Some years ago, when Don & Donna Sprague were living here in the Richland Ranchettes -- they called me one day & invited me over for some freshly baked home-made bread!
Donna has this special recipe she used in her bread maker!
It was still warm from the baking -- & we sat there in the kitchen -- putting on better & honey! -- The three of us ate the whole loaf!
I do not have words sufficient to describe just how good it was!
You would have to taste it for yourself to really know what I am talking about! -- Fresh home made bread with honey.
Nothing is as convincing as personal experience!
It is one thing to hear that home-made bread & honey are delicious & sweet -- & another thing altogether to know that for a fact -- because you have tasted it for yourself!
Psalm 34:8 -- “O taste & see that the Lord is good...”
Today, I want to invite you to taste for yourself -- & see that the Lord (the Lord Jesus Christ) -- He is good!
I lack the words to adequately describe His splendor & glory!
Only by tasting & experiencing the Lord for yourself -- will you truly discover that in fact -- the Lord is good!
Put God to the taste test & see how truly kind He is!
Billy Sunday tasted & found that the Lord was good --
He never passed the building where he found Christ w/o stopping to bow his head & thank the Lord!
Countless thousands through the ages have tasted & found that in fact the Lord is good; -- None have come in vain!
You deny yourself life’s greatest joy when you refuse to taste for yourself the goodness & grace of the Lord!
Our text is God’s invitation to a wonderful life!
The Christian life is truly the good life; --
The good life does not come from wealth - or power - or possessions - or prestige -- it comes from knowing the Lord in a real & personal way!
Your lack of joy & victory shows on your face much more clearly than you ever realize! -- Without God -- your life is empty!
Without God there is no real inner peace!
Without God there is a void that only the Lord can fill!
Do you feel an inner hunger & thirst for true righteousness?
I invite you to come, & taste for yourself, today!
Put God to the taste test & see how truly kind & good He is!
1. Come & Taste the Lord’s Forgiveness!
The Bible clearly states that -- “All have sinned & come short of the glory of God.” -- That includes both you & me!
There is not a one of us who does not stand in the need of forgiveness from God Almighty!
No matter how good or righteous you may feel you are -- you have committed sins -- you have done wrong -- in the sight of God.
Most of us here today do not need to be reminded of our sinfulness -- our failures & faults -- our wickedness & wrongs.
We can say with King David: -- “My sin is ever before me!”
The guilt of sin -- the burden of sin -- weighs heavily upon us!
We are also told in the Scriptures -- that the wages of sin is Eternal death! -- Eternal damnation! -- Eternal Separation from God!
But thanks be onto God -- we do not have the carry the burden & the guilt & the condemnation of our sins!
God -- through the sacrificial death of JESUS CHRIST -- is willing & ready to forgive us of all our sins!
Illus: While pastoring in Wisconsin -- there was a handicapped lady in our community who had 6 children; -- all with different last names.
She was living with a man unmarried. -- She fainted one day with a bleeding ulcer & was taken to the local hospital. --
She thought she was going to die.
I visited her there in the hospital, & talked to her about the Lord. --
She asked the question: -- “Could God really forgive me for the way I have lived?” -- I assured her God could & would if she would only ask!
I lead her in a sinner’s prayer -- & I will never forget her response: -- “O, it feels so wonderful to be forgiven.”
The Bible still says -- in 1 John 1:9 -- “If we confess our sins, he is faithful & just to forgive us our sins, & to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
If we will but come to the Lord & confess our sins -- we can taste & experience the joy of His forgiveness!
The miracle of forgiveness happens through simple faith in Calvary’s atonement -- condemnation is removed -- cleansing comes to the human heart -- & a whole new life begins!
God will remove our sins as far as the east is from the west!
He will bury them in the sea of His forgetfulness -- to be remembered against us no more!
My friends -- the only way you can ever experience Divine forgiveness is through the Lord Jesus Christ!
Illus: In a Cemetery not far from NYC -- is a headstone engraved with a single word: “Forgiven” -- The message is plain & simple.
There is no date of birth -- no epitaph.
There is only a name -- & the solitary word: “Forgiven.”
But that -- my friends -- is the greatest word that can be applied to any man or woman -- or written on any gravestone!
Oh, come, & taste for yourself, His forgiveness!
2. Come & Taste the Lord’s Friendship!
Being saved -- born again -- forgiven -- is only the beginning of some-thing new & wonderful!
God does not just say to us: “You are forgiven” -- & then walk away from us! -- God desires our fellowship & our friendship!
It is a relationship -- far more than just a set of beliefs.
I really don’t care what label you call yourself on the outside -- Catholic -- Baptist -- Nazarene -- Presbyterian -- Pentecostal
I just want to present Jesus & His friendship to you!
I want you to know & experience the Lord’s friendship for yourself -- in your life -- day by day! -- O what a friend He is!
If you know Him -- His love - His presence - His grace - His friendship -- you’ll discover that He will make all the difference in your life!
He will be a friend who will stick closer to you then a brother.
He will weep with you in your sorrows; He will rejoice with you in your joys
Day & night -- He will walk with you & talk with you!
He loves you; -- He cares for you; -- He wants to help you!
There is no need to be lonely or lonesome; --
The Lord Himself will walk through life with you!
To think -- you can live in relationship with the King of kings & Lord of lord’s! -- He wants to be your friend!
A small boy was once asked: -- “What is a friend?”
He replied: -- “A friend is someone who knows all about me & likes me just the same.” -- That is exactly the kind of friend you have in Jesus!
Illus: Joseph Scriven had wealth, education, a devoted family, & a pleasant life in his native Ireland.
On the night before Joseph’s scheduled wedding - his fiancée drowned.
In his deep sorrow -- Joseph realized that he could find the comfort & support he needed only in his dearest friend -- Jesus!
Soon after this tragedy -- Joseph dramatically changed his lifestyle.
He left his native Ireland & moved to Port Hope, Canada -- determined to devote all of his extra time in being a friend & helper to others.
He became known as “the Good Samaritan of Port Hope.”
When he received word from Ireland -- that his dear mother had become ill -- he wrote a comforting letter to her -- enclosing the words of his newly written poem -- with the prayer that these brief lines would remind her of a never-failing heavenly Friend.
Sometime later -- when Joseph Scriven himself was ill -- a friend who came to call on him -- happened to see a copy of these words scribbled on scratch paper near his bed.
The friend read the lines with interest & asked: “Who wrote those beautiful words?” -- Joseph replied: “The Lord & I did it between us.”
What a Friend we have in Jesus, -- all our sins & griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
Oh, my dear friends -- come, & taste for yourself -- His friendship!
3. Come & Taste the Lord’s Faithfulness!
The Bible is full of promise after promise concerning God’s faithfulness to His own! -- Jeremiah the prophet wrote: ‘Great is thy faithfulness.’
Great indeed is the faithfulness of God -- & happy indeed is the person who has learned to lean hard on His ever lasting arms!
Who would have thought -- that God in delivering the children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt would permit them to come to the banks of the Red Sea -- with forbidding mountains on either side -- & with the Egyptian armies at their back -- but God, to show that He was still faithful, parted the waters of the Red Sea to open a way of escape!!
Who would have thought - that when a decree had been given by the king that no one should pray except to the king himself -- that Daniel, feeling a higher allegiance continued to pray 3 times a day to God with his windows wide open, -- & as a result he was cast into the lions den -- but God, to show His faithfulness gave the lions a sleeping pill & lock jaw so that Daniel would have a way to escape!!
Who would have thought that when the disciples were out in a boat upon the sea & Jesus on the mountain praying, a storm would come that threatened the very lives of the disciples, -- but God to show His faithfulness enables His Son to walk across the top of the waters to provide a way of escape!!
Who would have thought -- that Paul & Silas, who were thrown into the Philippian jail having been beaten, -- but God to show His faithfulness put his peace in their hearts & a song on their lips in the midnight hour of their lives -- then sent an earthquake to open the prison gates that Paul & Silas might have a way to escape!!
God is just as faithful today as He has always been!
Can it be that you are in the dark dungeon of affliction & anguish?
Despair not my friend; -- God’s faithfulness is near!
Many have sought in vain for a strong hand in the dark -- but have not found it -- because they refused to take the hand of the Lord!
Oh, do not refuse to take His hand --
Oh, come, & taste for yourself, -- His faithfulness!
Conclusion:
“O taste & see” -- is the Biblical appeal to personal experience.
Come & taste the Lord’s forgiveness;
Come & taste the Lord’s friendship;
Come & taste the Lord’s faithfulness.
Put God to the taste test & see how truly kind He is!
If you will taste Him for yourself -- you will see!
If you do not taste -- you cannot see that the Lord is good!
Tasting stands before seeing -- for spiritual experience leads to spiritual knowledge.
Have you made the wonderful discovery of knowing Jesus Christ personally?
Have you learned by experience that the Lord is gracious & kind & compassionate?
If you haven’t -- it is not because of reluctance on His part!
He finds great pleasure in making Himself real to those who put their trust in Him!
Be assured that He is ready to give you a wonderful sense of His Divine Presence!
You can know about Him -- without really knowing Him!
You can have a head knowledge; -- you can have an inherited knowledge; -- without really knowing Him personally.
Your parents can tell you --
Your spouse can tell you --
Your Sunday School teacher can tell you --
Your friends can tell you --
Your pastor can tell you --
But I invite you today to put God to the taste test for yourself & see that the Lord in fact is good & kind!
Illus: In my college years -- & in the early years of my pastoral ministry --I knew a churchman by the name of Don Gibson.
He had been an outstanding pastor; -- he worked in the development department at the college; -- he went on the serve the entire denomination as director of evangelism.
Don would always end a conversation -- or a letter he would write -- with the words: -- “God is good!”
My friends -- If you taste & see that the Lord is good -- you can do the same! -- For truly the Lord is good!