. Jeremiah 9 23 and 24 listen to this thus saith the Lord. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom neither.

Let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glorieth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord which exercises loving kindness judgment and Righteousness in the earth for in these things.

I delight saith the Lord, you know God wants you to know him. He wants you to understand him get to know him get to love him psalms 109 verse 21, but do thou for me O God The Lord for thy name's sake because thy mercy is good deliver thou me psalms 145 verse 8 the Lord is gracious and 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. Do you understand that God loves us all. You remember when Israel wouldn't enter into the land? He delivered him out of Egypt 400 years of bondage and he brought him up to the promised land and they wouldn't go in.

Because there was a few problems in there. Sure, it's not going to be easy following Jesus. But let me ask you is it easy without Jesus? And so what happened they wouldn't enter into the land and they didn't get to experience God's goodness and so they went out into the Desert and they wandered around there for 40 years until the unbelievers died off.

Do you remember Noah and he built that ark and he preached for 120 years by building that ark? They wouldn't enter into the ark. So they went through the flood the ark represented Jesus Christ my friend.

God is good to you. But if you will not enter into Jesus Christ receive him as your Savior repent of your sin. Be born again. You won't enter into heaven. The ark represented Jesus Christ. You've got to receive Christ as your Savior.

You've got to realize that you're destitute that you that you need God that you can't make it on your own. I Was reading in Luke 19 41 when Jesus came to the city. It says he wept over it and the last thing he said there is he wept over and he told him how if they leave if.

They just known if they just known the things that he had for them. And then he said thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. You know, this may be your last chance to be saved for all eternity. One of the things that's going to make hell so bad for you.

If you don't have Christ is you're gonna know that God was good that God loved you and that he didn't want you to go There if you'd only known how good God is to you, you know in the book of Mark. The Bible tells us that Jesus came to the disciples one day and it says he saw them toiling in rowing.

They were in a storm. Out on the storm and he came to them walking at night and he came walking by on the water and The scripture says he would have passed them by. He would have passed them by but they cried out to him and he came over to them.

Would you cry out to him? He'll pass you by and unless you ask him to come in He says call unto me all of you that are weary and heavy laden. He says whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Would you just call out to Jesus? Experiences goodness, he'll forgive you of your sin. He'll save you. He will be good to you. If you'll let him well our times about gone for today I want to close up and leave you with this Jesus Christ is all you need.

Is he all you want and what will it take plus Jesus to finally make you happy. Till next time I trust God to bless you my friend.